The kids did leave, on time, to fly back to Springfield, Missouri. Unfortunately, they did not fly with their luggage as there was some problem with the cargo hold on the airplane so the airline was not loading luggage into it but flying it on a different airplane at a later time. This made checking in at the ticket counter very slow as the agents had to explain this to every passenger checking in and some had to get toiletries out of their luggage for their carry on bag. The good news is that their luggage did get to them the next day in Springfield at their grandparents house where they are staying right now. This is getting ahead of my story a little but now you know that they arrived in Springfield safely and reasonably on time.

After we got back from the airport in Portland, we spend a couple of hours napping since we had both been up very late Sunday night then we started loading the Grand Cherokee. We were almost ready to leave when we got the call from Springfield that the kids had arrived safe and sound. We then drove out and headed up to the Olympic Peninsula.

After driving a little over three hours, Delanae saw a state park which she thought looked like it would be a nice place to camp so we stopped to investigate. It is on the Hood Canal and is called Dosewallips State Park. There were over 140 campsites and only about ten were taken. It was quiet and had water running through it, the Dosewallips River, so we decided to pitch the tent, eat dinner, and get to bed early. We did go take the beach walk where Delanae discovered how mosquitoes can flock to a human being. We had insect repellant on but she was amazed at how many mosquitoes could try and get on a human being, literally clouds of mosquitoes. I explained to her that I grew up in mosquito country in eastern Arkansas so this was nothing really new for me and I did not miss it. Other than the mosquito problem on the beach it was a very nice campground and we slept very well Monday night.

Tuesday morning Delanae slept "late". No, not really for her but in comparison to the other nights camping. We finally got up and got out of the campground and headed to Port Angeles where we were going to stop for lunch before driving down closer on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula and finding a place to camp for the night. We drove down to the waterfront in Port Angeles and found out that the next ferry leaving for Victoria, British Columbia on Vancouver Island still had room on it for our vehicle so we exchanged some US dollars for Canadian currency and took the ferry across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The ride lasted about 90 minutes and ended in downtown Victoria on the waterfront (of course). We had very little in the way of a map of the island but had picked up a camping magazine for Vancouver Island in Port Angeles. We found a listing for a campground, called for directions there and they said they had lots of sites that were available. We drove there, although we had to go the opposite way on the highway than what we were told, as we found out and found the campground was on a beach which looked across the water to Washington and the San Juan islands with the snow capped Cascades in the background. It was beautiful, warm (70's), and there were no mosquitoes. After quickly setting up the tent we walked on the beach and took in the sights.

Tuesday night we drove back to the Victoria waterfront and walked around seeing Chinatown as well as the waterfront. We heard a band playing the Canadian anthem for some dignitaries coming out of the Legislative Buildings down a red carpet to their waiting vehicles while we were walking along the waterfront. Before we got there the dignitaries were gone but this is definitely not something that happens all the time there. Knowing we had to get up early the next morning to catch the ferry back to Port Angeles, we left downtown and headed back to the beach, stopping along the way to get some food and ice for the next day. More on our vacation trip tomorrow.

I must go to bed now as I have to return to work tomorrow morning early. I went by late this afternoon and there are a lot of messages waiting for me tomorrow. I did clear the 75 e-mails from my office computer and the 80 e-mails on this computer today. Tomorrow promises to be busy both with the messages and the fact that I am the inpatient physician tomorrow through Sunday. See you tomorrow night.

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Friday June 22, 2001

No update.