Around the corner on Three Wheels!

I careened off highway 14 along the Columbia River, onto the I-82 southbound across the Columbia river and into Oregon – still on three wheels!

(At the Tim’s in Golden, BC after coming over Roger’s Pass in the snow)

But I’m getting ahead of myself .  Backing up a few days, I was at home trying to get everything organized for the trip south.  Unloaded the truck camper and hooked up the 5th wheel. One of the last things was to get Hailey to the vet for her annual shots.  She has an extremely short fuse, and an incredible temper, so these things have to be done just right – to avoid bloodshed.  I thought I had ‘briefed’ the vets well enough before I whisked her in from the parking lot.  But no, it was not to be.  For some reason they wanted to give her a shot between the shoulder blades instead of the usual ‘butt’ location.  But they weren’t ready enough.  She began to growl and hiss!  They suggested ‘a towel perhaps’!!  Ha!  A towel for Hailey  - a towel would be more effective stopping a Mack truck than my cat with a bee in her bonnet.  The extreme yowling started, and the super-cat strength contortions started, so I called a halt before things got worse.  I managed to evacuate her back to the truck with only one hand bleeding – in about six places!  Last year’s certificate was still good for another 5 days – and we promise to avoid most of the rabies-infected mice and lizards we encounter this winter. 

I also did a little work on the gas fireplace at home since service folks seem largely unwilling or unable to find the right parts to get it to keep burning.  A small adjustment to the thermocouple location seems to have cured it’s problem for now – as it is the backup system in case the furnace happens to quit in the next few months.

With all those things in order, and the weather cooperating, there was no excuse not to hit the road.

I installed the impenetrable security gate to keep the criminals (and snowplow operators) out for the winter, and we were on the road.  Yahoo!  I think we’re only a day behind the Bayfield Bunch hitting the road.

Before we hit the BC border, I had a chat with GM’s ONstar folks, and added another year’s worth of ‘minutes’ on my truck’s phone.  And I think they must have been affected by my vociferous complaints and boycott of their wi-fi data service, as they have just cut their ridiculous rate to a merely lousy level.  Since it is handy to have a variety to ways to get online, I added 4Gb/month for $35 for the next few months to my truck’s wifi.

Banff National Park east gate had a ‘wolf warning’ posted.

Castle Mountain (formerly Eisenhower) midway between Banff and Lake Louise.  Last time I was up there, I was flown up hanging 100’ under a helicopter for a rescue operation.

Over in BC, the Lussier hot springs were ‘supposed’ to re-open after some repairs were completed, but when I got to the turnoff, I saw that they had delayed the re-opening by a few more days than indicated by this photo I took back in September.

In Cranbrook, there are multiple signs in and around the Walmart parking lot indicating that overnight parking is NOT allowed!  Hmm, but right next door I didn’t see any signs in the Home Depot lot (and they have free wi-fi), so I stopped there for a while, intending to move on.  But after the store closed, it quieted right down, and the fog moved in, so we didn’t bother moving.  It was frosty at night, but the next morning we checked out the RV dump at the local Chamber of Commerce info centre and found it to be still open and operating.  Didn’t need to dump, of course, but after ‘winterizing’ earlier in the fall, I wanted a partial load of water to flush things out without making it too tough to take corners on three wheels!

We ran the border south of town, and was glad to see that Trump hadn’t built much of a wall yet – but there was some construction happening there.  Hailey didn’t get interrogated, so we made it through unscathed, and were on our way down to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for some cheaper fuel before doing the run through Washington state.  Weather was mostly overcast, with some showers, but gradually starting to warm up as we moved further south.

Caught 395 south and called for a break in Kennewick where I tried to get back into the usual travel routine – which involves a walk-around and a quick feel and look at all the tires and hitch.  Hmm, one front wheel on the trailer felt warmer than all the rest.  I suspected that with the bit of city driving and braking that perhaps that brake was working a little harder than the others.  We continued on south with the brake controller backed right off, and headed west along the north shore of the Columbia river, thinking about checking out a possibly closed county park along the river.  Almost burned my finger tips on the brake drum this time with no braking involved, so I knew things were not right.  We pulled in to Crow Butte park – which is actually on an island in the Columbia River.  But instead of being a closed or almost abandoned site, it turned out to be a very nice, well cared for and obviously popular weekend spot as it was half full.  We had to break out the wallet, and pay the astronomical price of $17. if we ‘promised’ not to use the hookups!  I was not in the position to argue or drive further with my hot wheel, so there we were for the night.  There goes my camping budget for this winter!

