We were super stoked to have gotten in touch with the kiwi family we had met only briefly at the Grand Canyon a few months prior. They offered to have us come and stay and right from the get go they gave us an incredibly warm reception.

The end of the phone call went something like this...

Us: "We will be arriving in Seattle around six if that's ok?"

Dee: "Yea sure just come whenever. Here's our address... If we aren't home the kids and the nanny will be, they'll show you around, give you the wifi password, the backyard for the dog and a towel for a shower" 

Already they had our needs fully covered and we didn't even really know them at all. When we arrived late Dad Jay was home with kids Max (11), Emma (9) and Lucy (7). The kids entertained Scout while we grabbed a shower then tucked into some dinner leftovers Jay had saved for us. Later Dee arrived home and said how her work colleges couldn't fathom that she had invited strangers over to stay. She told them that we were from New Zealand too, so that made it ok but I don't think that helped them understand. We set up camp on the exceptionally comfortable fold-out memory foam couch down stairs and went to bed wondering how we'd managed to strike it so lucky yet again. 

The next morning Will was on a mission to find some new waterproof shell pants for the coming winter. We had stopped in at the huge REI flagship store on our way into Seattle but Will hadn't found any that fit the bill for a price we could afford. The place was massive though with a climbing gym, river and even a mountain bike track. We enjoyed looking around and after two hours we did well not to have bought anything. The prices were so cheap compared to what we pay in New Zealand but our space is limited. That morning we hit a few other outdoors stores like Patagonia and Marmot but had no luck. Will was feeling pretty frustrated but we tried one last store a guy had told us about called Feathered Friends. They specialise in making custom down jackets and sleeping bags but also have a range of outdoor gear. The store ended up having a prefect pair of shell pants for Will which he brought while I tried on some hiking boots that I really liked but might have to order online from back home. With the pants buying saga over we headed over to the worlds first Starbucks cafe for a frappuccino then strolled around the Pikes Place Market looking at all the random things people had for sale. 

The next day we had decided that we would cook dinner for the family so we popped out in the morning to grab the food we would need to make pizzas from Trader Joe's supermarket. The pizzas went down well with the family that evening but on our way back from Trader Joe's Will suggested we stop in at the local Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler dealership. Will had been in contact with them via email about our broken 4x4. Many people said that we should get in touch with Dodge, tell them about our journey and maybe they would help us out for free or something. We were skeptical but thought we might as well try given our current problem. When we arrived they took a while to figure out who we even were but said to bring it in the following morning and they would see what they could do. Turns out our skepticism was right though as Will returned back to me at the house the next morning grumbling about the time he had just wasted. After more than two hours there they basically said that they couldn't care less about our journey and that it was going to cost $125 for them just to diagnose the 4x4 problem. No thanks! And this was after one of the service guys locked our keys in the car. So that afternoon Will took to the Dodge himself and posted the following message to Facebook "Once again I find myself in a friendly family's driveway surrounded by tools pulling parts off the Dodge to find out what's gone wrong this time...". Eventually he found that the linkage from the 4x4 shifter to the transmission had completely fallen off and was nowhere to be found. Will did a ring around the local parts stores but nobody had one. He found one on eBay but had to get it sent to my Uncles brothers workshop in Merritt, Canada as we didn't have time to wait for it to arrive in Seattle. We had to cross our fingers that we wouldn't need the 4x4 before then. Poor Will wasn't happy though as this meant putting everything back together now and having to pull it all apart again later to install the new linkage. 

While we were in Seattle we also went to the Boeing factory. We both found the factory really fascinating despite having possibly the worlds worst tour guide. An old lady who appeared to know little about planes and rushed us though everything like she was going be late for a hot date. Just as I was starting to get my head around the difference between a 747 and a 737. Though it was pretty special for us to see the brand new carbon fibre 787-9s with the Air New Zealand koru pattern. It's the first one through the production line as Air New Zealand is the launch customer. We were told not to take photos but shhhh we sneaked a few on the iPhone while the guide wasn't looking. Just as we were leaving the factory a brand new cargo 747 landed with the Sea Hawks logo freshly painted on the side. 

The following day we designated as a lazy day and Will spent the morning sewing his two ripped pairs of jeans into one functioning pair on Dee's sewing machine. It was cute to watch but he took ages especially after he decided to iron on patches over the inside as well. Despite the effort the pants ripped again three months later and ended up in the bin soon after. Still he got a bit more use out of them.

