Thursday, April 29, 2021 ; Gallagher Lake, BC
Sunny and warm. Summer arrived here in the Okanagan Valley today. So … we’re preparing to leave, heading east across the Rockies and into the remnants of winter in the Canadian prairies. <sigh> Story of my life. HA HA HA !
We begin our journey from here to our new home in Steinbach, Manitoba in two days, on Saturday. We will travel relatively slowly, partially because we are travelling in separate vehicles, and Joanne is not as experienced or comfortable with cross country driving.
We went into Oliver this afternoon for our final grocery shopping trip before travelling. Somewhat like our trip a year ago from Arizona to British Columbia, we have to ensure that we have enough food stockpiled in the camper to allow us to remain isolated/quarantined for two weeks upon our arrival in Manitoba.
Yesterday the Lions Campground in Virden phoned, to advise us that they were required by new Manitoba Covid regulations to cancel our two week reservation. BUT … since only campgrounds in Manitoba are now closed to out of province visitors, and hotels are not, they referred us to a very nice local hotel. So … now we will be spending our two week quarantine in Manitoba at a Virden hotel.
Saturday, May 1 ; Gallagher Lake to Nancy Greene Provincial Park, BC
The day started sunny and warm in the Okanagan Valley, and ended partially cloudy and chilly, high in the Kootenay Rockies.
This morning we prepared for departure, chatted with a neighbour, went for our morning exercise walk, and pulled out of Gallagher Lake Resort at 11:30 AM heading south on Hwy. 97 through Oliver to Osoyoos, then east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3. Goodbye, Okanagan Valley. Goodbye Similkameen Valley. Goodbye, Oliver and Osoyoos. Goodby, Bo’s peepee park ! HA HA HA ... Bo’s favourite place for a lunch stop when we were towing and setting up RV trailers.
We stopped in Grand Forks to have a late lunch and refill both vehicles with fuel. And I had a nap, of course. Shortly before reaching Castlegar we stopped for the night at Nancy Greene Provincial Park. It was closed ... we boondocked overnight in the parking lot at the entrance. Before having supper we went for our late afternoon exercise walk, meandering around the closed campground and around the shoreline of the lake. BRRRRR ! Still snow on the ground and ice on the lake.
Sunday, May 2 ; Nancy Greene Provincial Park to Castlegar to Cranbrook
Sunny. Cold in the morning at the high altitude of the provincial park. Warm in Castlegar. Cold at high elevations while driving. Warm when we arrived in Cranbrook.
Hwy. 3 across southern BC is a difficult, dangerous road to drive. Yesterday Joanne made a serious driving error. Today she made another one. That scares and worries me. <sigh> We have one more day of difficult and dangerous driving across southern BC on Hwy. 3, up and over the Rockies through the Crowsnest Pass. Then the road will become flat, straight … and safer … across the prairies.
I awoke this morning at 6 AM, wakened by a soul sucking nightmare. <sigh> I was unable to fall asleep again. I tossed and turned, and read for awhile, then finally got up shortly before 8 AM. We left the provincial park about 10 AM, forgetting to go on our morning exercise walk.
We drove east on Hwy. 3 to Castlegar, to the Visitor Centre. We dumped the camper’s waste holding tanks at the sani-dump station, and refilled the freshwater tank, then parked the truck and camper. We drove in the minivan north on Hwy. 3A to Sentinel Meats in the village of Tarry’s. We bought quite a bit of Sentinel Meats’ excellent beef salami. We drove back to Castlegar, to Kootenay Market, the grocery store in town. There we bought three jars of Kelly’s Doukhobor Borscht, one for supper tonight, two to take to Manitoba for later.
We returned to the Visitor Centre to retrieve the truck and camper. We drove to Canadian Tire to await the delivery at 3 PM of our sausage order from Silly Sausage Company in Nelson. We had a late lunch in the camper, did some chores, I napped, and shortly after 3 PM our sausage order arrived. We repackaged the sausages, put them in the freezer, then hit the road about 3:30 PM, continuing east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3.
Between Castlegar and Cranbrook we encountered a burning semi-trailer on the side of the road, blizzard conditions, a rockslide with huge boulders strewn across the road, mountain goats on the road, and deer on the road ! About halfway we stopped at Kidd Creek Rest Area to have a snack and an exercise walk.
When we arrived in Cranbrook shortly after 7 PM … (8 PM actually) … we parked behind the Visitor Centre to boondock overnight. While Joanne prepared a salad to go along with the borscht for supper I went for another exercise walk. Our evening was shortened when we realized that we had just crossed from Pacific time zone to Mountain time zone.
Monday, May 3 ; Cranbrook, BC to Fort MacLeod, Alberta
Cloudy and cool.
Well ! That’s three for three for Joanne ! Three days of difficult and dangerous mountain driving, a potentially “life or death” driving error each day ! I surely hope that now that we’re out of the mountains and on the prairies the driving dangers and errors will decrease. Today there were wild turkeys, deer, and Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep on the roadsides.
