Blogs from North America - page 2

Tyre saga continues. The shop in Duchense failed to order a new tube, so the guys there, and Jim, spent a good couple of hours patching and refitting the tyre and wheel. They charged 15 bucks for all of their labour and use of their tools and workshop. Paid up for the pickup rescue, minimum charge of $145, and set off on our way again. Up the mountain, 100 odd miles later, tyre near flat again! Stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, hoping they had an air line at least. They even stocked the tyre slime, which Jim squirted in but it still appeared to be losing pressure, so Andy (the guy in the gas station) phoned around found a store (around 40 miles away) who stocked a tube and arranged for ... read more

Cape Spear. The eastermost point on the North American continent. WE ARE HERE! WE DID IT !!!!!!! Mission accomplished! Completion of our goal to ride a LONG WAY THERE from Victoria to St. John's: Mile Zero, Victoria BC to Cape Spear, St. John's NL. Some may feel we completed our journey upon arriving in Bonavista, NL. But for us, we weren't quite there, even when we arrived into St. John's. We needed to ride to Cape Spear, 20 kms further east to realize our goal. Even though it only 20 kms, that's what it took to cross the finish line. This leg of our journey is complete. Time to celebrate! Our trip from St. John's to Cape Spear this morning was exciting (and warm and sunny - thank you weather, for turning out when we needed ... read more

Exciting day in McMinnville - grocery shopping, hiking boot shopping & lunch at Izzy's. Afternoon spent relaxing watching the rain come down.... read more

Here it is: my first attempt at a video blog. You will have to let me know if it comes out or not. If it does, I may have found a new wrinkle for my presentations. It is a couple days late but as in life: Good Things Come To Those Who Wait.....so thanks for being patient with me. You have to copy and paste this URL address without the brackets that I had to use. It is at the end of this message. Paste it in the top URL address box on the travel blog page and hit search. If it comes up, hit the little arrow at the bottom left hand corner of the page to start it. It takes a little while to start running but eventually it does. Good Luck! I had ... read more

I have been photographing interesting and unusual RVs. The German motorhome was brought over from Germany last year and the owners are traveling many months over a 2 year period. The painted vans are from different rental companies. One owner said that it cost $1200 for three weeks. The Cruise America class c motor homes cost $1200 per week The tent RV is 40 years old and was bought by a young man for $400. It needed a lot of work including a new tent. The base of the wings slide together and it is very small for traveling. It is made of aircraft aluminum and weighs about 400 lbs and he pulls it with a Prius.... read more

Sitting here waiting for our warm pizza here at Rainy Cannon Beach! Before the rain set in last night we had a few awesome days touring LOTS of beaches along the Oregon coast. They are endless and simply amazing. A short lush green walk through rain forest like mossy trees leads into a sandy beach outlined by rocky cliffs that fall out into a surfers heaven. The waves are big and plentiful, and as we walked along the beach we followed a fresh water stream that lead into the ocean, crossing the stream the tide pools are very colorful (makes me miss my Moody Beach cousins!) and as the beach comes to an end- another large rocky cliff with a flowing waterfall. Kona has created a new seat for herself in the van- the center console! ... read more

Today we are driving the Peaks to Craters Scenic Byway on our way to Yellowstone National Park. We are traveling a very diverse Idaho landscape, mountains, deserts, lava fields, and irrigated pastures. We stopped at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve which had volcanic activity as recent as 2000 years ago. Literature from the park indicates that it got it's name from a geologist that described it as "the surface of the moon as seen through a telescope." (The craters on the moon are actually formed by meteorites, not volcanos). In 1924 President Coolidge proclaimed Craters of the Moon a National Monument, preserving "a weird and scenic landscape, peculiar to itself." The lava fields come from not one volcano but rather a series of deep fissures in the earth's crust-known collectively as the "Great ... read more