Pulled off the wheel in the morning to discover that it had a very unnatural wiggle to it .  Of course, there were no service options for miles in any direction and there was not even any available internet to search with.  I could have set up my internet dish, but it was easier to head down the road in the truck till communications were established.  Made quite a few calls before settling on the Les Schwab place across the line down in Hermiston, Or.

So back to pick up the rig and haul it some 35 miles down the highway and interstate – all at slow speed on three wheels!  But first, all the fresh water was drained and a quick stop at the dump station to empty even the small volume in the grey tank to minimize weight as much as possible. So we then drove all the way across the state line and the Columbia on three wheels.  What were you thinking?  Lots of ‘roadkill’ onions and potatoes along the road as the farms here are in full harvest mode with lots of trucks hauling. The guys at Les Schwab did a quick and efficient job of replacing the wheel bearing.  It was evident that if I had not noticed it in time, it would have thrashed the axle, if not losing the wheel somewhere along the road.  Had to replace the other axle that way a few years back, so I’ve tried this both ways!  I recommend checking wheels as soon as you stop – every time!

For some reason the folks at the tire shop had no interest at all in looking at my fridge – which has started to act up for the first time in 8 years or so!  But that’ll have to be the subject of another post.

Sounds like Al from the Bayfield Bunch is a bit under the weather in Pennsylvania.  Hope he and the ‘Bunch’ are feeling better soon and get those big wheels rolling again!

New Things

I’ve seen a couple of new things over the summer and fall.  One thing is ‘variable speed’ corridors on the some highways in British Columbia.  There are no permanent speed limit signs on these sections of highway.  Instead there are overhead, digital signs every few miles that indicate the speed.

 

I suspect that when road conditions and visibility is very poor, they reduce the allowable speed accordingly.  I can imagine some innovative wording on any speeding tickets that are written there?

Another new (to me) thing this year that I first saw in the most unlikely of places was in a McDonalds in Rocky Mountain House, Ab.  That was where I saw the first electronic touch screen ordering system where you get to punch in your own order, and pay for it without ever talking to a person.  Personally, I don’t like them and find the person behind the counter is much faster than me hunting and guessing and choosing.  It will be interesting to see if the same tech has arrived in the US restaurants this winter?

While on the topic – many grocery stores now have the self check-out option.  It’s a great idea, but rarely works for me.  It usually does not understand when I do not want to use their bag, or if I want to question a price.  And if you try to buy beer with one in the US, it grinds to a halt until a real person comes over to verify your ID.  Of course I’ve had a similar problem when the ‘under-21’ clerk had to wait till someone else came to OK a liquor purchase!  I usually end up just walking away from one of those self checkout machines, leaving it muttering away to itself while I haul my stuff to the next available cashier!

Now where were we?  Oh right, after camping and kayaking at some great lakes in central BC, we stopped in to visit friends on beautiful Bridge Lake, and admired the wonderful views and incredible job of renovating that they have been doing for the last few years.  Of course this has prevented them from coming south in the winter – but not this year.  They will be loading their camper and heading south at the end of the year!

We were in 100 Mile House, BC, and looking for a route to Whistler and Squamish on the coast.  One of the roads has been closed for a while due to a massive landslide that totally removed a large section of the road, but I heard that it had recently been partially re-built. I saw on the map that there was a short-cut from Clinton, past a provincial park, and coming out on Highway 99.  It looked good – on the map!  The first few miles was paved, just to lure you in.  Then it turned into a rough gravel road, with it’s own warnings of debris flows, etc.

 

I stopped and talked to a muddy logging truck (that should have been a hint) at the start of this section, and he gave me some good advice on where NOT to go; and that the next truck coming would be in an hour.  So we headed on up this ‘road’ that soon turned into a narrow, muddy, one-lane logging road winding up 1500’ of this cliff at a 14% grade with few to nil pull-outs.  (No photos of the scarier parts!)The mud was luckily fairly gritty, but it was soon plastered all up the sides of the rig, and even onto the windshield somehow.  Luckily, we met no one, and once on top, the logging traffic was diverted and the rest of the route was simply a muddy road populated by cows not inclined to give the right of way.

