Cherryvale, BC – Canada, home of the defenseless

Frank: ‘Tis 6:30 in the morning and the Wi-Fi we found last night is nowhere to be found. Perhaps it will come back to life when the camp office opens. In the meantime here’s a little catch-up. The crossover through Canadian Customs was interesting. First we stopped at the P&D Pub just shy of the border and stored the weapons and ammunition. Then we stopped at the border and the friendly customs officer typed our license number into his computer and pulled up some type of display. Then he asked questions such as; have you been to Canada before (No), what did you do and who did you work for before you retired? (How did he know I was retired?). He seemed nonplussed when I said “Engineer and Motorola”). Do you have any gifts for people in Canada? (No) Do you have any fresh fruits (Only normal groceries). Do you have any weapons (No we left them at the Pub down the street). Finally he handed us a small yellow form and told us to park the rig in a large lot and to take the form into the customs building. We did that and a customs lady asked all the same questions except she really went into detail with the weapons questions down to asking if we were “sure you understand Canadian Law?” She even asked to see the P&D receipt for the gun storage. I have the feeling that their computer displays linked to Arizona and they knew I have a CCW license and they damn well wanted to make sure I was defenseless while in Canada. Then she went away for a while and finally came back and said “Welcome to Canada, have a nice stay,” and we were out of there like a shot. By the way, I’ve stopped wearing my U.S. Air Force cap. In the U.S. it gets nods and good comments, here it just gets stares that feel like “look at the war mongering show-off.” Maybe that’s just my imagination, but it’s staying in the camper for a while.

The drive from the border to Vernon was spectacular! I’ve never seen such BIG beautiful lakes and mountains! I think we may need an updated acronym like ARRBL (A Really Really Beautiful Lake). I’ll let Cheryl describe the drive as she is soooo much better at writing pretty words than I am.
Yesterday when we moved from the camp in Lumby to Cherryville I rode the bike from there to here. Its fifteen beautiful winding bike-friendly miles, and I let the Norton stretch its long legs a couple of times. I think I pushed the limits a little but I’m not sure as I’m still working out the km/h to mph figures. I got to the new camp, parked the bike and went in to do the registration paperwork. When I came out there were TWO RMCP cop cars parked next to the bike! I thought, “Oh Goody, time to be apologetic and stupid about speed limits,” but it turned out they were just stopping at the café next door. T’was an interesting adrenaline rush for a moment though.

Speaking of cops and such, I don’t think this “no guns in Canada” thingy is working out real well for them. The local papers are full of stories of armed robberies, car-jackings, and assaults. It sorta doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy and safe, don’tcha know.

Cheryl: My little ceramic bird whistle perches atop the coffee maker, testifying to a longer-than-one-night stay. I’m very happy we’re here until Saturday morning.

On the west side of us, our little corner of Cherryville has three big pines with “needles” that look instead like ferns. Lying abed I see both windows filled with green pine boughs. Since we really are on the corner, there won’t be another camper there blocking our view as the Cruise America RENT-THIS-RV one to the east of us does. Goldpanner’s campground rents gold-panning equipment to take along on the trails around the camp. Evidently gold mines, both old and new, reside in the hills around here. The maps of the trails on the signs around camp show many river and creek crossings and where to beware of and respect new mining claims. I don’t think I’ll be panning gold, but I’m anxious to walk these trails and see the sights. The puppies can’t wait!

Being 30 minutes from the rally site means I’ll be spending some time here alone while Frank kibitzes with his cohorts at “Norton m/c camp” in Lumby. I do hope to get a ride on the Norton when the rally rides get underway. These roads look like fun, and a guy who lives up here told us about hot springs to check out along the way on Highway 6 that runs right past Goldpanners. He takes his Valkery m/c group on rides here, partaking of the hot springs along the way. I’m in!

