We decided to cross the national border to Vancouver to say hello to Markku’s mother’s class mate Leena and her sons and to see if Canada is different from USA.












Leena showed us much of the city. The owners of this house use all space to produce food. Without kids needing a lawn to play this is clever and ecological land use.

Katja and boys having the first glimpse of Vancouver Island from a ferry. They were still unaware of the terrible hassle that waited for us there.

Wet maritime forest in Central Vancouver Island.

Staff in the tourist information office in Port Alberni recommended us to go to see bears trying to catch salmon swimming and jumping to breed up the river. Unfortunately there was too much water for bears but just seeing so much salmon close to the edges of the rapids was like watching a nature documentary.

We took some unpaved roads to cross the island. We had worse luck than probably anybody has had on that road and had in total four flat tires and had to camp in the middle of large clear cuts less than one km from where we saw a black bear on the road side. There was no mobile phone coverage in that area, but the following morning a forest worker passed by and later drove us to the closest village.The closest tow truck that was big enough came from a town three hours away. This adventure increased our travel budged by over a thousand dollars.

Elk in the morning mist close to Olympic NP.

Markku testing how the rangefinder that has been used to measure the heights of the tropical trees works for really tall conifers in Olympic NP.

Boys looking down to a stream from a perfect natural bridge.

Katja and boys eating bread and fruits for lunch in coastal parts of Olympic NP.

Katja was wisely a bit further away from the surf. Few minutes after Markku took this photo Aaro and Markku got wet feet.

Coastal Oregon.

Redwood NP.

Katja with other Eurasian tourists just after crossing the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco. She is enjoying being in a city after quite a few NPs and is looking forward to spending the rest of the day without Markku and boys.

Markku and boys went first to the harbour to watch sea lions.

Then Markku and boys went to the California Academy of Sciences which had all kinds of exhibits. In the evening Markku’s sister Suvi and her husband Tuomas joined us to travel all the way back to Denver.

Boys under water in Monterrey aquarium.

Otso climbing on a southern redwood in Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

Yosemite NP.












Suvi and Katja waking up at the same time. It remained a mystery to us why so many people with more time than us camp in crowded campgrounds and basically nobody in the free, quieter and of course more scenic backcountry.

Mule deer.

Breakfast.

Markku on a dead sequoia in Yosemite NP.

Boys on snow first time after a long break. Because of the early snow the road over the mountains was closed in the morning, but luckily was opened later and we did not need to take the much longer way to get to the East from Yosemite Valley.

Tuomas and Otso jumping from a dune in Death Valley NP.

Katja giving Aaro some salty sand to taste in a salt flat in Death Valley.

A coyote tired of begging food from people who have read the NP regulations too carefully.

We drove in total 10000 km. Most of it on two-lane-road more or less like this but more curvy.



















Suvi and Tuomas got a break from us by taking a longer walk in Zion NP than we did and photographed us from above.









Suvi and Tuomas on the North Rim of Grand Canyon.

Katja with a stranger.

A burned forest at dusk.

Otso leading the group in Bryce Canyon NP.

Boys helping Markku to set the tent in the backcountry of Capitol Reef NP.

Katja reading the bedtime story to boys. Markku enjoying watching the moon and stars.

The regulations of Arches NP forced us to walk to the backcountry on dry (or in some locations muddy to Otso’s delight) river beds.

Suvi and Tuomas looking for a good spot for their tent.

Walking back to the car in the morning.

Brian, Amy, Dexter and Caleo moved from Gamboa to southwestern Colorado during our trip - perfect timing for us! Here all the Finns and Dexter in the pastures next to their house.

Amy walking in front with Tuomas.

Brian indicating for the concrete truck driver where to reverse. They were building a workshop which naturally was really exiting for the four boys to follow.

Suvi, Tuomas and Markku went to Mesa Verde NP to see pre-columbian cliff dwellings while the Katja and boys stayed with Amy and her sons.

Maps of the 15 NPs we visited.

Elk unusually nervous as it was the first day of the hunting season.

Boys preferred the hot showers and especially TV cartoons to the cosyness of the tent. In total we stayed 18 nights in a tent, 12 in motels and 6 in people’s homes.

35 million-year-old huge redwood stumps in Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

The last nights in the US after Suvi and Tuomas left we stayed in Boulder, in the house of George and Annie, friends of our friends in Gamboa. Their own son is an exchange student in Finland but they had Fernanda from Brazil staying with them.

Heinä-elokuu 2010

Nämä ovat varmaankin viimeiset kuvamme Panamasta. Tässä Otso ja Aaro ovat Delmi-hoitajansa, sekä Markun pomon poikien kanssa lähdössä eläintarhaan.

















Claytonin leikkipuistossa.

















Matkasimme Mirkan kanssa El Vallen ja sen turistikrääsätorin kautta hiekkarannalle. Otso saa Aaron usein käkättämään jutuillaan ja touhuiluillaan.














Emme arvanneet heinäkuussa että tämä oli varmaankin meidän viimeisin trooppisella hiekkarannalla käynti moneen vuoteen. Enää emme ehdi tehdä retkiä - kaksi viimeistä viikonloppua menee auton myyntiin, pakkailuun ym.





















Retkellä Putkitiellä.

Ostimme tienristeyksen kojusta hedelmiä kotiin vietäväksi.

Delmin pojat olivat mukana Gamboassa yhtenä heinäkuisena päivänä.

Lähikylän intiaanit tulivat myymään käsitöitänsä. Inkkarityttö valitsi youtube-videoista anakondan ja jaguaarin tappelun.

Kävelyllä Casco Viejossa.

Seinänaapurissamme on asunut alusta alkaen yksi lapsi. Ensin Luisa, sitten Diego ja nyt intialais-kolumbialainen Maya.

Otso löysi Luisan vanhat uimalasit ja innostui käyttämään niitä pyöräillessään - lähinnä kai ulkonäkösyistä.

Markun pomon pojan synttäreillä. Vuorossa karkkia sisältävän piñatan hajottaminen. Tämä on ollut lähes kaikkien Gamboan synttäreiden ohjelmanumero.

Ainoana viimeisten viikkojen retkenä palasimme toisen suomalaisperheen ”mökille”. Viimeksi emme käyneet ollenkaan tällä purolla.

´

Markku suihkussa.

Matkalla merirosvosynttäreille. Panama on historiansa takia ehkä maailman paras paikka viettää merirosvosynttäreitä.