Getting back on the pavement at the other end was a relief, and the coming rains did a good job of washing some of the larger chunks of mud off the sides.

Onwards towards Lillooet was where the road had collapsed a few weeks prior.  I think it had only reopened to one lane traffic for a day or two by the time I got there.

It was a bit chilly out, so the flaggers each had a small bonfire burning to try and stay warm.

Whistler was totally socked in and raining when I got there (so no pics).  Got to have a coffee with cousins who were visiting the area as well, then hung out with the high speed internet in the library – at least until the weather improved a bit.  From there it was a cruise down into Squamish, and the Sea to Sky highway leading towards Vancouver.  Original ‘plans’ had included possibly some time on Vancouver Island, but some time constraints in getting back home, and scary stories about days-long delays getting on a ferry convinced me to stay on the mainland.

And not wanting to go through metro Vancouver traffic and being stuck mostly on the Trans Canada highway on the way home, it was an easy decision to backtrack through Pemberton and Lillooet where my route could be a bit more varied.

Of course, one has to stop on occasion for a coffee or a burger, but I found rather tight parking options both at Tim’s and under the arches.

Squamish

Sunset back near home …

Well, it looks like the pre-roadtrip roadtrips have taken place, the leaves have all fallen, the grass has quit growing (finally), and a bit of snow has started to fall.  The Bayfield Bunch are heading south, and I imagine Wandering Willy and Jean & Skip will also be heading out any day. Which leaves nothing else to do except to switch campers, load up and head for the warm south country!  We may have to wait for a warm day or two to melt the snow off the slides on the 5th wheel, and to get our ducks in a row, our needed shots at the vet(!), but the next post may well find us on the road south!

West Country–Lakes, cabins, kayaking!

After a week at home working on a few things, visiting the neighbours, and trying to remove the skunk from under the front deck, it was time to move on again and get in another adventure before heading south for the winter.

A big, noisy thunderstorm came through in the evening, and covered the ground with hail, but the morning dawned clear and bright.  That was all the incentive I needed to load up the camper again, and start making tracks.

Hailey reluctantly agreed to leave her perch in front of the window and come along as well. We headed west towards the mountains …

Banff National Park – East Gate

We headed west on the Trans-Canada #1 through Lake Louise, and on into British Columbia.  We knew we were there when this truck with a BIG log was spotted on the highway.

A few days later the sight of a moose in the back of a truck at a Tim’s was another confirmation of where we were.

After a night in Revelstoke spent catching up with friends, we were westbound again, through numerous construction zones.  After a fill and a bite in Kamloops we decided to head north and check out some of the numerous lakes and remote forestry campsites.

I could never go on these roads pulling the big fifth wheel, but with just the truck camper on, we can go almost anywhere!

Beautiful fall colours were on display, and the weather was nice.

West of Barriere we headed up in to the high country, and found an abundance of free forestry camp sites – all on the lakeshores, just waiting for us to camp.  At over 4000’ elevation though, it was bound to get a bit chilly at night. 

Amazon had sent me a nice, small, light (and cheap!) inflatable kayak and I was dying to test it out.  I had inflated it at home on the living room floor, and found that the quality of materials and workmanship was above what I had been expecting for the price.  But until I tried it out in the water, I would not know if it would really be a bargain.  Well, these little lakes provided the perfect opportunity.

I found it to be very stable, very easy to paddle, and it was more like ‘wearing’ the craft than sitting in it.  Once in, it was warm, dry and comfortable, with great back support – something clearly absent in my whitewater kayak.

It is small enough that I don’t necessarily have to deflate it each time, as I can simply throw it inside the camper while driving to the next lake.  It sat outside for the night on a picnic table though and had a nice coating of frost on it in the morning.

I started to scrape off some of the frost, but then decided it would be easier to melt it off by paddling for a while.  It was a perfectly calm morning, and as the fog burned off, it became a very warm and comfortable paddle.

I discovered several cabins at some of these lakes.  Some were unlocked, and this one had this sign outside. (Details removed to protect the owners!)

Now that’s what I call North-western hospitality!

Next – heading for the coast!