Wed. August 3         Transition back to California

I woke up at 5:30 am, VERY hungry, so I took a shower and headed for the Super 8 free breakfast.  It was great, AND the coffee was really good.  They had a machine that grinds the coffee for your cup and then brews it, all while you watch.  Bill finally got up and joined me a bit later.  I’m afraid I have a strong “Hobbit streak”–I rarely sleep in, because I am so HUNGRY that I have to get up and eat! 

We had some shopping to do before heading to the USA, and there was a handy WalMart, so we got more Motrin for Bill (he is still having problems with his feet), new camera batteries for me, and a wristwatch to replace the one I lost back in Oregon when I was rushing to beat the mosquitoes.  Next, right across from WalMart, there was a hiking/camping store called Valhalla Pure, where Bill got new, tougher shoes, plus special shoe inserts to help his feet.  I fervently hoped they would help–Bill is distinctly limping when he walks.  I got some new socks (After 1500 miles, mine are wearing out!) and new platypus hoses.  Valhalla was a great store, and the staff were really helpful.

Now it was time to pick up our packs and start walking south to the USA border.  It was a 3 mile roadwalk along a very busy but wide-shouldered, interesting highway.  We had great views of the Cascades, especially Mt. Baker.  One of the farms we passed had set up a large sign near the road that said, “Choose Life”, and I cheered “Yes!” because I used to be a crisis pregnancy center counselor, and we always prayed that our clients would choose life rather than a brutal death for their unborn child.  The next sign, though, was something fun–a “Corn Drive Thru”.  I stopped and talked to the lady inside, and sure enough, you could drive in, buy a bag of fresh sweet corn, and drive on out!  There were lots of berry farms along the way, too, and it was blueberry season.  What amazed me was that they had figured out how to cover ACRES of berry bushes with bird net!  Wow!

There were so many interesting things to look at that the 3 miles just flew by, and we were almost at the border.  At the last street crossing before we reached it, a couple of Canadians in a pickup truck stopped to let us cross the street, and asked us about our hike.  We had a nice chat with them before following the signs to the complex of buildings at the border itself.  We wondered what they’d do with us WALKING across, but lo and behold, there was a way all laid out for  “pedestrians.”  That was definitely us!

We followed the “pedestrian” signs into one of the US border buildings.  We had our passports and papers at the ready, and a very nice US border offical checked us out and asked a number of “casual” but pointed questions about what we were doing.  Apparently we passed the test!  We were able to ask him for directions to the bus–“No problem, it stops right in front of the bank just down the street.”  So we walked happily off into downtown Sumas, USA!  First, we located the bus stop, and yee-hah, there was a bus in only an hour.  Then across the street we went to Sumas City Hall to get bus maps and fare information.  Ouch, so expensive–25 cents for Bill (a senior) and 50 cents for me (an adult).  Outrageous!  And the friendly city hall lady showed us where to tranfer to ultimately reach the Amtrak station in Belingham, Washington.

Next, we made a quick run for a to-go lunch rm the Mexican restaurant, which we gobbled down at the bus stop.  Then an amazing thing–the bus came,and it turned out ALL rides were FREE today because they just revamped the whole system and wanted people to try it out.  The various buses we rode took us through countryside, towns, shopping malls, colleges, and finally to the waterfront “Fairhaven” area of Bellingham, where the Amtrak station is.  Our request to go to Bakersfield, CA, really kept the ticket agent busy for awhile–we ended up with 3 different trains, plus a bus!  We requested a sleeper car oom for the overnight part of the trip, so that we could rest AND eat like crazy.  (Foot is included in the sleepercar price).

Now we had 3 hours to kill, so we went to the farmer’s market and got big juicy ripe peaches and boysenberries and ate them all, along with some freshbaked sourdough bread.  A short walk later, and a young gal came up to us, looking eager.  “Are you doing the PCT?” she asked.  Well, it turned out her boyfriend is, too.  He’d just called her from the halfway point at Chester, CA.  He did go straight through the High Sierra, but said it was unbelievably tough.  We had a nice talk with her, then it was the Fairhaven Library, where Bill got on the Internet to check email and I went to the Seattle town guides to find us a place to stay tonight.

The guides made it clear that there’s really nothing near Amtrak, except a Best Western (8 blocks away) or the Green Tortoise Hostel (12 blocks away, but MUCH cheaper!).  We decided to go for the Green Tortoise, I phoned them, and was lucky to get about the last 2 slots available for tonight.  Next on our agenda was EAT MORE!  We went to the Fairhaven Market for juice, salad, and that wonderful, decadent Washington delicacy called “Nanaimo Bars.”  Wow!  One of our daughters got the recipe for them a number of years ago, and another of our daughters made a batch, entered them in the local county fair, and won “Best of Show.”  Yum!  We waddled back to the Amtrak station, and waited for the train, which was late because US border officials ware spending more and more time checking on passengers. 

