Note: we used to embed mapquest clickable maps showing our routes but have noticed that some of the older ones no longer render properly and in some cases render incorrectly, for example on one map, from a few years ago, where we had referenced Lincoln City OREGON started to render with a reference to Lincoln City NEBRASKA making it look like a very weird route. So now we save the map as a jpeg and insert that instead but the "travel route" link will open as a true mapquest clickable map so we can always give that a go and see how it renders over time.
We usually post Sunday to Saturday so this is a short week to start the trip.
We left home on Wednesday. A bit of an inauspicious start...
Called Visa Wednesday morning to let them know we will be traveling. Apparently Brian's card has been (or could be) "compromised" and they want to replace it. But we are leaving in about 2 hrs!!! So, they won't cancel the card right now and we will let them know a few days before we get to Houston and they'll send a new one there.... but they will monitor and could cancel it at any time!
Paid $1500 to get the car tuned up and ready for the road trip... just south of Nanaimo the "check engine soon" light comes on. CRAP!... so we stop in at a Nissan dealer in Victoria. Need a "left rear oxygen sensor". So what does that mean? Well we can continue driving but will likely see a drop in gas mileage. We'll look to get that done in Houston as well (or somewhere sooner if it can be arranged) but will have to put up with the "check engine soon" light staring us in the face. Might be time for a little yellow sticky to put over it. So much for making the late afternoon ferry to Port Angeles!
Since they had sold out reservation space on the Thursday morning ferry, could we get there early enough to leave our car and trailer in the Coho Ferry lot overnight to make sure we got on in the "first come first served" line? No, unfortunately the visit to Nissan nixed that idea. So we googled Coho Ferry to find that they open at 5:00AM. We thought about calling on our friends but decided to grab a hotel room at the Embassy Inn just up the street from the ferry terminal. Wanting to make sure we got on, I, Brian, decided to get up early, be the "first in line" then once in, I could go back to the hotel and catch a couple more hours of sleep and a bit of breakfast before having to be back at the car by 9:00AM for US customs checking. So a little before 5:00 AM I headed down to the terminal. Hey, first in line... good...
BUT ... 5:00 AM rolls around and no sign of anyone to open the gate...
6:00 AM rolls around and no sign of anyone to open the gate...
(GOOD GRIEF)... about 7:30 another car pull up behind me and the guy asks me what time they open the gate (HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW... I'VE BEEN THE FOOL SITTING HERE SINCE 5:00AM!)... Anyway they open at 8:00AM and I am the first one in and still have time to whip back up to the hotel for a shower and some breakfast before getting back by 9:00AM. On the way back we stop at their main office desk and "ask politely" about their hours. Buddy says "we open at 8:00AM". I say they might want to consider updating their hours online because it says they are open from 5:00AM to 8:00PM. "No way" Buddy exclaims then googles "Coho Ferry" and lo and behold sees that they are indeed advertising that they open at 5:00AM.... Their hours are actually from 8:00AM to 5:00PM. Somebody got it backwards...at least we got on!
Somehow, although we were first in the "first come first served" line and boarded early, we ended up being the last vehicle off the ferry in Port Angeles. Now, we all think these custom guys have a quota they have to meet and apparently US Custom buddy had not met his on this day. We were pulled over and buddy went through our stuff with a fine toothed comb. GOOD GRIEF.... and another hour of our lives we won't get back... not to mention that they can tear everything apart and not have to "clean up after themselves". Oh well, best to grin and bear it... and eventually it ends. Nothing found, he finally wished us well on our travels and waved us away. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!
We motor off happy to be on our way. We stop at a Safeway in Sequim (pronounced Squim) to add some groceries to the coolers that the custom guy could not believe were empty. Then it was off south to Gig Harbor, about a 2.5 hour drive, to the Gig Harbor RV Resort for the night. After getting set up we drove into the historic center of Gig Harbor to the Tides Tavern for a couple of glasses of wine and some munchies before calling it a night. A long day.
