The Long Mile (Kinda)

I have no idea how it is that we both woke up so early this morning.  Well, Chris went to bed early.  I think it was about 8:30.  I stayed up until about 11:00 pm watching a news documentary on line until my head nearly snapping off of my shoulders woke me up and said "GO TO BED!".

We had breakfast, packed up and headed toward we knew not where.  Then we discovered that there was a laundromat right around the corner, a bank and a Dollarama store.  Now, that sounds close by.  But when you have to drive around and find a spot that will accommodate about 16 feet of metal and steel, it just ain't that easy.  After scoping out the neighborhood, we found the perfect spot for "Grace the Pace Arrow".

The laundry didn't take too long.  Chris disappeared into the town taking pictures while I sat outside on a street bench trying to thaw out!  The place was freezing because they had the air conditioner on.  Can you believe that!  It was in the 40's last night...ha.  Only in Canada folks....ha.  

We figured when you get down to one package of fish minus any chips; it's time to do some shopping.  Besides that, neither of us know when we are actually going to make it back home again.  Although, we are shooting for.........well.......see! There you go!

We snagged a roasted chicken with some cole slaw and potato salad for lunch and found a city park to enjoy our meal.  It was a wide enough space to get into (and long enough) with no problems.
The water was a bit muddy, but it was nice to sit by the water in our new home....:-)

We both felt that it was time to find a place to stop and rest for the evening.  Preferably by the water, but time would tell if we could actually find that special place.  The scenary along the way was beautiful none the less....:-)

You do get the feeling of flying through the air in a giant fish bowl having near death experiences every time you come to a curve, but hey.....I survived it!  And this time without having to take an aspirin!....ha

We stopped at this place which would have been perfect for boon docking except that we only had cell phones and not satellite phones with us and decided it was far too remote to stay here for the night.  But, it was gorgeous....:-)
 

A few miles up the road their was a tiny little encampment.  We decided to stop and see about a vacancy that could accamodate our rig and van.  It was such a beautiful little place.....:-)

He is a shot of the road we drove up onto.  There is a building hiding behind all of that purple......:-)

And little tents scattered around the camp grounds.  And just as little was "Joe Old Guy" who was the owner and care taker of the place.  He told us that he had been there since 1981.  The name of the encampment was Shaw Springs RV Park.

Chris spoke to him about our staying the evening.  He was good with the idea, but had no hook ups for us and wanted twenty bucks.  Chris looked at me and said..."I think we'll keep going, baby."
Too bad because it was quite pretty....:-).  I mean, seriously....we can pull off to the side of the road and have the same amenities (NONE)......for FREE! ha

Just about 10 miles up the road, we found this place; Jade Springs RV Park.  The guy had one pull through slot in the whole encampment.  Not because the others were full; but because he had ONE.

TADA!  No water, but very pretty still.

Here is a look from the co-pilot side of Grace.

 After we got everything set up; jacks lowered, slides out, power hooked up, it was time to eat and relax.  Chris was going to whip up some left overs from lunch and call it dinner.....:-).  Works for me!

He's so sweet.....:-).  I know he was tired.  

 
Suddenly, there came a sound as of a mighty rushing wind and it SHOOK the house where we were sitting.   IT'S A TRAIN!!  What!??  A train???  Oh no........

It's going to be a LONGGGGGG....... night. Five trains have just passed by with what seemed to be about 50 cars...... at 20 minute or so intervals......There goes my sleep.

Well, I'll see you somewhere on the road with probably only one eye open!

New Sets of Wheels!

Don't spank me!.....haha.  When I upload the following pics, you will see what we have been up to.

The days have been long, busy and stressful at times.  I don't know for sure, but I think I passed myself somewhere out there!  Our Infinity i30 that has served us faithfully for the past seven years started to give us a few problems.  We decided to sell it and purchase a newer, more reliable vehicle to travel in.  So, we settled on a 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan.  We had the scooters in mind when we purchased it.  We wanted to make sure that we could pull all three and also have something where all of the seats went into the floor for easy luggage packing.

did I neglect to mention that the 2001 Pace Arrow motor home followed two weeks later?....:-)
It has been a long awaited dream for Chris to have a motor home.  He had one a long time ago.  Long before my gorgeous self came along...:-).  And now we have this:

Here is a picture of us in the decision making process; doing a walk around and inspection of the interior as well.  After all, we plan to spend a lot of time in it!

closing the deal was a very pleasant experience.  The husband and wife that sold it to us were the second owners and had only taken it out once in 2 years.  The previous owner didn't take it out much either.  So, it only had 30,000 miles on it.....:-).  For a 2001, that ain't bad!

The next day after purchasing the motor home, we knew we had to find a car dolly to pull the van for us.  I drove the van for the first time that day and Chris drove the motor home.