We got a late start to the day. We slept late, partially due to the time zone change late yesterday. After morning toilette routines and breakfast, I reset the clocks in the truck and minivan, dumped the camper’s waste holding tanks and refilled the freshwater tank at the Cranbrook Visitor Centre’s sani-dump station, then we went for a long exercise walk to Home Depot and back to the Visitor Centre. We refilled the minivan with fuel and the truck with diesel at Superstore Fuel Bar, then headed out on the road shortly after noon, continuing eastbound on Crowsnest Hwy. 3.
We stopped for a late lunch in chilly, rainy Fernie, BC. We crossed the Crowsnest Pass over the last of the Rocky Mountains and into Alberta. AHHH … flat land, straight roads ! We arrived at the Visitor Centre in Fort MacLeod, Alberta around 5:15 PM. The Visitor Centre was an abandoned building with the freshwater spigot at the sani-dump station turned off for the winter. Oh, well … it was still a good overnight boondocking parking spot, and in the morning we can dump the waste holding tanks and find somewhere else later in the day to refill our freshwater.
I napped briefly then we went for a long exercise walk in town, through business and residential areas. Fort MacLeod seems to be a bit of a scruffy little redneck town. Used car dealers with no cars on the lots, only pickup trucks. <shrug> Typical Alberta small town, I guess. We walked by a residential area baseball field, with a Little League team practice taking place. Boys around eight to ten years of age. Quite pathetic baseball players for boys that age, I thought. Not headed for the major leagues … nor rocket science, it seemed. HA HA HA !
Tuesday, May 4 ; Fort MacLeod to Medicine Hat, Alberta
Sunny and cool in the morning in Fort MacLeod, mix of sun and clouds and intermittent light rain as we drove, heavy rain in the evening in Medicine Hat.
This morning we went for a long exercise walk, dumped our waste holding tanks at the Visitor Centre sani-dump station, refilled the minivan and truck with fuel at Independent Grocer Fuel Bar, then left Fort MacLeod at 10:30 AM, continuing east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3. We stopped at the Wal-Mart parking lot in Taber to have lunch and a brief nap for me. This is the third time we have been to Taber in the last few years. Taber seems like … well … kind of the armpit of Alberta. We arrived in Medicine Hat around 5:30 PM. We parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot to boondock overnight … and probably tomorrow night as well … on the Canadian Tire side of the Wal-Mart parking lot. Excellent Wi-Fi signal coming from Canadian Tire !
Before supper … and the heavy rain … we went for a long walk around the residential community behind Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire. What an interesting “planned community” with lots of parkland and paved walkways around the community.
Wednesday, May 5 ; Medicine Hat ; Happy 20th birthday to Joanne’s niece Amelia
Sunny, chilly early in the day, warming throughout the day.
We did not drive today. Today was intended to be a day of rest and running errands. There wasn’t much rest. There was a lot of running errands. We went for long exercise walks in the morning and late afternoon. We dumped the camper’s waste holding tanks and refilled the freshwater tank at the Medicine Hat Visitor Centre. We shopped (unsuccessfully) for a roller blind for the camper at Rona and Home Depot. We refilled the minivan with fuel and the truck with diesel and the camper with propane at Co-op Fuel Bar. Because … the Superstore Fuel Bar had neither diesel nor propane. We shopped at Wal-Mart. Joanne shopped at Dollar Tree. I shopped at Canadian Tire.
While exercise walking this morning we came across a group of four obviously domestic (pet) bunnies that had escaped from some nearby home and were trying to live “independently” on both sides of a tall fence separating Wal-Mart’s rear yard and the adjacent residential community. AND … a well fed, collar and tag wearing cat stalking the bunnies. Joanne and the cat had a … <ahem> … “discussion” about the inadvisability of a well fed cat stalking escaped little bunnies. Joanne thinks she won that debate. I don’t ! HA HA HA !
Thursday, May 6 ; Medicine Hat, Alberta to Swift Current, Saskatchewan
Sunny and mild.
This morning as we were leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot in Medicine Hat, we had just come out of the camper, I was locking the camper door, Joanne was walking to the minivan parked beside the truck and camper, an unmarked police cruiser pulled up behind me, and the officer rolled down his passenger window. For those who are unaware, I have nothing but disdain and contempt for law enforcement. And it has only gotten worse in the last year or so.
The police officer failed to identify himself, or his agency. There were no markings on his car, just a lot of antennae sticking up out of a grey SUV. I don’t know if he was RCMP, or Medicine Hat municipal police. I suspect he was RCMP. He started by advising me that he had already checked our BC license plates, knew who we were, and where we were from.
Yeah ? Really ? Well … tell someone who gives a tiny rat’s ass !
He attempted to adopt a friendly, conversational tone as he asked me a series of questions that I felt were really none of his business. Where was I going ? Why ? I was of the opinion that he had absolutely no cause to be talking to me about anything. Alberta currently has no Covid related travel restrictions for out of province visitors. Does he question the occupants of every out of province vehicle he comes across ? ! ? Does he run the license plate of every out of province vehicle he comes across ? ! ?
