Sunday
; Kerry Lake BCFSRS to Crooked River BCFSRS
Mostly sunny and warm, a bit
of light rain briefly around suppertime.
We
didn’t drive very far today, only about 40 km. / 25 miles. We left
the Kerry Lake “remote wilderness campground” around
11:30 AM and
continued south on Hwy. 97. We stopped to buy some diesel fuel at
Bear Lake. We refilled our freshwater tank at Crooked
River
Provincial Park. We turned off the highway onto Davis Lake FSR (
Forest Service Road ) and stopped beside 100 Road Bridge to fish in
the Crooked River. I have fished here before, two years ago. Today
I fished most of the afternoon and evening, catching seven Whitefish
and Four Cutthroat Trout. WOO-HOO … what great fun !
When I finally gave up fishing
… around 9:30 PM … we drove just a few hundred feet to boondock
overnight in another Forest Service “remote wilderness campground”,
still on the Crooked River.
WHEW … mosquitoes ! ! !
Monday
; Crooked River to Prince George
Mostly
sunny, mild. OUCH
! I am severely bitten by both mosquitoes and “no-see-ums” /
tiny sand flies. On my face and head / in my beard and hair, also on
my stomach and back at the waistline / beltline.
Well ! How odd ! After
yesterday’s astounding fishing success, today I was unable to catch
any fish ! I fished for about an hour before we left this morning.
When we were ready to leave the “remote wilderness campground”
this morning around 11 AM we drove a very short distance back to the
bridge where I had been fishing yesterday, and I fished there …
unsuccessfully … for an hour. And I even wore my chest waders,
allowing me to walk into the river to better position myself for fly
fishing. Yesterday I was casting my fly from the shoreline. Oh,
well ! I guess that just proves that fishing is more luck … being
in the right place at the right time ( when and where the fish are
actively feeding ) … than skill.
At
noon we continued south on Hwy. 97, arriving in Prince George about
an hour later. First stop was the Bank of Montreal to withdraw some
cash. Then a Husky Fuel station to refill our freshwater tank. We
parked at the Costco near the Husky station and ate lunch in the
camper. After lunch we drove to Total Pet to buy some cat litter …
redeeming a $5 coupon which was to expire in a few days. From
Total Pet to Wal-Mart, where
I used the free Wi-Fi in the McDonald’s to check e-mail and upload
my weekly blog entry while Joanne did Wal-Martin’, then
from Wal-Mart
to Superstore where I refilled the truck with diesel at
the fuel bar,
then we went inside the store and replenished groceries.
As
I hurried into the Wal-Mart, looking for the in-store McDonald’s,
walking forward, looking sideways … I mowed down a pig-tailed
little Hutterite girl, perhaps eight years of age. She also was not
looking where she was going, but … well … who’s the adult here
? ! ? We walked into one another. She went flying backwards onto
her ass. I didn’t ! As her mother lifted her by one arm, and I
lifted her by the other arm, apologizing profusely, her lower lip was
quivering and her eyes were filling with tears. I’m
so sorry, little girl !
WHEW
! It was about 6 PM by then and we were getting tired. We returned
to the Husky Fuel station and had one of the camper’s propane tanks
refilled. While doing that I was approached by a young man who
wanted to know if I was able to lend him the tools he needed to do an
emergency roadside repair on a ruptured coolant hose on his decrepit
old truck. I lent him the tools he needed. I advised him on how to
do the repair. I supplied him with the new hose clamp he required to
do the emergency repair. I
lent him the step stool that he needed to be able to reach far enough
into the engine compartment to do the repair. And
most importantly … I lectured him sternly on how disrespectful it
is to address a man old enough to be his grandfather as “Buddy”
and “Dude” !
And
that was only the first of the two hissy fits I threw this evening !
We returned to the Wal-Mart
parking lot to have supper and boondock overnight. Along with a
large number of other RV’s. While Joanne was preparing supper I
took Ozzie for a walk around the parking lot. Two old men were
sitting in folding chairs beside their decrepit old truck camper …
they look like they might be living in it in the Wal-Mart parking lot
… eating apples. As I came nearby one of the old men stood up from
his folding chair, walked to the rear of the camper, opened the door,
and deposited his half eaten apple in the garbage. The other old man
…
< sputter > … leaned back in his folding chair, and gave
a mighty pitch, throwing his half eaten apple as far as he could
across the Wal-Mart parking lot ! I flipped out ! I began screaming
at the asshole about behaviour like that is what gets all of us
RV’ers kicked out of Wal-Mart parking lots ! Suffice to say he did
not agree with my opinion and so … we engaged in a profanity laden
screaming match !
At
the ripe old age that he and I have both reached … right and wrong
should be easy concepts to grasp ! ASSHOLE !
Tuesday
; Prince George to Quesnel to Williams Lake to Dugan Lake BCFSRS
The
day started out sunny and warm in Prince George, became a mix of sun
and clouds, mild temperature in Quesnel, becoming
cold with light rain in Williams Lake, and finally becoming sunny and
mild again at Dugan Lake in the evening.
