Washington State Capital

We got off the ferry and headed to the fist available dog park to work the dogs.  Back in the states, we had our apps back and found a dog park just a few miles down the road.  Our destination after some play with the dogs was to find a place to camp in WA near Olympia.  We still had two more state capitals to visit on our way home, Olympia & Salem.

We followed the 101 East and then tok the right toward the South, passing the Olympic National Park on our right and the waterway to our left.  There were many campsites along the way, but we forged ahead trying to get as close to Olympia as we could.

We found a campsite a few miles out of the city and drove around looking for that perfect spot.  We found one and began the process of unpacking.  Everything was out of the car, including the dogs, and as we started to put the poles through the holes to set up the tent, a car pulled up.

"Excuse me, we reserved this site!"

Two women and their two dogs let us know, unequivocally, that they would wait for us to load up the car and get the heck out of their site.  Grrr!

Everything back in the car, with a bit more agitated force than it came out.

We drove back to the main area of the campground and simply parked in the open area where there were families and no privacy.  It all worked out well in the end.  There was a lot of room for the huge tent and also it was near the restrooms and showers.

Everything came out again, including the dogs.  Tom and I set up the tent and then I took the opportunity to take a shower as he made some dinner on the open fire.  It was a good night and we really enjoyed the early darkness, although we were still a bit unprepared for it.

The next morning, after some ball play with the dogs and striking our camp, we got back on the road and headed towards the capital.  It was an overcast morning, yet a nice temperature to tour the capital.  We parked the car and headed over to the capital with dogs in tow, or rather, us in tow of the dogs.

The Capital Campus was huge!  The Capital Building was huge!

We proceeded to take some pictures of the dogs on the Capital steps.  They looked so small against the backdrop of the pillars and the dome.

We took advantage of the early morning and spent some time looking at the buildings and going inside to check them out.  It still amazes me that the capitals across the states are open to the public with no metal detectors or pat downs.  It was a Saturday, so the buildings were mostly void of people.

Across from the Capital was the Temple of Justice.  The flags were at half mast for the Oak Creek, WI shooting a few days prior.

Tom watched the dogs for a bit while I entered into the capital.  The interior had a warm glow to it, especially after coming in from the overcast exterior.  On the floor, underneath the dome was a gold relief of George Washington.  On either side of the entry and up a level was the Senate and House Chambers.

The Governor's Office had an exhibition of "The Survival of Washington Indians."  

I headed across the street to the Temple of Justice which housed the Supreme Court and the Law Library.  Again the interior was warm even with the cool marble interior.

I headed back outside and met up with Tom who took the opportunity to see the innards of the capital.  A short while after we continued our stroll through the campus, noting the monuments and additional buildings.

Across another street, we went in the direction of a collection of flags flapping in the breeze.  More admin buildings and then a maze of a buildings exterior brought us to a standard site at capitals, A memorial for the Korean War Veterans.

We finished the tour at the gift shop, buying nothing, but using the restroom.  It was still morning and our last capital was in our near future.  Salem, Oregon here we come!

An unexpected side trip

We took the recommendation of our campground host and headed down the Glacier Highway to Stewart.  It would have been an easy drive, but I pushed the limit of the car and it's gas tank to the limit.  I had decided not to stop at a very expensive gas station thinking that there would be another along the way.

There was none!

It was beautiful country with tall trees all around and lakes/rivers along the way, but no gas.  My quick calculations from a road sign was that we would arrive on fumes.  When I purchased the car a few years back, the salesman told me that E does not mean E.  E means one more gallon.  Hmmm.  One Gallon left and we had an average of 26 at the time.  Stewart was 25 miles away.  Eek!

We passed by some amazing glaciers along the way, close enough that if we wanted to stop we could reach them, but there was no gas to waste.  My eyes constantly darted between the E and the mileage left to go, calculating, calculating.  I was pleased to find us heading down towards the sea so there were no grades to ascend and waste any more gas.

