For the first 10 days of summer I went on a road trip up to Canada with three friends. We had been planning the trip for a few months and when school was over we were ready to go!
We left at 3 am the first day so that we could get a good start. We were aiming to get to a campground a half hour north of San Francisco. We decided to take the coast road all the way up which was really cool. When we got to Big Sur there was a portion of road that had been washed out so we had to backtrack and head inland. So much for making it to camp by dark. We stopped in Monterey to play on the sand dunes and another beach to check out a cave. We tried to stay on the road but if we saw something cool we would stop to check it out. We made it to San Fran around 7 and stopped in the city to check it out. We checked out Chinatown and went to a pub for dinner. I had veggie shepard's pie. We got back on the road and made it to the camp around 10. The gate was locked but we talked to the ranger and he let us in which was really cool. When we first talked to him he suggested that we sleep in the car. We set up our camp and went to sleep.
In the morning we broke everything down, ate some pb&j (our main meal for the first few days) and decided to go on a hike. We went over a hill close to the ocean and there was a pretty sweet view. It was cool to see the sun coming up and hung out for a while. There were wild turkeys running around too. We started off again since our aim this time was the middle of Oregon. We had more miles to cover than the previous day and were leaving a few hours later. We hit the road. The environment started to change on our way up as the trees got thicker and became more foresty. I drove more today since the other driver was pretty tired and had driven most of the previous day. It was a stick and only two of us could drive. We stopped at a really cool beach with some crazy looking rocks. Also in Oregon it is illegal to pump your own gas. Interesting. We made it to the campsite late and cooked some beans and veggies for dinner. It was pretty good. We made a campfire and decided to sleep outside under the stars. It got cold at night but it was still a cool experience. From this point on I didn't sleep in the text for the rest of the trip.
In the morning we decided that we were going to go straight for Canada. We had planned to stop at another campsite but we were now going to see our Navy friend on the way back down so in order to have another day with him we went straight through. We went through Seattle which was interesting but decided not to stop. Washington was a beautiful place. It felt very open and the whole place felt like a big forest. We got stopped at the Canadian border and they were very suspicious of us. We got through eventually and headed for Harrison Hot Springs where Josh's aunt's condo was. She was letting us stay there even though she lived in Oregon. We got there around 9 and went to get something to eat. The Canucks game was on and the fans were crazy. They won in double overtime or something like that.
The next day we headed for Vancouver and checked out the city. It was raining and it took us a while to figure out what we wanted to do. We had not really planned it out and weren't sure where to start. Eventually we found an info center which was really helpful and we got planned out. We went across a ferry to a place called the SoupMister which had amazing broccoli cheddar soup. Sounds kind of gross but it was really good. We also got some fresh salmon jerky. We had a hotel that night and checked out the town it was cool.
The next day we went to a old part of the forest that someone had built a suspension bridge over. We went back to Harrison after and got ready to leave for Washington. It was a relaxed day but we hangout in Harrison which was a small town. The people were friendly and it was a cool place to be. Might get boring after a while but we enjoyed it.
We headed for the Olympic Rainforest in the Northwest of Washington. It was a lot farther than we originally planned. We did not take a ferry that we should had so we had to go all the way around Puget Sound and through Seattle which took forever. We got there 4 hours later than we had planned. Kenny was waiting for us and was ready to go. We loaded up his truck with drift wood and found a site. The trees were so thick around us that when it rained we stayed dry! Great for camping. We started a huge fire, cooked and hung out. It was cool to see Kenny again after he had been in the Navy for about a year. It made me realize how much I missed him.
He had wanted to hike out into the forest the next day and camp but we decided against that since the rest of us didn't have the gear. Instead we took a hike in the woods that ended up going of the trail. It was an adventure and got scary at times. We found the trail after a few hours of hiking and made our way back to camp. We messed around in the woods and got more wood for the fire. We kept making fires all day. Me and Josh to Kenny's truck back to town over the dirt roads which was fun to get supplies. We met some other campers that night and made a huge fire with them. One of them was in the Army and about to deploy for his second tour. He had some crazy stories.
The next day we left at 12 to head back. We drove straight through to San Diego from Washington, only stopping to drop the keys off for the condo at Josh's aunt's and for gas. I had to drive from 1 to 8 in the morning. I was done after that. We made it back alive. I was glad to be home but I would have liked to spend some more time with Kenny in the Olympic Rainforest. Me and Josh told him that we would come back, and I plan on it. We want to do a three day hike, should be fun. We'll see if that happens.
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