July 28 - August 3

28-July-2004
This morning we went up to the Hurricane Visitors Center in Olympic Nat’l Park where Renae did her Junior Ranger program thing. Then we drove to the Hoh Rainforest, which gets 12 feet of rain a year and did a little hike in there. After a delicious supper of scallops and potatoes on the beach (compliments of my father) we hung out on the beach and watched the sunset before getting a little shopping done at Safeway and finding a place to sleep along the road close to the ferry we’re planning on catching in the morning. – posted by Nicole

29-July-2004
Today we had to get up pretty early because we were taking the first ferry to Victoria in the morning. We had slept right in front of the place so that when it opens he could be the first one in line. We were the first
one in line and had to move up at five or so in the morning, but we were allowed to stay in the camper while we moved. We had gotten to bed really late at 11:30 and I slept through it all. They started boarding at 7:45 even though the ferry left at 8:20. We had to wait about 10 or 15 minutes in the pick-up before we could actually go onto the ferry. Even though we got there first, we were one of the last ones on. The ferry was pretty nice. It wasn’t that big, but it was the biggest one that went to Victoria. It was full and we couldn’t find a table or chair at all. We did eat in the little snack bar thing, but it was so expensive. We made it to Victoria at around 10 or so and had to go through customs to get into Canada. The lady there didn’t check too much our camper and stuff, just asked a couple of questions. They needed to see birth certificates for those of us that were born in Botswana, then we went through Victoria and ate at a Vietnamese place for Nicole, since she had gone one time with her youth group and loved it. I thought it was really good, too, but she didn’t think it was as good as the one she had gone to before. After that we went to a state park close by because our waiter suggested it to us and said it was really neat. It wasn’t that neat, though, and the waiter reminded me of my art teacher at school, Mr. Loercher, because he talked like him and had the same mannerisms. Anyway, then we watched a movie at the IMAX theater called Roar: Lions of the Kalahari. Dad enjoyed it a lot because he had been to all of the places they mentioned in it. In the credits it said people who had helped from Botswana, but he couldn’t read them because everybody was standing up in front of him. Then we drove up Vancouver Island until we made it to Nanaimo and ate at a small beach area and then headed for the ferry to Vancouver, which left at 9. We made it just about 10 minutes before it boarded. It loaded up a whole bunch of cars and we were almost up front when we stopped and the ferry left. We thought we’d have to wait until the morning to take that one, but a guy said that there was another one coming in about 15 minutes and we could get on that one. They must’ve been an hour late or something. On the outside, the ferry looked about as big as the first one we took, but this one had three vehicle decks while the other only had one. It was a lot fancier and bigger, too. The deck was at least twice the size of the other one and had an arcade room, big restaurant, kid’s place, and a lot more chairs that were like airplane seats. It’s not even that long of a ferry, though- only one and a half hours. When we got to Vancouver, we went until we found a place in the parking lot of a store. We got kicked out, though, and had to move somewhere else. Dad was scared before we even went to bed but it was midnight and everyone was tired. He thought that in Canada they might kick us out faster. They did. I slept through it all, though, even though they say they knocked really loudly on the door and yelled through the window. –posted by Renae

30-July-2004
We had some decisions to make this morning – like, do we want to do some things in Vancouver, or just drive & head on down through the Cascades and on to Montana? Some of these decisions become big deals! And lots of votes are taken and of course not everyone is entirely happy, but everyone gets their say, and then we go with what gets the most votes. That’s what democracy is all about, right?! The girls had gotten some brochures with various things to do & the one free one that made the grade, was visiting a salmon hatchery. Since we were in the area where it was anyway, we stopped in. Most options were quite pricey & we weren’t that excited about them. Anyway… Finished there at noon & headed on down to Washington. At the border we all had to get out of the pickup & go in while they searched the camper and ended up taking only 2 apples that were from New Zealand. We were afraid they were going to take most of our food, but luckily everything else had stickers on to prove it was from the US. The people in line in front of us got a lot taken, including meat. Drove on down through the North Cascades Nat’l Park & stopped & b-b-qued hamburgers by the lake which was beautiful. Then kept driving, hoping to find a place to pull over & sleep, but there wasn’t anywhere so we just kept going. There was a guy along the road, stopped with a flare out, so we backed up to him to see if he needed help. He didn’t – someone was coming to help him. But, as we took off again, the truck did not go into gear for a bit & it was pretty weird. What it all came down to was that the transmission is completely messed up. We ended up crippling it to a pull-out place along the road & sleeping there till morning. Apparently there were warning signs earlier that something wasn’t quite right, but we kept going. Ah… will these problems never end?? -posted by Jolene