Dee had recommended we check out the EMP museum in town so that afternoon we made our way there and saved a bunch on the entry price with Dee's discount card. At the museum we read all about the lives of famous musicians and bands and really enjoyed the horror movie exhibit. That evening Dee asked if we could baby sit the kids and as they were such cool well behaved kids we said no problem. So with Jay in New Zealand for work and Dee out we hung with Max, Emma and Lucy and watched a movie accompanied by junk food that came all the way from NZ! Mmmmmmmm. 

We had spent the first few nights getting to know Jay and learning about his work in the App business and his thoughts on up and coming technology. Meanwhile Dee was busy working late each night until Jay left for NZ. Then we got to know more about Dee who was a super mum! She was there for the kids doing homework and cooking homemade delights as well as running part of the Microsoft empire and keeping fit on her road bike! All this while looking fabulous and with house guests. We weren't the only ones to stay too apparently they have a constant flow of kiwis staying on their way to or from Seattle for work in either Dee or Jay's businesses.

This is how we got introduced to Hamish, a kiwi who works for Jay about our age. It was crazy for us to hear all of these New Zealand accents all of a sudden. Anyway so Dee set up for Will and I to go out with Hamish to watch the Super Bowl at a pub in town with him and his friends. It was going to be a big one as the Seattle Seahawks were playing the Denver Broncos for the final. We didn't really have any team colours to wear but I painted my nails green and blue and we wore the blue beads that came with our beers. Will also wanted to wear his jandles to the pub "absolutely not" I said. Then we turn up and Hamish is there in his jeans and jandles, it's a New Zealand style that the rest of the world just doesn't seem to appreciate. 

The Broncos never regained their composure after their star quarterback Peyton Manning missed a pass and the ball went into the dead zone. The final score was 43-8. We didn't really get all the rules to the game but the atmosphere was wild and the half time show and million dollar add breaks lived up to the hype. Bruno Mars rocked it with the Chilli Peppers and Bud (beer) showed us what best buds are using a cute puppy and a horse. After the game Hamish suggested a celebratory plunge in the frigid waters of the Seattle harbour across the road. It was freezing but all the boys and one girl (not me) stripped off and crashed into the water. They were out again shivering moments later and posed for a photo but their steaming bodies fogged up the lens. Every one was commando back in the pub where the party continued late into the night. Later on Will and I caught a taxi back to the kiwi house. 

The next day was Monday the 3rd of February we had a bit of a sleep in then packed up the Dodge ready to hit the road once more. This time everything was nice and clean, the Dodge was vacuumed, all the stuff in the roof had been dried out inside the house and even our big Coleman sleeping bag on the bed had been washed. I'm going to miss those huge American washers and dryers when we go home. We wouldn't set out for Canada until the following morning though as at three o'clock when the kids got home from school we had promised to take them rock climbing. 

Much to Wills delight Dee let us take Jay's Toyota Tundra to the climbing wall it was sooo nice! At the climbing wall we had to sign three different liability forms even though Dee had already done the ones for the kids online. Then we both had to do a belaying and tying in test before finally having to do an automatic belay test. The kids were getting bored and we were feeling frustrated but finally we had our laminated certificate and we got into some climbing. We had our hands full with the three of them but they were all troopers and climbed hard. The youngest Lucy would have kept going forever if we'd let her. We were going to pick up Dee afterwards and get burgers but we didn't get back until almost seven so Dee had a Mac and cheese just coming out of the oven as we got home. The troops weren't too happy about this but they came around and we savoured our final night in the kiwi haven before leaving the next morning.

Rochelle & Will

I'm not felling very motivated at all to write this blog but as I sit in the Dodge in Alaska, outside a laundromat where the guy next to me just drove off with is laundry basket full of fresh clothes on the front of his quad bike, I figure I should make the most of this quiet time. The thing is I can't really remember what we did as we drove up towards Seattle just a few random things in no particular order. Usually I use our photos to remind me about what we did and when but it turns out we didn't all take that many photos during this part of our journey. Bear with me as I remind myself of the bits worth mentioning. 

From Guerneville (HWY116) we drove up the famous 1 then 101 roads next to the Pacific Ocean. The ocean was wild with huge dangerous looking waves and the road was super windy. But I guess after all the time we spent in one place over Christmas and New Years we were eager to get a move on and so found the winding roads frustrating more than anything. It was a really nice drive but coming from New Zealand we had seen our fair share of ocean and after a few brief stops for a walk along the beach we drove on into the evening. We couldn’t find a place to free camp as all the beach pull outs had prominent “No Camping” signs. In the end we found a cheap $15 campground to stay in, we were the only ones there and the showers were cold but they had a nice grassy field for us to park in.  

