Our first travel adventure since moving off the boat was a combination of work and play. It was a drive from VA to MN, a week camping with family in Minnesota, a few days ‘de- stuffing’ our storage unit back in Stillwater, Amtrak from St. Paul to Oregon, fast ferry to Victoria, BC, a stop in Seattle, fly back to MN to load up a UHaul, and a final return drive to Norfolk. Whew!
When we decided to settle in Norfolk, it was with the knowledge we would escape the heat and humidity of summers on the Chesapeake Bay. Before we even had moved off the boat, we had planned to head up to MN for July and take a trip out to the Pacific Northwest to see family and friends. Then we bought the house, and it morphed into a combination of play and work to continue the relocation to Virginia.
So after just a month in the new house, the chaos of having work done and getting settled came to a screeching halt as we pivoted into travel mode. June had been incredibly hot and muggy in Norfolk – unusually so – and we were ready to escape to the cooler temps and less humidity of the north.
Automobile to MN
July 2 – July 6
We broke up the two day trip with a stop at the home of Looper friends Patty and Cieran (No Worries) house in Michigan for a couple days over the 4th of July. Their house sits right on Lake St. Clair, and they’ve created their own family mini-resort with pool and hot tub and their own dock. We went for a lovely afternoon boat ride on the Lake, and they hosted a July Fourth pool party where some other Looper friends Jim & Kristi (Sisu) came and inspired our future travel plans with tales of their own adventures. Stay tuned on that one.
After the 4th, we finished the drive to our friend Colleen’s house in Hudson WI, just across the river from Stillwater MN. It’s always fun to hang out with her.
RV to Gooseberry Falls State Park and Lake Elmo County Park
July 7-13
We rented a Class C RV from Cruise America for a Rattee-tay Reunion on the North Shore of Lake Superior. We picked it up in the morning and went back to our storage unit to pick up bikes gear. It wasn’t until we got there that we realized the hitch on the RV was locked so we couldn’t put our bike rack on it, so I would have to follow Dave up in the truck with the bikes rather than just taking the RV. We also realized they had forgotten to give us our $125 cooking supplies rental kit, so we made a stop at Target on the way and I spent $128.36 on kitchen and dining equipment which we now get to keep.
Gooseberry has always been the family retreat going back to when his mother was growing up. Dave’s brothers were all there with their kids and grandkids, making this now the fifth generation to wade through the river, walk along the cliffs and beach of Lake Superior, skip rocks into the Lake, hike the familiar trails to all the Falls, and enjoy Duluth and the small towns nearby. It’s an area where time seems to have been suspended, traditions continue from decades ago (such as the Thursday evening City Band concerts in Two Harbors and a visit to Betty’s Pies), and the summer days are long. Having everyone together for the first time since 2019, we also took the time to memorialize Dave’s parents, recalling stories of them as we sat at by the lake at his mom’s favorite place, the self-named Prescott Rock.
After five days at Gooseberry, Dave and I spent a couple relaxing days at Lake Elmo County Park before we had to turn inthen RV — a campground just outside of Stillwater that we had been unable to stay in when we lived there because they do not allow dogs.
Hudson, WI
July 14-17
After returning the RV, we were back at Colleen’s for a few days. We had some opportunities for fun with her — walking the loop trail across the St. Croix River from Stillwater to Wisconsin and back, wandering through downtown Stillwater and seeing old haunts — but most of our time was spent going through our storage. We sorted through stuff we hadn’t thought much about for over four years. Seeing stuff we forgot we even had made us realize how much the four years on the boat had changed our perspective on how we wanted to live – and so much of it was really ‘just stuff.’ We organized into what we wanted to take to Virginia and…what we had to figure out how to get rid of. Then it was all aboard for the next part of our adventure.
Amtrak Empire Builder to Portland, OR
July 17-19
We took an overnight train to Oregon! We went with the upgraded ‘roomette’ with bunk beds – essentially the ‘business class’ of train travel. The attendant for our car, Lynne, greeted us as we boarded in St. Paul at the scheduled just before midnight departure and filled us in on how things work, of which my way-past-bedtime brain absorbed only a fraction of what she said.
