Trips – Dan Leeth

Heading Home

Dianne wanted to spend extra time with her parents, so I drove home solo. I enjoyed two days on the road alone, covering around 800 miles and not once hearing about what I was doing wrong.

[Correction: At one point, I did drive across a parking lot without fastening my seat belt and like a good wife, the Subie warning buzzer screamed at me.]

When I booked a motel for the drive, I found it was far cheaper to book a room in Wells, Nevada, off I-80 rather than a room in Ely along U.S. 40, my preferred route.

Advertised as the California Trail, I-80 is fast (75-80 mph) and offers lots of rest areas, but the scenery is only slightly less boring than driving across Kansas.

It’s largely mountain-studded, empty desert covered with sagebrush (Nevada state tree). I had an ex-girlfriend who loved this terrain. It didn’t take long for her to become an EX-girlfriend.

I was making good time across the state and it looked as if I’d arrive at the motel way ahead of normal check in time. I studied at my trusty AAA map for options and found a backroad south of Battle Mountain, Nevada, that supposedly led to two ghost towns. The Subaru was eager to get off the highway, so I decided to check them out.

We didn’t find the alleged ghost towns, but we did find some pretty hillsides and the Subie was thrilled to get to wear…

…a fresh coating of desert dirt.

I bunked for the night in a Super 8 motel, and for breakfast, I headed over to what passes in America as a Tim Hortons. [If you’ve been to Canada, you know what I’m talking about.] I bought coffee and fruit (yes, an apple fritter is fruit) for breakfast.

Subie and I entered Utah, drove past the Bonneville Salt Flats…

…and worked our way through Salt Lake City during Sunday, bumper-to-bumper, rush hour traffic. We were eventually on our way south to Green River, where, of course, I stopped for lunch at Ray’s Tavern.

Ninety miles later, I arrived at our home in Fruita and unloaded.

In all, we drove over 4,300 miles through nine states and two provinces [or ten states and no provinces for you MAGA believers]. It cost a few coins, but as my friend Don points out, nobody has ever seen an armored car following a hearse. We had a good time, saw some interesting territory and now have 22 bottles of prime Canadian wine to savor over the long, hot Grand Valley summer.

Unfortunately, I suspect Dianne will want the car washed.

To Gardnerville

From Crater Lake, we drove south to Gardnerville, Nevada, for a visit with the in-laws.

It’s roughly a 350-mile drive, largely through farm and cattle country, which should take us around six hours to complete. Leaving the lake at 9:00 a.m. in the morning, we figured we’d arrive at the in-laws around 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon.

About 2/3rd of the way down one long, lonely stretch of California highway, we came to a construction road block. We had a choice of either waiting three hours for the road to open, or backtracking over 100 miles and taking another route. I’m used to waiting (I’m married), but even Dianne doesn’t usually take that long to do something (most things). We turned around to head back.

A few miles back up the highway, we came to a side road that would take us to another highway that bypassed the closure. It required negotiating 27-miles of graded-dirt, county road – ideal Subaru wilderness country.

A local rancher driving by assured us that the road was in good condition and would take us to where we wanted to be.

We passed a pair of locals walking along the road…

…and saw seas of yellow flowers painting the ground.

It took nearly an hour to cover all 27 miles, but we eventually reached pavement and were on our way into Nevada…

We arrived at the in-law’s house around 6:30 for a delightful (but short) visit.

That was Thursday. On Friday, I took the Subie into the local dealer to have the blinker fluid changed. Some dealers wash the car when you bring it in for service, but not this one.

Subie still proudly wears some of the dirt from her 27-mile detour.

On to Crater Lake

Rather than eat the free breakfast at the motel (granola bar plus coffee), we headed over to Lenny’s for steak and eggs – a real American breakfast.

Then it was back on the interstate heading south. Tired of dodging trucks and Californians who think they’re NASCAR drivers, the captain (me) made an executive decision We would find an off-the-freeway route to the south. My trusted navigator, Dianne (a woman who shares DNA with that famous pilot, Wrong Way Corrigan), plotted a route that would take us west through Corvallis and down through farm country to Eugene. That was the plan. This is what we ended up with.

