September 25^th, 2001

As we get up this morning the sun shines down on us. I take a warm (!) shower and then we have a very quick breakfast. Actually we want to get to Port Alberny for having a feast. It takes us 3 hours to get there from Bamfield, just taking logging roads. As we want to get going again afterwards we notice that one of the van's tires is losing air, which is probably due to the big nasty nail that is sticking out of it. For a total of $47 the tire is being repaired and another, which has a huge dent in its structure, is exchanged. About 30 minutes later we are back on the road, heading to Parksville. Here we stock some supplies und check e-mails.

In the afternoon we pitch our tents on the local campground. The weather has turned nasty und so we spend the rest of the day in drizzling rain. Fortunately he bought a lot of yummy stuff this morning and so we have another feast, different from that pasta with instant cream soup as sauce. We do have a camp fire but none of us really feels like hanging around it for long. So we disappear in the tents and write letters or diary...

September 26^th, 2001

This morning, too, nasty weather is what we have and so we break camp and head on to Nanaimo. From here a ferry brings us to Horseshoe Bay just north of Vancouver. Back in town I get my pictures that were being developed since we left Vancouver a week ago. We drive to Elisabeth's place again and spend the afternoon with looking at the pictures and cleaning up the van. Peter and Simon already pack their stuff for the flight back to Germany tomorrow. At least the sun is out again. In the evening we sit together with Elisabeth and tell stories about what happened the last days.

September 27^th, 2001

Early in the morning we say good-bye to Elisabeth and drive on to the airport, where Sabine and I first drop off Peter, than Simon some hours later. The afternoon we head back into town to the campus of the Simon Fraser University where we check our e-mails and meet Rob and Susanne. We bring wine and grapes, cheese and fresh baguette and have a great evening in their apartment.

September 28^th, 2001

After breakfast Sabine and I take the highway southbound. We cross the border without any problems and so get to Seattle in the early afternoon. Here we pay a visit to the REI store, then move on. A bit later we are back on the I5 and drive towards Mt. Rainier. The snow-capped giant is already visible some 50ish kilometers ahead, first as a little hill on the horizon, later it grows into the sky.

We leave the highway and take a little road that leads us through a wonderful landscape and brings us even closer to Mt. Rainier.

Finally we exit onto a forest road that leads us to the parking lot from where we want to hike High Rock. Our plan is to spend the night up there.

Unfortunately we are a bit late and the sun sets before we get to the top. Still we can see majestic Mt. Rainier which glows in the last rays of sunshine.

After 45 minutes we are at the summit and are surprised to find the shelter unlocked and cosily furnished. In the light of a candle lantern I prepare  a hot soup that shall warm us up a bit - it is rather cool up here.

We talk for a while the crash in our sleeping bags.

September 29^th, 2001

Just in time for the sunrise we get up and enjoy the sight. Beside Mt. Rainier we spot the summits of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens in contrast to the cloudless horizon.

With a mug of hot chocolate and a Nutella bagel we keep it calm this morning. Unfortunately clouds form and take the sight onto Mt. Rainier. Finally we get going down again. After 20 minutes we are back at the van and put our backpacks in the back. We drive on through a more and more amazing scenery. But as we take the road to Mt. St. Helens landscape changes suddenly. Here - even 20 years after the catastrophic outburst of the volcano - one can see the power of the explosion that wiped out life for many square kilometers.

The blow zone that the pressure wave created is still very clear and dominating. As it is within a national park nothing is being done about it and it is amazing how long it takes nature to grow back.

We drive until the end of road and climb a hill. From here we can see the crater and below Spirit Lake on which thousands of logs still float - sometimes in the northern tip, sometimes in the southern, just as the wind is blowing. Here we spend a calm afternoon and stay until the sunset.

In front of a breathtaking background we prepare a soup that warms us. As it gets dark we go back to the van and put all our stuff on the front seats giving us space to stretch out in the back.

September 30^th, 2001

We get up for the sunrise and - again - just enjoy, what we see...