Every comment of his that was phrased as a question, I answered with one word, and a scowl on my face. Every comment of his that was not phrased as a question, I answered with a mute, dirty look. He soon tired of my bad attitude, and left. Good riddance … officer ! Have a nice day, indeed ! Go have a donut !
Before leaving Medicine Hat we returned to the Visitor Centre to dump our waste holding tanks and refill our freshwater tank. We headed east out of Medicine Hat on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1. WOO-HOO ! Four lane divided highway, should be all the way to Winnipeg and beyond.
We stopped at a rest area about halfway to Swift Current and had lunch. I napped briefly. We crossed from Alberta into Saskatchewan. We arrived in Swift Current around 5 PM, refilled both vehicles with fuel at Superstore Fuel Bar, then got parked for overnight boondocking at Wal-Mart. We went for a long exercise walk, then drove around in the minivan for awhile looking for a place to refill our freshwater tank tomorrow morning, and an RV dealer where I can shop for some camper fridge repair parts I need. I think it’s about time to replace the fridge propane burner’s igniter and igniter control module.
Friday, May 7 ; Swift Current to Regina, Saskatchewan ; Joanne’s 20th anniversary as a cancer survivor !
Sunny and warm, extremely windy, having a large impact on the truck and camper handling at highway speeds. And fuel consumption !
WHEW … long, tough day ! We departed the Swift Current Wal-Mart about 11 AM this morning and drove a short distance to a local RV parts and service business. Yesterday evening I had ascertained that the camper fridge igniter was okay, but the igniter control module wasn’t. Today I bought an igniter control module at the RV parts and service business and replaced/installed it while in their parking lot. I learned a lot of years ago … about 16 years ago in Nova Scotia … not to buy RV repair parts and then install them 300 miles later, only to discover that they’re the wrong parts ! ! ! Those particular parts purchased 16 years ago in Nova Scotia are still in a storage compartment in our fifth wheel trailer in Yuma. Before leaving Swift Current we refilled our freshwater tank at FasGas.
We continued eastbound on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1. We stopped to have lunch in the municipal campground of the very small, very scruffy village of Chaplin. After lunch we went for a long exercise walk through the village. It was difficult to breathe because of all the sodium sulfate dust blowing around. It was extremely windy today, and the village of Chaplin is surrounded by large deposits of sodium sulfate being mined.
We arrived in Regina around 5 PM and found our way to Superstore. First we refilled both vehicles with fuel at Superstore Fuel Bar. Then we did a lengthy and expensive grocery replenishment shopping trip, buying enough groceries … we hope … to get us through two weeks of quarantine in Virden, Manitoba. While Joanne put away all the groceries in the camper I walked over to Rona to buy a replacement roller blind for the camper’s entry door.
<gritting teeth> … Repeating the unpleasant experience at Rona in Penticton, BC a couple of weeks ago, today at Rona in Regina I had a roller blind cut to size three times … by three different staff members … on two different blind cutting machines … taking a total of thirty-five minutes of wasted time. Each time the cut edge of the blind looked like a beaver had chewed it ! ! ! Exactly the same as in Penticton ! Why can’t Rona teach its staff how to properly use the blind cutting machine ? ! ?
After stomping back to the camper from Rona, I took the minivan a short distance to another mall where I got our water jug refilled at Giant Tiger. Superstore has closed their water refill machine due to Covid (huh ?) and referred me to Giant Tiger.
By then it was 7 PM. We were tired and hungry. We drove … with blind faith in our GPS … to Cabela’s, a large chain of large sporting goods stores that permits overnight RV parking, our boondock location for tonight. We had discovered while searching online for a Regina area Wal-Mart location to boondock overnight that Regina area Wal-Marts are located in malls that do not allow overnight RV parking.
May 8 ; Regina, Saskatchewan to Virden, Manitoba
High thin cloud cover, mild.
HMPH ! We have sodium sulfate footprints and dust all over the floor of the camper and both our vehicles.
Before leaving the Cabela’s parking lot this morning we went for a long walk around the neighbourhood, both commercial and residential areas. We pulled out of Cabela’s parking lot at 11:15 AM, heading through and around Regina on their ring road, then continuing east on TCH 1. We stopped for lunch at the municipal campground in Grenfell. We have spent overnight here a few times on our travels across the Canadian prairies on our way to or from Winnipeg. We refilled both vehicles with fuel in Moosomin, the last opportunity for “freedom” in Saskatchewan before crossing the border into Manitoba where we are required to self-isolate/quarantine for the next two weeks.
At 5:30 PM we arrived in Virden and checked into Jay’s Inn & Suites where we will be living in quarantine for two weeks as the only occupants of their very small RV park behind the hotel.
I’m proud of Joanne’s accomplishment of driving a third of the way across Canada, from Oliver, BC to Virden, Manitoba. Seventeen years ago she drove across another third of Canada, from Ottawa to Winnipeg.
<moaning quietly> Colitis flare today. First time in quite awhile.
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