Our roomette was truly only about 12” wider than the stacked narrow bunks; Dave felt right at home since it was very much like life on a submarine. Sleeping on a train is harder than I thought, because the motion is jerkier– both side to side and forward and back – and there are a lot of creaks and groans of both train and tracks. It made for a fitful sleep, but the bunk itself was comfortable enough. And by our second night, I found I had acclimated to the motion and noises and so slept much better.
We awoke the first morning as we stopped in Grand Forks ND. Flipping up the upper bunk and sliding the two halves of the lower bunk apart converted the space to two facing lounge chairs and a center table, allowing us to sit comfortably and enjoy the passing scenery in the privacy and quiet of our own two-seat compartment. It was gray and drizzly, adding drama to the expansive prairies and farmland. The occasional abandoned farmhouse, falling-down barn, and long-abandoned trucks and farm equipment left much to the imagination about the stories they might have to tell.
Passing through the other cars on the way to the dining car for breakfast, we noticed the large number of young Amish families. In the dining car people were randomly seated together to fill the four-person tables, making for a great way to meet our fellow travelers. We breakfasted with a recent widow, on this long-planned trip alone after a long battle with Parkinson’s had prevented her husband from taking it with her. Dinner was with a couple from Wisconsin, a pediatric respiratory therapist and a professor of humanities.
The gray drizzle stopped as we stopped in Minot ND, where there was a scheduled 40 minute ‘service stop’ and we were encouraged to get off and stretch our legs. Unfortunately, one passenger thought it was a 45 min service stop and the train had already started moving by the time he came into view on the platform and realized his. Pretty sure he didn’t give a 5-star rating on his Amtrak experience.
In some stretches we could see the Interstate in the distance, but mostly it was just the train tracks. We continued through North Dakota and into Montana, passing by Glacier National Park shortly before sunset. In the middle of the second night, the train stopped in Spokane WA to split the train, with the front half continuing on to Seattle and the back half – where we had been assigned – getting its own engine and switching tracks to head to Portland. Awakening just before dawn in Western Washington, I enjoyed the sunrise seeping across the landscape, the pale orange lingering all the longer since we were heading west and essentially running from the sunrise. We passed scattered tiny towns and scrub vegetation, then crop fields gradually becoming more frequent and lush.
Shortly after a stop in Pasco WA, we were following the beautiful Columbia River on the Washington side. Our compartment had great views of the whitecapped river this morning. It gradually became more gorge-like as we approached the Cascades, and we must have passed through at least a dozen tunnels. A snowcapped Mt. Hood rose in the distance, smoke billowed from a nearby brushfire, we passed multiple big dams/locks, and many saw colorful kite and windsurfers. Once we started seeing signs of city life, we were soon crossing the river and arriving in Portland.
Oregon by car – Eugene and Redmond
July 19-24
We picked up a rental car near the station and headed to Eugene, a couple hours south of Portland, to visit our Looper buddies Patty and Gary. We did mountain, waterfall, and beach hikes, did a bike ride along the Willamette River through downtown Eugene, and partook of the very eclectic food truck and brewery scene. The vibe was boomer meets college crowd, with a focus on the arts and outdoor recreation. It was lush and hilly and felt like a simple and eco-conscious suburban life. And it was great to just hang out with Patty and Gary.
From Eugene, we headed east over the Cascades, with a stop along the way for a short waterfall hike. Our destination was Redmond to see long-time Navy friends Mike and Leigh – with a bonus that their daughter Olivia was visiting from her own adventures abroad! Now we were in the arid high desert on the edge of the Deschutes National Forest, with juniper and sagebrush and views of the volcanic peaks of the Cascades. We did more hikes up to a waterfall, through rocky canyons, and an old lava flow with a fantastic 360° view. The town of Sisters was great for a morning coffee stop and wandering, and the city of Bend for a picnic lunch! It’s got remnants of its old hippie vibe for flavor, but it’s moved well beyond that with a happening downtown and a focus on the arts and outdoor activities. Our visit was capped off by an afternoon of tubing down the river near their house. We floated and chatted, laughing when one of us would get caught in an undesirable current and pushed into the bushes or bottoming out in too-shallow rocks. A stop at the food truck park while we air dried was the perfect ending to the day.