We had been looking for weeks for something we both felt we could enjoy and live with; at least for now.  But this happened so suddenly that we were not even prepared for it!  I didn't even have dish soap!...haha.  We had to go to the store and pick up just a few things that could hold us until we made it home again.

As happy as we were about finally finding one, it left both of us emotionally exhausted....haha.  Wayyyy tooo much excitement for a twenty four hour period of time!

And away we went after spending one night at a very gracious Walmart Superstore, we headed for a camp ground so that we could plug in and learn how everything worked.
 

And here we are, folks.  We are here for the evening and should be headed back to our town tomorrow.  Or not.  What's the rush??

We are making video logs of our travels and adventures!  So, you can follow us at:

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See you on the road!

Farewell, Oklahoma - Day 7 Finale'

Chris beat me up this morning!  Let me rephrase that...haha.  He was up and moving before me is what I mean to say.  haha   He still looked green around the gills, but at least he was moving.  There was frost on the windows when we went outside to load the car.  It was indeed cold! Here is a shot from the inside of the car.

I was trying to get the car to warm up while Chris was checking us out.

and the sun was beginning to rise in our rear view.  It was a shame that we would not be around to see it all.

We traveled until we needed gas and we were greeted by these dinosaurs.  I knew all of that poo was coming from somewhere! He was the biggest one.

fierce looking creature, ain't he...This was the smaller one cross the road.

After getting the gas that we needed, we saw a memorial that appeared to be for the 911 incident.  We didn't get out to look at it.  But the two taller pieces resembled the Twin Towers of NY.

We went a different way and came across a little town called Ellensburg.  It was very cute.  This is one of the historic buildings of the town.

and this is a shot of one of the main streets of the little town.

There was a bull sitting on  a park bench!  Now, there's something you don't see every day! haha

Traveling on......and passing through

After a longer day than the past two, we came upon the town of Oroville.  We have been through this town before.  The mural on the wall shows that this town was established in 1906.  So, it is now a whopping 108 years old.  Wow...I wonder if it remembers it's name....ha

We were also aware that once we crossed the border, prices were going to increase dramatically.  So, we made a trip inside to see if there was anything we needed to get that we could take back with us and not break the law.  Nope.

uh oh....somebody was turning green again and running out of stream.  I could tell.....poor thing.

We got the car topped off and headed for the Canadian border.

Which happen to be less than 3 blocks away.

Chris usually fills out the customs form.  I had a sneaky suspicion that I had done something wrong with it.  I guess I would find out soon.


                                      

Well, there was one tiny mistake, but we explained that I wasn't sure of how to answer.  It was fine.  I always tell the truth if they ask me something.  But I put the truth in the wrong place on the form!  smh...It was ok though.

On to Penticton, BC to visit with Chris's ailing mom at the hospital.

About an hour later, we arrived and she was glad to see us.  We didn't want to visit long as she was tired and so were we!  Plus both of us are still recovering from the plague!

We took turns kissing her good night and promising to see her the next day.

We are glad we had a chance to get here.  We were careful to kiss her on the forehead and not near her nose or mouth.

Now, we are trying to relax, make a last visit tomorrow and head for our own home which is another 6-7 hours away Friday morning.  Lots to do when we finally get home; turn on the electric, shop for food, make the bed, unpack all of the luggage.

Thanks for going with us and for all of the prayers and well wishes for our safe return and speedy recovery.  We appreciate your friendship!

Farewell, Oklahoma - Day 6

5:00am came early again this morning.  Chris said he was starting to feel a bit better.  Probably because of all of the drugs I have been pushing on him, the fact that he went to sleep at 8:30 last night and my insistence that we cut the driving days short for a bit. We pulled out on time this morning at 6:00 which is our custom when we travel long distances.  He must be feeling better as he looks like a blur getting back to the car...ha

Now, you see him.....

Now, you don't! ha

Have I mentioned how much I am starting to hate "road food"?.....

We didn't go very far before we ran into some very dense fog.....It got really hairy there for a while as you literally could not see more than a few feet in front of you.

Although he still has a nasty cough, he had a bit more of his colour back.  So, that is good.

We headed toward Portland which was our destination yesterday.  This time we would keep going.  Today's destination is the Tri-Cities.

We stopped at a rest stop where the Multnomah Falls were just across the highway.  My camera didn't really capture the beautiful.  But it's not as pretty as Shannon Falls in Squamish, BC.

"Chico" was facing forward since he had been hanging up.  But I decided to turn in him around to keep Chris motivated in case I fell asleep...haha.  Ain't he cute!?
 

The mighty Columbia River.....:-)  (I think).

 We finally stopped in Kennewick, Washington for the evening after a 6 hour day of travel.  We also found out that Chris's Mom is in the hospital.  So, our plans to go right home have been delayed.  We do hope to be home by Friday though.  But, for now....it's mango-habanero chicken wings and artisan pizza for dinner and hopefully a good night's sleep.  We should be back in Canada tomorrow.

See you on the road, folks!