Did I mention Wrong Way Corrigan? In 1938, he set out to fly from New York to California, but ended up in Ireland. We missed Ireland, but somehow ended up on a narrow, paved road that wound like a drunken snake through the coastal forests of Oregon.

Surrounded by a corridor of greenery and with virtually no traffic, we loved the detour, stopping several times for photos along the way.

In Eugene, we got back on our planned two-lane route that would take us to Crater Lake.

Heading into the national park, we encountered snow.

The more convenient north entrance to the park was still closed due to snow, as were the roads around the crater rim.

We had reservations at the beautiful Crater Lake Lodge…

…one of those beautiful hotels built back when rooms were small…

…and lobbies grand.

Crater Lake has always had a special place in my memory. The first time I was up here was with my Kansas-born father.

He looked out at the glistening blue water filling an extinct volcanic crater and said…

…”It’s just another lake.” Lot of those in Kansas, I’m sure.

Well, it’s a pretty damn special lake to me. We had two nights here, perfect for just sitting back enjoying the lake…

…checking on the wildlife…

…and devouring lodge dinners of steak downed with Oregon wine.

Ferry to the States

We had prebooked passage on the early ferry back to the states. With our hotel sitting directly across from the terminal, it was easy for us to be the very first car in line for boarding.

The Coho ferry arrived, we boarded, and soon were on our way back to the United States.

The peaks of the Olympic Mountains loomed ahead as we left Victoria’s harbor.

After about 90 minutes afloat, we arrived in Port Angeles, cleared customs and were on our way south along the Olympic Peninsula to Olympia. From there, we headed down I-5 toward Oregon. We crossed into Portland with plenty of traffic to keep us company..

We continued south to Salem, where we stayed in yet another Days Inn. Nothing fancy here, but it was clean and comfortable.

That night we headed out to a local seafood restaurant for a tasty dinner.

Butchart Gardens

Sunday, our final full day in Victoria, we spent wandering through the world famous Butchart Gardens.

A century ago, Robert and Jennie Butchart moved to Vancouver Island to build a cement plant. As cement production exhausted the limestone deposits, Jennie envisioned a grand garden in its place. This is the result.

We spent nearly seven hours walking around, trying to capture the beauty in digits. Here’s just a little of what we saw:

One of the popular things to do in Victoria is to go whale watching. We didn’t have time to do that, so Dianne did the next best thing. At the Butchart Gardens carousel, she went whale riding.

We finally left Butchart Gardens without buying a thing in the gardens’ gift shop.

And then it Rained

The day dawned wet and rainy.

It looked like a stay-indoors sort of day, but the rain finally cleared and we got out in some afternoon sun for a boat tour of the Victoria harbor.

Waiting for our departure , we took a quick peek inside the Fairmont Empress Hotel across the street. It proved to be even nicer than our Days Inn.

Onboard our harbor cruise, we motored under old trestle bridges, now part of the Galloping Goose Regional Trail, a popular 55-kilometer rail trail connecting Victoria to the ghost town of Leechtown north of Sooke.

And we saw wildlife.

It proved to be a pleasant way to spend time and experience a different side of Victoria.

A Dry Day in Victoria

We awoke to beautiful blue skies. This should be a perfect day to explore Victoria’s harborfront.

We had breakfast at the restaurant in the hotel…

…and back in our room, we watched as the ferry from Port Angeles arrived, unloaded, reloaded and took off. This will be our vessel back on Monday.

Ready to hit the streets, I donned my cap (“I like your hat” locals keep telling me)…

…grabbed a camera (cell phone only today), and we set off on a stroll around the harbor. Our first stop was to find a jeweler who could fix a broken clip on Dianne’s pendant. That quest first took us to an indoor mall in downtown Victoria. It was the first and only shopping mall I’ve visited this century.

The jewelry store employee here told Dianne to take her necklace to a small repair guy nearby in Old Town. On our way there, we passed the standing facade of an old building being renovated. Only the front and back walls remained…

…bearing the date of the original construction.

The pendant repaired, we set off again on foot, crossing in rainbow-painted crosswalks sure to make the anti-gay folks in America consider jaywalking. Designed to demonstrate the city’s commitment to inclusivity, they’ll need to be repainted when Canada becomes the 51st state.

Ahead, we saw a bridge high in the air…

…so this high-masted vessel could scoot through.

