We made the final leg of our journey from Spokane Washington to Cochrane Alberta today, the whole trip rounded out at 4500 km (2800 miles) taking my truck perfectly to it's next service interval which Sarah booked for tomorrow as we drove home. We stopped again at Sandpoint Idaho, as we enjoyed it on the way down to California and thought we would see a little more of it. We walked the beach and harbour again before walking into town and shopping on the main street before stopping for thick milk shakes in the shade of a street cafe. The journey was a good one again and even holiday traffic didn't hold us up. Once back into Canada we headed north to Radium Hot Springs where we had our evening meal before carrying on through Kootenay and Banff National Parks and home. It's been another great road trip with wonderful sights, the beautiful pacific ocean and beaches galore, can't wait for the next one.
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We left Portland this morning and enjoyed a beautiful drive through the Columbia River Gorge calling at the 'Bridge of the Gods' and Cascade Locks before stopping for a snack at The Dalles. We then took highway 14 east to Columbia River State Park and made a short hike to a small waterfall in a tight canyon there. We then made the rest of the journey to our overnight hotel in Spokane Valley, Washington. Once settled we hopped on the interstate for 30 minutes to Coeur d'Alene and visited the city beach and park for sunset (main image below). Tomorrow we make the final leg of the journey back to Cochrane, hopefully with a few stops for photos along the way.
Today was going to be a long drive no matter how we played it, but we were not too concerned either way. The coastal route from Crescent City to Portland was going to be 2 hours longer than the 6.5 hour interstate route and when we got up this morning the sea har along the coast made the decision for us, we headed for the interstate. Heavy congestion around Portland added an hour to the journey but we arrived in time to go and explore a little bit locally. We opted for highway 30 in the hope of visiting a number of waterfalls and 'Vista Point' for sunset. Unfortunately the highway was closed due to roadworks, we did manage to visit one pretty impressive waterfall before heading back to the hotel, stopping for dinner at a nice local restaurant along the way. All in all it was nice to get the journey done and settle in for the evening, there will be other sunsets, and coconut creme pie with coffee sounded better this evening. All of the images are of Multnomah Falls just east of Portland in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge.
As the title suggests, today was a day for beaches. The har cleared out early and we were soon heading to the sea at Tolowa Dunes State Park just south of our hotel. It was fantastic to find we had the place to ourselves as we walked through the dunes to the beach. We walked along a little way then sat on an old redwood carcass watching the ocean and messing around stacking rocks. When we finally dragged ourselves away we only travelled another couple of miles south to Point St. George (main image below) where beach trails and rock pools kept us entertained. From there it was on to Crescent City Harbour and a nice little hike up a local viewpoint that looks back across the bay. We had excellent fish and chips close to the harbour before returning to the hotel to freshen up. Once refreshed and ready to go again we returned to Crescent City to shoot the sunset from the city beach. I guess it goes without saying that today was another cracker.
Today was all about relaxing and enjoying the area and as Sarah and I both really love the giant redwood forests of Northern California we made another visit to them. Our day started with a short drive to Crescent City where we walked out on the breakwater, immediately after that we walked out on the pier and talked with some locals who were catching huge crabs and fish from the pier end. We did this mainly because the sea har was still lingering as is often the case here. Once the sun broke through the haze we went to the redwood groves beside highway 199 and explored the wonderous forest. After lunch we headed out to Clifford Kamph Memorial Park just 2 minutes from the hotel where we lazed around on the beach and had a little paddle in the beautiful pacific ocean. In the evening we stayed in the hotel and went to the casino there for a short time (coming out a little over $200 better off) I guess we won't be retiring on that but it's better than a minus figure.