The lakes on the way up here took us by surprise. Crossing near Oroville stateside and near Osoyoos in Canada, we immediately found ourselves in the middle of masses of people on white sandy beaches stretched out under multi-colored umbrellas soaking up the sun on the shores of Lake Okanagan. The sidewalks and roads around this tourist Mecca teamed with “flip floppers” carrying coolers and all manner of beach accoutrements. It was a “sun’s-out-for-a-minute-finally-lets-get-in-it-before-winter-sets-in-again” frenzied crowd! I began to pray, “Lord, help us get farther north before we run over some of these pale-skinned Canadians with our trailer.” Making our way further up the road, we discovered this amazing lake goes on for miles and miles and miles, making Lake Powell look like a tiny puddle in comparison! Spectacular doesn’t even begin to describe the mountains reaching deep into the water, the big blue sky above, and the spray being sent up by hundreds of boaters and skiers. You’ve got to visit this area at some time in your life. You just won’t believe it. I thought the US had the corner on beauty. Not so. This area makes me think the Vietnam draft dodgers of the 60s and 70s didn’t really have it so bad after all! God blessed America, but evidently it spilled over the border to the north as well. This area of BC must be known as the land of the lakes because lakes are abundant. The ones running next to the highway make that clear and everywhere there are signs pointing to other lakes back in the woods.

Now on to more mundane pursuits. We did our week’s worth of laundry yesterday putting “loonies” and quarters into the machines. Three loonies in the middle slots flanked by two Canadian quarters in the outside ones marked as follows above the slots QLLLQ. Hmmmm . . . luckily a local guy in the Laundromat enlightened us. L stands for loonies (one dollar coins) and Q for quarters. I’m still trying to get used to the km/h and going 100 which really means 60 mph! So glad US vehicle manufacturers put the kph markings on the speedometer. Do you think, “Gee officer, I guess I must have been looking at the mph dial instead of the km/h dial.” would work on the “Mounties?”

Frank says to tell you that Peanut and Cleo are starting to bark, “woof, eh.”

Lovin’ our neighbors to the north,
Sir Frank, Lady Cheryl, Prince Peanut and Princess Cleo

07-16-2010 Friday (1798 total trip miles)
Frank: OK. So how many times do I have to learn a lesson? Well, obviously more than once, twice, probably thrice and possibly fourthly. For today I once again ran the truck down to fumes and a prayer. This part of the country is just too big to leave any town with less than a half tank of gas and be reasonably sure you’re going to find a gas station that is, a) open, and b) actually has gas. I can’t figure out how the people who live out here get their gas. I mean, if you’re down to half a tank of gas, and it takes half a tank of gas to go buy a full tank and it takes a half tank of gas to get back home, doesn’t that leave you with a half a tank of gas? But in the end it all worked out OK. Yesterday we saved ourselves twice, the first time by gliding into Blackfoot, MT, another of those three building towns out here and then later by stumbling into the Farkletown mini-pumper. And today we staggered into Colevill, WA with at least one and a half gallons still available. On the other hand driving these rural roads is well worth the emotional gas strain. We saw so many beautiful lakes we finally just started using last year’s acronym ABL (Another Beautiful Lake) when the next one drew into view. Do you remember the “PERV” park from last year? You know, Pony Express RV Park in God-Only-Knows-Where-Nevada, with all its seven RV spots on nice flat, no trees, rocky dirt. Well, tonight we’re parked in its close cousin, the Fairgrounds RV Park in Coleville. But it does have hook ups, and we can stand just about anything for one night.
Cheryl: I just talked with my daughter, Stacie, on my cell phone at about 5:30 p.m. and then Frank came back to the truck with news from the “teen” manager at the local Safeway, who told him about an RV Park at the Fairgrounds. To be fair, there are beautiful old cottonwood trees all around us and the grounds are watered and overflowing with nice green grass. The dogs and I have already taken a walk around the place to see the horse stalls and the community garden. All in all it’s a great place for $25 a night with full hook ups (better than last night!), and I’m just grateful we’re not out on some curvy mountain road watching for RV Park signs and worrying about running out of gas! It did break my heart to drive by all those amazing mountain lakes without finding a spot to park the RV and spend the night and maybe an extra day! Never mind, I’ll find a way to get back up here someday and spend some “water and me” time. So far, this trip has been eat, sleep, drive except for the great time we had with our friends in the Madison River Valley. I’m looking forward to crossing the boarder into Canada tomorrow and setting up camp for a week in the little town of Lumby, British Columbia. The rally doesn’t get going until Tuesday next week, so we’ll have a few days to settle in and scout out the area before all the bikers show up. Hopefully, we’ll hook up with old m/c friends and meet some new Canadian ones.

