Finally, a picture of the Maryland relatives. In the center is "the queen", Virginia, who's the wife of John, upper left, first cousin of John, in the middle, and first cousin once removed of Mary on the lower left. On the right are John & Virginia's "adopted" daughter & son, Narelle (Australian by birth) and Art (Canadian by birth). They're both now US citizens but work in the hotel industry in China. John & Virginia lived in their hotel when John was bringing Seagrams to China (even the Chinese need a little gin & whiskey once in a while.)




Since we're on the "eastern shore", Mary decided to try her hand at crabbing. Let's just say we're fortunate we did not have to rely on her skills to supply dinner.

Meanwhile, John admires Comet #1 and how beautiful she is. In the background Patty is trying to find some resemblance between it and the boat (supposedly a Comet) currently housed in John's workshop. At least she knows he'll have plenty to keep him busy during his retirement years.

What? No pictures? Sorry, but we just weren't fast enough to capture the highlights. First, Charlie's northeast states map that Brooklyn Kathleen created for us ended up covered in wax (long story) and you couldn't see the states so that was out. Then Cyndy graciously lead us by car to 95 headed south and even though she had her arm out pointing at the entrance, John somehow missed it so had to do a U-turn. That would have been hard to take a photo of even if we had been fast. The "Welcome to" Delaware & Maryland, the last of the new states Mary will visit, flew by and we missed those. It was cocktail time when we arrived at John & Virginia's and we forgot about pictures. So....
Anyway, today is another day.

“This is where I was born. This was the library I used. This is where I went to college. This is where I used to live. Up there is where I went to church… Our Mother of Constipation.” Wait – are we back in Boise again? No, this was Cyndy’s tour of Philadelphia, HER hometown. Boise may be the city of trees, but Philly has its share too. It also has Fairmount Park, the largest urban park in the world, and the Schuylkill River with its world-class rowing and sculling.

Luckily memory lane lead directly to Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell (has it really grown legs?), the new Constitution Center (well worth a visit), soft pretzels & Philly cheese steaks.

The mint is also down there. We made Mary get her photo taken in the ten and even though I told Mary I wouldn’t use it on the blog, that’s what you get when you go to bed before the rest of us.

After a day of sightseeing we met Anne & Bob (John & Mary’s cousins) & had a wonderful dinner at the Victor Café where the wait staff continue to serenade the clientele with arias from favorite operas. Leaving the city we noted Cirque du Soleil was performing, tried for tickets and ended up seeing a GREAT performance. How is it possible to make your body DO things like that? Even Mary thought she was a bit old to be trying out even for the bit parts.

Dillon (John & Patty’s godson) continues to grow like a weed. It won’t be long before he’s as tall as we are. And Peyton is quickly catching up. However, he’s not quite as cooperative as Dillon when it comes to having his picture taken. Their grandmother, Joey (next to Dillon), just got back yesterday from Croatia where she had a GREAT time being captain of a 47 foot sailing boat around that part of the Mediterranean for a week. And you thought Tillie was awe-inspiring!

On to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, where we’re staying with Cyndy - the same Cyndy who joined us earlier for the Lake Louise part of our trip. You can see Cyndy, Mary & John are still thinking of Patty’s birthday tea by the way they’re holding their little fingers.

Is that Nathan's famous hot dogs behind Patty? Could it be the one in Coney Island? What on earth was Patty doing in Coney Island?
To make a loooooong story short, she munched on a pearl in a mussel in Maine & ended up with a tooth ache. Brooklyn Kathleen's (B-Kath) dentist was in his Coney Island office so worked her in. Three X-rays & probing just found a traumatized nerve (Patty had visualized jumping off the Coney Island parachute jump with a string around her tooth! Yikes!) The most unbelieveable part was the dentist didn't charge Patty anything - just said to say hi to B-Kath & Stanley, so "Hi!!!"