I stayed up until 1:30am last night shooting the dam behind our hotel in The Dalles (just east of Portland, Oregon) unimaginatively called 'The Dalles Dam' it made a great target with it's red, white and blue illumination but the late night meant we didn't get started down the road today until 08:00 and how I wish it was prior to sunrise. We came across a beautiful view of Mt Hood from highway 197 south, which would have been bathed in golden light at sunrise, I made the shot anyway but it's missing that magical light. We pressed on through the towns of Bend and Three Rivers before stopping at Diamond Lake Junction Cafe for lunch. From there it's just a 30 minute run to Crater Lake, the diversion made the day a couple of hours longer but we really wanted to see it and we are so glad we did. The main image shows Sarah on the rim trail with Wizard Island behind in this truly stunning lake. When the volcano Mt Mazama collapsed the lake formed in the caldera, there are no inlets or outlets and yet the water remains, replenished entirely from snowmelt and rainfall. At 594 m (1949 feet) it is the deepest lake in the United States giving it an incredible dark blue colour. From this spectacular feature we drove through Cascade Gorge, Grants Pass and finally the Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park to reach our hotel right on the coast of California. The room is excellent, large and spacious with a sea view from the balcony. As the sun set on another beautiful day we went to the beach just 2 minutes from the hotel and made a couple of sunset shots. Tomorrow we'll be having a lay in and a lazy day on the coast.
Day two of our road trip outshone day one as we made our way from Creston British Columbia south across the border. We first stopped at the small town of Bonners Ferry in Idaho as we saw a small street market and needed to pick up some US currency anyway, so we stopped at the bank then visited the market before continuing. Further south on highway 95 we reached a planned stop at Sandpoint Harbour and City Beach (the main image below is the harbour) We paddled at the beach and dangled our feet in Lake Pend Oreille from the end of the breakwater where we could have sat for hours. We stayed with highway 95 until we picked up I-90 at Coeur d'Alene and crossed into Washington through the Spokane Valley. We used the interstate to hurry us down to highway 395 at Ritzville then followed the 395 to Kennewick on the Columbia River where we stopped for a picnic lunch in the riverside park. We continued south to Plymouth but turned onto highway 14 west rather than I-84 because we wanted the more scenic route to our hotel in The Dalles. We stopped and dunked the feet in the Columbia River along the way but we were soon settling into a lovely suite at the Shilo Inn right on the river. After getting settled we drove up to Rowena Crest viewpoint just 17 miles west for sunset where we met a photographer called John Rinehart, and after talking a while we worked together to create a lovely light trail shot around the road leading to Rowena Crest. It turned out that there were very few cars on the highway so I took my truck with all lights blazing and drove that particular section of the road a couple of times while Sarah operated my camera from the viewpoint, then John took his truck and did the same while Sarah operated his camera. Together we were able to generate enough light to create the shot you can see in the gallery below. It was great to meet a fellow photographer 'in the wild' and collaborate to achieve the desired result for both of us, it was the perfect end to another great day on the road.
We started out today on a short road trip to California (well short compared to the planned trip). Our first day was a smooth ride down to the border but stopping just 20 minutes short of crossing at Creston British Columbia. We took the beautifully scenic highway 22 south to Crowsnest Pass and stopped in at Lundbreck Falls for a paddle. We then headed west on highway 3 stopping at Frank Slide for a short hike but with temperatures reaching 36 degrees we didn't go far. After the hike we continued west on highway 3 to Fernie BC where we stopped for lunch and walked the main street to stretch the legs. From there we rejoined highway 3 and made the final leg to our overnight spot in Creston BC. After settling in we headed out for dinner and then went north to Kootenay Lake stopping for ice cream along the way. The bugs ate us alive as I photographed the lake but it was worth it. Tomorrow we'll be heading south to Portland Oregon for another overnight stop.
So I've finally got through all the images from home, the last two posts show Carnaby street (via Chinatown) and Covent Garden and can be accessed by clicking the titled images below or you can find them and many more on our UK page. Below these two clickable images is a small captioned gallery of 'leftovers' that I like too much to abandon to the hard drive unseen.
The trip home has added 20 pages to the site and almost 800 images, it will be so nice to look back on these in years to come and remember every aspect of the trip. Now it's time to pick up the camera again and get out into the Canadian wilderness and back to those wonderful landscapes. Another day another 6 offerings from London, how many more I hear you cry, just a couple I think and then we're done. It's been a great trip and has helped restock the memory banks (and the site) with images of home. More importantly it's kept a fresh flow of images for Paula to peruse from her hospital bed.
I'll soon be back to shooting Canada and shifting a few of those English bacon butties, fish and chips and curries from the belly as I do, but in the meantime here's a bit more of our incredible capital, London. As usual these pages are all accessible from the UK page on this site or you can click the individual images below. |
AuthorWe arrived in Calgary, Canada on 29th December 2011 to continue our journey. This blog is intended to keep our family and friends informed whilst we explore Canada.You can use the RSS feed below to stay updated. Categories
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