Gloomy ! Low clouds, rain, cold ! BRRRRR !
This morning we left the rest area at Jack of Clubs Lake and drove east on Hwy. 26 back toward Barkerville, for our second day of visiting the historic "living museum" town. As we drove through the small town of Wells we stopped at their weekly farmer's market. I bought a jar of home made Huckleberry jam. MMMMM ! ! ! Joanne was intrigued by the Quebecois French Canadian lady making and selling pancakes, so she bought a plate for us to share. Pancake batter made with stone ground flour and steel cut oats, fresh eggs from her chickens, fresh milk from her cows. Cooked on a griddle greased with coconut oil. Served with toppings of home made raspberry coulis
( raspberries growing in her yard ), and freshly made sheep's yoghurt made with milk from her sheep. Pretty darn good pancakes !
We wandered around Barkerville Historic Town exploring for a couple of hours until it was time for lunch. We returned to the camper to have lunch, and decided we were too cold to wander around exploring any more. We had lunch. I napped. We headed west on Hwy. 26 back towards Quesnel. As we passed by Lowhee Campground we stopped to refill our freshwater tank.
First stop in Quesnel was the municipal sani-dump station to dump our waste holding tanks. We drove through Quesnel and out to the south on Hwy. 97, to the big box shopping area. We refilled with diesel at Extra Foods Fuel Bar, then went into Extra Foods to replenish groceries. By the time we were finished grocery shopping it was almost 6 PM. I suggested to Joanne that we get off the road early and I could spend the evening working on a backlog of computer work.
We drove "next door" to the Wal-Mart mall. Joanne went into Wal-Mart to replenish supplies while I got started working online using Wal-Mart's free Wi-Fi. Thank you very much Wal-Mart, for the free Wi-Fi and the free overnight parking. It's very much appreciated.
I retrieved and dealt with e-mail. I downloaded all the photos in my camera to my laptop, then processed them, labelled them, etc., and selected the best to be attached to my weekly journal. While I was doing that Joanne prepared and we ate supper.
I spent the late part of the evening uploading my weekly journal to my blog.
Monday ; Quesnel to Crystal Lake BCFSRS
I am beginning to type this at 6:45 PM, sitting at a picnic table in our campsite, looking out over Crystal Lake, listening to a nearby Loon calling, watching my fishing line float bob around. It doesn't get more relaxing than this !
Today was cloudy and cold with intermittent light rain.
We left the Wal-Mart parking lot in Quesnel this morning and continued south on Hwy. 97. At Williams Lake we went to the Fairgrounds to use the sani-dump station to dump waste and refill freshwater. At Lac La Hache we stopped at the Provincial Park to have lunch. And a nap ! These kinds of gloomy, cold, wet days are conducive to napping. After lunch and a nap we continued south until reaching 100 Mile House, then we turned east on Hwy. 24. Joanne wanted to take the "scenic route" to Kamloops. Hwy. 24 and Hwy. 5 offer more British Columbia Forest Service Recreation Site remote wilderness campground opportunities.
At Bridge Lake we turned onto a good gravel road and in just a few miles we found our way to the BCFSRS campground on Crystal Lake. Joanne thought it was too cold to be outside, too cold to make a campfire and cook over it. While she read in bed I threw a line into the lake and fished. "Still" fishing ; hooks with worms, float on the line, cast it out and watch for the float to disappear. I'm doing that now as I type this. My line has been out there already for forty minutes, so it doesn't seem likely that I'm going to catch anything.
We had supper indoors, went for a walk around the campground with Bo, and went to bed early. Joanne is tired of cold, wet weather.
Tuesday ; Crystal Lake BCFSRS to Kamloops to N'Kwala BCFSRS
Sunny and warm. It's about time !
This morning we left the BCFSRS campground at Crystal Lake, drove back to Hwy. 24, and continued east. When Hwy. 24 ended at Little Fort we turned south on Hwy. 5 and headed toward Kamloops. We stopped to have lunch and a nap at a rest area.
When we arrived in Kamloops we found our way to Superstore for grocery shopping.
A lot of grocery shopping ! Joanne wanted to buy enough groceries to be able to avoid having to make a shopping trip to Penticton soon after we arrive home later this week. AND ... < sputter > ... the Kamloops Superstore had an in-store special ; fresh Sockeye Salmon. WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO ! Right place ... right time ! They must have gotten them from the local Indian band who would be catching them in the nearby mighty Thompson River. And they were selling like hotcakes ! I wish we could have bought more than one, but our camper fridge and freezer space is getting pretty
limited ! Before leaving we refilled with diesel at the Superstore Fuel Bar. We drove to the Kamloops Visitor Information Centre and used their sani-dump station to dump waste tanks and refill freshwater.
We left Kamloops about 5 PM, and headed south on Hwy. 5 / the Coquihalla ( "Highway Thru Hell" on The Discovery Channel ) to Merritt. At Merritt we headed east on Hwy. 8 to N'Kwala BCFSRS campground on the Nicola River. N'Kwala is the Indian name and Nicola is the "white" version. We have been here before and quite like it. We plan to spend two nights here and then return to home from here on Thursday. We arrived about 7 PM, selected a campsite, and then I went fly fishing in the Nicola River for
forty-five minutes while Joanne prepared supper. I caught the largest and loveliest Cutthroat Trout I have ever caught ! And I caught it on a fly that I tied myself last winter in Yuma, under Laszlo's tutelage.