On our way further up the coast to Redwood National Park we went through a number of small establishments that had some famous redwood tree or another. We didn't feel compelled to stop until we went through a place called Elk Meadow, this place lived up to its name and there were huge bull Elk grazing in the field right by the road so we had to stop for a look and snapped a few photos before entering the official Redwood National Park. We felt a little ho-hum about this park for a few reasons. Firstly the trees weren't nearly as interesting as the Giant Sequoias and there wasn't really a park entrance like there usually is in fact the highway ran straight through the coastal park. There were a few scenic side roads which were ok but after that we were ready to camp and continue on the next day. 

So that evening we were naughty and tried to camp at a beach side NP campground without paying ($25 for no services was more than we could justify) we arrived late, cooked dinner and had just hoped into bed when a lady knocked on the window and said we have to pay or leave. We decided to leave so drove about half an hour north and camped in a gravel car park outside a tiny town named Leggett. The next morning we paid $5 to see "the amazing drive through tree" with a hole you could drive through cut into the base. We were to high to fit through the hole but we backed up to it for a photo op. However the real reason we had stopped there was to use the bathroom and brush our teeth, with that done we continued on our way with the money well spent. 

At Crescent City we left the 101 and cut inland following the Smith river towards Grants Pass. During a rest stop by the river despite the icy temperatures we couldn’t keep Scout out of the water and he was having a great time retrieving sticks from the opposite bank. Closer to the pass we stopped in at Dan and Kathy's who ran Wapiti Archery. We had been recommended the stop by Bob Riedinger who we stayed with a few weeks prior. Bob had taken us archery shooting several times and now we were keen to see the arrow making process. At the workshop Dan explained how the bows were made from dried cedar logs that were then striped down into smaller and smaller straight grained planks. From here the wood is put through a planer and turned into the round arrow shafts. Next the wood must be spun to check if it's balanced and the shaft grain weighed. Any arrow shafts that don't meet their time consuming tests are re-machined into lighter weight kids shafts and retested. 

Dan and Kathy offered to have us stay the night in their trailer but we had already arranged to stay with a guy we had met on the side of 6,268m Chimborazo in Ecuador. We had kept Joel's details safe in our little brightly coloured Bolivian book and as we approached his home town of Ashland we sent him an email and he replied with an offer of a place to stay. We turned up not knowing what to expect but Joel was warm and welcoming even if it appeared we had walked into a disagreement between him and his teenage daughter. Thats been a really interesting part of the trip just walking into peoples homes and lives, at times we feel we are privy to more than we normally would be given that we are virtually strangers. Sometimes we leave and feel like we don’t even know our friends back in New Zealand as well as we know the person/family who’s house we've just left. I guess because we are in their lives rather than just seeing them for a set time like often happens with friends. As well as the fact that we are essentially strangers so with no pre tenses they can tell us anything they like and know it won’t ever come back to cause a problem. 

That night a Joel’s we ate pizza and watched a very funny movie called Due Date which was about two unlikely friends forced into a crazy road trip. We laughed so hard because we could relate well to their trials and tribulations on the road. After the movie we did some planning and Joel convinced us to stay inland from Crater Lake National Park and drive the 97 road through the mountains to the town of Bend he thought we would like Bend and the mountainous drive more that the ocean alternative.

We left Joel’s early the following morning an made our way first on highways then on snowy icy roads to Crater Lake National Park. At the visitors centre we watched yet another National Park movie then booked in to do the free snow shoeing ranger tour as we hadn’t been snow shoeing before. We ate some horrible canned soup in the car park as real deal snow shoers walked passed us amateurs. Then after lunch we walked to the meeting point and put on our snow shoes. Will had his own traditional ones he’d bought back in Colorado but I had to use theirs and there were so many people there that they gave me the kiddie ones. They worked out ok though because there wasn’t much snow. Certainly nothing compared to the 40 foot of snow they usually average each winter, this year they only had about three foot and it was hard packed so you hardly needed the snow shoes at all but it was a good introduction for us and the weather was stunning not a breath of wind to disturb the mirror like lake. 

A full on multi day snow shoe hike around the 33 mile Crater Lake rim road (currently closed for the winter) seemed like it would have been fun but with no time to spare we headed out that afternoon. As the sun started to set we kept an eye out for a place to free camp. As luck would have it we stumbled upon a large newly built snowmobile club cabin. We couldn't believe it when we found the door was open and there was a fire and wood inside without a single sign saying for club use only. It seemed to good to be true but with no one around we brought some food in and lit the fire with our own firewood we had in the roof box. We cooked dinner on the fire top before heading back to the Dodge for bed. About an hour later some other people arrived and we think they camped the night inside the cabin though there we no permanent bunks inside. They left early the next morning and as they left they told us to get warm inside if we wanted to. It was crazy to think places like this existed usually all the cabins in the US had big signs saying "Day use only" or they were locked.

