June 15th, 2001: Getting a Head Start

        I left work a little early (4:20pm) on Friday and headed down the Sea to Sky Highway towards Vancouver. I stopped long enough to stock up on a few camcorder tapes as well as a converter that would let me recharge my camcorder from the car's cigarette lighter.
 
 
After an hour or so of driving, I reached the US border at Blaine, Washington. They didn't seem to believe me when I said I was not carrying any fruits or vegetables with me so they gave me a little slip and told me to report to the "agricultural inspectors" who gave my car a brief going over. They even managed to discover a few hiding places in the car that I didn't know about. (That would be a great time to find out that the previous owner had hidden a little "stash" there.) After finding nothing too incriminating, they let me continue on my way.

 
From there it was off to Seattle, where I stopped in long enough to wave to the Space Needle before heading further south in search of a campsite. Naturally, I got lost. I turned off the freeway following a KOA Campground sign and never found it. I wandered round and round searching for a place to stay. When I finally found a campground, they were already "closed" for the night. So I kept searching, getting sleepier by the minute. Finally, I followed a side road, took a narrow dirt road, and pulled off in some farmer's field around midnight and spent the night. A brilliant start to the trip!
on to Day Two...

BACK
contact page