Let's just say that we coasted into the town of Stewart, BC.  Found some expensive gas and filled up.  BIG sigh of relief from me and tight lips from Tom (meaning, I'm not going to say a word but I told you we should have stopped for gas...).

The town looked old and the sort of town that I expected to see in Alaska.  Run down buildings with facades above the one story buildings.  There was a hotel and a few shops in the downtown area.  One of them offered free wi-fi, but I could never get a connection nor could the other people sitting around the outside patio.  Oh well.

We stopped in the above store and once I got past the strong mildew smell in the building, I began to poke around.  The store had a few locals in it with one small child really making an impression on me.  He was buying something for his mother.  On layaway.  Too cute.  I ended up purchasing a t-shirt with the RCMP on it.  It stayed in the bag until we got home due to that musty smell.

One of the more interesting facts about Stewart is that you can drive into Alaska from there.  I had always heard in all of my research and books that all roads lead to Tok.  I just had to visit the Last Frontier again so we headed out of the city after a quick walk with the dogs into Hyder, Alaska.

Hyder has a Beer Viewing Platform a few miles through town that we had wanted to check out.  The road to get there was the worst we had seen during the entire trip.  Mind you, we still had almost bare tires still.  The road was gravel with a capital G!

We finally arrived after a 2 mile, 15 minute drive, passing a mobile home area and a few buildings that looked empty and falling apart.  We paid our $2 fee and walked the boardwalk.  We did see some of the salmon running up the river to spawn.  There must have been hundreds of them thrashing about in the shallow rocky water.  Many of them had been beaten up bad from the rocks although they were still jumping and occasionally flushing with a potential mate.

There were many barely eaten fish along the banks.  I guess the bears had so much to go after, they only ate what they wanted and left the rest for the scavengers of the forest.  There were no bears though.  Some people in the know mentioned that they come in at 6 AM and 6 PM.  We were duped!

We had picked up some postcards along the way, but never got Canadian stamps.  Tom was quite happy that on the way back to Stewart, we saw a post office in Hyder.  We stopped and Tom mailed his postcards and then proceeded to another border crossing.

I was surprised on the way in to Hyder that we were just allowed to drive into the US without the border guards and Homeland Security.  I felt much more secure passing through into Canada this time.  The Border Guard was a lovely woman and, as always, welcomed ME home.  Then she looked at Tom and specifically asked him all of the questions about guns, reason, how long he plans on staying, almost with a chuckle in her voice but yet stern.  It was funny.

We got through the crossing without any problems.  We were off towards Victoria towards the ferry which will take us back to the contiguous US with a full tank of gas.  We stopped along the way to check out the glaciers which we sped by on the way into town.  They were so close and many had that blue sheen to them that we had seen days back.

It was all coming to an end.  A great trip through Canada and Alaska.  When it gets close to coming home, I get a bit amped up and start to race home.  It has always been the case and this was no different.  We still had many miles to go and a lot of them we had driven before.

Our first stop was to go to Hope, BC.  We stayed there last year when we traveled along the Trans Canada to Quebec.  We found our old campsite and settled in for the night.  We had a busy day the following day.  Ferries and the US.  Home again.

We woke up early, had some breakfast and headed towards the coast again.  I picked up some wifi the night before in town and found the info for the ferries.  We raced down to Vancouver and landed at the terminal along with many other cars.

We missed one ferry, but the next was just an hour away.  Another walk for the dogs at the terminal and then we were off headed across the sound to Victoria, BC, it's capital.  This is where it got a bit crazy for us, or rather me.

We arrived near the capital about 40 minutes before a ferry left to Washington.  I really wanted to catch that ferry.  I also wanted to take a picture of the capital.  I needed to get a picture of the dogs in front of the capital.

Fortunately, we found a parking spot on the side of the capital.  "OK!  Let's go!"

We are practically running towards the front of the building.  Dogs are manic, I'm manic, Tom's putting up with it.  We get there.  Click!  Click!  Click!  Click!  "OK!  Let's go!"

A few strangers wanted to say hi to the dogs.  NO!  Gotta go.

