So It Is

Big White at Home Base

We’ve named our twenty-three foot 2003 Ford 350 bus Big White. We are in the process of converting it to our motor home. Frank, my husband, has a construction background assembling houses and building his personal 12-metre sailboat. His handy skills and patience is how we now have a Murphy bed in the bus.

On September 9, 2013, we pulled into the Black Ball United States ferry terminal. The attendant at the front gate asked how many passengers we had on board.

“Two. Me and my wife,” Frank said.

“Just two? You don’t have other passengers?” he said.

“No. Would you like to have a look? It’s our motor home,” Frank said.

The bearded man stepped aboard and scanned the interior of our travelling home.

“So it is,” he said. He stepped off and waved us through to the ferry line up.

In park, we presented our passports to the boarder guard and received our official United States of America Department of Homeland Security sticker.

Coho Seattle Ferry

The activities on the ferry upper deck included the chatter of fellow travellers, the squawk of seagulls as they swooped down in search of food scraps, the bellow of the ferry horn and the seawater fragrance of the Victoria, British Columbia harbour.

We bounced off the ferry at Port Angeles, Washington, where we had our passports checked one more time. After motoring a few kilometres, we switched drivers and I sailed down southbound highway 101 stopping at the Eldon Store to give our legs a rest. That day we journeyed 230 miles. We ended at a rest stop north of Portland and slept among the long-haul transport trucks.

Eldon Store on Highway 101 South

Tip No. 1: Stop frequently to enjoy the view.

Big White boards the ferry

Highway 101 South