While Patty & B-Kath were playing on Coney Island, New Jersey Kathleeen (NJ-Kath) & Bridge started the Manhattan part of the tour for Mary & John.... Times Square, Grand Central Station, NY Public Library, St. Patrick Catheral, Central Park, FAO Swartz, Rockefeller Center. Can you believe they did all this BEFORE lunch? When B-Kath & Patty caught up them at the Korean restaurant, John had grown a bit long in the tooth (or perhaps Korean food just makes you a bit crazy!)
Coming to our senses once again we headed off to the Empire State Building - of course we took Mary up! Then some strolling down 5th Avenue where Mary shopped til she almost dropped. You know that bank account you USED to have Frank??????
Nita (a friend of B-Kath's) called while we were contemplating the program outside a church - "What should women wear?" & asked if we might like to join her & her kids on a James Beard sunset dinner cruise. (Some of her sales staff had cancelled.) Let's see... no dress code, gourmet dinner, a cruise around Manhattan & the Statue of Liberty on a VERY nice yacht, sunset, a full moon, open bar, no charge (FREE). It was a HARD decision! Thank you soooo much, Nita! (She's standing next to John.)

Can you guess where we were today?

And where are Mary & John? After all it was Tillie (Tillie's namesake as well as John's mother & Mary's grandmother) that came to the U.S. past the lady you see on your right & through Ellis Island. Well, it turns out Mary & John took the boat to N.J. & Patty took the boat to NYC & Mary & John were in charge of the photo & Patty was in charge of the text & Mary & John are staying with Kathleen & Patty is staying with Kathleen but we're all getting together tomorrow. You've had days like that too, haven't you? Please call if any of you understood any of that and clarify it for us. Stay tuned....

Who ARE all these people?

Beats me, but somehow I think if DNA samples were taken a connection might be determined.

Mary spent the day trying to determine who were cousins once removed, who were second cousins (and what the difference was), who were sisters/brothers, etc. etc. Luckily she had met Uncle Jules when she first arrived so at least she had that relationship figured out before the day began. She never realized she had so many east coast relatives.

Vinalhaven may be small but that doesn't mean they don't have entertainment. Thursday night we went to the dress rehearsal for the world premiere one-woman play, "The Little Locksmith". Lisa (on the left) is the star and was terrific as was the the play. To know how talented she is, just imagine changing your thick Cockney accent into an American one, then learning enough lines to fill an hour & 20 minutes.

As we prepared to leave the island on the ferry, Mary & John strike heroic poses. Mary seems to be getting the hang of this heroic pose business even with a piece of toast in her hand.

Charlie the Chyrsler was waiting patiently for us at the dock so off we went narrowly escaping the crowds for "Lobsterfest" in Rockland. He also sailed by B&M baked beans in Portland, the world's best baked beans. Apparently he thought he had enough gas for all of us. And he proved his worth in Hartford... 99 degrees, bumper to bumper SLOW traffic and we sat cool and comfortable inside. Tillie would not have been happy. (Today, Mary added Massachusetts & Connecticut to her list of states visited.)

Terry Riley & Nita Robinson with us on Vinalhaven? Is THAt why they look so surprised? No, no. We just forgot to put their picture on the blog as we said we would.

Bruce & Leigh have a baby???!!! Who knew? No, no. It’s just another forgotten photo. The baby, Devon, is Leigh’s grand-nephew.

And finally back to Vinalhaven for real. A little wine, a little garlic & mussels straight from the sea. What could be better?

Topped off the day with a local concert featuring Gigi & her “Granite Island Chicks”. Lots of fun & good entertainment. They were introduced as “the group in various stages of menopause so you never knew what to expect from them”.

