5/6/2006 Travel Annals: Sandwiched Up, Snowed Out, Smoked In

It hasn't been all fun and games.

The first day we veer away from our typical PB&J lunch for a Subway sandwich (all veggie, mind you), I get food poisoning. The kind of food poisoning that rocks you five hours later, in a Portland brewhouse, when the waitress delivers bubbling spinach and artichoke cheese dip to your table. Thankfully, I made it to the loo, but not before I horrified the table with a look of panic, disgust, and dribble.

The projectile vomiting and severe shakes lasted for 48 hours, but not before I got a bite of that spinach-artichoke-cheese trigger. Looking back, it didn't look much better on the table than in the john.

Then there's been the snow factor. We've beaten the crowds at the national parks, at the campgrounds, and nearly everywhere. But for good reason. Most hikers and backpackers dislike snow packs. We entered Crater Lake Natlional Park - the deepest lake in the U.S. - only to encounter road closures and zero trail head openings.

Just two days ago, we entered Mt. Rainier National Park painfully. The south entrance was closed (without notice), and the only campsite at the mountain's base was being repaved. We found lodging, but expensively for $85/night. The next day, we trekked any open trail possible, and ended up footing snow up to our hips. At one point, I fell in, yelped "help!", and quickly dislodged my boot from its 3-foot hole.

Finally, there's been the lodging arrangements. I never realized how much I prefer sleeping outside in rolled-up nylon than indoors in cushioned beds. The Best Western unearthed this revelation. Online, the hotel chain touted a fitness center, sauna, indoor pool, warm bed, continental breakfast, and free paper for only $48. Whoa. Sounds like a deal, right? Well, we got rooked. The fitness center turned out to be three, 10-year-old machines. The sauna and indoor pool ended up being kid-infested urinals. The warm bed was in a smoker's room, where we coughed and hacked all night. And the paper was a USA Today. Ok. So the breakfast was pretty good, but it wasn't worth $48.

All that aside, we're in Canada now, on a car ferry to Vancouver Island. The air already smells fresher. The people seem more exotic. The geography appears more lush. And you can't bring RVs on the island. So things are looking up.