Author: Maggie Page 9 of 36

We thought it would be a shame to stay in Calgary and not see any of the surrounding countryside. Therefore, we have booked a couple of nights in Fernie, where Paul has also booked a fishing guide. Instead of driving directly to Fernie, we decide it would be good to detour to Banff and Lake Louise. Dan says Lake Louise has become a tourist mecca and should be avoided but we should like to see for ourselves. We set off in a sensible SUV this time. It is a Jeep Laredo and, after the Mustang, has the power of a snail and handles like a blancmange, but on the upside it is spacious. It also, we discover, has an engine fault which spasmodically limits any form of acceleration. No matter – it is only for 2 days and we do not have the time to waste in getting it sorted.

Initially the terrain is flat but then gives way to The Rockies which are quite splendid. The rivers are turquoise as a result of the mineral content in the water.

It turns out that Dan was absolutely correct about Lake Louise. Parking is almost impossible and the only way to access the actual lake is by the resort transport. We do not have the time for this so make do with just admiring the mountain terrain as we pass through. As we approach Fernie the sky darkens and we encounter heavy cloudbursts.

The temperature drops from 86F to 59F in a matter of minutes. Fernie is a lovely town. We have booked a ski apartment so shall be able to self-cater which will be a treat after the mainly very American and pretty unhealthy menu for the past few weeks. We stop off for provisioning at the supermarket. It does not sell alcohol so we also have to locate a liquor store. We buy adequate quantities of wine and as we leave the store the weather really deteriorates. The rain is torrential and huge hailstones deluge us. We park up as it is almost impossible to see the road ahead.

Next day we are going fishing on the Elk River. As we eat breakfast it is still raining and looks pretty unpleasant, but then the clouds start to lift and the rain abates. Nevertheless we put on lots of layers. It is still only about 60F but with a keen wind blowing.

We shall be fly-fishing from a drift boat. Our guide, Andres, tows the boat to our launch site and preps everything.

He then gives me a fly-fishing lesson and fully explains what I need to do. I am however rather apprehensive. I have only practised casting on the lawn with no fly and am concerned that I shall hook Paul and the guide. I am totally correct with this assumption and manage to catch them numerous times and find myself abjectly apologising throughout the day. For a novice the conditions were difficult with a strong wind and the river was fast flowing and interspersed with rapids that Andres skilfully navigated. There are loads of trout in the river and Paul seems to catch something nearly every time he casts. I find it more tricky, but I do finally land a large cut-throat trout as my first fish and it is the biggest one of the day at 19” long.

This was the only bad weather we had on the trip. When we get up in the morning the skies have cleared and it turns into a lovely day. We drive back to Calgary where we drop off the hire car and go to stay the night with Paul’s friend Dan, who has also kindly said he will take us to the airport in the morning. This is really kind of him as we need to leave at 04.30 a.m! He and his partner cook us a great meal and are excellent hosts.

We end our trip staying on the shores of Lake Michigan with Paul’s very good fishing friend Don and his wife Nodine. They ensure we have a thoroughly relaxing stay and our main pastime is visiting quirky bars and eating at excellent restaurants.

We visit the marina at Harbor Springs where we eat a superb lunch on the water’s edge and admire some very handsome yachts…

We visit Michilimackinac State Park and cross the Mackinac Bridge which is very similar to the Golden Gate Bridge…

…and test the beer at Legs Inn and the Micro Brewery in the tiny town of Cross Village where they live.

Don and Nodine are also lucky enough to have a resident chipmunk family and some slightly elusive hummingbirds.

All too soon it is time to fly home. We have had an amazing adventure and been hosted royally. We have driven 3700 miles and seen much of California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Michigan. What a trip! We even have a great view of Chicago as we fly in from Traverse City.

It is a short 1.25 hour flight to Calgary. We stay in the Ramada in downtown Calgary which is very convenient for the Stampede. The train station is just one block away. You purchase tickets on the platform and it is just C$3.60 each.

When we arrive at the Stampede ground the crowds are horrendous. We have tickets for the grandstand but there is no way to access it without running the gauntlet of the entire site. The food on offer is gross and very American. Foot long hotdogs, hotdogs fried in batter on a stick. Good grief!! We try to orientate ourselves but it is really difficult to find our way around. It is also exceedingly hot. We did not bring hats and decide to buy stetsons to look the part. I pose in front of some exceptionally large farm equipment.

