Back to the Desert, but first....

This year our trek South took us through Southern BC and down the coast of Oregon and California. We stopped to visit Joel, Erin and the kids for a couple days while passing through BC. Amy flew in from Vancouver to complete the family reunion. 

Once we crossed the border into the States we planned to hook up with Sandi and Tito for the rest of the trip to Arizona.

Our first detour was just west of Rocky Mountain House Alberta. A collision closed the hiway and all traffic was directed away along meandering oil-lease roads and heavily treed forests.

From the Saskatchewan River Crossing North of Lake Louise to Field BC we drove in winter-like conditions. Four inches of heavy slush on the road ready to pull you into the ditch.

Whenever we drive to Joel's from Alberta we always try to be in Revelstoke around noon BC time so we can catch the 3 o'clock Galena ferry. We arrived in Golden behind schedule only to be delayed by another traffic accident. This one on the Rogers Pass.  Local radio broadcasts were not encouraging. The road to Revelstoke was expected to be closed for at least 4 more hours and the confidence level was low. Golden was becoming plugged up with long lines of transport trucks and hundreds of cars. People were parking everywhere, waiting for the police to re-open the road.  Seeing all this we decided to head back towards Radium Hot Springs and then South to Creston. The detour would take us 200 kms off course but the alternative was to wait and continue on to Revelstoke in that traffic glut. That would be too slow and unpredictable.

Finally we arrive at Joel's. Let the fun begin!

We all pitched in to cook the perfect seafood supper.

Plenty of things to do when you have a 30 acre yard. However,  time was tight on this trip and we had to leave after only two days. We dropped Amy off at the Castlegar Airport and we kept going South to meet up with Sandi and Tito in Spokane.

The Oregon coast is beautiful even in the rain. 

The rain finally lets up when we cross into California.

The Redwood Forest in Northern California is truly awesome. 

Some of these trees are apparently over 2000 years old.

I'm sure you could build a small village with the wood from just one of these giants.

Is he still behind us? Don't look!

Houses built in hollowed out redwood stumps. 

Valen and Atti would be impressed.

We stop to observe a huge herd of elephant seals sunning themselves right alongside Highway 101 in Norther California. "These juvenile seals spend time out of the water to build up bone mass" says the guy watching next to us. Apparently floating around in the water doesn't do much for building strong heathy bones. They will be here for a month before leaving and doing other things seals do.

Over the Golden Gate Bridge we go. Our destination today is Carmel by the Sea. Tito's GPS took him through downtown San Francisco while ours skirted most of the city along the western coast route.

Clint Eastwood was the mayor here in Carmel for a while and his presence is still everywhere.

Yvonne and Robert on their hotel balcony.

Best Western Carmel Bay View Inn

A cool and quaint house that caught Sandi's eye.

Sushi, tempura and beer.

California coast view from the truck window.

Yvonne found the perfect rock to relax on. This is Pismo Beach and that building on the cliff in the background is our hotel for the day. The Shelter Cove Inn.

Check out the temperature reading in the mirror as we approach Phoenix Az.

The summer was kind to our home away from home despite some 110F weather, dust storms and monsoon rains.  Other than a tipped over ocotillo cactus everything was as we left it 6 months ago.