Vinalhaven = lobster. And for those of you interested in trivia, the world’s largest lobster fishing fleet calls Vinalhaven home. An 18 wheeler (BIG truck) leaves the island 6 days a week (they don’t fish on Sundays) loaded with live lobster.
Back to the real matter at hand, Mary had her first whole lobster. It’s not every French woman, or anyone for that matter, who can say they had their first lobster delivered to the door by the fisherman who caught it just that morning. If being a quick study in how to cook, then dissect and eat a lobster is any indication, her career choice of biology should serve her well. So did Mary like the lobster? Let’s just say she managed to eat her 2 pound lobster plus John’s tail and one of his claws. Karol & Patty didn’t offer to share.
A small note to those suffering in the east coast heat wave – it’s a pleasant but muggy 70 degrees this morning. Being surrounded by the cold north Atlantic is a blessing.

With Ben off to soccer camp we wave goodbye to Steve (Ginny left at 5:30 – we don’t get up quite that early!) and we head for Maine.
We are already noticing the differences between Tillie & Charlie. Air conditioning? The pool at the end of the trip was great but somehow we didn’t seem to appreciate it nearly as much as when we sweated through the plains. Conversation? You mean we actually have to think of something semi-intelligent to say to one another… ALL the time? Radio? There’s something ELSE going on in the world besides our trip? Mosquito bites? We don’t have to research campgrounds and think about putting up the bug net (now what DO we talk about?) Guard rails on bridges? Mary’s photo taking has decreased - Charlie rides lower and she can’t take pictures over the guard rails like she used to in Tillie. Cold snacks? Charlie doesn’t have a frig. Leg room? Actually Tillie had more. Power steering? Charlie wins hands down but John gets bored with nothing to do. State map? Poor Charlie. We didn’t think to get a map for him as well. Friendly waves & honks? Poor Charlie, he just blends in with the crowd.
Future adventures??? - we stopped in Freeport, Maine, to check out the biggest globe in the world. It must be by boat since Mary & John seem to be pointing at the ocean. Sure enough, only a few hours later we were on the ferry to Vinalhaven. The island is still as beautiful as ever and John & Karol are both helping Mary with her heroic poses. You can see from the photo she seems to be making progress.

Tillie was so upset (we think she gave Charlie the Chrysler 2 flat tires), that we took her on a short trip to thank Helen (photo) for the wonderful cookies she sent us off with on our trip west. Through STRONG willpower on the part of J&P, Mary actually got to enjoy a few of those cookies. (The dog is checking Patty out for any leftover crumbs.)
This morning we waved goodbye to Tillie and headed east. Once again the “Petrified Creatures” museum was not open. Perhaps they cater more to the evening opera crowd (Glimmerglass Opera is only 5 miles away).
George made us right at home on our stop in Albany and, gracious as ever, offered his one chair to Mary. The movers have already taken most of his & Vicki’s things to their new home in North Carolina. After the movers left, Vicki got a call at work to let her know the home security alarm had gone off and to meet the policemen at the house. There were several police there when she arrived and they anxiously walked her through the house to see what was missing. When she said nothing was, they looked at the blonde before them and at the near empty house and from one to another until one finally asked “Mam, what about your furniture?” Blondes really do have a lot of fun.
Then it was on to Vermont. Mary has been working on her heroic poses although her sense of direction is still a bit off.
Tonight we’re in New Hampshire with Ginny, Steve & Ben. We wanted to get a picture of Ben & his cousin Steven in the pool, but those kids must be practicing for summer jobs as pearl divers – they’re under water more than above.