Finally we get going again and drive all around Mt- St. Helens. We have to drop our plan to climb the southern side of the crater as due to the very good weather there are no permits left anymore for today or tomorrow. Instead we go for a swim in a nearby lake and then move on southbound. Three hours later we stand at Cannonbeach, Oregon and stare at the beautiful beach that was fixed on film so many times by great photographers. That is when I notice my camera being missing, it must still be at the lonesome lake where we stopped before. I leave Bine at the beach and head back. Six hours later I am back, but sun has already set. May camera was gone already and now I am having trouble to find Bine again. Another hour passes until I find her and tired we put our bivy bags on the beach. Another hour later a police officer wakes us up and tells us to stay somewhere else. Finally we sleep in the van some kilometers down the road.

October 1^st, 2001

We follow the highway along the coast and then turn to the east. In the afternoon we get to Corvallis where we can crash at Cornelius place who is a friend of Simon. We spend the afternoon working on the van. By the time it is ready for sale we actually don't really want to sell it - it looks really good. In the evening we have a little flee market where Sabine and I give away things of out equipment that we don't need any longer and for which we don't have any space left anyway. Later we just put our sleeping bags onto the wooden veranda - it is still summer in Corvallis.

October 2^nd, 2001

Today we are on our way to sell the van. With a mileage of about 242.000 miles (~388.000 km) that is really not a easy task and in fact the first 13 car dealers don't even do offer to buy it. The 14th one is interested and after a test drive (the engine sounds like shit) he offers $800. I just say that I can't hear anything and get him to give us $925 and a lift to the Greyhound bus terminal.

October 3^rd, 2001

As the last errands are done we take a taxi to the Greyhound station. It is a very small taxi, but the only one in this area. At the terminal we get our tickets and check in our luggage. Suddenly the guy behind the counter tells us that we have to pay another $15 for the bike box (that we wouldn't have to pay if there wouldn't be a bike inside :-(( and as we get to my duffle bag and my backpack we are informed that our baggage can't be transported. It doesn't even help to offer to load and unload my stuff myself. However we get back the money for the tickets and take the same taxi to the campus. Here we get picked up by the airporter and late in the evening we get to the airport in Portland. Here we put our stuff in a corner and try to get some sleep.

October 4^th, 2001

Around 4am the counters open. We have to shuffle some weight but get it all done. We even pass the security with almost no problem ;-)) Around 6am we board the plane to Newark where we get some hours later. During the landing in Newark and the start on the flight to Frankfurt we can see the crater within Manhattan, drenched in bright light. Some time later we pass Lunenburg and Halifax and I think back 14 month and let all the people, the adventures and memories come back to my mind that I experienced since then.

October 5^th, 2001

In the early morning we fly over the northern shore of France and pass Paris with no clouds in sight. Shortly later we land in Frankfurt. Soon the passport control is done. Germany has us back. With all its good and bad peculiarities that I notice just now.

A long time of travel ends here and during the last weeks and days I was looking forward to go back and have German bread, good cheese or a fatty yoghurt ;-)) Most of all I was looking forward to see my family and friends again. And there is someone I am really longing for to see ;-))

March 18^th, 2002

This year in Canada has been a year full of events that influenced me more than it occurred to me in this time. But the friendships and the experiences I made and that I was able to take with me do certainly have an effect on my life - now and in future. I can only recommend to never let pass an opportunity like that. With that report my work on this homepage end, that I wrote as a diary for myself but also for anyone interested. Yet that shall not mean that there are no more travel reports coming up here. Indeed I plan to release reports about my trips in future - as well with pictures as with detailed texts.

The next project is about to be started. I will try to keep the homepage up to date and hope to be able to add more descriptions of my coming adventures. The beginning will be a trip to South Africa and Namibia that I undertook in January/February 2002. However, I have enough pictures to put together something ;-))

I hope that my readers will keep on visiting my pages and I look forward to getting any suggestions or comments in the guest book.

Thomas