The end of stage one is near and, I really don’t know where time has gone since my first entry, when we began this momentous drive across the US of America.
   
    We are still heading north along route 5 which will take us as far north as we can go on the North American continent.
   
    At this time we are still in California just going through the grape and winery country which is very beautiful indeed, with it’s rolling hills grape vines growing as far as the eyes can see and a climate which is not too hot nor too cold.
   
    As usual the car is holding it’s own and I think is happier now we are out of the high temperatures of the south though I have noticed the engine has developed a small oil leak which will have to be sorted out as soon as possible "not that that has anything to do with the weather" as this will eventually add to the budget and, there are a few other minor services will have to be done before the second stage of the drive around Australia is underway. We have stopped for the day at a camping site high up in the hills overlooking the vines below and with the sounds of wood peckers in the trees above the tent.
   
    On the road again next day and, we are heading for Washington state which is as far north I have gone before and the temperature is only a mere 28°c. I have noticed that the trailer is swaying a little and I had to stop to take a closer look. I had found the shock absorbers have all but come away from there mounts on the fibre glass trailer, although not a major problem it has limited the speed at which I drive the car (65mph). Yet another little job to do ! "well at least it stops me from getting board".
   
    We almost got to the top of Washington and stayed at a wooded site called Mount Shasta which is right next to a very big mountain and is still covered in snow, the only problem is that the site is right next to a rail road line and it was very noisy. Each and every train that passes the crossing sounds it’s horn about a dozen times which can by very annoying when we were trying to get to sleep, even at three in the morning. Next day we made tracks out of Washington and then into Oregon and the scenery is ever changing and it has begun to rain which is not nice as we have not seen rain since we arrived in the USA and I worry that my hard earned tan will fade away.
   
    Next day we crossed the boarded from Washington to Oregon and as it’s not such a big state I tried to get as far as I could in just the one day I thought it would be a nice idea to drive to a town called The Dalles, and not only get a licence plate for Oregon, as I have been collecting them from each state we have been through, as they have a different design for each of the states but I also wanted to visit the town which has a very beautiful mountain called Mount Hood and so we made our way to this area taking a 120 mile detour from the main highway and eventually arriving at around lunch time. I also wanted to visit a friend who I knew from years ago but later found the whole family had moved so we turned around after I got my licence plate and made our way back 120 miles to the highway just in time to find a camping site and stop for the day. By the end of the day it began to rain and I wasn’t too pleased about this because we haven’t seen rain for such a long time.
   
    The rain has kept coming down through the night and now that we are nearing the end of the drive I am a little worried that we will have to pack the tent away wet and leave it packed until the car arrives in Australia and that is a problem as it’s not going to smell very nice after five weeks of being shut away in a bag and container.
   
    Today I have decided to continue to drive north leaving America and visit Canada as it is such a short distance away from where we are and also because we have some time to spare before we have to fly out. Not only that, I know some very good friends of my brother who I wanted to meet with and so after a few phone calls I arranged to drive into British Columbia (Canada) to Vancouver. The intention was to stop over for just a night and contact my shipping agent the next day to arrange the shipping of the car from Seattle. So off to Canada we went.