John promised Mary an adventure and he was true to his word. We spent 42 days “on the road”; 26 of those nights we slept in Tillie, the rest with friends; traveled 8,132 miles in Tillie (plus a few more on/in a tow truck) with only 2 new starters & 2 flat tires – not bad Tillie!; touched foot in 21 states & 4 Canadian provinces; had only a couple of showers (that’s rain, not baths if that was what you were thinking) the entire trip (a ray of sunshine must follow Tillie around); saw 52 “on the road” VW camper buses Tillie’s age or older; but the most staggering number is 1,980. Can you guess what that is? It’s the number of photos Mary has taken thus far on the trip. Thank heavens for digital, otherwise she might not be able to afford to return to college in the fall!
We saw old friends & met new ones along the way who all went out of their way to share their homes with us and show us a great time. If it hadn’t been for them we would have missed seeing the beautiful city of St. Charles; learning about and appreciating the Kansas prairie; seeing Sarah & Kenny & friends arrive in a ’67 convertible with horns & trumpet blaring & Sarah standing up & waving as befits a Mrs. Honker (she married a “Honker” from Kemare, N.D., doncha know); watching all the bald eagles soaring over Whitbey Island; and seeing the old Dutch Mill in North Dakota.
Tillie was a wonderful vehicle to see it all in (in spite of no air conditioning and an “unusual” sound system). She slowed us down so we didn’t miss seeing (as opposed to hearing) too much. And she was friendly. Strangers who might never have said more than “hello” came over just to chat and/or share a VW story of their own.
Now Tillie is back home for a much needed rest. On Sunday, July 30, Charlie the Chrysler takes over the adventure to “do” the northeast. Tillie is a laid back, open road type of gal. Charlie is keen for traffic, cities & road challenges – we’ll see how that goes…. If you’re interested in following the rest of our adventure, tune in next Sunday – same blog site.

Now on a southeasterly course, Tillie Tours opted to bypass the Dione Quints Museum in North Bay and the Canadian Clock Museum in Deep River in favor of a day in Ottawa. Ottawa has a nice municipal campground & the local library (don’t forget to support your own!) sold us bus tickets to the heart of the city. Walked around the market area & walked to lunch at a Mexican restaurant (a first for Mary – the food, not the walk); walked across the bridge (John stuck one last heroic pose - can you see John cast in bronze in the park in Earlville?), anyway walked to Quebec (one more province under Mary's belt) to the Canadian Museum of Civilization; walked back over the bridge to Ontario & the Parliament buildings; did a walking tour of the Parliament offices & chambers; walked around some more; walked to dinner at a Thai restaurant (another first for Mary); walked back to Parliament for the evening sound & light show (worth staying for); & finally walked (not too briskly if you hadn’t guessed) to the bus stop. If you’re over 40 & want to feel old, ride the evening bus – Patty, John & the bus driver raised the median age to about 12. Anyway it was a great day in Canada’s capital. Mary got several chuckles from the Canadian version of the French language. And we managed to avoid that Canadian delicacy – French fries & gravy, but regretted not getting a “beaver tail” for Mary to sample.
Yesterday, Tillie was reluctant to leave Canada so decided to have another flat tire a mile from the border. (What was her problem???!! We did all the walking the day before while Tillie rested her feet. Anyway, once again, thank you Cousin John for that N.J. air in the spare!) John & Mary made quick work of changing it as did our friendly Canadian neighbors in fixing it. Goodbye Canada, hello USA.
Who said Europe has to have all the castles? Boldt Castle on one of the Thousand Islands is beautiful & you can’t get a moat much prettier than the St. Lawrence. It was our last tourist stop and also our last night camping in Tillie this trip. (If you think that sounds sad, we’ll be happy to have you come & camp in her for a few days.)
Where can you eat breakfast these days for $7.16 – that’s not per person but for 3 people with table service? The answer is the Crystal in Watertown. The décor, menu & prices haven’t changed in at least 50 years – and we keep going back ever so often to check!
And now Tillie has brought Patty & John full circle & Mary almost. Check the blog tomorrow for a few assorted tidbits from the trip.

