May 28, 2023
5/22- When we arrived yesterday at Capilano RV Park we saw, in the neighborhood surrounding it, signs that said Chef Capilano would fight for our rights. I was curious who Chef Capilano was so I had to look him up. He was one of the most influential Indigenous leaders in British Columbia in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He spent his life fighting for the rights of his people. Many things in the area are named for him. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/chief-joe-capilano . The campground we are staying at is on the land of the Squamish First Nation along with the city of Vancouver and much of the surrounding area. https://www.squamish.net/about-our-nation/
One of the many things in the area that has the name Capilano is The Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. We decided to visit the park this morning along with lots of other people. We had not realized that today was a public holiday in Canada, Victoria Day. It is the last Monday in May preceding May 25th honoring Queen Victoria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Day .
The Capilano Suspension Bridge is 450 feet long and 230 feet above the Capilano River. It wobbles as you walk across it, not something I was thrilled to do. The fact that so many other people were doing it at the same time as me especially made me nervous but I did make it to the other side. The original bridge was built in the 1890’s by a George Grant Mackay who had built his cabin on the far side of the ravine.
Once on the other side we explored many of the beautiful trails. We were able to watch people feed the fish in a pond and then a wise Heron flew over to eat the fish who were coming up for food. We were able to see a variety of other birds displayed such as a falcon and an owl. We saw the treetop adventure hike through the tops of the trees, but I wasn’t up to climbing the amount of stairs to get up there and after crossing the suspension bridge once I had, had enough adventure for the day.
We still had to cross the suspension bridge back but fortunately when we headed over it was far less crowded. We looked down and took pictures of the Cliffwalk, but again I was done with scary heights for the day. We hit the gift shop and got some fudge and headed back to the RV.
This evening we headed to downtown Vancouver to explore. We took an elevator up 550 feet to the Vancouver Lookout. https://vancouverlookout.com/ We were able to walk around the building and see the city from all directions including seeing includes Stanley Park, downtown, the bay and the mountains.
We had been told we had to try Poutine while we were in Canada, so we head off to a restaurant called Mean Poutine with a variety of different versions of Poutine. Traditional Poutine is French fries, covered with cheese curds and brown gravy. Unfortunately once we got to the restaurant we found it was closed so we headed back across Lions Bridge and hit McDonald’s once again so I could get more fries and vinegar. I think I’m addicted!
5/23- We wanted to see more of Canada than just the big city of Vancouver so we had booked a stay with a Harvest Host in the town of Maple Ridge. The host was Golden Ears Cheesecrafters and since we are both big lovers of cheese we were excited to sample some of their cheeses. https://cheesecrafters.ca/ We apparently arrived just after a big black bear had strolled through the area we would be parking and camping in. I was the one who had to stand outside and guide the RV into the spot where we would be parking, so needless to say I was looking around the whole time to make sure the bear was really gone. Then we headed into the store and loaded up on cheese. We saw that they served Poutine there and hoping to finally get to try it we asked if they would make us some. The cook was off that day but the girl in the store promised us Poutine for breakfast in the morning. We also asked about things to see in the area and headed off to explore.
We followed the directions we were given to one of the many local trails. Maple Ridge is near Golden Ears Provincial Park and there is a wide variety of trails in the area. The one we took was easy and went along the top of a canal. https://www.alltrails.com/canada/british-columbia/maple-ridge On the way to our next adventure we got to see 100 on our speedometer of course it was measuring kilometers per hour not miles per hour.
Then we headed to Burnaby Village Museum. Burnaby was built as a living museum to display life and houses in a village of the early 1900’s. Each building represents a business or home that would have been part of a small village. https://www.burnabyvillagemuseum.ca/EN/main/about/history.html Throughout the village are “workers” dressed in the costume of their business from a blacksmith shop to both a Pharmacy and a Chinese medicine shop. The village had been built on what was indigenous land and there were individuals of the two tribes that once lived there showing their lifestyle.
Then it was back to our host for a quiet night, grateful once more for our solar being able to power the RV.
5/24- When we awoke in the morning we went back into the Golden Ears Cheesecrafters shop to be greeted by the cook who prepared us Poutine with bacon sprinkled on top. It was really good and we were delighted that we finally got to try it, but French fries with vinegar still is the winner, food wise, in my opinion. Leaving Canada took a bit longer than entering Canada. We waited 45 minutes at the border before we were able to finally cross back into the US. We headed to our campground in Burlington, Washington and immediately to the grocery store to restock our fridge. We were afraid to buy food in Canada because we were unsure what could be brought back into the US.
5/25- Today we debated on where to go. We were halfway between The North Cascade National Park and Deception Pass Park and we really wanted to see both but did not have time to fit them both in. Plus we had to leave tomorrow to get to Portland so we could pick our daughter up on Saturday. After some debating we decided to head to Deception Pass Park and make a swing back up to this area before heading to Idaho to see North Cascade National Park and to take the nearby ferry to Victoria Canada so I could see the Botanical Garden I really want to see there. So next week we plan to return to this area for a few more days before starting across the top of the US.
Deception Pass Park was beautiful. It was named in 1792 by Captain George Vancouver who sailed into the area thinking it was a bay only to find it was a channel. In Deception Pass you have a combination of seashore, islands, a beautiful river and lots of trees. https://wa100.dnr.wa.gov/puget-lowland/deception-pass The Pacific Trail passes through the park and once again we were able to walk on part of what is a 1200 mile long trail along the West Coast.