Wednesday ; N'Kwala BCFSRS campground on Nicola River
Sunny and warm. Today was a day of rest and relaxation for Joanne, a day of fly fishing for me. Fished on and off all day, taking breaks for meals and naps. HA HA
HA ! I caught five small Rainbow Trout, and one large Cutthroat Trout. AND ... I caught the large Cutthroat on the second of two flies that I tied myself last winter in Yuma, under Laszlo's tutelage. So ... now both of the flies that I tied myself have caught fish ! Obviously I kept the large Cutthroat. It's now in the freezer, along with the one caught yesterday. But I also had to keep one of the small Rainbows. The fly was down its throat, instead of being hooked just in the lip, as is usually the case. It would not have survived being released. We ate it for supper !
In the evening I made our final campfire of this trip and cooked supper on it. Steak, baked potatoes, mushrooms, beets ... and a small Rainbow Trout. Sort of "surf & turf". Despite being small, the Rainbow Trout was very good ! Possibly because it was alive and well and swimming in the Nicola River less than two hours before we ate it !
Thursday ; N'Kwala BCFSRS to Merritt to home
Sunny and hot.
This morning there were two horses roaming around our campground. Maybe wild, maybe not. One horse ... obviously the leader ... was "naked". The other horse ... obviously the follower ... had a head halter. An escapee from a ranch ? They wandered around the campground, mostly in the "next door" site. The occupants were not there, and the horses seemed to appreciate the shade created by their trailer. So ... they grazed in the campsite, knocking over lawn chairs, depositing their ... < ahem > ... waste on the patio mat. I'll bet the neighbours won't be too happy when they return. HA HA HA ! I went over and visited with them. The horses, not the neighbours. The leader was quite sociable. Joanne and Bo were scared of them.
We departed the N'Kwala BCFSRS campground about 11 AM and drove east on Hwy. 8 back to Merritt. There we refilled with diesel at Extra Foods Fuel Bar, dumped our waste holding tanks at Canadian Tire's sani-dump station, and replenished some supplies at Wal-Mart. A few miles south on Hwy. 5 / the Coquihalla, then east on Hwy. 97C / the Okanagan Connector, then south on Hwy. 5A to Princeton. Before Princeton we stopped for a late lunch at Gulliford Lake rest area. In Princeton I shopped for, and bought, a pair of new river sandals ; specialty shoes designed for walking in water. My fly fishing shoes !
Final stretch to home ; an hour east on Hwy. 3. We arrived home shortly after 4 PM.
In the evening I discovered that our satellite TV receiver was not working. To make a long story shorter ... I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with Shaw Direct ( our satellite TV service provider ) Technical Support. The outcome was unsatisfactory to me. I refused to pay for a new satellite TV receiver "box" because the old one has mysteriously malfunctioned ... while our service was suspended for "vacation break". Stay tuned for the ongoing saga / drama ! I really hate both cell phone and satellite dish drama ! ! !
Friday ;
Haida Gwaii trip ; almost 5000 km. / 3000 miles. Lowest diesel price ; $0.989 / litre in Williams Lake. Highest diesel price ; $1.335 / litre in Port Clements, Haida Gwaii.
Sunny and hot today.
We did quite a bit of gardening work today, although not at the same time. I did gardening in the late morning and early afternoon while Joanne was gone to town to run errands. Joanne did gardening late in the afternoon and early evening, while I was gone fishing. Tomatoes are dong wonderfully. Peas are finished ! Beans doing great ! Lettuce overgrown ! Cucumber plants dehydrated. Way too much Swiss Chard for my taste ! Beet tops are huge, not much underground !
Had a very productive hour and three quarters of fishing. Three Rainbow Trout, one small and two large, and one very large Rocky Mountain Whitefish. Normally I wouldn't keep a Whitefish, but this one took the small Rainbow Trout fishing fly deep into its throat, so ... I decided to keep it. I didn't think it would survive being released. I gave it away to some neighbours. And I gave the small Rainbow Trout to our neighbour / friend Jeanine. Two large Rainbow Trout went into our freezer, nestled comfortably beside the two large Cutthroat Trout already in there.
Barbecued fresh Sockeye Salmon for supper today. While I barbecued the Sockeye, Joanne made bannock to serve it on. MMMMM ... it was good !
Reconciled and paid our latest MasterCard statement tonight. < blink blink > That was kind of an expensive month of travelling !
Today was taken up with routine "return home" chores. Joanne did laundry and more gardening. I did camper maintenance and replenishment. I made a quick trip into town to run an errand. I repaired my old pair of river sandals, using contact cement. Hope it works ! I downloaded photos from my camera to my computer, and "processed" / enhanced and labelled them.
We both spent time shopping online for a used Shaw Direct satellite TV service receiver "box". Our old one has "died", and I refuse to give Shaw Direct the satisfaction of buying a new one from them. I am dissatisfied with the customer service I have received over the last few days regarding the "death" and replacement of our existing
( 9½ year old ) unit. SO ... I think I'll just go by a used one. So there !
DSK
No comments:
Post a Comment