We have tickets for seats in the Grandstand for the evening show but Paul’s friend Dan knows the stewards and can get us on the rails. We have a certain amount of trouble meeting up – some definite crossed wires and language barriers. It was a stressful 45 minutes but eventually we find him and – good man – he has bought us beers. Standing on the rails with the TV crews and stewards is a wonderful and privileged experience. The opening ceremony commences with lots of pomp and ceremony. We have to press ourselves against the barrier so the marching band can squeeze by.

We watch the chuck wagon racing, which is not what I expected. It is so powerful and energy packed. The drivers are incredibly skilful and strong. Those thoroughbreds take some controlling. The teams of horses are restrained by a man who is also trying to hold his own steed back.

When the clanger sounds the teams circle a barrel, the outrider mounts his horses and they storm off down the track. It doesn’t always go to plan. We see one team out of control which causes another horse to rear up. It could quickly have gone badly wrong but order was restored eventually.

After the main event the children come on stage for their chuck wagon race….on toy horses.

There are lady acrobats on horse back…

…native people racing in bareback relays – fast, frenetic and exceedingly perilous….

…on-going entertainment…

…and a finale of music and fireworks.

There is also a great opportunity for people watching and soaking up the atmosphere. I am pleasantly surprised that the photos are OK despite the waning light.

It is another beautiful day in Calgary. It is Sunday and downtown is nice and quiet.

We have tickets for the rodeo at 13.30 and feel a little more prepared for the showground encounter. Yesterday we could not find the Monster Energy Display which is at 12.00 but we know where it is now. We find a space on a grassy knoll and watch the motorbike daredevil display. The stunts are quite astonishing and for once I have the camera correctly setup, the light is great and I can select a very fast shutter speed.

We make our way to the grandstand. We are a long way up and it makes me appreciate just how privileged we were last night to be so close to the action. The rodeo commences with a loud bang, a cowboy whirling his lasso, flames and fireworks.

The skills on show are impressive and varied. No matter how hard the horses bucked the riders rarely fell. They were marked on both ability to remain mounted and also on technique and how much in control they were. Some people flailed wildly whilst others always seemed to keep their legs in contact with the horse. The steer lassoing was incredible. The cowboys are so quick. Best time from chasing , dismounting and tying up the steer – 3.5 seconds. You read it right just 3.5 seconds!!

During the afternoon the heat built and so did the humidity. Huge black clouds develop and when we exit at 17.00 we are convinced we will get soaked. Large raindrops start to fall just as we arrive at the hotel. It has been an excellent day, but exhausting. We collapse into the hotel bar – The Fox on the 6th. It is happy hour. We maximise on drinks and food, then sleep very soundly indeed.

We have a long journey today but the scenery should be interesting and varied. Initially we drive across wide open high plains. Not much of interest here except for the immensity of the terrain and the length of the trains.

The scenery changes as we approach the huge Columbia River which has cut a canyon through the high plateau.

Dams have been built along much of the river creating huge string lakes. The outflow from the dams is powerful and impressive.

Windfarms have been setup along the ridges.

As we continue, we get our first glimpse of Mt Hood, which rises majestically in the distance.

Our plan is to stay at a campsite just outside Hood River, but as we approach we see smoke in the distance. There is a forest fire on the far side of the river and smoke is filling the valley. We think it wise to drive past the chosen campsite.

However, after driving 10 miles or so we find that there are not many other options close by so we decide to stay with our original camp. It is exceptionally hot. The vacant sites near the river are in full sun and sit on scorched grass. We head back to the entrance site where the pitches have been watered and there are trees. It is much cooler and we choose a shaded pitch which is nice except for the fact that the pitches are pretty close together. We erect the tent and then, on the recommendation of the camp host, we go to Grateful Winery for lunch. There is a spectacular view of Mt Hood.

We sit at a table under a canopy eating pizza and nicely chilled bottle of Grateful Vineyard pinot gris. There is a singer/guitarist who was versatile and good.

As we drive back we can see planes dropping water on the fire which seems to be subsiding. We snack on cheese and biscuits and enjoy a local bottle of pinot noir at campsite. We sleep surprisingly well.

Today we have a much shorter drive to Mcminnville, which is in the heart of wine country. We have wonderful views of Mt Hood on our way there.

We are planning taking it easier. Our main target is to sample a good selection of the local wines. We stop in the small town of Carlton, where every other building is a winery with tasting rooms. We select Ken Wright Winery which is very comfortable with a large terrace. We settle on the taster flight, accompanied by a cheese and charcuterie plate for lunch.