When we got fuel at a service station Jolene noticed the two axles on the trailer were too close together, and upon closer inspection I noticed the back spring hangar weld had broken off. If only I would have brought a welder along – I told my family I should have brought more tools. It was Friday afternoon, and I knew I had to do something quickly, so I went to this truck hitch facility and they made a call to try and get help, but nobody could do it until Monday. He said he had a welder and could weld, but could not jack it up and position it. I told him if he will weld it I will get it in place. But he then put his floor jack on it and did it himself. He thought the trailer was much heavier and he could not handle it. He welded it up and we were ready to go in under ½ hour. I found out he was a certified welder and used to build trailers. Charged me $20.00 – we ran into a lot of good people on this trip. When we left the shop the transmission sent an error code and started acting up, but I didn’t think it was real serious, however in a short time we discovered it was not a small problem. – posted by Roger

31-July-2004
This morning Roger woke up about 5:30 & started working at the truck, hoping that maybe overnight it fixed itself!! Alas, it didn’t. Turns out we were only a couple miles from this little town of Winthrop, WA, where we went to. The truck would go for a little bit, then lose all power & not go, so he’d have to turn it off and start it again & it would go a little bit again. There was a garage open & he talked to the guy, who said they could help him, but the garage part was closed till Monday morning (this was Sat. morning). He told us about this campground just a couple blocks away, which is where we went to & are now. This will be probably the longest we’ve stayed anywhere on this trip yet – we’ll be here till at least Tuesday. They can get parts in one day, so hopefully Monday they tear into it & see what they need, Tuesday the parts come, they fix it, and we can move on. We’ll see. Roger & Travis have been working on various things with the pickup & camper that have been on Roger’s list the whole trip. The girls have explored the town on their bikes & walking, and everyone went swimming at the river that runs through the town and is very clear, clean water. (reminds me of Waterville). And I’ve enjoyed the air-conditioning (it’s high 90’s today) & reading my book! It’s also great to have showers anytime we want, and laundry needed to be done anyway. So I suppose having this happen wasn’t all bad, and it is good to sit for a couple days. A blessing in disguise you might say. –posted by Jolene

1-August-2004
Wow! I can’t believe it’s August already! The summer’s going by so fast. This morning we walked about a mile to a nondenominational church. It was nice little church. After church we walked to a store nearby and got groceries. We all walked back to the campground with a bag. After lunch we just relaxed and went to the creek since it was over 100 degrees. We had hot dogs & vegetables on the grill for supper. That evening we watched The Hunt for Red October. It was pretty good, a bit hard to follow at times, but it was good. It was a late night –posted by Lisa