Back in the car, racing towards the terminal a few blocks away.  Buy tickets.  We are on standby.  Breathe!  breathe.

Homeland Security is there.  Border Patrol asks for the paperwork.  All is fine.  We just have to wait to see if we can get on.  If we can't, oh well.  It is just another night, one tat we probably would have enjoyed.

The long lines of cars were all getting on.  One by one until the lot was empty except for us.  They squeezed us in.  Made it.  And we said goodbye to Canada and Alaska.  We were definitely headed towards home now.  Our parting shot below was bittersweet.

On the way home

As the months fly by, the memories start to fade.  All that is left are the pictures and musings on our calendar.  On our way home, even those musings tended to die off with nothing noted in the squares on the month of August.

We did head out of Juneau, trying a different route back towards the Yukon.  I still had to pick up my new indian card.  I also needed to get a picture of BuddyJack & Luther at the Yukon Administration Building.

We drove a long way that day, passing more glaciers along the way.  Tom and I were both getting tired of them, which, I know, is pretty sad.  But how many glaciers can one see in a matter of a week?

I just had one more border to cross into Canada, or so I thought.  More on that unexpected detour in my next post.  My fears had ebbed and we crossed the border, again, with no issue.  Up to Whitehorse and back to the hippie campground we decided not to stay at the last time we were here.  It was a Sunday and there were a few sites left, so we paid our fee and set up camp, again.

I understand that I have used the word "again" over and over, but that was how it was feeling.  We set that huge tent up every day on the road less the two nights we spent in Juneau and Anchorage.  It was done with ease at this point, but yet it was also so tiring.

After setting the tent, we headed into town.  Back in Canada and no wifi, we drove over to McDonald's to steal some wifi and also to pick up some ice and nibbles at the store next to it.  It was Sunday, and the "city" was moderately quiet.  It was a great opportunity to check out the capital building.

We knew exactly where to go, as we passed by it the last time we were there.  A short drive and we parked across the street from the unimpressive building.  It may have been the grey skies or the ending of our journey, and I am sure it has it's pluses, but the building was blah.

We got out of the car and took the leashed dogs across the street for their photo op.  Click Click!  Click Click!  Back to camp for a shower, fire and dinner.  Then sleep so we could get up early, pack and get my darn indian card.

We did wake early and packed the car.  It was still cloudy and grey out, but we had a mission to accomplish.  Off to the government building which housed the indian affairs office.  The last time I was here it was 10 minutes before closing time on a Friday.  This time 10 minutes past opening on a Monday.

The clerk behind the glass was the same person that cut my last card in half.  She knew who I was and was sincerely happy that all worked out for us.  We had a quick chuckle and after receiving my new card, I was off.  And then, we were off.  Headed South towards British Columbia and eventually home in a few days.

We drove a few hours before deciding to stop at a lake and campsite along the road.  The skies had cleared except for some big puffy clouds and it was warm.  I wish I noted the lake because it was just so beautiful and clear.  We  drove around the campsites, planning on stopping at one to have some lunch.  The ones located along the water were all occupied, so we headed towards the dock and parked.

Tom prepared some classic PB&J while I tossed the balls into the lake for the dogs to fetch.  As usual, they loved it.  The water looked so inviting.  So inviting that I switched into my swim trunks and jumped in.  Not only was it clear, it was also very deep.  Just off the dock, my feet didm't hit the sand below.

We had our sandwiches, the dogs some scraps and we were off again.  Driving down Route 37 through BC was beautiful all the way.  We talked about the provinces and our recent journeys and agreed that each province and area had it's own personality, it's own feel.  BC is the best!

We stopped fairly early that night.  We found a great campsite along the way, located next to a lake with a very friendly campground host who chatted us up and brought us some wood.  She asked us if we were planning on checking out the Glacier Highway towards Stewart.  We had not planned on it, but after her strong recommendation, we decided to check it out the next day.

And again, tent, fire, food, bed.  We did play a few games of cribbage as the dogs slept.  And as night approached at a reasonable time, we too went sleep.  Just a few more days to home.