http://www.hartnup.net/travels ... can't stay for long, just turn around and we're gone again Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:41:18 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I woke up when I smelled coffee. Ruth toasted muffins (or English muffins, as they call them here), and, early, we were heading north, driven by Dave. We parked at Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal, and took a big ferry, not all that far, to Bowen Island. Not a hop and a skip ... http://www.hartnup.net/travels/2008/08/09/bowen-island-and-homeward/ Apparently when Ruth told her colleagues that we were coming to visit, they said "Oh, you must bring them to lunch so we can meet them", and so it was that I had a shave this morning, and we set out along Broadway once more. We were late setting off again, ... http://www.hartnup.net/travels/2008/08/08/ladies-who-lunch-and-art/ We woke up pretty late, and got ready at a leisurely pace. We walked towards town along 4th Street, seeing what we would see. It was oppressively hot, and even walking on the shady side of the street wasn't comfortable. We saw tourist favourite, Sophie's Atomic Diner, so that's where we ... http://www.hartnup.net/travels/2008/08/07/walking-around-vancouver/ We got up quite early, did a final sanitary dump (of the van, not merely ourselves), then I did my share of today's driving -- all of 500 metres as it turned out, to the cafe across the road. I had bacon and eggs, and Debbie had bacon and toast. ... http://www.hartnup.net/travels/2008/08/06/hope-to-vancouver/ (Photos to follow) Today was a no bear day. It was another day of serious driving. Since I'd done most of the driving yesterday, Debbie did all the driving today! Before we set off, we noticed that the campsite had a pressure wash hose, so we gave the van a once-over, removing ... http://www.hartnup.net/travels/2008/08/05/prince-george-to-hope/ (Photos later) Today was a five bear day. I have not invented a rating system using bears instead of stars. We saw five bears. Count 'em. Within ten minutes of leaving Bell II, with very nice coffee from their coffee shop in our travel mugs, a small black bear lolloped over the ... http://www.hartnup.net/travels/2008/08/04/bell-ii-to-prince-george/ (Updated with photos) We had done very well fending off Northern Canada and Alaska's notorious biting insects, through a combination of DEET, insect repellent smoke spirals, mesh on our doors, vents and windows, and covering up with clothes. That ended last night, when Debbie woke up in the middle of the night ... http://www.hartnup.net/travels/2008/08/03/johnsons-crossing-to-bell-ii/ (Updated with pictures) I haven't all that much to report today. Our Alaskan activities left us behind schedule for getting home, so we're doing lots of driving to catch up. Today was all retreading Alaskan Highway we've already done in the other direction. It's not a bad thing, though. The scenery is ... http://www.hartnup.net/travels/2008/08/02/beaver-creek-to-johnsons-crossing/ (No photos - it was wet where we were) It didn't take long to get going today - we were going to get wet (or so we thought). I used that as an excuse not to shower. Debbie did shower, but skipped her normal haircare regime. We went back to the Nova ... http://www.hartnup.net/travels/2008/08/01/matanuska-glacier-alaska-to-beaver-creek-yukon/ (Updated with photos) Once again, because of an unpowered campsite, I write as if I'm writing in the evening of the day in question, but in fact it's a day later than that. We didn't sleep all that well in Anchorage. I'm not sure why. I don't want to blame the trains, ... http://www.hartnup.net/travels/2008/07/31/anchorage-to-matanuska-glacier/