Ruth's post - Big Detour!!!

Ruth and Colin's day - Wednesday, December 5

A new day begins and what a day! A little late starting but only about 19km from the border crossing, Colin was happy we drove that first bit last night when the roads were quiet.  Anyways on the road again, "bombing" down the road, when I mention that the speedometer
was in miles not kilometers!!!  OH, he says no wonder it seemed faster than he though we should be going.  No wonder I was so nervous last night. Now I can relax.

Sherman in the Superstore parking lot in the south end of Vancouver

At the border we have to wait while they searched Sherman for agricultural items that are banned, we made out alright but poor Whiskey didn't, they removed all her food and doggie treats.  Luckily there wasn't a lot of food left.  The border patrol guy asked where we were headed and we said south.  He looked at us and asked if we had checked the highway conditions, as I-5 was closed past Seattle due to flooding and we would have to detour around (400 miles or more around).  We make our way to Seattle. Got to see the Space Needle and the baseball stadium from the highway, but no time to take a picture.

Got new front tires on Sherman at Les Schwab Tire Store so Sherman is happy again, and bought new food and treats for Whisky (happy puppy).  Now we have to check out this detour.  The road is closed until at least the weekend or longer so we have no choice but do the detour.  Colin said he didn't mind driving at night so we are trying to make up for lost time. We make it to Renton in the Tri-City area around midnight. Another long day and no scenery to boot!

Big flood on the I-5...note the Walmart store near the top right (photo was taken from the internet)