K.B. Tours: USA August - September 2016

It’s been a few years since I wrote a online travel diary/blog whist on a long holiday, (Facebook makes it easy to get lazy) but with a change in transport modes, different style of accommodation and the chance to see plenty of amazing scenery whilst in the USA I thought I would give it a try again.

I am just about to leave for my yearly trip to the USA for the Brewery Collectibles Club of America’s annual (BCCA) CANvention. This year is being held in Portland Oregon which is a state I have never been to before. Counting up I have been to 25 US states so far. I have actually been to 31 if you count driving across a corner of a state or if the plane lands in the state during a stopover. However I only count the state if I have slept a night in the state, therefore it is only 25.

As I have never been to Oregon in the Pacific North West or Washington State or to the states east of them, I decided to plan out a road trip to see some of that section of the country.

I am using Portland as a starting point as it is easier to return the rental to the same place you picked it up from to save one-way rental charges.

I have rented a small camper van from Vagabond Vans who have a fleet of vans set up for camping. The owners used to do a lot of travel in a similar van and set up this company after they settled in Portland.

I arranged for them to meet me at the airport as it was easier than having to cross town to get to their rental office. There is an extra fee for this but costing in a taxi and time to get to their office it made sense to do it this way.

I am leaving Portland straight away and crossing the state border into Washington State. The first couple of days of the trip are centred on visiting casinos to add $5 chips to my collection. Washington has 23 casinos with chips and if I have enough time I plan on visiting most of them.

Following that I will visit Seattle and do some sightseeing including a visit to the Boeing Museum and factory there. Following that I will drive up and across the Cascade Mountains east across Washington state and then east into Montana and into South Dakota. From there I will start back towards Portland via Wyoming and Idaho. This will add another 6 states to my list on this trip. You can click on the photos to enlarge them if you like.

Hopefully I will add to this blog on most days whilst travelling. I say hopefully because I am trying out a new Samsung tablet and a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. This is different to using my bulky ]aptop and hopefully just as easy to use. I am trying them all out now in the Qantas lounge whilst waiting for my flight.