Stay tuned for more exciting “tails” from Maw and Paw Kettle and the two hound dawgs, Peanut and Cleo

We're in Lumby, stealing electrons...

We're not in Lumby anymore, Dorothy.

We've moved. We weren't happy with the campsite in Lumby so we packed up and moved to a much nicer place in Cherryville. It's about 15 miles and 30 minutes away from the rally site, but it's much, much nicer. So now we get to commute to the rally.

This just a quick post. We'll do more later. It seems this new RV park has Wi-Fi. Yayyyyy!
F.

We're back !!! We found electrons......

We're in Libby, MT, parked on a side stree,t piggybacking on the wireless network of the Evergreen Motel. Here's a few days musings.....

07-15-2010 Thursday PM (1515 trip miles)

Frank: Greetings from Marion, MT., (aka Farkletown, MT) about 70 miles east of Libby, MT. We’re in the Moose Dropping . . . err . . . Moose Crossing RV (aka Farkletown RV) Park. It’s 9PM and we just got here. The old “In the park before dark” admonition just didn’t work out today. We didn’t see more than 4 or 5 RV parks since we left Helena and all of those were stealth parks tucked out of sight off the road with small non-descript signs that said, “You have just missed our RV Park and there’s no place to turn around for the next bazillion miles, ha, ha, ha!” We only found this place because gas stations are even more scarce than RV parks so we stopped at a little 2-pump Farklegas station and paid a bazillion dollars a gallon to bring the fuel gauge to up above the bone dry and dying level. I took a chance and asked the attendant if there was an RV Park anywhere around and he pulled the piece of straw out of his mouth, spat a stream of tobacco, scratched his ass and said, “yup, they’s one about half a mile down yonder.” Since we were heading yonder direction we put the truck in go-slow and crept past the “You just missed another one . .” sign and snuck up to the office before they had a chance to lock the door. So here we sit, in the woods, on top of a mountain with 4-engine mosquitoes pounding at the screens. Boy, it don’t get no better than this!

07-15-2010 Thursday

The two-hour Brewery Follies at the Brewery in Virginia City yesterday afternoon lived up to its billing with off-color jokes and insults for almost every political and ethnic group. We sat in the front row and became part of the show as the four actors launched themselves into the audience. The poor guy on my left got most of the attention and the actors gave tribute to his good humor at the close of the performance. Frank had a long-legged gal perched on his lap singing a song for awhile and during the second act I became part of a Tom Jones parody. One of the actors reminded us strongly of Steve Martin, and he nailed every impression he attempted like Lawrence Welk and Mr. Rogers, Bill Cosby among many. One of the gals did Sarah Palin to a T. We both had a great time and laughed our heads off. All the comedy routines were new to us, funny, both bright and bawdy, and exceptionally well performed. We’d also love to see the other troop of actors, who do the night show at 8:00 p.m. We’ve come to love the Madison River Valley and hope to return to see them another day. We didn’t hook up with our friends yesterday, but had coffee in a sweet cowboy coffee shop with them this morning before leaving town. We brought Brewery Follies beer glasses for them, and they gave us a bag of their favorite paperbacks to read on the trip. Thanks so much Pam and Rick for your Montana hospitality. I’m writing this around noon in a Wall Mart parking lot in Helena, MT, while Frank shops for various goodies. Still no electrons through our Cricket Internet connection so looks like email and blogging will have to wait yet again for another venue.

