Rollin, Rollin

Yep, been putting a lot of road in the rear view mirror! I know I promised to keep the blog afloat, but it’s hard when I’m sittin still so little. However, there have been a few items of note along the way.

After Pelly’s Crossing, I swung thru Whitehorse and also Watson Lake, but y’all’ve seen that, so it was mostly just some pit stops to gas up and re-supply. Heading down the Cassiar highway, the northern stretch was real pretty, then the colors faded out and it was just green. Nuthin wrong with green, according to Kermit, but after all that glory, it’s hard to get excited about it. At the risk of overloading your leaf peepers, here’s just a few more pix.

  

As you can see, the Cassiar is more of a trail than a highway, but the road is in good shape, just a bit narrow. There are many tiny free camping spots along the way, just right for small RVs. Somewhere in the middle is the Cassiar Jade store, and it’s pretty cool.

     

They have an amazing lot of jade bits, and it’s all mined and made right there, I’m told the prices are very good, but with all the C-notes I’m cramming into my fuel tank, I just can’t manage to buy any, mostly because even at the bargain counter, jade is seriously pricey. Sure is purty though!

By the time I cross the border into the good old USA at Oroville, WA, I’m 10 or 11 days straight on the road, and in need of a break. I stop for a couple nights at a little town campground and catch up with phone and email. Hey! My real phone is working again! Time to pull the plug on the Alaska phone. If I missed emailing you to let you know, I’m back on my original phone number now.

Eastern Washington is kinds desert-y, with lots of rolling hills and farms, sure feels funny to have miles again on the GPS, and smooth road under the wheels. I motor on down to Walla Walla and park it at Jim and Kim’s place for a few nights.

WW is all about wine, and we go wine tasting, which also leads to wine buying. Dang, the jade is starting to look cheap! The “crush” is on, that’s when everyone stomps the grapes to make wine. I didn’t see any stained feet, tho…. they use some amazing powered equipment to process the grapes.

        

Didn’t get to witness the pressing, but it’s all done inside big stainless machines, so there’s not much to see.

Here’s a good one! Kim found a moonshine tasting place! This here fella is making prohibition era shine in a modern still, using authentic family recipes that date back to when whisky was illegal. We did some tasting, and I’m happy to report that a couple bottles of really exceptional shine are headed to Texas. Thanks y’all, it was a blast!

After a fond farewell to Jim and Kim, I moseyed on down to Florence Oregon, to visit my old friends Marsha and Richard. We didn’t do any wine tasting, but there was definitely some wine drinking! We did a little boat trip on the Suislaw river, and watched the salmon jumping. Folks were catching them too; big silvers! Hey, maybe I don’t have to go all the way to Alaska for salmon…. this needs additional thought. Apparently, good food and old friends don’t generate many pictures, I got out of there without so much as a photo of them, but here’s their place. Thanks, Marsha and Richard, for your kind hospitality and all the food, drink and fun!

From Florence, it’s a short run down to Smith River, Ca and Neil and Pat’s place. Remembering my complete picture fail at Marsha’s, I manage to grab a shot of them. We’re at a big car show, held every year in Crescent City, and they sure picked a perfect day for it! lots of purty steel and shiny paint. Check out that flame job! It also appears that my buddy Jimbo has a secret life as a homebrewer from that last picture.

     

Neil and Pat live in a beautiful place, their house overlooks the mouth of the Smith river, and the sunsets are outstanding. Plus, Neil makes great beer, and there are 3 levers on the fridge downstairs that dispense it in draft mode. Yum!

  

All too soon, it’s time to hit the road again. Thanks to Neil and Pat, for, well, everything!

I still have around 3000 miles to go, and more friends to visit. I’ll be back in a week or two with some more pix. I have to admit, I’m really looking forward to getting home, but I’m not going to get all hasty about it! See ya again real soon!