Alaska and the Yukon - The Drive Home

July 28

Vancouver, BC to Wilsonville, OR

Today we start the trip home.  We didn’t get up real early, but were checked out and on our way by 9:30.  We made good time driving out of Vancouver, but we had to wait for more than an hour at the border so we weren’t making very good progress.  

We slowly got closer to the customs checkpoint.

And finally we made it.

As we drove south traffic seemed pretty heavy for a Monday.  It was slow going and we drove through Seattle and Everett.  We hoped to make it to Central Oregon today, but it became obvious that wasn’t going to happen. After getting into more traffic going through Portland we called it a day around 6:00 at a La Quinta Hotel just south of Portland in Wilsonville.  Two more days on the road and our trip is over, it seems like a long time since we’ve been home.

Not a great picture through the car window, but that's Mt. Ranier taken just north of Seattle.

July 28

Wilsonville, OR to Corning, CA

We were on the road heading south a little before 9:00 AM  By the time we stopped in Grants Pass for lunch the temperature was in the 90's, which seemed pretty warm from what we’ve been used to lately.  As we crossed into California there were ominous clouds ahead and soon we were passing through some rain showers, which was another surprise.  As we passed through Redding and descended into the San Joaquin Valley the temperature topped the 100 degree mark.  We decided to stay in Corning tonight and arrived around 5:30.  It was 106 in Corning and I remembered saying in Alaska it would feel good to get back into some heat – I was wrong.  The hotel we stayed at was attached to a casino so of course that’s where we spent the evening.  Val had a good evening and ended up $200 ahead; I ended up $100 ahead, but it took a $320 win on a dollar machine at the end of the evening to save me.  We had a late dinner and then called it a day.  Tomorrow will be our last day on the road and we’ll be sleeping in our own bed tomorrow night.

July 30

Corning, CA to Home

Not too much to say about today.  Since we spent time in the casino and had a late dinner we didn't get to bed too early so we slept in this morning.  We were surprised at the amount of traffic on Interstate 5 for a Wednesday, but I guess in the summer there are a lot more people traveling and of course there is always the trucks.  We were home by late afternoon and it felt good to be home after being gone for almost a month, but it was also kind of a letdown knowing that when we got up the next morning we wouldn't be heading off to an adventure.