Tillie Tours loved upper Minnesota, Wisconsin, & Michigan - relatively level, flat, scrub trees growing close to the road to keep John's eyes on the road, temperatures in the low 80's, lots of constructions giving her many chances to stop and cool her tires. John longed for the winds and hills & munched on pretzels to stay awake. Mary & Patty desperately searched for things to stop and see. (Perhaps Lady Bird had not travelled these roads when she promoted eliminating billboards.) When the welcome center host says "there's not a whole lot that direction", it is a challenge!
However, we did see...
- Forest History Museum in Grand Falls, MN (worth a stop)
- the shores of "Gitche Gumee" (Hiawatha wasn't in)
- breezed through Tula, MI with a pop. of 2 (1 house)
- took a 2 mile detour on an old cement highway with grass growing in to see the Toonerville Trolley... it wasn't back from its 6 hour tour (we all wondered what it took 6 hours to see!). However, the post card said it was the longest 2 foot gauge train in the world. The motel nearby advertised direct dial phones (and you've been wondering why it's so hard to find an internet connection!)
- the Soo locks between Lake Superior & Lake Huron.
Today we're in Canada and, thanks to the W. Nipissing tourist office, are able to add this to the blog (no photo upload available). The scenery is a bit more interesting but so far the only thing of note might be Bruce Mines (Canada's first copper mines) & Kaleb (home of a world champion dog sled team).

It’s not our fault! Call your Congressman. The northern US is sorely lacking in available wireless connections.
Where have we been??? Glacier Park to begin. As you can see in the photo, Tillie Tours was right at home among the park’s restored tour buses. She went up, over, around, up, and down the Highway to the Sun giving her passengers (not the driver who was supposedly hanging onto the wheel), a breathtaking view STRAIGHT DOWN the sheer mountain walls she was trespassing. Judy Keck & Karol Kucinski would have been scrambling for position and blind folders behind the driver.
We were so impressed by the beauty of Glacier Park we decided to brave the grizzlies and camp for a night in the park. The ranger told us the campground was full but to drive around anyway as sometimes people leave early. Tillie proved her worth yet again. On our second pass through, campers in a huge RV flagged us down and said they had plenty of space if we wanted to share their site. Yes!
At the entertainment in the hotel that night (we walked the mile over to it), we learned how to use the pepper spray Judy gave us in case we saw a bear. If a bear charges you, drop to a fetal position and spray yourself in the face so you can’t see the awful things that are going to happen. We walked briskly back to the campsite, humming loudly & trying not to think about it.
Friday we started east again. Driving into the FLAT, HOT Montana plains in the summer is not for the weak. WARNING – this stunt should only be tried if you are completely addled or wish to become so.
We would have said the same for North Dakota if it hadn’t been for the Kenmare “Honkers”, Bev & Orv (Kenny’s folks). They live outside Kenmare, the Snow Goose capital of N.D. (hence the town mascot) and only 6 miles from Canada. The canola fields are blooming a cheerful yellow and abut flax fields just starting to bloom with their blue flowers. It couldn’t have been prettier and more peaceful. Bev fixed us a wonderful lunch (Saturday) with cukes & radishes from their garden as was the rhubarb on the cake. And Orv put the heat wave into perspective by letting Mary sit (WAY UP) in the tractor he uses for snow removal…. Think about it!
Then it was on to the geographic center of N. America. Didn’t we already do that? Nope. That was the center of the US in Nebraska. This location is in Rugby, N.D. Saturday night we camped in an undiscovered municipal campsite in Michigan, N.D. It was beautiful, quiet & there were no other campers. A first!
Sunday we headed east once passing by Larimore, ND which is not only home to Miss North Dakota but also boasts, if their sign can be believed, the “Largest Concentration of Tree Shelter Belts in the World”. We decided to keep driving.
Then it was on to Minnesota where we passed a sign for “Pet Haven Cemetery – Winter Storage”. For lunch we took a detour south to Itasca State Park which has the headwaters of the Mississippi River, only a couple of feet wide as it empties out of the lake. Guess it has to start somewhere. Tillie got a bit nervous on our way to see Paul Bunyan and got a flat tire. Luckily the spare still had that NJ air cousin John had put it in and John got it changed in 100 plus temperature in the sun - so hot the jack sunk about 6 inches into the hardtop. However, the tire was easily fixed at the station across from Paul B. (only a blown value stem) and we were on our way. Nice campsite by one of Minnesota’s Lakes – we went swimming with the fish and who cared what else… anything was better than the heat!

