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Rd Trip...Ft Lauderdale to Vancouver Is
Drove an 02 Ford F 150 King Ranch model with so many bells an whistles some things I didn't discover for a month and pulled an 00 25'Safari, had absolutely NO probs with either, the truk handled the mtn passes an the flat way overheated praries with nary a prob
I left Ft Lauderdale end of June03 heading to the FAR FAR
NW.Stopped 2days each in Savannah and Charleston then up to WNY state to visit bro an his wife, then back to Jackson Ctr Ohio and the A/S factory visit
I recommend it takes about an hour an is interesting and informative
Then to St Louis an sev days there; did the Arch, Fox Theater,great clothes buys at the Famous Barr dept store downtown, parked the A/S across the river about 10 minutes tops to downdown St L.
Then to the FLL Wright house, Dana-Thomas in Springfield OH. a must see for FLLW fans such as I
Up to Wisconsin to Spring Green to visit Taliesin, the original country studio, another must see, the tours are VERY VERY well conducted by volunteers who know their material
West, then, thru seemingly 1000s of miles of corn, soybeans, and dust to Sturgis an the H-D rally, 2 days of the noise was about all I could handle so it was west still thru Wyoming into Montana and the Little Big Horn Battlefield site, and a truly impressive monument, impressive because there is no development anywhere near the site, humbling when one realizes the immense distances men and supplies had to travel in those times. Even more humbling when one realizes that those troops had to know they were facing certain death
I met at one rest area a young couple from PA who were traveling in a 1940 or 41 4 dr Mercury convertible fully restored pulling a restored very old TT, they had done a trip from PA thru the SW to LA and up the coast to Seattle and were heading home when I spoke with them........NO AIRCONDITIONING in the car, they said they hadn't realized how hot it was going to be, and except for a broken drive shaft in Washington they had NO probs at all
Up to Glacier Park stayed at the eastern entrance as fires were a problem at the other side but I was able to get to the top of Logan Pass
SO thats what Mountains look like?????? Not any in SOFLA
When I got to Banff Springs I found out what BIG mountains really are like. Spent a week in the area, did the ice fields, and the great hotels, stayed at Tunnel Mtn Park a natl park site, with great facilites
Down the Okenagen Valley to Washington and to Grand Coulee and the Cheif Dan dams, then west to Olympic Nat'l park, another def must see place. Parked the trailer at Port Angeles an took the ferry across to Victoria, did the tourist things there and drove up the length of Vancouver Is to Pt. Hardy and the No. Pacific ocean, where my dog Hamish, a Scottie was the hit of the RV park. He had never been in the water previously, so when we got to the beach he went running madly into the surf, which at that time wasn't but very small waves. First wave he bit at an it disapeared, he turned around to chase it and another came up behind hime an knocked him butt over teacups, so to speak. And time after time he picked himself up an had a grand time playing for himself an a gathering crowd. When I thought he had enuf I had to get into the water an pull him out as he didn't want to stop. The water was far colder than what we have in Fla.
Back down to Tofino for another few days still on the Pacific Ocean
A few quik observations.........
Crossing into Canada and back into the US took minutes, barely five on each occasion, north of Glacier PK into Alberta, and later at the southern end of the Okenagen Valley into Washington
Driving thru Calgary with the streets under construction I had visions of truly major nerve problens with traffic while pulling a TT. Sev times I had to change lanes, no problem, put on the directional flashers and each time traffic to my left or right slowed and opened space for me to change, couldn't wave my thanks but did flash the lites and hoped they recognized my thank you.
Same thing passing thru from Vallejo CA. on the way early one AM to hook up with I-5 . Morning rush hour and traffic could not have been more kind nor generous.
The vast expanses of the northern Great Plains have to be experienced to be believed, some times I stopped at rest areas to walk myself an the dog an as far as one could see there was no habitation.....just corn
The heat was another revelation some times way over 105 an 110 degrees
The total politeness of people I encountered, info offered with generosity, inquiring where I was from and where I was headed
The immense volume of BIG truk traffic on the interstates.
And here I have to offer my thanks to the vision of Pres Eisenhower for the impetus to construct them after he saw during during Allied advances into Germany during WW2 how helpful the German autobahns were in moving men and equipment rapidly
I was on the road for almost 4 months, traveled about 17K miles, had an experience that was memorable
Now back to work, Airstream for sale in Ft Lauderdale sadly to say
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