Our first stop was Rosario Beach where during the 1930’s the CCC where sent to the area to build roads, buildings and other structures. There we were able to hike down and view tide pools and climb up and view the islands and trees. There near the water is a wood carving of the Maiden of Deception Pass with the story Samish story about the maiden. https://deceptionpassfoundation.org/news/the-maiden-of-deception-pass/
Then it was time to drive across the Deception Pass Bridge that was built in the 1930’s to span between Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands. The bridge has two sections and you are able to hike down under each section or walk on the sidewalk over the bridge. https://whidbeycamanoislands.com/history-of-deception-pass-bridge/
We drove down to North Beach and wandered around exploring the rock formations there before stopping for lunch at Mod Pizza in Anacortes. We don’t each out much on our travels so it was nice to enjoy a meal out. Then it was back to our campground where we watched what looked like snow but found was the seeds from cottonwood trees blowing in the wind.
5/26- We had a longer than usual drive today. We have found we really like the 2 or 3 hour drives as they allow us time to explore once we get to our campground but today we had to get to Portland, Oregon and so our drive was 5 hours with stops. We headed out at 8 am but had to stop at 10 am for Frank to be on a work call. We found a WalMart in Auburn Washington and hung out there. While Frank was on the phone I took a nap as I had gotten up so early. Then we stopped once more at Castle Rock, Washington in a rest stop to make lunch before finally making it to the Columbia River RV Park on the edge of the Columbia River. Tomorrow we get to pick up our youngest daughter and spend a week exploring with her.
5/27- Got up this morning and finished getting ready for our daughter to arrive tonight. Then we headed off to do some exploring. We went to The End of the Oregon Trail Information Center where we were able to explore and learn about the pioneers who came across the country ending their trip in Oregon City. https://historicoregoncity.org/ But we also learned about the native americans who were already on this land when the pioneers arrived and how their lives were changed.
Then we headed over to the Willamette River to view the Falls and visit the historical area there. The river contains one the oldest continuously operating multi-lift lock and canal system in the United States. Willamette Falls is a horseshoe-shaped block waterfall caused by a basalt shelf in the river bottom. https://www.oregon.com/attractions/willamette-falls Businesses popped up around the Falls starting in the 1800’s. The Falls provided energy to power lumber, flour, woolen and paper mills, and a brick-making operation. In 1889, the Falls provided power that was able to power the world’s first long-distance electrical power transmission line, from Oregon City to Portland.
We were told we needed to head up the promenade to the Oregon City Municipal Elevator. It was built in 1915 for the mill workers so they would have an alternative to climb 722 steps home after a hard day of working. https://www.orcity.org/publicworks/municipal-elevator It was rebuilt in 1955 and the old Elevator stood and function until the new one was completed. It now stands as one of only four municipal elevators in the world.
After a day of exploring it was time to head back to the RV and wait for our daughter’s plane to arrive. She got in late and so we just had a little time to visit before heading off to bed.
5/28- Busy day of sightseeing. We had booked tickets to visit Mammoth Falls at 11 am and the Portland Japanese Garden at 3:30 pm so our day was planned around those two stops. On our way to Mammoth Falls we made a stop to check out Sandy River which empties into the Columbia River. The river flows from Mount Hood. When Lewis and Clark came through the area in the early 1800’s they called it Quicksand River, it is believed the bottomless feel of the river at that time was caused by ash from an eruption of Mount Hood. https://lewis-clark.org/sciences/geology/columbia-river-geology/the-sandy-river/
Our tickets to Mammoth Falls were only good from 11 am to noon. I noticed when I got the tickets that the site said that there was no guarantee of parking. I didn’t think much of it but with the Memorial Weekend there really was no parking. We drove for miles trying to find anywhere to park and then hike back to the Falls. None of us are fans of crowds and the amount of cars and people was a bit overwhelming. As we drove we decided that we would just give up on seeing Mammoth Falls at this time. Instead we passed Horsetail Falls and where able to pull in and view it. It did not seem as popular with the crowds so it wasn’t as overwhelming to be there.
We were also able to stop and walk through Oneonta Tunnel which was originally built in 1914. It was destroyed in a fire in 2017 and just recently restored and reopened although the trails around there remain closed. https://bikeportland.org/2021/05/06/closed-after-gorge-fire-in-2017-the-oneonta-tunnel-is-now-open-and-ready-to-ride-330774
We also drove up to the Vista House at Crow Point. https://vistahouse.com/history/ Again the crowds there were overwhelming and we weren’t able to park anywhere close but we were still able to enjoy the view of the Columbia River from 733 feet above the river. The Vista House was built in the early 1900’s as a rest stop for travelers.
After Vista House we were ready for a break from all the traffic so we stopped for lunch and headed back to the RV for a rest before heading to the Japanese Garden. Once again we found crowds but at least in the garden they only let a small group in every half hour so it you could enjoy the beauty and peace there. We were able to relax a bit and marvel in what we saw.
The artist Rui Sasaki work, Subtle Intimacy, was displayed and it was unbelievable. It was the highlight of the garden for me. Her work is mainly in glass and she had sandwiched plants in glass to make luminescent tiles and plates that capture the ghostly image of the burned-out stems and leaves, plus the bubbles where gases collected. They were backlit and shone with colors. https://japanesegarden.org/events/subtle-intimacy/
Now we are off to the coast of Oregon and Washington to see some sights we have yet to see.
Leave a Reply