September 26, 2005

September 26, 2005

Radium Hot Springs to Kimberley, B.C.

YEAR 2 DAY 101

 

Today was sunny and warm, except for the morning and evening which were a bit chilly.

This afternoon the truck's heater / air conditioner fan motor stopped working on 3 of its 4 speeds. Now it can be "off" or "high". I'm frustrated with what a piece of crap that truck seems to be much of the time. I'm frustrated that rarely is there a day that nothing needs to be repaired on the truck or trailer.

This morning after showering, breakfast, and morning chores, I made a few phone calls. First was to the service manager, and his boss, the dealership owner of Finley GMC in South Beloit, Illinois. What an ******* ! I phoned Autopac to cancel the insurance claim on the broken windshield. Then I phoned Competition Chev Olds in Stony Plain, Alberta, to advise them that there was no further need to hold the old starter for me. We prepared for departure, hitched up, and left the campground. We skipped dumping the tanks. The freshwater tank was still full. The black water and bathroom grey water tanks were almost empty. The kitchen grey water tank was less than half full. We decided it wasn't worth the time and effort to dump just one tank. We headed south on Hwy. 93 / 95. Joanne had read about, and wanted to go to Lussier River Hot Springs. Just past the town of Canal Flats we turned off the highway for Lussier River Hot Springs. It was 17.5 km. of a narrow, winding, gravel road up a mountain. Tough drive, but worth it, I guess. Lussier River Hot Springs is a series of undeveloped, natural, hot spring pools beside a small, shallow mountain river. It reminded us somewhat of a hot springs river we had the privilege of visiting in Costa Rica a few years ago. We spent a couple of hours in the hot pools, then had a late lunch in the trailer before starting back down the mountain.

When the highway split into Hwy. 93 heading southeast, and Hwy. 95 heading southwest, we took Hwy. 95 to Cranbrook. We stopped at a mall, and while Joanne went into Wal-Mart to do some shopping, I took a brief nap. When she returned from Wal-Mart and went to the grocery store in the mall, I drove over to the gas bar and filled up with diesel. By the time Dee-Dee was filled, Joanne was back from the grocery store. We headed back on Hwy. 95A, northwest towards Kimberley. We stopped for the night at Kimberley Riverside Campground, near Marysville, a small town a few miles from Kimberley. The campground was previously privately owned, but now is operated by the municipality of Kimberley. It's a lovely, well developed, large campground. We're alone here.

We got settled into a campsite, then took Bo for an obedience training walk. The weather was so nice, I wanted to barbecue. While Joanne prepared potato salad I barbecued some beef sausages. After supper, we watched some TV, while I worked on the computer, downloading and processing photos, doing today’s accounting and journal entry.

DSK