Once the train was underway, the views of the Sound were awesome.  There was a gorgeous sunset to watch, and the train made up its lost time going to Seattle, so we arrived almost on time, just after 10:00 pm.  But here Bill and I got all mixed up on our directions.  We assumed (wrongly) that our SOUTHBOUND train had come into the station from the north, and headed in a southerly direction.  We had no map of downtown Seattle.  The address of the Green Tortoise was “1525 2nd Avenue”, so we walked the half block to 2nd Avenue and walked along, watching to see which way the numbers went.  Ooops–they were going DOWN, not up.  So we figured we must be going the wrong way.  And then we two hikers, who’d managed to find our way all through Oregon and Washinton, found ourselves wandering around in downtown Seattle in the middle of the night with drunks, bums and people weaving frm nightclub to nightclub.  We finally gave up and called th hostel, which gave us directions, and around midnight, we finally got there.  It had been a hot day, was a very warm night, and the hostel has no air conditioning, so we ended up sharing an 83 degree dorm room with 4 other people.  Oh well, at least we made it, unhurt, even through some pretty bad neighborhoods.  Thankyou, Lord!

Waking up at 5:00 am has become such a habit that even in the motel, we were both wide awake.  That’s OK, because it gave us time to read the Bible for a good while until the “free breakfast” room was open, and at that point, we had fun eating everything in sight! Chris and Bethany, two of the “gang” came in, too, so we had a good time sharing trail tales.

After that, it was time to repack the packs, trek to the post office, then Bill went to the hardware store to get a part for his pack (one of his web-tightening turnbuckles was broken), while I went to find the bus stop for our trip to Bakersfield, where we’ll pick up a car to drive to Oregon.  Finding it was not easy–nobody seemed to know–but finally one older lady gave me good directions.  Then it turned out that the next bus to Bakersfield wasn’t for another 3 hours! 

Catching some zzzzz's in the shade by KMart

 Oh well, now we had time to eat some more, so we had lunch, then waited in the shade by KMart, since it was a very hot day, with no wind.  The only things moving were the cars in the street and the trains going by.  The windmills across the tracks were sitting still. 

  But the trains were fun–Tehachapi is an historic railroad town.  The engineering challenge of getting the railroad over Tehachapi Pass was huge, and succeeded with some really creative thinking.  

Finally the bus came, and it was only $2 for a 20 mile ride!  Wow! We pay a lot more than that for Golden Gate Transit buses back home!  The people on the bus were friendly, and fun to talk to.  One man reminisced about life in Tehachapi in the 1950’s, and I ended up talking to a fascinating lady who is a dance teacher, Pilates instructor, photographer, and homeschooling mom.  She said she got into Pilates (a special exercise program) when she had a Pilates instructor come to the dance school to teach a class.  In a very short time, the students’ flexiblity and “core strength” had improved so dramatically that she decided to try it for herself and ended up as a certified instructor.  She has four grown and almost-grown kids, all homeschooled and doing great.

In Bakersfield, we hopped off the bus and only had to go 4 blocks to Hertz for our rental car.  They didn’t have the small car we’d reserved, so we ended up with one that felt to us like driving a moose.  It took some getting used to!  And so we “hit the road” for Oregon!  It was a very exciting feeling, and I had a lot of inner questions about, “What will it be like in Oregon?  Will there be hordes of mosquitoes?  Will there be snow?”  But I figured, “Just enjoy the moment!  We are FIRST headed for Andersen’s!” 

Bill is glad to be at Andersen's!

 What is Andersen’s and what’s the big deal?  Well, Andersen’s makes split pea soup, and besides selling soup, they also have a restaurant, which is located along Interstate 5.  I was in college in Santa Barbara until just before Bill and I were married, and when he came to drive me home for our wedding, we stopped at Andersen’s restaurant (then on  Interstate 101) for some of the famous split pea soup! 

It's been a great almost-37 years!

 So Andersen’s has a lot of “sentimental value” to us.  It’s been almost 37 years ago since we were married, and Andersen’s is still a great place.    The soup turned out to be as good as ever, and we enjoyed a great Danish dinner before driving on till well past dark and camping at Caswell State Park, near Manteca, CA.–another one of our “favorite spots”!  We and our daughters spent many happy days there camping, rafting on the Stanislaus River, and just having fun!  The mosquitoes were out in droves though–we had to rig the net tent!   It was a pleasant, but weird feeling to be at Caswell again, knowing that REALLY we were just headed back for the PCT, as fast as we could get there!