Wednesday, March 30 to Friday, April 1, 2022 (Travel to Peace Arch RV Park, Surrey, BC)

Our last three travel days were intentionally short and uneventful...just the way we like it! 

We were packed up and on the road just after 9:00 Wednesday (Mar. 30th) morning. Not a bad travel day...not completely sunny, but a mix of  sun and clouds. 

We spotted Elk as we made our way over to Highway 101...

Youngs Bay Bridge to Astoria...

Instead of continuing on Highway 101 that goes over the Astoria-Megler Bridge to the Olympic Peninsula, we took Highway 30 east, staying on the south side of the Columbia River.

John Day River...

Columbia River up ahead...

We crossed the Lewis and Clark Bridge that crosses the Columbia River from Rainier, OR to Longview, WA...

From there, we made our way over to the I-5 and headed north. We arrived at South Sound Speedway, just north of Centralia before noon. This spot was recommend by Jim and Cec as they had been involved in the racing circuit for years and often stop here to overnight...besides they know a fellow that works/owns it. After stopping at the entrance, we tried to find "Butch" but the fellow in what looked like the parts office, said he wasn't there, just park on the pavement beside the building.

We pulled in front of a motorhome that was already there...turns out it was "Big Pete", more friends of Jim and Cec's from Vancouver Island!

Being well off the I-5, we had a very peaceful night. Thanks for your suggestion Jim and Cec! Glad your friend Butch didn't mind us mooch-docking overnight!

Thursday (Mar. 31st) back on I-5 north, it wasn't long before we were in the "greater Seattle" traffic! Although we could easily have made it all of the way to Tulalip Casino yesterday, this part of the drive is very congested...basically our least favourite part of the drive whether heading north or south. Due to some confusion with our GPS, we ended up continuing on I-5 right through Seattle, rather than taking the by-pass I-405. I really don't think it matters which route you take, they are both extremely busy!

All these lanes of congested traffic are so much fun in a big rig!

Inlet/Slough off of Possession Sounds as we near Marysville, WA...

When we pulled into the RV parking area at Tulalip Resort Casino, we were surprised at the number of RV's already there...and they continued to arrive! Security said that they opened another lot that had been closed, just to accommodate the large volume of RVs coming in. I guess lots of Canadian Snowbirds, like us, decided to wait until April 1 to cross the border.

We had a relaxing afternoon and then decided to go over to the casino for drinks and dinner. We had been in earlier to get our player's card (required to stay in their lot) and found that it wasn't overly busy and a number of folks were wearing masks. We found a couple of empty seats at the bar which were perfect...with the configuration, no one was sitting close to us, so we felt comfortable taking our masks off and enjoying a couple of drinks. The same held true for the restaurant 'Cedars' where we both had a wonderful Prime Rib dinner. A great evening and a wonderful ending to our winter!

Friday morning we heard a number of RV's pulling out well before us. Expecting a long line of RV's at the Pacific Border Crossing into Canada, we were surprised to find there were only a couple...mainly cars in the line. It took about 20 minutes...and at about 10:00 we were back in Canada!

Shortly after that, we pulled into Peace Arch RV Park...4 1/2 months after leaving it last November. This time we are in Site C7. We went through our usual set up routine and by late afternoon we were all done. 

Home, Sweet Home...for the summer! With the rising fuel prices, we have decided to stay put here, instead of exploring north/northwestern BC...at least we have our car to take on some road trips!

Thankfully a lot drier then when we left last November!...