From the cabin we made our way to Bend and Joel was right Bend was a cool little town and super dog friendly, everyone seemed to have a dog in town. Will was on the lookout for some new waterproof shell pants for the coming cold weather so we looked around the outdoorsy town for some. He found a pair in the Patagonia store but even the on sale price was beyond us. For lunch we ate burgers from a cool food joint where we sat outside with Scout and all the other people with their dogs and organic smoothies. 

After lunch we returned to the road and made it to Salem before stopping into a Motel 6 for the night and a much needed shower. Will doesn't remember this Motel 6 but I do. It wasn't the nicest place with a bunch of strange people walking around and the room smelt a bit and the duvet cover had a few holes but it was clean enough. The next day we had some errands to do and had to take Scout to the vet for another check up, by the time we had all that done it was dark when we arrived in Portland 75km away. Will was keen to stop in at a Sportsman's Warehouse so we found one and after a look around what must have been the tenth Sportsman's Warehouse we have been into we had Chinese for dinner and slept in the Dodge in the car park.

We could tell the area wasn't the best but we still felt safe enough. During the night while we were both in a deep sleep we were startled awake by this loud banging on the window and someone yelling "Policía, policía!". For a moment we thought we were back in South America but no we were still in Portland. Will opened the door to find two police officers and one with his gun out. He tells us that our vehicle matches the description of a vehicle involved in a vicious kidnapping. We are shocked but almost amused as this is obviously not us… honestly how does a Dodge Durango with stickers, Chilean licence plates and a bunch of random stuff on the roof match there description? The cop is all angry though and wants to see our passports which are "under the bed and I'm naked" says Will. "I've seen it all before" replies the cop "so keep that door open". Will grabs the passports and given all the stamps in them our story cheeks out and the cops immediately turn all nice guy. They radio us in though and say that it's not a very good neighbourhood so the police will keep an eye on us. They ask us to park closer to the road and leave saying "most of the bad guys will have gone to bed now but keep your doors locked". It's 4:30am we move the car in a daze the go back to sleep. In the morning we wake up wondering if that really happened. After breakfast we hit the Interstate 5 North all the way to Seattle where the next blog will begin. 

Rochelle & Will

From Turlock California we drove several hours towards the coast our goal being San Francisco, like any kiwi we loved to see the ocean again and feel the salty warm breeze kiss our face. We had three contacts in San Fran but had had the most contact with an older couple named Bill and Karen so headed their way. We had heard about their house when we originally met Bill back in Colorado but seeing it in person was a whole other thing. The house was humongous over 10,000 square feet and Bill and Karen had spent the last twenty-five, yes twenty-five years meticulously building it almost completely on their own. It was lavish modern design with its huge arcing corners all in bleach white but they still had a way to go before it was finished. Will and I had to fight the urge to say a month and help them finish a few things. Needless to say we had our own room in the house for a few days while we explored San Fran. But what I remember most about Bill and Karen was their meals. We were getting used to California's and their healthy food obsessions and Bill and Karen were no exception. For breakfast each morning we felt pretty healthy eating a huge bowl of oatmeal topped with organic fruit, nuts, yoghurt and a natural sweetener called Stevia. But they had whole roots of ginger and green kale shakes to start the day as well.

With our base at Bill and Karens and Scout being looked after in one of the outdoor courtyards we spent the day catching the bus into town then taking the ferry to Alcatraz Island. The history on display at the Island was captivating even if the buildings were basically concrete rubble and metal bars. We thought the audio tour through the cell house was especially good and made for a nice quiet environment with all the people walking around in their head phones. Afterwards we thought we might walk down to the Americas Cup sailing village but the pain of losing the final race to the Americans was still too strong. No not really we just ran out of time so took one of the famous cable car's through the city to our bus station for the return home in darkness. 

The following day with the Dodge this time but still without the dog we drove into Golden Gate Park. We had planed to go to the Natural History Museum but were put off by the high price and finding out part of it was closed, instead we walked across the park to the De Young Art Museum and had a wander around the collections. That afternoon we visited the famous painted ladies which are some old historical houses that display San Francisco's classic housing style contrasted against the emerging city buildings behind them. After the painted ladies and a drive down the famous zig zagging steep street we headed over the Golden Gate Bridge for a post card perfect sunset.

