Slept late. Napped in the afternoon. Busy day ! HA HA HA HA HA !
Monday ; Penticton
SUNSHINE ! BLUE SKY ! NO SMOKE ! WOO-HOO ! ! !
We spent the day in Penticton running shopping errands.
In the evening I reviewed and discarded Bo's medical file. < sigh > How sad !
Tuesday ; Thin smoke haze, warm.
This morning I took care of routine household chores. After lunch and a nap, it was time to go into town to refill our five gallon water jug, buy some produce, and ... < insert drum roll here > ... pick up the truck at Total Performance Auto Repair. WHEW ... almost $2300 for two repairs. Nothing cheap about fixing a big diesel ! Both repairs replaced "factory original" components with aftermarket improved design components, the more significant one being the replacement of the one piece exhaust manifold with a two piece exhaust manifold. Back at home we installed the camper onto the truck before having supper.
After supper of Rainbow Trout that I caught in the Similkameen River recently, and Swiss Chard grown in our garden, we watched Amazing Race Canada.
Wednesday ; home to Enderby, back to Vernon
Cloudy, cool, raining in the evening ... hampering our ability to watch the double feature at the drive-in !
We finished our departure preparations this morning and left home at 11 AM for a two week trip to Bella Coola for grizzly bear viewing and fly fishing for salmon. East on hwy. 3 to Keremeos, north on Hwy. 3A to Kaleden, north on Hwy. 97 through Penticton, Summerland, Peachland to Westbank where we stopped at Superstore to meet a very nice lady who was selling a GPS unit. We bought it.
She received it as a gift six years ago, she never used it, it was still in its box. I think its retail value is about $150. We bought it for $25. We played it with it for the rest of the day, and by the end of the day we both had mastered the basics of its operation. It's our first GPS unit, and it certainly seems as if it will be worth its price. It flawlessly guided us in the dark from Starlight Drive-in in Enderby back to our boondock spot at Superstore in Vernon.
From Westbank we continued north on Hwy. 97 to Kelowna where we stopped to have a late lunch at Old Spaghetti Factory, then bought an advertised item at Princess Auto. Continuing north we stopped at Superstore in Vernon to refill with diesel at their fuel bar, then to Armstrong to buy cheese curds ( made fresh today, not refrigerated yet, so they still squeak ), and check out the location of the Interior Provincial Exhibition which we plan to attend tomorrow. Lastly, on to Enderby and Starlight Drive-In. We watched two movies at the drive-in ; Transylvania 3, an animation, and The Meg, a science fiction horror adventure. Ozzie thought the drive-in was GREAT ! HA HA HA ... probably Ozzie's first drive-in. Certainly the first drive-in where he got to cuddle in bed. We watched the movies while lying in bed, watching through the camper's bedroom's front window.
When the movie ended at midnight we drove back to Vernon and boondocked overnight in the Superstore parking lot.
Thursday ; Vernon to Armstrong
Mix of sun and clouds, intermittent light rain in the afternoon, mild when sunny, cool when cloudy.
This morning we dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater tank at the sani-dump station in the Superstore parking lot ... thank you very much, Superstore ... then headed north on Hwy. 97 a fairly short distance to the little town of Armstrong. We found our way to the site of the Interior Provincial Exhibition, parked in their overnight dry camping area ... ( KA-CHING ... twenty-five bucks ! ) ... then spent the rest of the day exploring the exhibition.
We miss attending the Navan Fair, from our Ottawa days. We don't have many opportunities to attend small town country fairs any more. It was a long, tiring, but enjoyable day of exploring this "country fair". And despite Armstrong being a small town, there is nothing small about the Interior Provincial Exhibition. It was a pretty "big deal" !
Early in the day, as we were viewing all manner of farm animals in the animal exhibition buildings, I approached a friendly looking young goat in its pen. It stood up on the gate of the pen, and stuck its head over. I thought it looked sociable, so I stepped close and petted its head. ZOOOOOP !
HEY ! The damn crafty little goat snatched the program guide sticking up out of my pants pocket and ran to the back of its pen with the thirty page booklet, then leisurely ate it, page by page ! HA HA HA HA HA ! Goat 1, Dan 0 !
Friday ; Armstrong to Williams Lake
Mix of sun and clouds, warm.
In the three days that we have been "on vacation", I have declined three trailer towing job opportunities. Why are there suddenly so many people needing trailers moved ? ! ?
We left the Interior Provincial Exhibition overnight parking area late this morning and drove back into "downtown" Armstrong to buy more cheese curds at Village Cheese before heading out of town on "back roads", taking a "scenic route / short cut" to Hwy. 97 North. We followed Hwy. 97 North, then Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 West to Kamloops where we stopped at the Visitor Information Centre to dump our waste holding tanks, refill our freshwater tank, and have a late lunch.
We continued west on TCH 1 to Cache Creek, then turned north on Hwy. 97 again. At 100 Mile House we stopped to withdraw some cash from an ATM at the Bank of Montreal. The damn ATM "ate" my bank card. I pounded on the door of the bank ... there were still some employees inside shortly after their 5 PM closing ... and it took about fifteen minutes for them to prepare a new bank card for me. They were unable to explain why the ATM "ate" my card, and they were unable to retrieve it from inside the ATM. HMPH !
Joanne shopped for a few items at Dollarama, then we continued north on Hwy. 97, arriving in Williams Lake around 7 PM. We parked in the Visitor Information Centre parking lot, took Ozzie for a walk, had supper, and boondocked overnight.
Saturday ; Williams Lake to Dean River Fish Trap BCFSRS
Mostly sunny and mild, smoky in and west of Williams Lake.
This morning I went into the Williams Lake Visitor Information Centre to retrieve e-mail before we left. Then we drove a very short distance to the Williams Lake Fairgrounds to dump our waste tanks and refill our freshwater tank at the municipal sani-dump station at the fairgrounds. Last stop in Williams Lake was Real Canadian Wholesale Club to buy some orange juice.
We left Williams Lake heading west on Chilcotin Hwy. 20, the only road heading west from central British Columbia. It starts at Williams Lake and ends at Bella Coola. Because we have travelled to Bella Coola before, and our trip departure was delayed by truck repairs, we are not planning to explore much between Williams Lake and Bella Coola. Today was mostly a day of steady driving, covering as many miles as reasonably possible. We stopped for lunch at Bull Canyon Provincial Park on the Chilcotin River. Very nice place ! We stopped for the night at the Dean River Fish Trap British Columbia Forest Service Recreation Site, about five km. west of the hamlet of Nimpo Lake.
There was only one other rig at this small, unserviced, remote wilderness campground, and they were parked far from where we parked, so it felt like we had the place to ourselves. Once we selected a site and got parked we took Ozzie for a long walk. Long days of driving make my right knee stiff and very sore, so I need to exercise the knee. I set up our little barbecue and cooked a superb supper of thick juicy marinated steak, roasted small potatoes, and grilled baby beets. MMMMM !
We went to sleep early tonight. Everybody was tired early, including Ozzie and Emma.
DSK
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