Beginning our long road home

Recorded July 21rd 2009

Our next tentative destination is Penticton, British Columbia (250 miles east of Vancouver); it is more then 1,000 miles away. We continue on east through BC on Wednesday the 15th from Hyder, Alaska. It was a full day of driving but the roads were good so all was well. Ever since Bill & Linda cracked their windshield, I had been marveling at the fact that we have, thus far, avoided any mechanical problems. This was to change. The Moorhead’s were, for the past few days, having problems with their engine overheating. In Hyder they added coolant and cleaned the radiator. But this was not helping. Each uphill grade was causing the thermostat needle to rise.

We took it nice and easy and stopped for the night in Burns Lake. It was lucky that we stopped when we did because when we had a look at our pick up that we were towing, we found the tread was completely gone from the right front tire. Being undetected as we traveled, the thrashing hunk of tread damaged the fender & side of the car. Before the end of that day we had a new pair of tires and were ready to go in the morning.

On Thursday the 16th we drove to Prince George. I was thrilled. This was the biggest city we had been to since Anchorage. I was also happy because being back in Canada meant I did not have to depend on Wi-Fi, I could again use my data card for internet & my cell phone for email. This was to be short lived.

Again the Moorhead’s were running hot so they made a decision to stay in Prince George to have their rig serviced. This meant waiting until Monday for an appointment. Bill & I stayed 3 nights in Prince George, as we had picked a very nice park after cruising through a sad looking park a mile or 2 away. Linda & I were commenting on how both parks looked about the same in the listing. We caught up on some chores & lived with a daily spill of rain. The dog got a terrible hair cut & I got my nails done. Plus we got some down time watching movies and playing games with Linda & Bill. Linda regularly beat us at most games but we seemed to have the most fun playing Mexican Train & Uno.

On Sunday the 19th we made our farewells and headed south on Hwy 97. We were very sorry to split up with Bill & Linda our buddies of nearly 2 months but we both new it would occur in a few days anyway as they were quickening their pace to return home to tend to their sick dog. Poor Lady, whom they left at home with their daughter, they just found out, has kidney disease. We had our tentative plans in Penticton with Len Avarbuch Bill’s longtime friend. We are trying to keep in touch to see how Bill & Linda’s mechanical issues work themselves out. We did learn that the service done in Prince George did not solve the problem but a day or so later they were able to get a proper diagnosis of a faulty fan. The shop rewired it as a temporary fix to get them on their way.

We got a late start on the 19th leaving at nearly noon. We stopped Cache Creek at a little off the grid campground that was very nice & friendly though the owner did not like the fact that Good Sam charges over $1,000 per year to post in their directory. His campground was packed & did not need good Sam!

Out the next morning Monday the 20th after talking to Len about the 3 fires in the area of Kawlona that had started on Saturday. All are arson & are causing road closures. Len sent us down the Trans-Canada Hwy #1 as the more desirable routes I5 to 97c either were closed or were in danger of closing. To Bill’s dismay this was a highway …yes but a m-o-u-n-t-a-i-n highway. This was a rough day of driving, lots of curves with up & down grades plus at least a half dozen tunnels. It was however really beautiful tracing the Frasier River nearly the entire way. There were interesting stopping points along the way like Hells Gate Air Tram and White Water rafting but in true Billy form we passed them by and went straight for our next stop. We stopped after about 180 miles in the town of Hope at yet another beautiful campground. Billy was beat and it was hot. The weather had changed in the 400 miles south & 2 days. It is now in the 90 degree range. Prince George & Hyder were in the 70’s. The locals, the vacationers from Vancouver & eastern Canada are sweltering. It is supposed to be 100 degrees! As well as the weather being annoying I was ticked at my computer. Instead of better internet service I found myself with no internet service. I am down to only my cell phone & email from my cell phone at this point. Don’t know when my next post will be!