Blast Off!

April 30, 2006 - Sunday
We lolled around on Sunday morning – after all, we’d done everything we could in preparation. Later on, we strolled down to Maggie and gave the fridge one more try – would you believe – it ignited and stayed lit, so no point taking it in for repair.
“It must have had an air lock” we agreed precociously.
We hustled home, packed up the food and drink, tidied up, shut off the water, drained the hot water tank and hit the road at 3:20pm.

Traffic was light until we encountered the first of three accidents between home and Hope on Highway 1. The first two caused minor delays but the third one must have been a doozie as the highway was closed between Bridal Falls and Hope. We were re-routed via the Agassiz bridge onto Highway 7 on the north side of the Fraser River and rejoined Highway 1 at Hope.

The drive through the Coquihalla Pass was uneventful but it was slow going on the steeper bits – after all, we are towing 3,000 lbs behind us.
We just chugged along in the truck lane enjoying the passing scene. The toll on the Coquihalla is $10 for cars and only $10 for our motorhome including the tow car – what a deal! But the aisles are extremely narrow. I stood up and watched the front end and the side mirror as we slowly slid through.
“Phew! There’s not much room to get through” I said to the toll taker, a kindly looking middle aged woman with tight sausage curls all over her head.
“What I would do is just pull over and wait until the larger aisle opened up” she said “you wouldn’t believe how many folks scratch the sides of their vehicles and break their mirrors.” I could see the remnants of broken plexiglass and damaged concrete. This left me puzzled……why wouldn’t they have the wide lane open?

We arrived in Kamloops about 7:30pm making, what we thought, pretty good time considering…………I had phoned ahead to the Walmart in Kamloops to ask if they allowed overnight RV parking and spoke to the store manager who said “We neither discourage or encourage it”. I guess that removes any liability from them. There was only one other RV in the lot when we got there and lots of space at the edge for us to pull in without unhooking the CRV. Setting up doesn’t take long – slides out, jacks down, generator on and our new satellite dish up. I miraculously locked on to the satellite within a minute, poured a glass of wine for me and a beer for Fernie and we settled down to watch the latest episode of “The Sopranos”. This is our first trip with satellite TV on board – so fabulous! The fridge worked like a charm – problem solved!

May 1, 2006 – Monday
Our spirits soared to be on the road again. I popped a Sinatra CD in and we crooned along the highway. Nothing could spoil the mood, not even when we gassed up. Starting off, it was a dull day with a sprinkle of rain dotting the windshield but signs of spring were everywhere – an eagle’s nest raggedly perched atop a power pole beside the highway with Momma (I think) atop her eggs; the gentle burst of pale green new foliage delicately wafting in the breeze; creeks overflowing with the gushing water of the glacial runoff.

As we climbed through the Rogers Pass, the clouds enveloped us and the rain turned to snow. The road was rough and pot-holed from a winter of salt, sand and chains. It was pouring rain as we pulled into Golden and we decided to call it a day. While Fernie gassed up, I sauntered into the store and befriended the women behind the counter. After a chat about the weather and other incidentals, I enquired
“Do you know of a parking area where we could pull in overnight” as I gestured to Maggie outside at the pump.
“We are fully self-contained” I continued.
“Sure thing” the older of the two answered “We have a town campsite right on the river. It doesn’t open until June, but you can just pull in – no charge.” she said. “Mind you, there’s no garbage bins and the toilets are closed and the power is shut off.”
“Perfect” I said and she kindly drew me a map.
“Just turn left at the one and only traffic signal and drive right down to the end.”
Prolific thanks from me.
“Have a nice stay!” she said with a wave as I trotted happily out the door.

We had our choice of sites as no-one else was there and as promised, it was right beside the Columbia River – small at this point as we weren’t far from its source in Canal Flats. We set up and turned on the fridge – no luck, it wouldn’t stay lit.
“Oh well, it’ll run off the small generator and anyway it’s so damned cold, it really doesn’t matter”
“Let’s put up the satellite dish.” Twenty minutes later, we gave up – couldn’t find the satellite. Mountains and trees surrounded us so it wasn’t surprising. We put up our antenna instead and found one channel – CBC. “Oh goody! A whole night of hockey.” At least one of us was happy. Guess who?

A night spent writing and reading is always welcomed by me, and I was deep in thought when Fernie said excitedly “Look – across the river.” A herd (flock?) of mountain goats (or are they bighorn sheep with their huge curly horns) were precariously bounding on the steep cliffs, sandy gravel dislodged as their hooves gracefully manoeuvred the perilous terrain. Cameras out, I hurried outside to catch the spectacle. A marvellous zoom on my video cam captured them up close but my still camera’s zoom is not near as powerful.