Parque Natural Mexiquillo

6.29.2015

Canada O Canada

The border crossing at Blaine was painless. The nice lady border guard asked me four different ways if I had any guns. I said no four times and she waved me on through.

I found a nice bondocking spot on Dyke Road along the Frazer River. (49.116973, -123.103500) Large ocean going ships ply these waters on their way to and from Vancouver's port.




Headed for Vancouver Island. I was just 10 minutes late for the ferry, but first in line the next. They run every hour. 



Into belly of the leviathan I go.
A beautiful day on the water















Tonight I am at the Victoria Walmart. Tomorrow I will head toward Jordan River seeking a more scenic spot to settle into. I need a place to hunker down during Canada Day, coming this Wednesday.





6.25.2015

La Conner

La Conner was first settled in May 1867 thriving on logging and fishing. It was once the county seat of Skagit County. Today it is a quaint town of 900 that now flourishes on tourism. 


Many of the historical building have been repurposed as restaurants and art galleries. There is thriving art colony here and a couple of galleries caught my eye. I was lusting after the stunning glass pieces in the Earthworks Gallery and the furniture and sculpted wood pieces in the Wood Merchant exhibited exceptional craftsmanship. 



Local whimsy




One of the beautiful old homes.

Tomorrow I head into Canada.



6.21.2015

Family Time

I am visiting with my nephew Dylan Bainbridge Island. It has been a while since I have seen Dylan and Meghan and I am meeting their two boys, Luke and Brennan for the first time.
Talk about firsts, this is Luke's first try at riding a pedal bike. It was amazing, within an hour he had mastered staying up right and making turns.

Meghan and Brennan cheering Luke on.

Bainbridge Island is a beautiful place to live. They have great parks to enjoy.

Higher dad


Dylan and I had a scenic paddle not far from his house. All the streets that end at the water on the island allow public access. What a great idea. 


Nice homes that can only be viewed from the water.



6.19.2015

Beach with a View

Ocean City, WA is home to some spectacular wood carvings at Ocean City Market Place. Can’t miss it, right at the jog in hwy 109. (47.071379, -124.165992)






Work in progress
Joe is holding one of his elegant creations. He comes from a family of wood carvers. His father, aunts, and uncles are all artists and display their creations here. 


South Beach

No, I have not been magically transported back to Florida, but South Beach Campground, OR. (47.568103, -124.361592)
Following my 2 by 2 axiom, less than 200 miles and off the road by 2, paid off big today. I arrived at South Beach C.G. by 12:30 and scored one of the coveted sites on the low bluff over looking the Pacific. By 3 all the ocean side sites were snapped up. Great view for only $5 night with my old fart pass.



Hundreds of mostly 3 to 4 inch crabs litterer the beach. Was this the result of predators, or something else? An even more interesting question is why are they all males?    




Catching Surf Perch, yummy

Great walking beach.
My new pedometer app totaled 14,578 steps.
Three gastropods hunker down, their operculums sucked in tight, waiting for high tide and salvation. Only 7.5 hours to go.   



Spectacular end to another great day on the road.


  

6.13.2015

Delamination Fix


Serenity is showing her age. She has some delmaination going on, and it is not cost effective to have her re-skinned. When the sun hits her aluminum skin it bulges out do to the expanding hot air trapped beneath. My low tech/cheap solution was to use aluminum screw posts to pull the wall together.


Posts come in 1/4 inch increments. You need one
a little shorter than your wall is thick.



Sanded and painted the heads
before installation.
Laying out the post's placement.

I first drilled with a smaller drill, pop rivet diameter, in case I hit the 2 inch square frame. I did not, so I enlarged them to the diameter of the posts.



My brother calked and held the post in while I screwed in the male end from the inside.


Finished





















Tonight I have a scenic camp on the Willapa River. (map)
$100,000 view for just $10