Who is that playing hide & seek? It's Tillie, of course! We're not quite sure if her tent sides are waterproof so added a tarp just to make sure Mary stayed dry in the upper bunk. The mesquito tent over the picnic table was also a good addition.
Although we had a few showers, we were still able to have s'mores by the campfire on our last night in British Columbia.
This morning, Cyndy waved bye in her Impala & we saddled up Tillie & headed for Montana. Tonight we're camped in Hungry Horse (Mary can relate.) Tomorrow we plan on taking the limited access "Going to the Sun" highway through Glacier Park. This should be the last major challenge for Tillie in the Rockies.
PS - Did we mention our campground is in town with a nice heavy duty metal fence around it? They don't say but Patty suspects it's to keep out the bears. Many of the campgrounds don't advise camping if you have a soft-sided tent. We're not sure if that applies to Tillie or not but who wants to take chances?

Sorry we missed a day but the internet service Cyndy received with her room is VERRRRY slow so we finally gave up last night. It was 9:00 and dinner somehow seemed more important. Because we're so far north and on the very edge of the mountain time zone the sun doesn't set until around 10 so it's throws your sense of time way off.
Anyway, take a look at Tillie's big brother. They run these tour mobiles up over the Columbia glacier icefields. The temp. was around 40F with a breeze so you can understand why there's still so much snow. They have signs posted along the way to the foot of the glacier showing how much it has receded in the past 100 years. We opted not to take the bus ($38 per person to ride over snow seemed a bit excessive). We walked UP to the base along a trail they provide so we could all say we'd touched a glacier. Everything in this area seems to be either UP or DOWN - no flat ground.
Today we went on a short hike up Johnston Canyon (UP & DOWN of course) and saw some beautiful waterfalls. Then on to Radium Hot Springs to soak in the public hot springs. I'm sure we now look (or at least act) 10 years younger. Mary's appetite continues to flourish.
Tomorrow Cyndy flies back to Philly and we crank up Tillie and head to Montana and Glacier National Park.

Yikes! Patty is 60!!! And like she requested the event was celebrated by having tea at the Chateau Fairmont Lake Louise. Bridge couldn't join us but sent a WONDERFUL bottle of champagne. And we had the best table ever with a view looking directly over Lake Louise.

After waddling away from the tea, Cyndy drove us over to Morraine Lake where we took the "easy walk" to the end of the lake. This time it was easy and was only 1.5 km one way, just the perfect length to keep us moving instead of napping. The water in that photo really is that color, a turquoise blue.

An update on the blue cheese... it did survive until Cyndy arrived but just barely as Mary was hungry and Tillie's frig has decided to die. However it left the cheese a perfect temperature. It didn't look like blue because it was creamy yellow inside but it tasted like blue and was absolutely DElicious on the currant/rye bread. We highly recommend that combination.

Okay folks, what's the equivalent of 5.5 km? what's the equivalent of 400 meter rise in elevation? what's the equivalent of the Canadian version of an "easy hike"? Patty & Cyndy are here to tell you that it = GRUELING! However, we must admit the views were incredible. In the first photo you can just see the hotel at the end of the lake where we started out from. (Patty & Cyndy are smiling only because they're on the way back DOWN the mountain!) You can also notice the switchback in the trail to the left. The reward at the end of the trail was a tea house near the glacier field. Patty & Cyndy had a very overpriced tea but who cared at that point! Mary & John decided to press on for another half hour for some more up close and personal time with the glacier (the photo on the right).

The rendevous was successful! Cyndy arrived in Golden without any problems. We arrived in Golden without any problems. Tillie arrived in Golden without any problems. Cyndy has a room with the beautiful view you see in the photo. The rest of us have a campsite within half a block with the same view if we walk half a block.