OUCH ! You should see the
huge purple bruise on the front of my thigh … where I got head
butted by the little pig-tailed girl yesterday. HA HA HA !
Before leaving the Wal-Mart
parking lot this morning I went inside the store and used the free
Wi-Fi at McDonald’s to post Saturday’s photos to my blog. We
left the Wal-Mart, drove to the Husky Fuel station to refill our
freshwater tank, then left Prince George about 11:30 AM heading south
on Hwy. 97. About an hour later we arrived in Quesnel. We went to
the municipal sani-dump station, dumped our black and grey waste
holding tanks, then pulled over to the adjacent municipal park to
have lunch in the camper.
While we were eating lunch I
was reading the Vancouver Saturday newspaper I had picked up in
Prince George yesterday. I turned a page … there were the
obituaries and … < blink blink > … < blink blink > …
there was the obituary picture of our neighbour and friend Bob H.
Bob died six days ago, on our
15th anniversary of retirement. He was three years older
than us. And … he was somewhat of a heart surgery mentor to me.
He had open heart surgery about three years before I did, to replace
a defective heart valve. After my heart surgery Bob winterized our
camper for me, and explained some of what I could expect from having
my pectoral muscles cut and sternum sawed open and wired back
together. He was also a kindred spirit when it came to backwoods
exploring adventures. Joanne says ; “He was such a nice guy !”
Farewell,
my friend, rest in peace.
After
lunch we drove to the Visitor Centre and got directions to the
laundromat in town. We drove there, but Joanne did not like the
laundromat ( washers too small and too expensive ) so we left
Quesnel, continuing south on Hwy. 97. An hour or so later, we
arrived in Williams Lake. Again we went to the Visitor Centre and
got directions to a laundromat. While
Joanne did a couple of loads of laundry I napped with the animals.
When the laundry was finished
about 6 PM we decided to go exploring up the Horsefly to Likely road.
We drove south of Williams Lake on Hwy. 97 a short distance to 150
Mile House, then turned east on Horsefly Road. Not too far up the
road we came to Dugan Lake BC Forest Service Recreation Site remote
wilderness campground. We liked it, and decided to stay overnight.
It was about 7 PM by then. I quickly lit a campfire, then cooked
supper on it. AHHHHH ! Very nice !
After supper I worked on this
journal entry sitting at the picnic table in our campsite, while
Joanne played with the dying campfire, her favourite evening
activity. HA HA HA ! The mosquitoes were severe again ! Good thing
I have this Surplus Herby’s mosquito head net. As the sun was
setting ( around 10 PM ) we took Ozzie for a long walk on the
lakeside walking path.
Wednesday
; Dugan Lake BCFSRS to Raft Creek BCFSRS on Quesnel Lake
Mix of sun and clouds, mild
temperature, light rain briefly late in the afternoon.
This morning we left Dugan
Lake and continued east to the small village of Horsefly. When we
arrived there we decided to go about 10 km. / 6 miles down a gravel
road to see Horsefly Provincial Park on Horsefly Lake. We refilled
our freshwater tank in the provincial park.
While we were filling our
freshwater tank I walked down to the boat ramp on the lake, leaving
Joanne to deal with the filling process. I viewed the lake than
turned around to walk back up to the truck and camper nearby. Joanne
was on one side of the truck and camper, finishing up the refilling,
and disconnecting our freshwater hose from the spigot. On the other
side of the truck and camper … a fox was trotting by ! I had to
holler at Joanne to bring the fox’s presence to her attention.
That also brought my presence to the attention of the fox, who
quickly trotted away. He hadn’t noticed Joanne, so he trotted away
quite close to her.
We returned to the small
village of Horsefly, stopping beside the lovely Horsefly River to
have lunch. And a brief nap for me and Ozzie. From there we decided
to explore the gravel Horsefly-Likely Forest Service Road. Along
that road we stopped at a few different BC Forest Service Recreation
Site remote wilderness campgrounds. We are certainly getting our
money’s worth ( bought for two dollars at a yard sale ) out of our
BCFSRS remote wilderness campground directory / guide. Just before
reaching Raft Creek BCFSRS we came upon the site of devastation
caused by the Polley Mine tailings pond spill of a few years ago. It
certainly is in the middle of nowhere !
When we reached Raft Creek
BCFSRS on Quesnel Lake we decided to stay. It’s a lovely lakeside
campground with three or four picnic tables along the shore of very
large and very beautiful Quesnel Lake. And … we had the place all
to ourselves. Well … not quite all to ourselves. There were the
Loons and the Golden Eagles.
Thursday
; Raft Creek BCFSRS on Quesnel Lake to Helena Lake BCFSRS
Mix of sun and clouds with
intermittent rain, mild temperature. Our objective for today, ever
since the planning stages of this trip months ago, was to attend the
first evening of the Williams Lake Stampede. When we arrived at
Williams Lake around 4:30 PM, an hour before the beginning of the
five day stampede, we decided not to attend because of the weather.
