Day Four
April 25, 2016
Wow! I’d forgotten
what it is like to be in a large household on a Monday morning with everyone
trying to get ready for work and get out the door as quickly and efficiently as
possible. Naturally, it never runs very smoothly, but it could have been a
whole heck of a lot worse!
Showered, coffee’d
and packed up we were pretty much ready to head off to the border crossing and
enjoy some time in the land of our southern neighbour, the United States of
America. Goodbyes invariably suck - except for those odd ones you are just
dying to say, which this wasn’t - and this was no different. Thankfully, Crys’
brother-in-law is from the US, so she had a great conversation with him in
regards to speed limit conversions and anything to watch out for, etc., etc.
We were on our way…
We stopped for gas,
then we stopped for coffee at Timmy’s - ok, come on, it’s really a prerequisite
for a road trip, isn’t it? We ARE Canadian, it IS an iconic Canadian coffee
shop, and we need our caffeine. Crystal maybe not quite so much as myself, but
still… Kinda gotta get our fix, seeing as there are no (GASP) Tim Horton’s
readily available below the border.
There it was, right
in front of us, the big deal that keeps our countries apart and makes life a
little more difficult every year; the last time I crossed this line, I didn’t
need a passport, now I do. A few simple
and almost asinine questions, from a rather grumpy Border Guard, and we were
admitted. I know he was just doing his job, and the questions are mandatory,
but… he could have tried to perk up a little.
Sumas/Huntington Border
Washington State
United States of America - aka - US
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| HELLO UNITED STATES... |
Deciding which way to go was pretty simple. We’d already agreed to follow the secondary highways and byways as much as possible as the scenic wonders to be found there are usually far worthier than the pittance of time one would save on the Interstate. You really never know what you will come across, and that is part of the fun on a road trip!
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| ACME...REALLY?! |
Crys has a truck that has kilometres,
so it was a bit of a stretch to figure out the speed limit conversion. It is
funny how only three countries in the entire world have not adopted the
International System of Units (SI or metric system) as their official systems -
Burma, Liberia and of course the United States. It doesn’t hurt, Canada made
the conversion a very long time ago, and we are all still alive. Sure, most of
us bitched about it, but it is SO much more convenient in the long run. Truly,
you might want to think about it…
We ended up laughing every time we hit a
roundabout, which was very often, as Crys’ brother-in-law had stated that there
were far less of them in the US. Well, I really hate to disillusion him, but
the route we took had more than we get to see back home! We passed through little a number of hamlets and the
occasional small city as we progressed towards our first target - Mount
Rainier.
We took a quick break for food, coffee refill
and bathroom, then once again meandered along. Only to be highly intrigued by a
sign for the Flaming Geyser State Park, a while later. Okay, our first official
‘tourist’ stop, and you just know we had to! We followed the signs for the park
down into a picturesque river valley; the perfect place for a picnic, a walk,
families, couples and just being alone with your thoughts.
A $10.00 entry fee, in US funds by the way, and
we were in. We parked at the end of the parking area, as close to the trailhead
as we could get, and hadn’t gotten far when we ran into a small group who were
kind enough to inform us something that the signs hadn’t - a flame was needed
to actually light the flying geyser. So matches, lighter, preferably a BBQ
lighter for this one folks, it’s got a longer reach, etc. Anyhow, they were
really sweet and loaned us theirs.
The path was a short one, and what lay at the
end was far from awe inspiring, let me tell you! It honestly resembled a very
large backyard fire pit. The sides were cemented in and a squat cement filled
pipe sat in the middle, a smaller metal pipe maybe twice the size of your
standard pencil, could be seen inside of it. Okay. This was the almighty
Flaming Geyser, living in oil country I had expected to see something similar
to the burn off pipes that protrude into the skies, whose flames you can see
for miles at night.
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| THE FLAMING GEYSER |
farts being torched. Kids will be kids -
even the adult ones! It was small, it was there and while I wouldn’t
say it was worth the entry fee, the park itself was. After returning the
lighter, we took a brief stroll through the park just to stretch our legs. We
had hungrily eyed the trails upon arriving, but to be honest I think both of us
were feeling so let down that we just wanted to leave.
As we followed our route further south with a
bit of a jag to the east at Enumclaw, we were really looking forward to our
excursion on the highest mountain within Washington State and the Cascade
Mountain Range, Mount Rainier. It was still fairly early in the day, so we’d
have plenty of time to set up camp for the night and explore to our hearts
content. This was what the trip was all about, this feeling of freedom and
sense of expectation of being within the wilds and enjoying and appreciating
all that Nature had to offer.
Nothing like throwing a bucket of ice water on a
person. Apparently Canadian and American ideas on what constitutes winter are completely different. The
world around us was green, luscious and unfolding to the wonderful sun of the
Spring, there was no sign of winter anywhere. Anywhere, that is, except the
signs meeting us inside the park… “Closed for Winter.”
Upon further exploration we discovered that
Winter didn’t officially end in the US until the end of May. We were totally
blown away, as I said, it was gorgeous out, no signs of winter. Canadian Parks
are open year round, perhaps not for camping, but for driving through or day
use. We work with, not around, the elements above the border. This was
seriously almost impossible to compute; it’s the end of April, it’s beautiful
out and roads are closed.
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| WHAT?! REALLY??!!!!! |
Having no other choice, we sadly turned around
and retraced our route. Crystal was having as much difficulty as I was trying
to understand the road closures, so I didn’t feel like I was being
unreasonable. I scanned all of our maps rather hurriedly to see if any of our
other chosen routes were also going to be subject to this unseasonable closure.
Sadly, almost every route that we had opted for was “Closed for Winter.” Now we
were both not only choked off but seriously disappointed as well.
We took the back roads as far as we could, but
it was inevitable, we had no other choice but to take the Interstate. The I5
led us south, towards Portland, Oregon. That is, until our spirits were raised
once again by signs for camping and for Mount Saint Helen’s. We took exit 504
at Castle Rock and were led east by a whim. We both remembered the day in 1980
when this mighty mountain erupted, and although it hadn’t been our original
choice, it would perhaps fill the hole left by the inability to explore Mt.
Rainier. Sure, the road was closed here too, but not until well past the
Visitor Centre. We would still be able to enjoy some of the park; the history
and beauty.
CASTLE ROCK,
WASHINGTON
It was too late to
do much of anything, so after checking all of our options for camping - which
didn’t amount to much at all - we got a room. That actually didn’t amount to
much at all either.
The Mount Saint
Helen’s Hotel was to be my first disappointment in US hotels. The building area
where the office is was fine, but where the rooms were, it stunk to high heaven
of some gross chemically type stench. Thankfully, we acclimated pretty quickly.
The beds were comfortable, there was wifi and hot water and it was close to the
Mt St Helen’s Visitor Centre. I have nothing to say in their favour other than
that.
To begin with, there
was a stench invading the entire building; kind of chemically and gross. Then,
of course, the room was not even cleaned properly - a peanut butter lid behind
the mini fridge proved that. A microwave and mini fridge, but NO amenities such
as coffee or tea, not even a microwaveable cup to be found so you could make
your own. A room for two with one bottle of complimentary shampoo big enough
for one. At least there was two bars of mini soap. How kind....
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| MT ST HELEN'S |
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