"Slip'ry as snot, that there road is, you be careful you hear" 

This sage advice was given to us by an elderly American, who had stopped to admire our Wicked van at a gas station close to the Canadian border. It was absolutely pouring with rain and he was right, the road was slippery, but what a simile, "as snot"! 

He went on,
"It's that new bit of roadwork - I had to put my brakes on and it was as slip'ry as snot - only just got meself stopped in time. So anyways where'd you get this 'ol halloween vehicle?"

We've had lots of interest in our camper but especially so when they learn we are from Australia. When we first visited the US in 1995, we often heard the response "I've always wanted to go there" and here we are 16 years later and the response is still the same.

We made a little detour into the North West corner of USA as we made our way back west to Vancouver to return our camper. The Olympic National Park is a wilderness area on a peninsula right up in the corner of the USA and as a UNESCO listed park we thought we would go for a look while we still had our wheels.

Firstly though we had to get a minor repair done to the camper in Canada, just before we headed over the border and then we had a full day of some serious driving to get us to the park. We immediately noticed how many more vehicles were on the USA roads. Rain dogged our trip making visibility poor and driving more stressful. With no let up in the rain, we eventually opted for a motel for the night - the only time we didn't camp in our vehicle.

The next day we spent in the park with moments of dry weather to enjoy some scenery but the rain continued pretty much constantly and Mt. Olympus remained firmly behind the fog and cloud. It was still worth the trip though to see the amazing driftwood beaches. We camped one last night on Whidbey island, which we reached by ferry for just 13 dollars for both of us and including the vehicle.

On our wet and rainy drive back into Canada we met the "Slippery as Snot" man and then as we neared Vancouver the rain stopped. This gave us some respite to find our booked Vancouver hotel, check in, sort out our gear, then take the campervan back. The rain held off as we then caught public transport back to our hotel feeling a little sad that our campervan days are over.

We managed to clock up 4,600 kms in 11 days.

Back in Vancouver it is Thanksgiving weekend and fittingly we ate a meal of turkey. Their thanksgiving is a different date to the US but still a big long weekend holiday time.
  
Next is a bus to Seattle in the USA then 3 long flights take us to Ecuador and the South American warm (hot?!) weather.   

Footnote: Olympic National Park is UNESCO World Heritage listed.