We camped again at Meziadin Lake in British Columbia on our way south and it luckily was free of smoke. Such a beautiful lake and many of their sites are large enough for our rig. Cell and Data are nonexistent on the Stewart Cassiar Highway, but for $5.00 for a day you can get data through this Park’s “pay as you go” system. That was a good thing so I could check in with Dad. It had been few days of no communication and several days ahead of us without signal.
There are several provincial parks along the Cassiar that are worth staying at, and we might have taken more time but British Columbia had over 500 wildfires burning, and many were in our path. The Alcan Highway was closed for two days, Dease Lake, Smithers, and Prince George all were either hotspots or evacuation locations. Smoke was terrible everywhere.
Smokey skies all along the Cassiar
OK, this picture is not in any particular order, but I’m posting it here for lack of any other place to put it. But this is the bridge that we lost our mirror to a Yukon Trucker at the beginning of our trip. (Watson Lake to Whitehorse Post if you missed it) He was in this lane headed south we were almost to the end of the bridge traveling North. He was going Very fast and moved over into our lane close enough to take the mirror off but not so close as to take the side of our rig and maybe us along with him. From the looks of the tire tracks we see ahead of us, it looks like another vehicle might have been locking up his or her brakes here. It gives me chills to even look at this bridge.
So on down the road we go.
The Fireweed has bloomed out and spit out its seeds. We know it’s time to leave Northern Canada.
We stopped in Smithers, BC. Its located right off the highway on Court Street. They have free RV parking at the Visitor Center and a bonus of a sanitary dump and fresh potable water. Our next stop was a rest stop outside of Spences Bridge and again at Prince George. All of these stops were suffering from the unhealthy air due to nearby fires.
So here we are, back in the Lower 48.
We are now headed for Anacortes, Washington where we have stayed before. It’s Mark’s 62’nd birthday coming up on the 1st, and we will be staying through the holiday weekend.
We have met some fun RVers along the Alaskan trail. We shared experiences with each of them, and we hoped we would someday meet up again on the road as we crisscross the US and beyond. One couple, in particular, is David and Celia, fairly new Escapee/Boomers, whom we first met at the Palmer/Wasilla Elks Lodge and again at the Homer Elks. We enjoyed lunch and happy hours together comparing our experiences in Alaska.
It was our plan quite some time ago to stop at the Swinomish Casino in Anacortes, Washington after we cross the border whenever that happened to be. The day or so before we crossed, I noticed on RVillage that David and Celia are already there. What are the chances that we four end up in the very same place after all this time? Thanks for your friendship David and Celia, and I hope we see you when you come to Boomerville maybe in 2020, if not before.
Today, is Marks Birthday, so we set off to explore the nearby points of interest.
First off was a stop at the nearby Bakery for a Birthday breakfast treat. Fritters the size of your head and Donuts the size an NBA player’s foot.
Then off to pick Blueberries and find some raspberries for tonight’s dinner.
Looking at the map, I see a nearby area called SAMISH ISLAND. It seemed interesting, so we set out to explore that area. Samish Island is located off the northwest coast of Washington State. In the past, it was an island but has been connected to the mainland by a dike since the 1930’s. There are no stores or commercial businesses on this “island” It is mainly a quiet, farming community with beautiful bayside homes.
As you travel to the little town of Edison, you find small shops and specialty eateries and farms. The Samish Cheese Factory, Bow Hill Blueberry Farm, and various seafood eateries are among them.
We visited the Bow Hill Blueberry Farm. We had already purchased, upon recommendation, the Pickled Blueberries from this farm, along with a recipe for fresh salmon. While we were there, I tried their Cold pressed Organic Blueberry Juice. I’m sold at the first sip. It’s equivalent to 68 blueberries in 1/2 ounce. Just plain goodness. This Labor Day weekend is the end of their “UPick” area of the farm.
Off to the next destination called Taylor Shellfish Farms. Drive north on State Route 11 (Chuckanut Drive) and make a left onto Rocky Point Road. You will see a sign for Taylor Shellfish Farms. You meander down a one-lane, somewhat steep, road. It runs along the railroad for about a 1/4 mile. You arrive at Samish and
There in front of you is the Raw Bar out on the point. Parking is a big challenge, but we got lucky because someone was just pulling out.
You can order outside on the patio for food to enjoy there or inside the market for shellfish to go. Shuck your own or have the staff do it for you.
BBQ grills were available to grill your own if you choose. They do sell small bags of charcoal if you didn’t bring your own. It was a beautiful day and such an unusual spot.
Several types of Oysters, delicious Giant peel and eat Prawns, Local Samish Cheeses and more. I highly recommend the experience here if you enjoy shellfish and a unique setting.
In business since 1890, this is a family run business of farming sustainable shellfish.
The first course at Taylor Shellfish Farm
Tonight’s Birthday dinner is Tenderloin of beef with a Raspberry balsamic reduction sauce topped with crumbled BluCheese, (one of our favorites) Artichokes cooked my way and fingerling potatoes and several glasses of Cab.