We drive the 7 miles to McMinnville where we have booked into the McMinnville Inn which is a motel but better than others we have stayed at. It is actually very hospitable and the room and bathroom are large. We luxuriate in the space, wash clothes and ourselves and dress up a bit for dinner. Paul has found an upmarket Cypriot Restaurant imaginatively named Cyprus. The food is good and we have a lovely evening.

We were going to head for the coast but realise it is 4 July – Independence Day so the roads will be busy. We decide to stay for a second night and head into Carlton for more wine tasting. This was a brilliant plan with one small flaw. Everything is closed. We walk around the town testing every door. Persistence pays off and we find one tasting room that is open – Bibliotec.

We force ourselves to sample another tasting flight and end up buying a bottle of the chardonnay and the exceptionally good pinot noir. I would not describe these as bargain buys however!

We decide to eat in McMinnville at an Italian that was closed yesterday. Annoyingly it is still closed as is every other restaurant in town. Disaster – we are hungry and thirsty. It is very hot. Eventually we find a bar that serves food but there is an hour’s wait. We sit at a table and order drinks and are pleased to discover that we can actually eat almost immediately. We were definitely lucky as most people were turned away.

After a good night’s sleep we set off north for Cape Disappointment. We stop off at the Lewis & Clark National Historical Park in Astoria. I knew nothing of these explorers who were commissioned by Thomas Jefferson in 1803 to explore the newly acquired western territory. They made the most extraordinary journey and I shall definitely read more about the expedition when I return home. We listen to a talk which is very interesting and visit a reconstruction of Fort Clatsop where the American presence was finally established in November 1805.

We head north and cross the Columbia River which is big. The traffic going south is horrendous, following on from the July 4 celebrations. We definitely made the right choice in not going to the coast yesterday. The jam has to be 10 miles long …or more.

We finally make it to Cape Disapppointment, named by Lewis and Clark, following a bitterly cold and hard stay before being abandoned in favour of Fort Clatsop.

We pitch our tent behind the trees 50 yards or so from the beach. It is much cooler here – the Pacific effect and there is a strong wind blowing.

We walk along the beach and just sit and take in the view and sound of the surf. It’s a pretty nice spot. We try to find somewhere for supper but there is a limited choice in town and both restaurants are closed. We head for the next town to buy takeaway pizza. It is delicious – prawn and smoked oyster with extra olives. It goes down very well with a local bottle of pinot noir.

When we wake up we find that there has been light drizzle during the night. The fly sheet is sodden but the tent is dry and the wind has dropped so it feels warmer. We want to get close to Seattle so we have an easy drive to our airport hotel and to drop off the hire car. We stop for coffee at South Bend on the Willapa River. It’s a cosy little place with good coffee and exceedingly good lemon and blueberry scones.

Sometimes road trips can provide surprises. We encounter the charming little town of Elbe. We had been hoping to see Mt Rainier but it was drizzly and overcast. A rather apt name – rainier. Elbe is home to the Mt Rainier Railroad and Logging Museum. Blink and you might miss it but an interesting diversion on our journey.

Once we were away from the coast the weather started to improve. The countryside is green and in places quite UK like.

We drive to Mossyrock and find a campsite on the shores of Lake Riffe. It is very hot. The temperature changes on this trip, in the space of half an hour, can be quite astonishing. There is a dam on the lake and Paul thinks it will be worth exploring the fishing possibilities downstream. The stream looks wonderful but has steep banks and is not accessible.

We have a huge pitch under the trees but there is a very steep gravel slope up to it, which tests the Mustang’s road holding capabilities. Having erected the tent we drive to Mossyrock for food and are very pleasantly surprised. The quality of food on offer is great. We can buy vegetables, fruit and salad. Trust me – this has not been the norm on our journey. We buy beef, salads, wine and have a lovely supper at the campsite. I take a walk down to the lakeshore. People are swimming but the shore is rocky. It holds limited appeal for me and I clamber back up the steep path to our pitch. It is however quite scenic.

The morning is cooler and cloudy. We head off to Seattle, check into the airport hotel, dump the luggage and then drop off the car at the airport. It is a short walk back to hotel so we do not need a shuttle, which simplifies life. We decide to eat next door at the Crowne Plaza. We sit at the bar with a G&T which was divine. Absence makes the heart grow fonder!

We follow that with a good meal and a soupçon of wine. Civilization sometimes has an upside.