07-14-2010 Wednesday – Virginia City – Nevada City – Brewery Gulch Players
Cheryl: Today we slept late – ha! – I was walking the dogs at 6:30 a.m. However we did a slow “get-going,” and then drove the curvy road up to Virginia City where we got some smashed pennies for Frank’s grandchildren and some “not so very good” pizza for lunch. Then we drove a few more miles north to Nevada City where the smashed penny machine was broken, and Cheryl ate lunch having refused the heat-lamp pizza offered earlier. Since we’ve been here before, we skipped the tourist scene and drove up to boot hill and then the Nevada City Cemetery to read tombstones, exclaiming over the number of little ones who died in the 1800s. One family had three children buried there. After that sobering journey, we decided to book seats for some entertainment at 4:00 p.m. at the Brewery. The show is billed as a raucous “Saturday Night Live” performance where children must be counseled and adults arrive with a thick skin and a good sense of humor. More on the quality of the performance later when we have electrons to post our recent missives.
Thursday we plan to drive toward Washington taking the scenic route all the way from Ennis and crossing at (Oroville) a different place than we originally planned. We won’t make it to the boarder tomorrow (only to Kalispell, Idaho), and we’re planning to skip Spokane altogether. How’s that for “seat of the pants” planning! It will be great to stay off the boring freeway and see some pretty country on our way, and we have plenty of time to make our July 18th crossing.

Keep forgetting to tell you that way back in Utah we saw signs similar to the old Burma Shave jingles that read, “We played marbles We climbed trees
Today all the kids Need batteries.”

07-13-2010 Tuesday – Idaho to Montana

Cheryl: We enjoyed the exhibits and video at the Idaho Falls museum and learned that dogs evolved from wolves who began eating from the leftovers near the communities where humans settled. Those dogs fearless enough to come close to the humans got the most food, lost their fear of humans, flourished and reproduced producing over time domestic dogs whose DNA altered into various breeds hardly recognizable as descendants of wolves. As humans learned to use dogs to hunt for game and keep communities free from vermin, characteristics of the breeds altered to adapt to the best attributes for the tasks at hand. This traveling exhibit also had a set of “dog ears” to let us hear what dogs hear. We put our heads between the 18 inch tall fiberglass ears, and rotated. We could hear the sounds of termites in a case about 20 feet away from where the “dog ears” were stationed. Listening with human ears, we couldn’t hear a thing. The other exhibits told the history of Idaho and old panoramic photos showed the length of the half mile long Idaho Falls. While the falls are extremely wide, making their way through the center of town, they are not very high. A grassy park full of flowers extends the length of the falls from the central bridge along the river. A paved path gives tourists, bicyclists and joggers a place to enjoy the view of a stark white Mormon Temple rising above the river. We’ll include a picture here as I’m sure my words haven’t described it to your satisfaction.

We haven’t found any electrons to post our blog so I’m writing this on Wednesday morning. This morning we had French toast rustled up by Chef F. Del Monte and made from cinnamon bread purchased in Historic Old Town Pocatello, Idaho. We’re nestled into our favorite Ennis RV Park, surrounded by snow-topped mountains and green valleys cut through by trout-filled rivers. We met our friends, Pam and Richard, last night for dinner in Virginia City about 15 miles northwest of Ennis. The food was excellent and the conversation even better. After dinner we strolled along the boardwalk of this old western town and ducked into a store with racks of clothes newly sewn from Vintage patterns. There were vests and top hats for men and long dresses with tiny buttons, wide-brimmed hats and button up shoes for women. Pam and I fell in love with the delicate fringed capes made in China, but looking just right for the local dance hall. There were also handmade fans of lace and feathers perfect for flirting with cowboys. A good time was had by all, and it was still light outside at 9:30 p.m. when we arrived back at the trailer. It’s amazing how long the days are here in the upper Northwest.

So long until we can find some electrons to post this and Wednesday’s adventures yet to come.

Love from the Long Branch,
Matt, Miss Kitty, and Festus and Docett, the Gunsmoke puppies

07-12-2010 Monday – Bumphy Roads.

