Sept 3rd to 8th - Vancouver Island to Sequim, WA

Sept 3rd - Mon - to Port Alberni
Got up fairly early and reluctantly said goodbye to Doug, Judy & Dennis and headed down island to Port Alberni. Marg & Dad decided to spend a couple more days with us - at Port Alberni and a trip to the west coast of the island (Long Beach).
It continued to rain while we drove and after we set up in the RV park. We chose the RV park because it had an indoor pool and hot tub. We had to squeeze into a very narrow spot (good thing Terry is a good backer-upper!) and Marg had to back over a cut off stump to get into her spot. The electric hook-ups are at the very front of the site and our connection is at the back of the rig so we can only get 110 as our cable is only 25 feet long and the park does not have a loaner 30 amp cable.
We toured Port Alberni in the rain - it is quite a large town. After dinner Marg & I went to check out the pool and were told that it was closed for the season! It closed at the end of August! Guess we learned to ask more questions when calling for a reservation.

Sept 4th - Tues - Port Alberni/Long Beach area
We drove to the west coast today. The road is narrow and windy so I am glad that we decided to leave the rigs in Port Alberni and just take the truck for a day trip.
The clouds cleared as we drove and it ended up being a beautiful sunny day. We stopped at the tourist center for some info and a park access pass and then drove first to Uclulet at the south end of beaches. Walked on the beach and checked out the Wickaninish Interpretive Centre. On the way north we stopped for a tailgate lunch and then continued on to Tofino at the north end of the beaches for a little browsing in gift shops.
On the way back down, we stopped at Radar Hill for a walk to an overlook from a site used by the army in WWII. Next was a walk on the Rainforest Loop trail - mostly boardwalks about .6 mile through a wonderfully lush forest with huge old trees.
Terry needed MEAT for dinner so we stopped for steaks and had a great meal. Even nicer was being able to sit out in the sun for the first time in a week!

Sept 5th - Wed - to Marysville, WA
It was tough to say goodbye to Marg & Dad knowing that we will not see them for many months. They could not get a reservation on the ferry to Horseshoe Bay so they left about 9 and were prepared to wait if necessary. We squeezed out of our site about 9:30 (had to move a huge barrel planter!) and headed south. We stopped at Chemainus to view the murals that are painted on the sides of many buildings in town. They are amazing and the sun was great for the walking tour. We had a nice lunch there also.
Our ferry was due to leave Sidney at 6 and we arrived there about 3 so we found a spot to park and wait for the ferry terminal to open. Had to go through US immigration before getting on the ferry.
We thought about driving through Seattle after we got off the ferry at 9 but Terry was tired so after clearing customs, we went to Marysville (about 1 hour drive) and stayed overnight in WalMart.

Sept 6th - Thurs - Marysville
We plan to go to the Puyallup fair but noticed the huge Tulalip Casino on our way in last night so decided to check it out. There is a large RV parking lot so after picking up some supplies at WalMart, we parked in the lot and did some gambling. Terry won a bit of money fairly quickly and my $40 lasted many hours so we ended up staying there all day and taking advantage of the free overnight parking. We had a great lunch buffet - one of the best I have seen/eaten - so only had a light dinner. I did take a break to spend some time with Dolly and make a couple of phone calls. Terry was still playing on the casino money at 9:30 pm when we called it a day.

Sept 7th - Fri - Marysville
We smacked our foreheads this morning as we thought “why do retired people have to go to a fair on a weekend?” and decided to spend at least part of the day in the casino again. Well, Terry continued to do OK and I lost another $20 (and a couple of “loans” from Terry) very slowly so we spent the day in the casino and part of another night in the casino lot. You can actually stay7 nights here and then have to leave for 30 days before spending 7 nights again. We took advantage of the lunch buffet again and totally skipped dinner this time.
We decided to get up about 2:30 and drive through Seattle in the middle of the night to avoid traffic. We were awake earlier so actually left about 2:20. What a great decision! There was construction on I5 at Everett with I5 north closed and south down to one lane. We cruised without any slowdowns to Shelton, saw a casino with other RVs in the lot, parked and went back to bed at 4:30.

Sept 8th - Sat - to Sequim, WA
At 9 we went in for a nice buffet breakfast and sat with a couple from Sequim that we met in the parking lot. A nice 2 hour drive brought us to Sequim where the first RV park was full. I called another park and they said they had one spot but we were looking for another RV park so said we would decide. In a few minutes we drove by and dismissed the 2nd park and arrived at the park that we called to see another rig in front of us taking the last spot! Luckily, the park has several “overflow” spots with everything but sewer so that is where we are staying. We are in trees, parked on grass and with lots of parking for the truck. The rest of the park is more “check by jowl” so we are happy that the spot was taken.
We went for a drive to replenish the all important alcohol supply and to do a bit of sightseeing. We knew this area was in a “rain shadow” from the Olympic mountains but were surprised to see such dry pastures.