Tillie has managed to take us by such sights in B.C. (in addition to the incredible view!) as the world's largest grower of ginseng; the chainsaw art capital of Canada; the houseboat capital of Canada; the largest enclosed refuge for grizzly bears... (where is that pepper spray Judy gave us when we left?). After all this excitement, Tillie Tours has decided to subcontract the next few days to a quite new Impala with automatic. Tillie thinks holding down the campsite will be quite enough for her.

We’ve eaten well everywhere we’ve been but Canada does make it easy. About 5 miles from where we camped last night was a farm that made their own cheese – wonderful soft goat cheese and a goat cheddar which made our NY cheddar almost pale in comparison. Plus we got a cow’s milk country cheese and a blue which we haven’t tried yet. From there we drove another 10 miles to what was described as the country’s best artisan bakery. It surely must be! We ended up with 3 loaves of bread including a dark rye with currants made especially for the blue we got. We’re trying to save both to share with Cyndy when we meet up with her tomorrow.
The variety of today’s landscape was amazing. We started out in very green farmland surrounded by cloud topped mountains. From there we drove through a mountain canyon that was steep, rugged and oh so beautiful. Once out of the canyon, it was almost like we were back in Wyoming again with rugged mountains, sagebrush desert, wind, heat, dry. Eventually we drove back out of that into the greener lake area we’re in now that leads to Lake Louise & Banff. Tomorrow it’s on to Golden where we’ll meet up with Cyndy.
PS – Mary’s appetite seems to improve, if possible, the higher we go in elevation. We really don’t think she understands the meaning of the word “leftover”.

After spending a wonderful time with Joe & Cathy we packed Tillie and hopped a ferry off Whitbey Island. Tillie must have looked like a typical islander because they tucked her in the middle of the ferry rather than giving her the prize front position she had when we came over.
Guess who we met for breakfast on the mainland? Sharon, a.k.a. Bubbles! We almost missed her because she had been off on a family/friend kayaking trip. Believe us, Sharon looked much better in person than she does in the photo. Unfortunately, we only took one so there wasn’t much choice. And John HAS to start practicing another variation of his historic pose. Anyway, it was GREAT to see Sharon. We definitely have to come back when we can spend some time with her and the rest of the family. If you want to hear of a real adventure coming up just think of Sharon on her annual ladies kayaking trip going north of Greenland to kayak among the icebergs, nor whales and polar bears. There’s not much chance of her keeping a blog up there!
Once again on the road, we headed north to the little town of Sedro-Wooley where we met Cookie and her friend Dean. When you meet Cookie it’s easy to understand why she and Kathleen Dillon (Auntie), have been lifelong friends. Both Cookie & Dean are terrific folks and, like everyone else we’ve visited, made us feel so welcome. With only our unexpected call 10 minutes before we arrived, they even fed us lunch… a wonderful soup with fresh peas from their garden and Walla Walla onions (Vidalia’s have nothing on those onions!).
More photos and we were off for Canada. Tillie cleared customs without any problems, thank heavens! We might have been there hours if she had been selected for a thorough search. Now if only Mary remembers to use the same passport (she has both a US & French one) when we leave Canada. Anyway, we stopped at a lovely campground in Harrison Hot Springs, B.C.. We opted out of the sulphur baths but did go walking by the lake and peered over the fence at the championship sand sculptures. Perhaps we should enter next year and do one of Tillie!

July 4th! – a parade, a fly-over (2 planes & a helicopter), flag waving, candy tossing, Mary’s first hot dog & John’s ??? hot dog (John said it was mediocre so he’s still on the lookout for a better one to treat Mary to or is this just an excuse for him to have another one?), Patty’s first lumpia (a Philippine egg roll), a carnival, fireworks tonight – a very American fourth. Trust you all celebrated too.
The prize photo of the day was “The Latte Lady” selling coffee drinks and fruit smoothies from a VW bus. What do you think, folks? Any suggestions for a business for Tillie once she gets traveling out of her system?