Frank: We’re in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Inspector Clouseau (Pink Panth(er) could never pronounce “Monkey” (Meenky) or “Bump” (Bumph). Today we drove some very “bumphy” roads. We made it from Nephi to Provo OK but then were greeted by a sign that said, “Caution – Road work ahead for the rest of your life.” And it was. The road beat us to death right up to the Idaho boarder where it magically turned smooth. So, yes, do come and visit beautiful Utah, just don’t go north of Provo. Actually it’s not that pretty up here anyway so stay in the lower half of the state below I-70. The rest of the state sucks rocks. We’re in the Snake River RV Park, and I guess that means the Snake River Canyon where Evel Kenevel drove his peroxide powered rocket bike into infamy must be nearby. I’ll try to Google it if and when I can get onto the Internet. Last night at Nephi the RV Park could best be described as “working class.” There were a few C-Class RVs, and the rest were 5th wheelers and campers like ours. Then Humongo-Mongo drove in. It was the biggest A-Class unit I think I have ever seen. I spoke to the owner and told him that when he drove into the park the average value of all the RVs in the place immediately doubled. Then we did the “Where are you from,” and “Where are you off to” exchange and found that they’re from about 20 blocks from us in Phoenix and are also heading up to Canada. I’m not thrilled with this Cricket 3G Modem. Idaho Falls is a pretty big town. You’d think it would be in the Cricket (AT&T I think) network. If anyone is reading these electrons please email me at FJDMJR@cox.net so I’ll know if they are worth continuing.

Cheryl: Yesterday was not our best day on the road as you can see from what Frank wrote. I slept through part of the terrible traffic around Salt Lake and Provo, but endured the bumpy roads without good humor after I awoke at the one and only Rest Stop open in Utah. My legs didn’t want to move as we walked the dogs in the grassy area, and I was groggy and grumpy. Frank got the worst of it yesterday with all that nasty driving in the wind and coping with the bumpy roads. However, we ended the day in a very nice campground with lots of big cottonwood trees and wonderful grassy areas under the picnic tables and throughout the park. They have a nice-looking pool here, but I felt as if I would drown trying to swim last evening. We took a walk around the campground, fixed a quick chicken taco dinner, watched some Firefly on DVD and hit the sack around 10:00 p.m.

Forgot to tell you that we stopped yesterday in Historic Downtown Pocatello, Idaho. It is basically an old 50s downtown trying to make a comeback. We bought a loaf of cinnamon bread at the bakery, walked a few more blocks and bought some sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies, and a cinnamon twist we ate for breakfast this morning heated up in our trusty trailer oven. It was yummy!
The puppies are being stellar travelers! They hunker down in their beds in the back seat and sleep or sit quietly on the console between us as we drive. I think they miss chasing each other around the house most of all. However, they seem to enjoy all the new places where they get to sniff and pee.

Today, Tuesday as I’m writing, we hope to see our friends, Pam and Richard Lessner in Ennis, Montana, just north of Yellowstone Park. We’ll get there late afternoon and hope to take them out for dinner and have a nice visit. We stayed in a cute RV park there last summer and will head there when we get to Montana. This morning we’re going to leave the puppies in the trailer and head over to the Idaho Museum in town and see an exhibit about the evolution of domestic dogs, From Wolf to Woof. I’d also like to get a picture of Idaho Falls in a lovely park right in the center of town.

Just another day with Willy, On the Road Again,
Frank and Cheryl, Princess Cleo, and King Peanut

07-11-2010 Sunday - Beautiful Mountains & Red Sand Dunes

Frank: Hello from Nephi, Utah. OK. Can you say, “Spectacularly Beautiful”? Well, if you can you’ve just described Utah. It is magnificent, and even (dare I say it) prettier than Arizona. The mountains are tall and craggy like Arizona but the “desert” is green and covered in lush desert plants, flowers, and grass. We both think this would be a wonderful state to live in right up to the point when we think about the winter weather. I mean, the roofs of all the houses are steeply pitched so the snow will slide off. That means it gets a whole bunch of cold up here, and I don’t do cold well. It’s wonderful how Cheryl “rounds me out.” This morning she saw a sign for the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and said she’d really like to see it. For me pink sand dunes are about as exciting as a root canal, but surprisingly I had a good time. It was fun to take a break and just be a looky-lou-tourist for a while. Utah is a red, white, and blue state that wears its patriotism proudly. Just try to drive through these small towns like Kanab, Panguitch, Circleville, and Maryvale without counting 20 or 30 flags flying proudly from homes, businesses and the tops of bluffs so high you wonder how they got up there to build the flagpole. This is the America Washington, DC needs to come visit.

