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
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