West Coast Trip

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

We just returned from a 5 week trip to the Western US and Canada. I have a lot to post about it, but will break it up into several smaller posts.

The reason/goals for this trip.

Hubby need Idaho to get his 50th State. (I got mine 2 years ago on our trip to the Dakotas and surrounding states.)

We were celebrating our 48th Wedding Anniversary in May. (We usually travel someplace for our anniversary. Sometimes a short trip nearby and sometimes a longer trip.)

We wanted to find Geocaches (www.geocaching.com) and Munzees (www.munzee.com) in states and provinces that we had not found any in.

We wanted to travel to areas in the US and Canada that we had not been to.

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

Some more statistics about our trip.

We stayed in 4 different timeshares - 3 Gold Crown and 1 Silver Crown.

We stayed 4 nights in 4 different motels.

We stayed 4 nights in a condo in Seattle, found on VRBO.com, but rented through Seattle Oasis.

We put almost 4000 miles on our rental car.

We found about 200 geocaches and about 550 munzees.

Our son was with us for the first half of the trip.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

.....Congratulations Nancy on your 48th Anniversary!!!

Sounds like you guys had a wonderful trip, and lots of fun scavenger hunting. Can't wait to hear more about it!

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

Rental Car

We were given a Red Red Dodge Charger. Interestingly, we had a Dodge about 40 years ago, that was a lemon. Since then DH has steered clear of any Chrysler product. When we picked up our car in Spokane and the girl said a Dodge Charger, I almost said NO. We really liked that car. If we were in the market for a new car, and we aren't (got one last year), we'd probably get a charger. It was a V6 with more power than we needed. Got about 31 mpg and drove and rode very nicely. I opted for a full-sized car since there were 3 of us with enough luggage that I wasn't sure an Intermediate would make it. I rented from USAA. Everyone said use Costco and I had one reserved thru them also, but cancelled it. Both were Budget. The difference in price was about $5 and our insurance is with USAA.

We picked it up in Spokane and turned it in, in Seattle. No problem with that or with taking it into Canada with a slip from Budget.

[StressCadet Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StressCadet]

5 weeks...WOW...you covered a lot of ground. Looking forward to hearing about all your adventures. Especially Idaho...did you visit Couer D' Alene? I really want to see that area.

[catwgirl Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close catwgirl]

Looking forward to hearing more ...

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Sounds like a great trip.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Some more statistics about our trip.

We stayed in 4 different timeshares - 3 Gold Crown and 1 Silver Crown.

We stayed 4 nights in 4 different motels.

We stayed 4 nights in a condo in Seattle, found on VRBO.com, but rented through Seattle Oasis.

We put almost 4000 miles on our rental car.

We found about 200 geocaches and about 550 munzees.

Our son was with us for the first half of the trip.

Sounds like a very interesting trip. I didn't know what geocaches and munzees were but looked it up.

Now you both have visited all 50 States, you may have to go back to some States that are very big. For instance, California has a coastal area that is not even the same in climate or vegetation and if you go inland, you are in the desert so a complete change of scenery and climate again.

We recently came back from northern California and the coastal area is so different from where we live. It is much more beautiful and green than in southern California. I am sure that many big states have a big difference of scenery and climate too.

Are you planning to visit some of the States again or did you spend enough time there already to have seen most of it?

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

The timeshares:

Since Idaho was our main state, I searched for timeshares in Idaho. Didn't really have a destination in mind, just Idaho. Got a week at Pend Oreille Shores in Hope. Then built rest of trip around that. Next got a week prior at The Edelweiss in Whitefish MT. Got a week prior to that at Paradise Canyon Golf Resort in Lethbridge AB. (Wanted Alberta because we hadn't been there.) To finish out timeshares, got a week at Wapato Point in Manson WA. All were Friday check-ins, except Wapato Point which was a Thursday, so had one day of overlap. Will post more details about each one later.

We like them all for different reasons and if we did a return trip, it would be hard not to stay at the same places.

We only are RCI, so that was what we had to go with.

[happymum Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close happymum]

So glad that you enjoyed your trip. Wish I had known that you were going to be in my neck of the woods. We would have come to Lethbridge to see you. Did you get to Waterton National Park? It is supposed to be very pretty.

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

Disclaimer:

My husband does not like for us (DS and myself) to put too much info on social media/internet about where we are or specifically where we are not. I try not to put to much specifics before I go somewhere or while I'm gone. Did post a couple of generic questions, etc. This is hard for me because I'm a trusting blabber mouth!

Also, we normally travel in off months. We realize many things aren't open or just opening up or closing up. If I post about something not open or quiet I'm not complaining, just making a statement.

I'll continue about our trip shortly. Thanks for anyone reading. If you aren't interested, just ignore it.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Trp

Doncha just hate when you see that when it is too late?

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

To Lethbridge

We flew from DC (Reagan Airport) to Spokane via Phoenix. We arrived in Phoenix and hour early and in Spokane also 45 minutes early. Had to kill time in Phoenix and got rental car earlier than planned in Spokane. Stayed first night at Fairfield Inn and Suites in downtown Spokane. It was at edge of downtown and we walked River walk to downtown. Newish Fairfield Inn and nicely appointed.

We had a day to kill so drove from Spokane to Fernie BC. We prefer to stay off interstates and really enjoyed the drive. Scenery was great. We stayed at ski resort in Fernie, Lizard Creek Lodge. We were upgraded from one bedroom to one bedroom plus loft. Nice but smallish rooms. Resort was pretty much vacant. Had continental breakfast and we were only ones there. Enjoyed snow (we normally spend winters in Florida) on mountains and piled outside lodge.

Next day we headed to Lethbridge, but stopped at Waterton National Park first. Waterton is the Canadian side of Glacier. Things were just starting to open up there. A couple of restaurants were open. Waterton is different from most National Parks as it has a town. We saw many big horn sheep wandering around town. Really enjoyed our time there.

Then we headed on to Lethbridge.

[susieq Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close susieq]

Disclaimer:

My husband does not like for us (DS and myself) to put too much info on social media/internet about where we are or specifically where we are not. I try not to put to much specifics before I go somewhere or while I'm gone. Did post a couple of generic questions, etc. This is hard for me because I'm a trusting blabber mouth!

I certainly understand where you're coming from ............... DH feels the same way. I sounds like such a great trip, and I look forward to reading more.

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

Lethbridge AB

Our first week was in Lethbridge Alberta. Everytime we checked into a timeshare, I commented on whether we'd have enough to keep us busy for a week. Everytime we checked out, I said we'd have to come back because there was more that we didn't get to do. The timeshare was on the southwest side of town and most shopping and restaurants were either downtown or on southeast side. There was no direct route from southwest to southeast without going downtown. There weren't many stores or restaurants near timeshare, but that area seems to be growing and I don't think that will be the case for long.

We did 2 trips away from Lethbridge. One day we drove to Saskatchewan, so we could say we'd been to that province and also get a geocache there. It was about 150 miles each way. We stopped in Medicine Hat for lunch.

We also went to Vulcan AB another day. It was about 60 miles each way. Vulcan is the name of Mr. Spock's, from Star Trek, home planet. DS is a big Star Trek fan. Unfortunately, the museum had a maintenance issue, and was closed. The visitor center had lots of Star Trek items, so it was not an entirely wasted trip.

We enjoyed Lethbridge.