Round Trip Ferry from Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
July 25-29
Dropping the car off in Portland (and partaking of the VooDoo Donuts we passed on our walk to the station), we hopped on Amtrak for the morning trip to Seattle. We had just enough time to wander down to the iconic Pike’s Place Market and the waterfront, noting how much nicer it is since we were last here a decade ago when the elevated highway was an eyesore. We indulged our old habit of Ivar’s clam chowder while the seagulls hovered nearby waiting for a French fry.
Early the next morning, we boarded the ferry for an easy passage across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the tops of the Olympic Mountains peaking out above distant clouds. Pulling into Victoria Harbor felt a little like we were arriving in a theme park, with cute little Pickle Boat water taxis and sea planes passing around us, the landscaping spelling out a welcome message, and the ornate Parliament and historic Empress Hotel before us.
Victoria is now on my list of favorite places. We took a Pickle Boat harbor tour and a bus city tour. We visited parks, plenty of restaurants and coffee shops, took tour of the majestic Parliament Building, wandered along the houseboats at Fisherman’s Wharf, and visited the Royal BC Museum. A favorite event was the Pickle Boat Ballet, 15 minutes of synchronized maneuvering by boats that looked like they were right out of an animated movie; at any moment I fully expected the boats themselves would start singing as they danced around the harbor to the music.
But the best part was all the flowers! Dripping from the antique street lamps, lining walkways, giant containers in squares, spilling over balconies, and large beds in every public space. But wait – there’s still more floral wonder! Victoria is home to the amazing Butchart Gardens. Once a depleted limestone quarry, the owner’s wife had a vision of creating a fantastic garden and began planting specimens herself — sometimes hanging from ropes along the quarry walls – over a century ago. The fourth generation of the family continues to manage the 55 acres of themed gardens, as well as a concert and event venue. I never knew there could be that many varieties of dahlias in one place!
Returninbg to Seattle on the evening ferry, the pilot suddenly throttled back and announced they were slowing because there was a nearby pod of orcas! We could see three or four of them surfacing and diving less than a mile off our port side as we slid slowly past – too far for pictures, so we just enjoyed the show.
Seattle WA
July 30-31
We had planned a couple days back in Seattle in order to visit my brother and his family. But by the time we got to the hotel late that evening Dave was feeling sick so he spent the two days in the room. I was feeling fine, so after walking to the nearest grocery store to get some drugs and food for Dave, I took the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston to have lunch with my nieces and meet my 7 mo old great-niece and my niece’s husband for the first time. The next day I spent with my brother and his wife. I had not seen them since we had moved onto the boat, so it had been too long.
On the last day of our fun time before returning to MN and the work part of this adventure, we closed on the sale of See Level and that amazing chapter for us. And the new owners are named Karen and Dave – how eery is that? This is the third Dave to captain her; the original owners were Dave and Char, from Australia, and I’m pretty sure Char is Australian for Karen.
Minnesota back to Virginia
Aug 1-7
We flew back to Minnesota from Seattle, with the plan to be there as long as it took to clean out the storage unit and load up a U Haul for the drive back to Norfolk. With Dave being sick, we canceled plans to stay with Colleen and booked a hotel. By the time we arrived there it was my turn to feel like I was coming down with something. Yup, took the test the next day and sure enough it was COVID. This was a first time for both of us, as between the yearly vaccine and living on a boat we had managed to avoid it. It was just a couple days of the worst stuff — aches and upper respiratory — but then it was the fatigue that really kicked our butts.
