Heading into the US of A...

With Mel safely on a plane heading back to Australia we readied ourselves for our entry into the US for an epic 5 week road trip.   Passports - yep; ESTA visa -yep;  a bit of moola - yep; map - yep; excited children and parents -absolutely!!

Our first stop was at the Peace Arches at the border of Canada and the US.  It took about 3 hours to get through customs - 2 hours sitting in traffic then another hour getting fingerprinted and our Tent Trailer inspected for fruits and vegetables considered contraband.  After our friendly visit with US customs officials we hit the I5 and cruised on down to Kayak Point County Park (about 300km south of the border).

See ya later lovely......

We set up in record time (10 minutes!!) then headed down to a nearby beach.  Here we were introduced to a version of 'crabbing' that we considered really easy and a lot of fun.  When we go 'crabbing' we take the boat down a creek and set pots with stinky fish or chicken for a few hours (sometimes overnight).  We then either go fishing elsewhere or go home only returning when we are ready to lift the pots hoping that a beautiful bounty of crab are inside.  Here however crabbing is much easier.  Pots are thrown off a jetty, set for about 15 minutes then lifted to reveal more often than not a number of lovely Dungeness crab.  These crab must travel in plague proportions on the bottom of the ocean.  I would love to put a camera under the water to see just that - I am sure it would be amazing to see.  We didn't actually try the whole crabbing thing but we did enjoy talking to some friendly 'crabbers' who were more than willing to give us their tips on how to be successful.

Seth's ode to Canada which he set up on our campsite table......

Kayak Point

On our way back to our campsite we spotted a couple of beautiful bald eagles high up in a tree 'talking' to a few other birds afar off.   It seemed appropriate to see these lovely birds on our first day in the US.  Whenever I think of a bald eagle I can't help but think of Sam the Eagle from the Muppets.   Just like Sam they are serious looking birds who don't seem to have much of a sense of humour.  We couldn't help but feel a little sad that Mel didn't get to see them - she would have really loved it.  So here is the third best way to see them Mel - just for you......