< sigh >
It
rained heavily overnight. We left the Raft Creek Campground around
11 AM this morning. We continued driving north on the one lane
Horsefly to Likely mud road. When
we ( eventually ! ) reached the tiny village of Likely we decided to
continue on to find Cedar Creek Provincial Park, about another 10 km.
/ 6 miles away.
We found the provincial park,
drove around and checked it out … not very appealing … and
returned to Likely. It was raining heavily again. We left Likely
heading southwest on a paved road that led back to Hwy. 97 near 150
Mile House. Shortly after leaving Likely we stopped to have lunch …
and a brief nap for me and Ozzie … at a rest area at the site of
the Bullion Pit Mine, a long ago abandoned gold mining operation.
While driving from Likely back to the highway near 150 Mile House we
viewed a deer and a moose, our first moose sighting of this trip.
At
150 Mile House (
just a short distance south of Williams Lake ) we
refilled the truck with diesel fuel, and made our decision to not
attend the Williams Lake Stampede. We headed south on Hwy. 97. We
stopped at Lac La Hache Provincial Park and refilled our freshwater
tank. South of Lac La Hache we turned east off the highway and drove
about 12 km. / 7.5 miles on
a paved road to
Greeny Lake BCFSRS, arriving about 6
PM, tired and hungry. The campground was full. < sigh > We
returned to Hwy. 97 and backtracked north, beyond Lac La Hache, then
turned west off the highway and again drove about 12 km. / 7.5 miles,
this time on another one lane, very wet, very muddy road, arriving at
Helena Lake BCFSRS around 7 PM. We selected a quiet, lakeside
campsite. I was too tired … and the mosquitoes continue to be too
severe
… to make a campfire tonight. While Joanne prepared supper inside
the camper I sat and listened to the family of calling Loons on the
lake beside us. What a peaceful sound !
I
am writing this in the camper at 8:30 PM. Joanne is washing dishes.
It has just begun to rain heavily again. She has commented that we
could … at this very moment … be in the grandstands of the
Williams Lake Stampede, sitting in this cold, heavy rain. I guess
that means she thinks we made the right decision. HA HA HA !
Friday;
Happy 55th Birthday to Joanne’s sister Lorraine ;
Helena Lake BCFSRS to Merritt
Heavy rain overnight. Raining
most of the day today.
We left Helena Lake BCFSRS
remote wilderness campground about 11:30 AM and drove about 12 km. /
7.5 miles of potholed, wet, mud road back to Hwy. 97. We continued
south on Hwy. 97 to 100 Mile House. At the municipal sani-dump
station we dumped our grey and black waste holding tanks and refilled
our freshwater tank. What a fun chore to do in rain < sarcasm >.
We went to Safeway and bought some groceries, then drove to the
Visitor Centre to have lunch. It was close to 2 PM when we arrived
at the Visitor Centre. While Joanne prepared lunch in the camper I
went inside the Visitor Centre and used their free Wi-Fi to check
e-mail.
After
lunch we continued south on Hwy. 97. By the time we reached Cache
Creek around
4:30 PM I
was falling asleep so we parked at their Visitor Centre and I napped
with Ozzie for an hour. From
Cache Creek we headed southeast on Hwy. 97C. Our objective was to
have our last dinner of this trip at a Chinese buffet restaurant in
Merritt. We found a Chinese buffet restaurant in downtown Merritt
when we arrived in town around 7:30 PM.
The meal was not to our
liking, food was poor quality, and we were disappointed to spend
forty bucks on a poor meal ! We drove to Wal-Mart and boondocked
overnight. Within half an hour of our arrival at Wal-Mart Joanne was
in the camper’s bathroom … < ahem > … getting rid of
supper !
Saturday
; Merritt to home
Cloudy and mild.
Before
leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot this morning Joanne went into the
store and bought a new battery for her watch. We drove to Canadian
Tire and dumped our waste holding tanks at their free sani-dump
station. Thank you, Canadian Tire. We crossed the street to Extra
Foods where we refilled with diesel at their fuel bar then went
inside the store to buy some groceries.
We left Merritt shortly after
noon. South on Coquihalla Hwy. 5 just a very short distance, then
east on the Coquihalla Okanagan Connector Hwy. 97C to Aspen Grove,
then south on Hwy. 5 towards Princeton. We stopped at Gulliford Lake
rest area to have lunch. And a nap for me and the animals. Around 3
PM we continued south on Hwy. 5 to Princeton, then east on Crowsnest
Hwy. 3 to Riverside RV Park Resort, arriving home around 4:30 PM.
We took Ozzie for his supper
time walk at 6 PM. When a truck approached us from behind Ozzie and
I moved to the side of the road where Ozzie stepped off the road onto
a neighbour’s fancy pavestone patio. He emptied his full bladder
onto the fancy pavestone patio … as the owners pulled into their
driveway. They were the truck behind us that we stepped aside for.
I immediately apologized profusely for Ozzie having peed on their
fancy pavestone patio, but … the lot owner seemed very angry at me.
< shrug > Sorry !
We
stopped to visit with Chris H. and express our condolences over the
death
of her husband Bob
two
weeks ago.
DSK
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