We were loaded and ready to go when we woke up in New West and roused the kids, 5:45 we headed for the Peace Arch Border crossing. We were well prepared for a thorough inspection and made sure we didn’t have anything in the fridge that might slow us down. After an arduous 5 mins at the border we were on our way to the Oregon coast. I’m pretty sure the border guard hadn’t had a coffee yet and we showed up…my thinking is that he wasn’t taking on a full inspection of our packed rig before that happened. 1st to the border paid off.

We breezed through Seattle by 10am and stopped for fuel just before crossing the Columbia river into Oregon. We drove into the hills and toward the coast along the Columbia River and found ourselves making our first pit stop in Clatskanie. In Clatskanie, OR it was calls of “I’m first on an American playground, I’m first on swings, I’m first on skate park.” They were so excited to get going on adventuring!

From here we headed for the coast, hitting numerous cool bridges and passing through seaside towns on our way to Canon beach. Canon beach is immense and we the access is mostly geared to single vehicles and not really suitable for RVs because it is very busy (to be fair it was sunny and a weekend). We searched and searched for parking and made several questionable RV moves, viewed Haystack Rock from a really neat windy road and thought maybe that would be that. However, we found parking on the roadside near a main beach access and so off we went.

We went to the Fish and Chips place, ordered and hit the beach as they would text us when order ready. The kids hit the (cold) Pacicific Ocean with zeal and played and played. Sand henceforth became part of our journeying. Fish and chips on the beach was delicious and after a couple hours we were back to the trailer. Catherine said on the way “If we don’t get a parking ticket, this was pefect!” And we got back to a green notice on the windshield…I opened with apprehension and hooray, a warning…perfect beach stop execution, a great start!

We hit the road to Felix’s ongoing belting of “Hey sexy lady!” Not sure where he picked it up…normally I can blame TV, myself or a sibling for these type of things. More wonderful Oregon Coast scenery and finally an arrival in Florence for groceries and then 10 minutes to our campground, Jessy Honeyman State Park, where we made a late supper, discovered the trailer water smelled and did some exploring before bed. Plans were made for dealing with the water situation as Catherine and I went to bed. The day was Epic and a harbinger for things to come!

After completing a list of lists and then some secondary notes and supplemental lists we were wheels rolling from Dawson Creek on our three week Western US adventure. It was quite a final hurrah to get out the door as, in the 24 hours immediately prior to departure, we replaced all four truck tires, Julian had emergency dental surgery the morning before leaving, and Catherine extended her work day by several hours to wrap things… all said we were on the road by 2:45pm.

The boys were champs for this first drive and we pulled off another amazing night drive, arriving in Vancouver at 5:30am! I hit the first leg through the Pine Pass (notably a great local beer also), Catherine took over after we had some cereal and gas station Korean chicko chicken in PG and she drove to Williams Lake where we re-fueled, did a 10 minute PJ and pee stop and I drove the graveyard shift. We dodged all the construction stoppages through the Fraser Canyon, and outpaced the sunrise as we crossed the Port Mann Bridge.

Arriving in New Westminster the adults and older kids slept some more and the younger two excitedly occupied Grandma and Grandpa’s early morning.

The day was filled with visits and some last minute details before the big border crossing tomorrow!

This was a massive start. We are tired, everyone’s happy and ready for tomorrow. Hands up, let’s do this!