Road Trip

First a little story of our journey out to the coast.

We left Ryerse on an unusually hot day for October on Ontario, hence when we got to the border in Sarnia, we were pretty wilted given the a/c in the van was crapped out. Long line at the border meant another hour waiting in a line up of traffic, finally we get to the US side and are confronted with the Customs guy. Brenda and I had always been a little concerned about the boarder crossing, given that we looked like we were moving to the US, which we were, although only temporarily, and the current climate concerning illegal aliens. How to explain the contents of the van and trailer? Just tell it like it is.

Border guard: Citizenship?

Me: Canadian (hand him our passports)

Border guard: (checks passports in computer) Purpose of your trip?

Me: We've bought a boat in WA state, we're going out to do some work on it.

Border guard: What's in the trailer?

Me: Gear for the boat.

Border guard: Open it up.

Me: (long line of traffic behind) what here?

Border guard: Ya here, open it up

Me: (scrounge around for keys) go to the back of trailer, another 2 guards have come over to take a look, I open the trailer. It's jammed from top to bottom with boxes, there's a small wood stove in one corner near the door and a microwave sitting on top.

Border guard: All this stuffs for the boat?

Me: yup, (I move a box, look, there's the ships wheel)

Border guard: and the microwave?

Me: you gotta have a microwave on a boat!

Border guard: get outta here!

I get back in the van and we drive on, Jack's snoozing in the back, Brenda and I look at each other, laugh and say, that was easy. We've got a weeks' supply of food, a dog, every thing we own, we're moving in country for an extended stay, and he was interested in the microwave? Go figure!

Although I had already made the trip across country twice, traveling with Brenda and Jack was a real treat. We made use of just about every rest stop on the Interstate, (why don't we have them in Canada?) stopped to see some sights, stayed at the very pet friendly and cheap Motel 6 chain, and even rented a cabin at a state park in the high plains of Wyoming. All in all a fantastic trip out here. Brenda was ready to do it all over again and was a little disappointed when it was over.

On day eight we arrived in Ilwaco, mid afternoon. I had been previewing this occasion for months now. This would be Brenda's first, in person look at the boat, up until now, she had only seen pictures and listened to me go on and on about how great this was and how much you're going to love that. We pulled into the boat yard, I stopped the van and looked a her, waiting for a response. First words, she's big, boy is she big. I couldn't wait to give Brenda the guided tour and did just that. Jack waited in the van while we looked around the boat, all the while, I watched Brenda's face, and much to my relief, she was really liking what she was seeing.

We spent the evening unpacking a few basics, setting up the bed in the master cabin, managed to get Jack down the companionway and settled in for our first night aboard. The next day I took Brenda for a tour to get the lay of the land and we had our first walk on the beautiful Pacific beach, and it's all good.