Heading South - with a bit too much excitement!

 Usually, my highly attuned  powers of procrastination save me a lot of time, money, and hassle.

For example, look at all the real estate I didn't buy, all the new trucks and trailers that are still on the lot awaiting someone with less skills than I.  The dentist appointments I didn't make, things from Amazon I didn't order!

But wait!  Those last two were key to my latest bad decision making - as well as a huge reluctance to finally drain and winterize the hot tub on my deck!

As you can see below, there was some decidedly colder weather that had already arrived, and much colder was in the immediate forecast.  I waited for that one last Amazon package to arrive, only to find all the roads with a delightful coating of ice from the freezing rain!

About that time, I also realized that the fan for my trucks heater was not blowing any hot air!  I mean, when did I last use that feature anyway?  I never use it in the summer; if it's too warm, I just open some windows and drive faster!  But, with freezing rain, and a few flakes of snow coming down, I realized that a heater fan and defroster is a handy thing to have ;-)

Undaunted, and with marginal visibility and poor traction, a few miles were put behind us, while laughing at those who had slid off the road into the ditches!
 

That was fine, till the whole highway ground to a virtual halt, due to semi-trucks that had spun out on the slight hills, blocking all traffic.

Traction was an asset, so I carefully supervised the accumulation of at least 500 lbs of dirty ice under the trailer so it would not blow away!  Isn't travel fun!

 

Luckily the weather was somewhat more hospitable on the west side of the continental divide, so it began to shed some of the ice load as we cruised through my old stomping grounds of Kootenay National Park.

But due to some intentional, and some unintentional delays, it was now dark.  Very dark.

In hindsight, it would have been a great idea to pull over somewhere and find a nice quiet spot to spend the night.  But - it was only another hour or so to a friend's place where I often spend the night when starting the southern journey.

Then, suddenly, an elk appeared on the road, intent on making a mess of my radiator, and all shiny things on the front of my truck.  With lightning reflexes, and some serious brake and steering application, the elks plan was foiled.  Somewhat.  But I still got it with a direct hit on my passenger side mirror.  Whew!

THUD!  I guess the elk's plan 'B' was to attempt to cross the road between the truck and the front of the trailer.  That didn't work out so well for the elk, or the trailer, but at least the trailer will live to trail again.  Unfortunately, I can't say the same about the elk :-(

After a couple phone calls, and checking for vitals on the elk, there was nothing to do, but continue on to my friends place, and figure things out in the morning.

Things didn't look much better in the morning, but then it was time to deal with insurance companies, and the accident report to the RCMP.  After countless phone calls to everyone interested in my misfortune, the insurance gears kicked into motion with remarkable speed - with only some minor begging!  An appraiser showed up to look at the trailer, and confirmed that it would cost a lot to fix ... but ... no damage to any important systems, wiring, propane, or running gear.  So, it won't be winning any beauty contests anymore, and after some 15 hard years on the road, beauty contests weren't really an option anyway. 

With some plywood, some screws, gorilla tape, and some Blueskin flashing tape (same as the stuff as I use on the roof seams), it was good to go.  Well, fair to go at least!

The local GM dealer got the mirror and installed it the next day - and fixed the heater fan as well.

There was a line-up of zero vehicles at the border, and we were on the way south - all systems go!

After following the Columbia River downstream for a while, it became apparent that the road ended in a rather large body of salt water!

Looks good to me ...

Sometimes that guard rail is there for a reason!

I am continually amazed at my iPhone 14's ability to take clear bright photos at night, with nothing but moonlight, no flash.  These two were taken about 9pm - and you can see the light from a washroom building in the distance - and stars!

About 5am, I decided to take a little stroll down to the beach - these photos were all taken then!

I saw four ghostly animals drifting across the beach but couldn't tell what they were till finding deer tracks in the morning.  There is one in the center of this photo, but I couldn't see it at the time.

 

Walking back to the rig, I saw something on the sidewalk ahead, but it was too dark to tell what it was.  Only from the photo, I could see that it was a porcupine also out for a morning stroll!

Continuing down the Oregon coast, a few videos were to be had ;-)

Personally, I think these are both worth the watch :-)

Well, that's enough excitement for now.  I hope the rest of the winter season is a bit less 'eventful'!