Escape from the (North) Northwest II

[Ron on Meander]

Finally we have all our ducks rounded up, lined up and migrating south! We are joining the procession of C-Brats on the annual southern migration.Taking a page from the famous writings of El and Bill; in November Anne and I sold our business and our house. We have decided to retire and enjoy traveling while we can with what we have instead of waiting years to acquire what we think we need. El and Bill are truly and inspiration to us and many others. In December we put all our furniture and household stuff in storage and have been living in our 10ft Northern Lite camper as we did our Christmas visiting with friends and family in central BC. While everyone in Washington was shoveling snow we were trying to stay warm! We had two nights in our camper at -26C. We were comfortable but not hot! We are now in Vancouver BC and in a couple of hours we'll be hooking up Meander and heading south. First stop Whidbey Island to visit with Mac and Linda of Island Ranger. Then its going to be a Meandering trip down Highway 1 and 101 all the way to La Paz Mexico. As the weather warms we will follow the warming trend back north, probably diagonally across the US to NY and Maine and then up in to the Maritime provinces of Canada. Hopefully we'll get to meet some of the C-brats we only know from their postings on this site and get ideas on what to see and do throughout your great country. Thanks to all the C-brats that have posted their grand adventures and shown us the myriad of possibilities with a C-Dory.
Cheers
Ron and Anne

[sportner]

Ron,
Congratulations!!!! We are not far behind you, we are shooting for April.
Please, please, please keep us all posted on your travels and maybe we can meet at Lake Powell in September if you are venturing north at that time.
Again, congratulations and safe travel.

[TyBoo]

Wow!! That's wonderful. Please do keep us up to date on your meanderings. This is a Grand Adventure, indeed!

Congratulations!

[JamesTXSD]

Way to go! The hardest part of making the break is deciding to actually make the break. There is something to be said for going where the weather suits your clothes. I look forward to the time our paths cross - we can compare notes!

Best wishes,
Jim B

[hardee]

Ron, Congratulations on the big move. Sure hope all goes well. We are counting the years to follow. Please keep us posted, an we will be looking forward to seeing you back in the PNW in the future.

Harvey
SleepyC

[Pat Anderson]

Wow, Ron and Anne - gutsy! We will be enviously following your travels!

[El and Bill]

Ron and Anne -
El and I were sitting in front of the fire, last night, light snow drifting past our window (here in our rental condo in Colorado), thinking back at our almost twenty-five years of shared wandering. We laughed over some of the wonderful serendipitous events, and shook our heads at the few times when we had to rely on the ol' German adage, 'Luck in Unluck.' So glad we made the choice to 'cut the string' and live the free and uncertain life of nomads. That choice was almost as momentous as the one we made atop the Laramie Range almost fifty years ago - the choice to share our lives.

We came into the den to check up on our friends on the C-Brat site and there was the marvelous post of your choice! We both teared up, gave each other a hug, and wish the two of you the very best in your new 'meandering' life. Bon voyage!

[Ron on Meander]

Thanks so much for the warm wishes. El and Bill if we could do a 10th of what you have done it would be exceptional. Thanks again for your wonderful writings and encouragement to all. We'll try to keep update as much as we can when we find somewhere with a wireless connections.
Cheers
Ron

[CAVU]

Congratulations Ron and Anne. You will have a great time. I made a shorter trip with the same set-up a few years ago. A truck camper pulling a boat is a great way to travel. If you get to Baha in Feb or early Mar you just have to go to Guerro Negro and see the gray whales in Scammons Lagoon. It will spoil you for any other whale watching. We were able to reach out and touch the whales with great CLOSE views of the mothers and calves. Highly recommended if you are there at the right time. You didn't mention it in your brief itinerary but we also spent a month in the Florida Keys in August! Most people would not advise it but we found it not as hot or buggy as we were told and there were very few other tourists. The snorkeling was great and the water temps were in the mid 80's. It was absolutely delightful. Good luck on your meanderings and I look forward to your reports.

[El and Bill]

Just a quick suggestion about the Gray Whales in Scammon's or San Ignacio Lagoons in the Baja - for many years we cruised into those lagoons between Christmas and New Year's Day - there were always breeding whales in the lagoons at that time of year.

And just an historical footnote - during those years, Mexico decided to close Scammon's to boats to give the whales more protection. Capt Scammon, a New England whaler, was the first whaler to enter the lagoon in 1857 -

http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1969/4/1969_4_66.shtml

and we were the last non-research vessel to leave (with a Mexican patrol plane overhead to be sure we left).

The next winter, Scammon's being closed, we decided to enter San Ignacio lagoon and were told, when we asked permission of the Mexican government, that we were the first "whale watchers" to enter San Ignacio since the New England whalers left in the 1850's. (An aside, El's great great- was skipper of a New Bedford whaler (Champion)) and died at sea in Bering Straits).

Back to the tale - we used 1850's charts - took a dinghy in through the sand bars protecting the entrance to the lagoon, leaving the larger boat anchored offshore. Great Whites were all around us - but we made it through the fog that had quickly enclosed us (obscuring our anchored boat) -- we navigated through the bars using our ears to find the bars and their breaking surf. When we entered Ignacio, the sun broke through, and there were whales everywhere! What a sight - not seen by boats, at that location, since the whaling days!

Enough tales - enjoy your trip south -

[Ron on Meander]

I am starting to wonder if we'll get to Mexico before March. We've been on the road for a week now and we're not even out of Oregon. With the wonderful hospitality and help from Mac and Linda on Whidbey it took us three days just to get to Edmonds. What a gorgeous place Mac & Linda have. No wonder they sometimes don't want to travel.We caught the Clinton/Mukeleto ferry and made our way to our next stop, TL Central Welding in Kent to have some Tork Lift stable loads installed. Thanks Capt D for the recommendation. They did a great fast job. We got as far as Canon Beach Oregon that night and forgot to leave the next day. The weather and scenery conspired to keep us right there. Absolutely amazing beaches, huge crashing surf and perfect weather made the Oregon coast impossible to rush by. We are still not out of Oregon tonight. We are at Honey Bear RV park, Ophir Oregon listening to the sound of the surf crashing. At this rate it will be February before we get to California. Well... only if this tremendous weather holds. People are telling us that this is pretty unusual for January. We'll take it. I posted some photos in my album.
Cheers
Ron

[El and Bill]

You folks sure don't want to rush life. Maybe better not to have a destination, only a direction (and maybe not even that) Oregon is beautiful in April.

[Pat Anderson]

Ron, don't be so bashful! Stick a few images right here in this thread! Meander in Canon Beach:



Keep us posted, I'm sure we all want to follow this journey. And what Bill said! In your circumstances, does it really matter when or if you actually get to Baja?

[Pat Anderson]

BTW, i just looked at TL Central's web page - what product exactly did you have installed? Brand / model if you know...do I need / would I benefit from what you got, or is it more related to the camper / boat combo than towing a 25 generally?

[Ron on Meander]