Today we went touring, leaving Tillie behind to relax and enjoy the solitude for a change. Took the ferry to the mainland and met Patty’s cousin, Jane, for lunch at one of Seattle’s famous seafood restaurants. It had only been ??? years since they’d seen each other (more than 30 we’re sure but who wants to count beyond that). They recognized each other instantly as neither had changed a bit. Of course, the BIG signs they carried saying “Jane” and “Patty” may have helped (just kidding).
Cathy & Joe’s daughter, Melissa, & her two small kids joined us for lunch as well. A real family get-together.
Then it was back to the island for a little shopping at the commissary (military retirees definitely do get their perks!), and a little more sightseeing. Uncle Joe, Cathy & Mary are on Erie lookout – what a view. Apparently hanggliders jump off that mountain but Mary forgot to pack hers so had to be content staying grounded with the older folks.
After such a grueling day it is back to hanging out in the hot tub again to prepare mentally as well as physically for the 4th.

Like we said, Tillie is a real beach bunny. We took a wrong turn this morning and ended up at the world’s longest beach. Where? Long Beach, of course. Who would have guessed?

Is it snow? Is it sand? No, but it could be chicken feed, or driveway fill, or those little gray pills middle aged women take. Still haven’t guessed? It’s a huge pile, one of many we saw, of oyster shells.



Then it was TREES, TREES, TREES and GREEN, GREEN, GREEN (almost enough to equals the HOT and FLAT of the plains). Washington certainly grows them bigger and taller than any we see in the east. However, unlike the plains, they don’t go on for days and by the middle of the afternoon we were on the ferry to Whidby Island. We were in line 3 which meant we were about the 40th vehicle in line. Unlike the ferry to Vinalhaven, this one was considerably bigger and we had no problem getting right on board. In fact, Tillie was put right up front so she got a bird’s eye view of the voyage.

Uncle Joe (another of Mary’s real uncles) and his wife Cathy are hosting us for the next few days. Right now everyone except Tillie is luxuriating in their hot tub overlooking the bay. Not bad.

State parks are wonderful places to stay but they haven’t caught on yet that internet access might be a good thing to offer… hence no blog from yesterday.
Crater Lake was spectacular and Tillie made it without any problem. There was still plenty of snow on the ground. Half the rim road around the lake won’t open until the end of July. The 6% grade on the way down was made for Tillie – she purred contentedly and used just enough gas to keep her engine running.
Then it was on to California, mainly so Mary could say she’d been in California & could put another state on Tillie’s map. It proved to add several highlights to our trip. The northern edge of the National Redwood Forest is on that route. The redwoods here were probably some of the smaller ones but they were HUGH! Then it was on to the Pacific. We just realized that even though Mary flew into Newark we did not take her to the Atlantic becomes starting west so she cannot yet say she’s been coast to coast. Guess we’ll have to bring her back east with us.
Anyway we’ve been taking old, scenic route 101 up the coast seeing such highlights as the world’s largest Monterey Cypress; the area that produces more lily bulbs than anywhere else in the world; the sea lion caves (the only mainland place in the world that’s home to sea lions) – from a distance they look like giant slugs and sound a bit like John some mornings when he’s waking up; the breathtaking Oregon coastline (perhaps we shouldn’t use that adjective as we kept going into and out of “Tsunami Hazard Zones”); and of course the Tillamook cheese factory (Oregon’s largest tourist attraction). Mary managed to eat all of her VERY generous ice cream cone and half of Patty’s – she seems to have inherited the Grossmann appetite. Hopefully, she will return to France before she develops the all too typical American back profile we witnessed at the factory.
Tillie decided she needed a little sprucing up for the beach so left her old, dented gas cap at the first Oregon station we stopped at. She is now sporting a shiny new jazzier model. From Boise on she seems to be feeling at home. We’re now up to 40 “on the road” VW’s like her. She’s no longer so lonesome.