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Chapter One
The Orphan and The Boot's first segment of this extended Great Arvee trip takes them north to Canada
One day in 2003, The Orphan said to The Boot:
“…Boot, why don’t we ever go on long adventures in The Great Arvee…”
The Boot said:
“…We cannot leave The Beasts in Beast Jail for so long a time so you must convert The Great Arvee into a Beast Haven complete with Beast Beds and kibbles and kitty litter and leashes … I must have all of my camera equipment with me so the film cooler must be carried along … I must have extra image
cards and the storage unit for my digital camera in case I take more than 100,000 pictures … I will immediately go on-line to Amazon.com and buy Woodall’s, guide books and descriptions of all wildlife viewing areas and scenic attractions for all areas in North America … I can buy local books and get brochures from each of the visitor centers as well as get my National Park
Passport stamped at national parks and my Blue Goose Passport stamped at national wildlife refuges so I know I have been there… I already have a logbook for daily notes … You go take the bedding out of The Great Arvee cab-over so I will have room for my travel reference library … I think I can be prepared in a month or two ... Where will we go … We will have to pack camp
clothing for hot, medium and cold weather … We will need day packs and trail boots and sunscreen and bug dope … How long will we be gone for I must obtain Beast Food and soak all the plants … We said we would go to Brookings to visit The General and Lady Jayne on the Fourth of July… We can get cheap California booze while we are there ... Remember that our first wedding
anniversary is on June 23 and I want to do something special …”
The Orphan responded:
“… Is that a yes … I thought we would get up each day and decide then where to go or which way to go … we will go to Harrison Hot Springs on June 23 for our first anniversary and -- as long as the Fourth of July visit to Brookings can occur on any date we will also go there … of course we will get
cheap California booze … I want the trip to Harrison to be the first segment of this trip … I must go now to tear out the rotten curtains and vacuum the cab-over and take out the bedding…”
Amazon.com’s stock price immediately began a steady increase as each day UPS and Fed-Ex trucks as well as the US Postal Service lined up at the door to the lair of The Orphan and The Boot to deliver copious quantities of all written material in the world – also by some mysterious way through eBay various pieces of Haviland
China and sterling silver were mingled with the Books being delivered.
The Orphan and The Boot made reservations at Harrison Hot Springs but they could not get a bungalow until June 24, so decided to visit The Longhorn Saloon in Edison and stay one night at the Mount Vernon Thousand Trails Preserve on the way.
Therefore, on Monday, June 23, 2003, the well-equipped Great Arvee -- complete with Beasts, Boot and Orphan but not yet Books or Food or Camp Clothing, departed at noon on the first segment of the trip for an 80-mile drive to The Longhorn Saloon in Bow-Edison, State of Taxes, to eat a lot of oysters – after all it was a first
anniversary – then another seven miles to the Mount Vernon Thousand Trails Preserve to camp for the night.
After setting up camp while making all of the usual set-up mistakes while running into each other and being still full of oysters, The Orphan and The Boot drank martinis (and champagne -- since it was their first anniversary) while only eating popcorn – all by a campfire -- as The Boot continually exclaimed,
“…Oh, look there is a bunny … there is a Wilson’s Warbler … there is a Swainson’s Thrush … oh, what an ethereal song…”
The second day was a trip of 92 miles across the Canada border at Sumas and a scenic drive along the Fraser River to a bungalow at The Harrison Resort and Spa at Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia, Canada.
The Orphan and The Boot arrived too early to check in so they drove 16 miles to a park with a trail around a beaver pond to hunt for Sasquatches at
the Sasquatch Provincial Park. They found no Sasquatch – but sighted a barred owl and an osprey and a chipmunk.
The Orphan and The Boot returned to Harrison and checked into their bungalow.
After a visit to the hot tubs and pools, a nap by The Orphan and a photo-walk by The Boot, the nattily dressed couple went to dine in the Copper Room and dance to the music of The Jones Boys. The Orphan and The Boot met a 70-year-old Hungarian refugee couple named George and Maria Lak (who now lived in Leavenworth,
Washington) and who visited The Copper Room about once a month to dance the hours away. They were a happy couple and laughed – somewhat – at The Orphan’s jokes. They danced very well.
The third day -- still at Harrison -- was another adjustment day as The Orphan again learned from both The Boot and The Beasts that The Beasts were The Boot’s Beasts and not The Orphan’s Beasts. The Orphan brought the Puddy Beast into the cabin and left the door wide open. After The Boot unceremoniously returned the Puddy
Beast to Puddy jail in The Great Arvee, something was said about The Orphan not minding – a chronic and recurring problem for The Boot.
However, after several hours of sulking, glowering, and drinking a surplus of martinis there was again dining in The Copper Room and dancing to the music of The Jones Boys, where The Orphan and The Boot met Rolf and Renate Gunold of Vancouver, BC, who had just donated a park bench to the Harrison Resort to commemorate their
50th anniversary. The Orphan and The Boot, who plan to return to Harrison to celebrate many more of their own anniversaries, may well meet and dance with the Gunolds again.
On the fourth day, The Great Arvee raced 142 miles back to Washington, State of Taxes, to a 2:30 p.m. dentist appointment for The Boot and then retraced the remaining 17 miles to The Lair of The Boot and The Orphan.
Then, from 4:30 p.m. that afternoon until 2:30 p.m. the next day The Great Arvee was loaded with “…Books…” and “…Food…” and “…warm, medium and light Camp Clothing…”
The Boot gathered maps and scenic road guides and camping directories and nature guides and wildlife-finding guides and notebooks for all of the Northwest and Rocky Mountains and as far east as the Badlands in South Dakota, thinking of a possible 4000-plus-mile trip including eight national parks (Redwood, Crater Lake,
Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Badlands, Wind Cave, Glacier and North Cascades National Parks, as well as Devil’s Tower National Monument of Close Encounters of the Third Kind fame) in seven states: Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota and Montana.
The Great Arvee was nearly ready to depart. The Orphan said to The Boot:
“…Why wait until tomorrow to depart. Let’s be adventurous and just go right now…”
The Boot expostulated:
“…But, but, but … checklist … forget something … too sudden … don’t sulk and glower … well, OK… give me a few more minutes…”
The Great Arvee cab-over, loaded with books and beast gear
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