Motorhome News from North America 15 16th - 26th June 2006 Ontario, ‘Yours to Discover’, it says on the vehicle license plates. So, let’s get started. Ontario stretches for more than 1,000 miles across central Canada, from Manitoba all the way to Quebec and it’s a similar distance from the Great Lakes in the south to the saltwater coast at Hudson Bay in the north. Great Britain would fit quite snugly in the centre. Our journey this week will take us from the vast area of forest, lakes and swamps of ‘Lake of the Woods’ along the Rainy River towards [View Full Entry]

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Motorhome News from North America 14. 5th - 15th June 2006 Saskatchewan - Land of Living Skies The tree-lined streets of Moose Jaw City hide a dark history of bygone days. Back in the 1920s, pool-rooms, brothels, gambling houses and Chinese opium dens greeted visitors as they stepped from the train - and Al Capone is said to have stashed much of his bootleg rum in the neighbouring caves. It’s changed a bit these days and, apart from us, just a few other people of distinction have come riding into town in more recent times. A plaque in the park commemorates [View Full Entry]

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Motorhome News from North America 13. 26th May - 4th June 2006 Alberta - Wild Rose Country Calgary was once the land of the Blackfoot Indians. Since 1877 they have lived on reservations south of the city and now the corporate office towers of most of Canada’s crude oil and natural gas companies stand in their place. Calgary’s highways thread through the city like Hampton Court Maze, bewildering to us country folk, but there are clues to help the totally lost; the Avenues go east to west, the Streets from north to south - and all are blessed with dazzling displays [View Full Entry]

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Motorhome News from North America 12. 14th May - 25th May 2006 Vancouver and over the Rocky Mountains Hi there, you guys. We can only guess what George Vancouver might have said when he arrived here in the city that bears his name. “Blust me,” he say, “Tha’s a grit ole harbour,” is possibly quite close to the mark. George hailed from Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England, as many of you will know. We, too, came from Norfolk back in 1993 and loved it - and we wanted another look at this magnetic city. Our energetic hosts, Cathy and Bill, live in [View Full Entry]

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Motorhome News from North America 11. 2nd May - 13th May 2006 Canada, Oh,Canada ‘Splendor Sine Oceasu’, British Columbia’s motto on its coat of arms, has much to live up to. ‘Beauty without End’ will be our yardstick through the next few weeks as we journey eastwards from Vancouver Island across the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver and on through the Rockies to Calgary. It might take us a while. BC is Big. It is big enough to fit California, Oregon - and Washington inside and still have room to spare! And, it is truly beautiful. Local car registratio [View Full Entry]

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Bird report for North West Pacific Coast, May 2006 As we approach 250 species on our North American bird list, it is becoming more difficult to find “new” species, especially as we have been in coastal habitat for most of the past 6 weeks. Outlined below are some of the wildlife highlights we have experienced on our travels north through Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver Island, not an exhaustive list of birds seen. Ospreys and Bald Eagles have been seen almost daily, as have Common Loons. Other exciting sea and estuary birds have been Caspian Terns, Pigeon Guillemots, Re [View Full Entry]

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Motorhome News from North America 10 21st April - 1st May 2006 Farewell Stars and Stripes We set out with Ralph, our intrepid guide, in bright sunshine, along the Ocean Shores peninsula at Grays Harbour, binoculars and scope at the ready, searching for snowy owls reported to have been seen the previous day on driftwood along the shoreline. As is often the case, we were unsuccessful, but we were rewarded with fabulous birding (56 species) at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge a day or two later. It was good to be in the company of an enthusiast with local knowledge and there [View Full Entry]

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Motorhome News from North America 9 9th - 20th April 2006 Somewhere over the Mountains Somewhat against our better judgement we headed east from the coast at Newport toward the Cascade Mountain Range, determined to venture deeper into Oregon lest we shall never return. The road follows the wide rambling Yaquina River to Corvallis, the home of Hewlett Packard, another town, much the same as any other, but this one had petrol at the best price for miles - and an extra 3 cents per gallon off for Safeway card holders! Fuelled up, we ventured on, through Albany, Lebanon (are we [View Full Entry]

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Motorhome News from North America 8. March 28th - April 7th 2006 Farewell fair California. The Golden State Sequoia Sempervivens, the California Coastal Redwoods, are the tallest living things on earth. They can grow to over 350ft, weighing in at a massive 45 tons. They get that way through a rich diet of alluvial soil, foggy insulation, and around 100 inches of rain each year….we know all about that. Northern California has enjoyed nearly double its average annual rainfall for this time of the year and most of it has landed on us. Some of the most spectacular redwoods lin [View Full Entry]

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Bird report for California, March 2006 After winter birding in Arizona, we moved west into southern California for spring. Birds began to take on their brighter breeding plumage and migration began. 24.2.06 Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge in hot, sunny weather. This lake and marshland area is 255’ below sea level and 25% saltier than the Pacific Ocean. That didn’t seem to deter birdlife as an excellent day’s birding at 3 different locations on the south and east shores brought us 19 new species for our American list, of which 13 were “lifers&rdquo [View Full Entry]

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