Cheryl: I have a dear friend, who grew up in Utah. Often she talks of Kanab, St. George, and Panguitch and of the delicate Coral sand dunes in the state park near there. Now I understand that longing in her voice and the faraway look in her eyes when she speaks of those places. We didn’t go through St. George this time although we’ve been there in the past. Driving through the nostalgic towns of Kanab and Panguitch we were struck by the neat and clean appearance of the houses, churches and yards, no doubt a result of the influence of the Mormon Churches which seem to fill a grassy corner lot in each little neighborhood. The streets are wide and clean and the downtown areas remind me of my own hometown during the 50s and 60s. Tiny movie theaters with marquees out front squat right in the middle of a downtown block of store fronts. Perfectly square red brick homes with hip roofs and neatly painted frame ones with pitched roofs mingled with lovely old Victorians with turrets. Wide front porches grace many of the homes and have spindles around their gingerbread roof lines. All this picturesque scenery sits in the middle of a lush agricultural valley surrounded by red sandstone cliffs.

Frank: We’re in Kanab, Utah. Following my brother Greg’s sage advice, “In the park before dark,” when we saw a billboard for the “RV Corral” we followed the signs and pulled in at about 4PM. It’s a nice place. All pull-throughs which makes my life easier. It advertises “Free Wi-Fi” but as is with most RV Parks, “It’s not working right now.” I bought a Cricket 3G wireless adapter but it’s showing “no service.” It also showed “No service” when we were in Bisbee over the 4th of July weekend. I’m beginning to suspect Cricket may be big city bound and it’s not going to be of much use to use in all the Podunk towns we’ll be staying in. I’ll give it another try tomorrow.
These words are being written as a Word document. I’ll post them to the blog when and if I ever get on-line.
Cheryl: We drove through some “Monument Valley” type terrain today where the earth showed off all her layers and layers of strata usually hidden beneath the surface. There were giant wind-sculpted “statues” and craggy formations popping up all around us. In places the highway cut through solid rock walls and then snaked out across wide valleys. On the Navajo “res” we saw many hogans mixed in with the trailers and small houses. Lots of roadside stands lined the road with hand-crafted jewelry spread out for sale, and we made our “annual” stop at the Cameron Trading Post where I bought a sweet t-shirt with shiny feathers beaded down the front. It’s 100% cotton cool, and I love it! My goal is to come home with a whole new casual wardrobe purchased in “exotic” places. Instead of Paris, Rome, and Rio, I’ll boast of slacks sold in Kanab, shirts from Lumby, and unmentionables picked up in St. George. It’s just one of the many perks in the life of a trailer vagabond. Another perk is the swimming pool directly across from where we’re parked. I just got back from swimming 20 laps, and the water was more than a little bit nippy compared to our pool in Phoenix. Anyway, it sure helped beat the heat!
Cleo and Peanut have their own fenced area to run around at this RV Park. They met two Scotties and a Golden mix down there today. They’ve been great travelers all day and seem to feel right at home in both the trailer and the truck. They take turns riding on the console in the middle up front. At present they’re both asleep in their little beds.
We stared out our day at 7:30 a.m. with Willy belting out “On the Road Again.” A perfect beginning to a perfectly fine first day out, and we haven’t “killed” each other YET!
More to come from your intrepid wild west travelers.
Frank, Cheryl, Cleo, and Peanut, Esquire

July 2010. On the road again, or once more into the breech.

It's July 7th, 2010 and we're getting ready for our third long tour. 2008 was to Pennsylvania, Washington, and points south and west, 2009 was to Colorado, Sturgis, Seattle, and this year we're heading up to Lumby, BC, Canada. We just did a 4 day shake down trip to Bisbee for the 4th of July. All went pretty well and now I'm catching up on a list of "Honey-Do's" and "Wouldn't it be nice if's..."

We plan on leaving on the 10th and being in Lumby a few days before the Norton Rally starts on the 20th. We have our passports all ready, the dog's inoculations and Vet records are all in order, and I've found a place just shy of the Canadian border that will store our guns for us while we're in Canada, home of the defenseless.

We'll write more when we're on the road.
Frank, Cheryl, Peanut, and Cleo.