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What a great adventure it has been, driving all the way from Canada to San Francisco with son and dog. Seeing new places along the Oregon coast, was spectacular. I do love Hood River, but if I had the choice and time, I’d rather be taking the coastline Astoria – > Florence and than cut back to Highway 5. I have already posted about Astoria, Seaside and Cannon Beach. After a well rested night in the cute little cottage by Cannon Beach, which was our only Hotel stay on the way, we drove towards Manzanita. I realized, that I had done the right choice stopping in Cannon Beach and enjoying some Beach time, as Wind had picked up and brought cooler temperatures. There were Kitesurfers enjoying there time and we only stopped to get a few croissants and a chocolate ICE CREAM for Mats. 🙂 We continued our way and did not make much progress, it was Saturday and street and towns were busy. However, every little town was very different and it was really tempting to explore every single one of them, especially also due to the coast. But due to traffic and knowing that I would probably get a good chance of an overflow spot at a super nice Campground we’ve been the year before, we continued our way to South Beach State Park in Newport. Our second attempt ended in scoring an RV Spot, which had just been cancelled by someone. Lucky us! It was quite foggy and windy, we made a fire and warmed up and were greeted with sunshine the next morning. The beach is gorgeous and there are great little trails. I love that Campground, especially on sunny days. After there check-out time at 1pm, we drove towards Grants Pass in Oregon and found a  Campground which had a little Waterfall and natural swimming holes. The Video speaks best for all, it was very special!

 

What a day! After a rough night, I did not feel much like traveling. But the drive along the coast was just so beautiful. We stopped in Astoria for breakfast, had to cross a long cool bridge to get there. We checked out Seaside and than lastly I just wanted to take some pictures of Cannon Beach, but I liked it so much, that I found us a cute little cottage for the night to get some well deserved sleep and most of all, enjoy the rest of the day. It was truly an awesome one and Oregon grows more and more on me.

ASTORIA

 

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SEASIDE

 

CANNON BEACH

 

 

It’s been a long time away from home and it has been an adventure. After more than 3 months, we now have entered the US again. US – Canada – Bermuda – Canada – US. We were literally the last Van they squeezed into the Ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles. I was so happy, as it is quite a journey having a kid, a dog and a Van full of stuff along and having to go through the custom process with all. Not making the Ferry would have meant having to leave the car inside the inspection area and to wait 4 1/2 hours for the next. Gosh, was I happy, when that worked out. Make reservations, if you can!

At the end of the day, we found an RV Park right along Highway 101. Artic RV Park, very friendly owners. But being right next to the Freeway didn’t make it for a restful night. The place was cute though.

Why is it only the 3 of us? The Captain had to fly to Hawaii to sail a 62 foot Gunboat back to Seattle. Hopefully we have some news about that soon!

 

Pender Island is one of the Gulf Islands in Canada. With a long Trailer and a Van we made it onto a Ferry and were even invited to check out the bridge from the captain of the Ferry. After an interesting ride we managed to get a beautiful camping spot with Beach access, Pool and Pub. Picturous ankered boats to look at right from our private campsite.

We also checked out Otter Bay, which is a very well maintained Marina, Cabins and a Pool, with lots of funny signs up with hints, what you are not allowed to do.

Than lastly the so called “Magic Lake” turned out to be with a funny line up of people who wanted to take a dip in this Lake full of Seaweed. We happily went back to our Campsite and stayed put. Couldn’t get any better than that.

Today we decided to check out one of the Gulf Islands, called Pender Island. We were recommended this spot by our friend and shown in this clip is the drive from the Ferry to the Campground with  a bit of Pool time. That one is VERY refreshing, by the way.

We visited the Fisherman’s wharf in Victoria in the recent years a few times. But what we had never tried was taking the little ferry around. And we totally enjoyed the ride. Check it out! And you can even bring your dog along.

This was great fun. We almost caught a shark and we did catch some crabs. Thanks for taking us, Jeff!

After Hydraulic lake close to Kelowna, Canada, we moved on to Victoria,Vancouver Island. The ferry we picked left close to Vancouver and it took about 1 1/2 hours to Victoria. Victoria is one of a kind. It’s British touch in the downtown area and its cute fisherman’s wharf, absolutely worth a visit. It even crossed my mind imagining moving here one day, what an impact. We were able to stay at a friend’s house for a night, who also took us fishing and crab hunting the next day. Thanks man! Now we are again camping with family with a spectacular view close to Victoria, right across the Sidney islands. It is called “Island View”, simple, but great spot. Affordable camp spots and short drive to downtown Victoria.

After the hussle and bussle of the America’s Cup in Bermuda, we now made our way to Canada BC to spend some time with family and friends. We camped at Hydraulic Lake, which is close to Kelowna. Up in the Mountains we were able to escape the heat and chillax for a few days. The kids had a blast playing outside all day and besides eating a whole lot of sunflower seeds and drinking, we went fishing, swimming, biking and a tiny bit of Kiteboarding.

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