Friday morning, I, Brian, decide to call a Nissan dealer in Portland to see if they can fix us up with a new "left rear oxygen sensor". After being put on hold for a while I finally get through to the service department. The guy explains that he can fit me in on Saturday if the parts department can get the part. He transfers me to the parts department where after sitting on hold for a while longer I finally get to explain our situation. The guy says he can get the part by Saturday morning but I have to prepay it before he can transfer me back to the service department for an appointment. Fine... I go to get my Visa card (hoping they don't reject the transaction) and while doing so my "pay as you go" phone plan from Rogers RUNS OUT OF TIME....and my connection is dropped... GOOD GRIEF!!! So I go online and add more time while noticing that so far the call to the dealer in Portland has used up over $40 worth of time but what can you do??? After getting the time added, I call the dealer back and speak with a different guy in the parts department who then proceeds to explain to me that, it being Easter weekend, they actually can't get the part until Tuesday at the earliest (the first guy didn't know!)... so we are stuck with the "check engine soon" light for a while yet.
After packing up we headed off, in the rain, south to Portland. I-5 freeway traffic was heavy and parts of the way it rained really hard so with a lot of large trucks the water coming up off the road made for a pretty uncomfortable ride. There's a reason we generally avoid freeways, but the next week or so will likely be nothing but freeway.
Oh well... we are now in Portland at least. After checking in at the Roamer's Rest RV Park in Tualatin, a southern suburb of Portland, we went over to the Best Buy store in Washington Square and picked up a GPS, our first foray into this particular technology. Afterwards we drove south a bit further on I-5 to Wilsonville where we picked up some groceries at Fred Meyer then stopped in at McMenamins for some wine and dinner. Nice evening. Saturday we had morning tickets to see the special exhibit "Italian Style Fashion since 1945" at the Portland Art Museum. We decided to use the new GPS to see how well it works even though we knew how to get there anyway. It picked basically the same route that we likely would have picked ourselves so that was quite comforting right off the bat. On the way we made a wrong turn coming off the I-405 freeway and the GPS picked it up immediately and recalculated the route before we even knew we went off the planned route. Impressed we were! Looks like a keeper so we'll have to come up with a name for "her" :-)
The Italian Style Fashion exhibit was simply phenomenal and well worth the trip. The exhibit was organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum and consisted of couturier pieces from the late 1940's to early 21st century. There was a lot of supporting material/videos and you could get very close to the pieces and have a really good look. (Kris would have liked a bit of 'hands on' for an inspection of tailoring techniques, but that would have been frowned upon.) There were mens garments as well as ladies' evening wear and day wear. The Armani pieces really stand out - the design sense is truly at a higher level. Part of the exhibit that was fascinating were the garments that society ladies outside Italy had made by their local dressmakers. These garments were not knock-offs, they were original designs in the Italian style. While the evening gowns for the runway in Italy in the late fifties were incredibly tiny (think 18 inch waist kind of tiny), the dresses made for the real people were a normal size. If no one had been looking and there hadn't been a gazzilion alarms, Kris could have quite nicely made off with a beautiful navy wool coat. These designs, for the most part, could be worn today and not look dated. The last exhibit showed current garments from designers in the Portland area and was a wonderful example of local talent.
After the museum we drove over to the Pearl District where we parked the car for a few hours. We stopped for lunch at Piattino where the tomato soup and pizza were to brag about. Very good. After we stopped at Keen's Garage where Brian picked up a new pair of Keen shoes, then a general wander around the Pearl with more detailed looks at Dick Blick (art supplies), Babette (women's fashions), Knit Purl (knitting, of course) and a couple of lattes at Peet's Coffee before heading back to the south end of town and the Bridgeport Village mall. We finished the day with another wine stop at McMenamins where we had a nice chat with Crystal, one of the women tending the bar. Dinner was some Fred Meyer deli baked chicken and kale super salad back at the trailer. Nice evening and end to the week.
| On to Week 2 |
Very late in catching up. Am going through yur ball park book slowly which promted me/ I am run off my ass but you don't want to hear that.
ReplyDeleteBill k