2-August-2004
Well today was not my favorite day – but that’s part of the fun of winging it I guess. On Saturday when I was assured I could not get any work done until Monday we got a campground, and then I returned to the shop and inquired with the owner whether I could get it attended to on Monday because it was a small one-man shop and I wasn’t sure about the capabilities. They seemed to be quite knowledgeable and I was told it would be attended to first thing Monday morning (later I found out he was also the owner of the business). In any case I was assured whatever it was the parts could come overnight and I would be on the road on Tuesday. He told me even if the transmission was gone a replacement would be there the next day and it would be a one day job. When I went down in the morning I waited about one hour and they did get the computer codes and checked a few items and decided the transmission would need to be replaced. Before I went to the shop I also had been in contact with Landis Transmissions, who had overhauled the transmission a week or two before I left on this trip, and they assured me it would be covered with warranty. They agreed to pay all my additional expenses up to the amount I paid for the overhaul, which was $1905.00. Anyway when I inquired more about getting an exchange unit I was told they would not be able to do it until Friday, but most likely the following Monday or Tuesday. I was not very happy. I talked to the owner and reminded him what he told me, and he said he’ll talk with his worker and see, but by that time I was pursuing other options, as I was not too impressed with them getting an exchange transmission in anyway. Landis would have rather had an ATRA approved shop involved anyway. Landis gave me numbers of one approved shop in Seattle and two in Wenatchee, and I called the one to get a quote for towing, and they came back with a tow bill of $235.00 which I said if he can get right up I will go ahead. By this time it was 10:00AM and he said he would be there by 11:30 and get me back to the shop and they promised they would get me in right away and check it out so they could order parts and have me back on the road in a couple days. When the tow truck came it was with a new trailer which the newly retired owner had built and pulled by an old pickup that was painted up nice and said Cheap Tow. He jumped out and got me loaded and the truck just so fit on, but we got going and only got a few miles down the road before we noticed smoke coming from the tires and found out the fender was too close to the tire and was rubbing. He had no jacks along or blocks and no spare tire, so we got things from my truck to jack it up part way and dig out under the tire so we could remove it to pound out the newly painted fender so it would not rub. He is building these trailers to sell, and was trying it out. We got it back together and left and I told him I think the back axle was also rubbing, but he was convinced it was not and a mile further down the smoke was rolling off and when we checked the tire was rubbed to the point it was ruined. This on a new tire and no spare tire available. We stopped and pulled that wheel and worked on the fender until we got it fixed and then proceeded again. The transmission was not very sound on his truck and with this heavy load I was not convinced it would even get us there, but I guess that’s what you get with Cheap Tow. He kept telling me the whole way down about what a good deal I am getting and how much money I saved, and he would not even charge for the extra time it took since he had to stop and work on the trailer. He was a real work of art, and a big talker, and I am convinced he had himself believing everything he said. It was an interesting ride, and we talked about many things. I learned all about his life etc. The trailer swayed at any speed over 45 mph so we had to take our time and we finally got to the shop just as they were closing a little after 5:00 PM, which meant another day was shot. When I went to take it off the pickup I saw he left the key on and the battery was completely dead. We then had to jump it to get it started. I was glad I was at least at a shop, and I asked at the small shop if they would be able to get at it first thing in the morning as they said, and they assured me no problem It looked busy there, and I told them I was concerned about it. I did call the other shop in town and found out they would also be able to put me right in and have me out in 2 or 3 days. But since I was assured again and felt good here I decided to stay. The shop owner then took me to the airport to get a rental car which I had arranged, and I left that night after getting a bite to eat. On the way down I noticed a sign for free wireless internet at a roadside fruit stand which I found interesting. It was dark and late when I got back up there (I was 2 hours from the shop), but I pulled in to check and sure enough I could sit outside and get on the internet. Amazing! I spent about two hours there until my battery went dead, working on the internet. It was interesting it was dark late at night but I sat outside the fruit stand on a bench and was connected. Why can’t other places be as good as a fruit stand. I got home around midnight and discovered the kids spent the day playing and riding bike to a state park around three miles away and in the evening the whole family played games. I guess they had a nice relaxing day, something I could not say. That’s the breaks, I guess.

3-August-2004
Today we got up and loafed around camp and checked into white water rafting, but it is not that great now because it is too late and the water is too low. The wild rapids rafting is not available until next spring again. After that we messed around and then I decided to head down to town to see if my truck was being worked on as promised. Travis and Nicole went along, and on the way we stopped at the internet place and worked online a bit. We found a receptacle to hook in to and stayed a bit and then headed to town. When we got there around 3:30 PM and went to the shop I discovered they had not touched my truck yet. I had called a few times earlier and they said they were working on it, but I was not convinced and went down to see. I was very discouraged and told them I was not too happy. They are such a nice couple, and really felt bad and he promised to work that night until he got it out and apart. I felt bad for them, I know how things can go, but I hate it when people promise too much and cannot deliver. They really did feel bad I believe, and I decided to mess around town and see if anything happens that night yet. I didn’t think it would. We did some other running around and right now I am on the phone at a 7-Eleven and writing this and who walks up but the tow truck driver. Small town USA I guess. I did go past the shop around 6:00 and saw that the truck was pulled in, but when I passed again at 7:30, the shop was closed up and nobody was there. Is there no end to delays? I am upset, but don’t want to get too angry with him, or we’ll never get out. We stopped at the internet place again, plugged in and finished our internet stuff. That is where I am now as I am sending this. I don’t know what the others did today, but probably swam, read and took it easy. - posted by Roger