But there was still lots of work yet to do, so once the worst was over we were able to focus on getting rid of all the ‘stuff’ we had identified as not making the trip to Virginia. Facebook Marketplace to the rescue! As much as I’m disillusioned with social media, this is a great way to quickly unload anything you don’t want. Furniture was sold dirt cheap – we just wanted it gone. But the biggest benefit was listing the free stuff. I would post it and get multiple pings within minutes! This was all stuff that wasn’t even donatable – really old tools, decades-old camping items, random equipment Dave had used for his track officiating, beat up garden tools. And the best part was that when people came to pick up one item, we invited them to go ‘shopping’ amongst all the other stuff we were going to have to pay to dispose of in a dumpster, with almost everyone leaving with at least one additional item. One farmer picked up some fence poles and then loaded up the entire bed of his truck with buckets and scrap wood and all kind of other random stuff marked for the dump. We ended up with only a single dumpster bag that Dave and his brother Rick hauled off to his house.
Then we sold the storage unit with barely trying! This was actually a ‘condo’ storage facility, where you own the climate controlled unit. We originally purchased it to store our trailer years before, and it was perfect when we moved out of the Stillwater house. So Dave mentioned to the Condo Association manager that our unit would be coming available soon, and soon had several phone calls, emails, a couple people stopping by, and two offers. He hadn’t even had time to figure out exactly what his asking price would be! After some quick research and calculations, he accepted an offer that turned a nice profit for us and was from a guy who was the son of his old junior high basketball coach. The buyers generously took on the task of finding a closing company and getting all the paperwork started, which was a great relief to us because we just didn’t have the time nor the energy to deal with that also.
Dave loaded the UHaul with Rick’s help (I was still in sloth mode), we swept out the unit, turned over the keys at the closing company office, and hit the road. We took three days to get home since we were both still struggling. Turns out I got the better end of the deal by following behind Dave in our car, because the UHaul was basic with hand-cranked windows, no cruise control, and incredibly noisy. We were both happy to pull up to our garage, and I could have cried when Dave’s brother Chuck met us there to help unload and get everything into the garage or house, so we could return the truck, shut all the doors and crash.
It would be two more weeks before we really felt back to normal. We had things to do at the house – painters and crawl space work was already scheduled — and we continued forward but at a much slower pace and with naps. The trip had been a true adventure in many ways and convinced us how much we wanted to find unique ways and places to travel. But we’ll leave off the ‘getting sick’ part of it going forward.
Final Thoughts
- This trip really was about seeing friends and family. We were reminded once again that it’s the people in our lives that make everything so memorable; the variety of transportation to get to them made this an adventure.
- Put Victoria high on your list! Allow at least a long weekend, preferably four days. Don’t miss Butchart Gardens (take the city busy — easy!) and be there on a Sunday morning for the Pickle Boat Ballet.
- We loved the train as a stress-free way to travel with a great view away from truck stops and roadside tourist attractions. But I would keep it to a max of two nights. In fact, I think a great trip across country would be to get off every day or two. Essentially do it as a series of day trip segments, spending a night or two in the stops, so that you aren’t missing the overnight scenery. More train trips are definitely in our future.
- Oregon – an outdoor enthusiast’s dream, really like both Bend and Eugene. We will be back.
- COVID is a butt-kicker. Avoid it. And don’t underestimate it.
Oh my, I even don’t want to imagine what you can store in that kind of space. Fence posts really?
Not long ago we gave away the worlds most expensive desk, stored for 7 years lol.
Happy travels, greetings from Spain.
Erika
As usual a great read. You ought to write a book!
Thanks Rick!
I’ve always liked Victoria and tea at the Empress hotel. There used to be a hydrofoil ferry to Victoria from Seattle that cut the travel time. Will need to DM you on new home details. I’ve done the auto train from Dumfries,VA to Sanford Fl. It is an overnight trip. Board late afternoon and arrive in FL next day I’d-morning. I think it is the longest passenger train in the U.S.
Maybe an option if Jim and Tammy settle in central FL.
Quite the adventure, and this time without a boat. Loved the pretty photos and polished prose. Looking forward to your DownUnder adventure summary. Crazy odds on SeeLevel chain of owners