Our second contact in San Fran was one of Wills Dad's old friends named Ewan Lithgow. He hailed from the days when Wills Dad, Greg and Uncle, Rod ran a sheep and beef farm in New Zealand. They hadn't seen each other in twenty-five odd years but an email was sent and Ewan replied warmly to have us come and stay. We met Ewan his, wife MJ and daughter Erin early one evening and had a few drinks and nibbles after being shown our room. Strangers one minute friends the next Will was thoroughly enjoying hearing Ewan's stories about his Dad but further stories would have to wait as we both already had plans that evening. We were off to celebrate the birthday of the third person we knew in San Fran and Ewan and MJ were heading out with their neighbours. 


As we were walking down Height St to meet up with Alex the brother of a fellow overlander who had been following us on our trip we realised we didn't really know what he looked like. It was no bother though we found Alex straight away and he immediately brought us a martini like we were old friends. We wished him a happy birthday then spent the evening getting to know some of his friends who were all interesting characters with a story to tell. Alex and his wife Jessica wanted to move the party back to their place so we stopped in at a liquor store before six of us piled into the Dodge, his three hilarious gay friends ending up on our bed! I drove us up the hill to their apartment which had a stunning panoramic night vista of the city. As for the rest of the night you'll have to ask us yourself if you want to know what happened... It was wild fun that's for sure and after a few hours sleep in the Dodge we headed back to Ewan and MJ's a little, ok no A LOT worse for wear. 

MJ had suspected this may happen when we mentioned the bar was on Height St so when we returned to their empty house in the morning their was a note saying "two pot pie's in the fridge for you, call me on this number..." and next to the TV their was another note with instructions on how to turn it on. MJ you legend!!! We crashed out for a few hours then spent a few more hours in front of the TV eating our pies. The pies were great but we still craved the meat pies we have in New Zealand. I think it was later that day or it could have been the next day Will and I took two bikes from the garage and biked down to the nearby beach. It was meant to be the middle of winter but the weather was hot and sunny. We took Scout for a swim at the first beach then rode over to the next bay for an ice cream. It felt so good to have the sand between our toes and writing this from Cold Canada I look back with envy to the day we had. 

On the weekend Will convinced Ewan to help him replace our totally worn out upper front ball joints while I went for a walk along the beach with MJ. We returned to find them cleaning up with the new ball joints in and I was shocked to see the terrible condition of our old ones. The left one looked close to failure. We hoped our tires would now stop wearing so badly on the inside and even tried to get a wheel alignment for the first time on the trip. But they said we still had so many other steering issues that they could only do so much. The steering wheel did go back to having the correct centre for a while but it's quite far off again now… 

On Sunday January 19th we went down to the local bar with Ewan, MJ and Erin to watch the San Francisco 49er's battle it out against the Seattle Sea Hawks for a Super Bowl position. Unfortunately for the 49er's the game didn't go their way so after a close 23-17 defeat we left the suddenly solemn pub and headed over to a neighbours house where we had been invited to share a massive bowl of delicious Chili. There were dogs and kids and people coming and going at the house and we could see what a cool little community they had going on. 

At some stage while we were in San Fran Will made a video skype call home and got his Dad and Ewan together on the phone, that quickly turned into an hour long foray of laughter and story telling from the good old days back on the farm, Will sat listening to every word of this insight into his dads younger days. I think he enjoyed the conversation as much as his Dad and Ewan did. Our stay with the Lithgows was a really lovely time and with all the kiwi stuff around their house it had us missing home more than we had yet.

Just as the time had come to leave San Francisco we got an offer of a place to stay just north in Petaluma through the online overlanding community. David had promised to cook us some home grown bacon and eggs and we were interested to see how he and his wife Ann had their lifestyle block set up. David even took us to a brewery tour at the nearby Lagunitas brewery. I stupidly forgot my ID but still managed to sneak a few sips of Wills beers. We really enjoyed the beer as well as the tour though David swore the other tour host was better at telling all the stories about how the beers got their names. For example were told the "Lagunitas Sucks" beer was developed when everyone criticised the company after a new beer vat got damaged so they couldn't fulfil their special winter beer orders. In the end they repaired the vat and came up with a new beer that matured very quickly and they were able to get it out on time as their winter special so they named it "Laganitas Sucks" and it was a huge hit. 

From David and Ann's place we didn't travel far only the 60km to Ewan's families holiday house where Ewan was getting in some fly fishing practice. The house was really nice and just a few minutes drive from the peaceful Russian river. We joined Ewan down at the river and had a fun time getting Scout to fetch his bumpers from the river. Finally he seemed to have mastered swimming! That evening we had dinner while watching a TV mini series called Klondike Men that showed us what we might be in for as we got into northern Canada we weren't sure whether to be excited or worried. Tempting as it was to stay another night at the house after Ewan left we hit the road finally north bound again after the last two months of traveling west. 


Rochelle & Will