Through the use of counterweights, 75 horsepower electric motors are all it takes to raise and lower this 870-ton span.

With the bridge safely back down, we crossed over and headed to the Delta Hotels Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort for washrooms and a brew. This hotel seems just a bit fancier than our Days Inn across the water.

Rather than return back across the bridge, we took a taxi…

One can’t go to Canada and not have poutine, so we asked around and found this little poutine and burger place down near the harbor.

Fries, cheese curds and gravy.

Oh so good!

On to Victoria

Our Ucluelet stay completed, we packed our bags, paid our bill (ouch) and were soon driving back across the island and down to Victoria on the southern coast of Vancouver Island.

A few observations about driving in Canada: Speed limits are merely suggestions, tailgating is the norm and Canadians aren’t afraid to pass, regardless of curves and double yellow lines. For the most part, the pavement is more intact than most roads in Colorado.

We arrived in Victoria, found our Days Inn motel, and checked into our room, which cost more per night than our quarters at the Black Rock Resort.

After hauling our gear up to the room, we hit the streets. The hotel is located along the waterfront…

…directly across the street from the ferry that we’ll take to get back to the U.S.A.

Close to downtown, the area offers paved walking trails to explore…

…from which we watched water taxis scoot across the harbor…

…and float planes take to the air.

We “dined” at Victoria’s version of Fisherman’s Wharf, a collection of small eateries along the waterfront.

There, we shared a table with a couple from Tennessee who were returning from a voyage to Alaska on one of these things:

After dinner, Dianne and I walked over to the cruise ship docks and gazed at these floating cities. This Royal Caribbean vessel has 2,091 guest rooms and can accommodate 4,180 guests. Our river cruise boat in Portugal held 30 passengers. That’s more our style.

To the Lighthouse

The sky was beautifully blue and cloudless when we awoke. We had planned to drive to the top end of the island today, but decided instead simply to hang out at the hotel and watch the waves crash against the rocks. That’s something we don’t experience on Colorado’s Western Slope.

Around midday, Dianne noticed a bank of clouds moving in from the west. We decided to do a loop hike around the local lighthouse before the weather deteriorated.

We drove out to the parking lot for the Amphitrite Lighthouse, and with skies turning 50 shades of gray, we set off down the Wild Pacific Trail, a two-mile loop along the coast and through the trees.

The views of ocean and rocks were stunning.

…with plenty of twisted trees to amuse us.

Completing the loop, we approached the lighthouse from the other side.

A “visitor center” sort of building stood near the lighthouse. Inside we examined the skull of an orca (killer whale). I definitely would not want to tangle with one of these toothy guys.

Instead of dining at the hotel, tonight we dined in the Floathouse, a floating restaurant…

…located by the fishing boats in the Ucluelet marina.

Now, that’s something else we don’t get to do in western Colorado.

Pacific Rim National Park – day one

After a little in-room, French Press coffee followed by breakfast in the restaurant, we headed out to explore Canada’s Pacific Rim National Park.

Our first stop was the Ucluelet visitor center where we didn’t buy anything – no mugs, no t-shirts, nothing.

Next stop was Wickaninnish Beach…

…which is apparently a popular spot for surfers, all of whom were wearing wet suits.

Our goal was to drive to and explore the town of Tofino…

…which we would have done if we could have found a parking place in town.

Like Banff, Gatlinburg and our own Estes Park, Tofino appears to be just another national park tourist trap packed with businesses designed to separate me from my money. Some people love those kinds of places, but not us. I’m glad we’re bunking in much more sedate Ucluelet.

Tofino and Ucluelet lie about 41 kilometers apart, and there’s a nice bike pathway connecting them. The round-trip ride would be a nice 50 miles. We have friends who would find that to be a pleasant morning ride.

Risking the fate of Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother, we stopped for a bathroom break at the Kwisitis visitor center.

Besides clean toilets, it offered some impressive, first nations’ displays inside…

…and views of Wickaninnish Beach outside.

The day was absolutely beautiful. Here, where folks go to storm watch, we were being treated to nearly perfect weather. From our balcony, we could look out on the water reflecting cloudless blue skies.

And since we came to Canada on a wine-tasting trip, we found yet another bottle of Kelowna’s best on the restaurant menu to enjoy with dinner.