Tuesday

Tuesday,  April 23, 2013

This was originally written in Word because the wifi at this park is not allowing us to connect.

We left Spokane heading north on 395. We were surprised how far the city spreads in that direction.  We stopped in Colville at Safeway for the last gas at U.S. prices. It is a pretty little logging town where the sawmill whistle still blows at noon. Not long after we crossed the Columbia River, which is contained in Roosevelt Lake at that point, on an old iron girder bridge. Then the road follows the Kettle River for many miles.

Those of you familiar with my contentious relationship with Canada Customs won’t be surprised to learn that they asked us to pull over for an inspection. I thought I had answered all the questions just fine. But, you know, it was me, and it was Canada Customs. They asked us to empty our pockets onto a table by the road, pull them inside out, and he decided to hold onto my Leatherman so I wouldn’t have any “weapons” while they went through the truck and trailer. In all, three of them were involved. One in the truck, and two in the trailer. We could hear them talking about how well stocked we were. They didn’t leave much of a mess and one of them even apologized that he had left our fold-down shelf down, because he couldn’t figure out how to hook it back up. They were very polite and friendly the entire time. But, it was only a cursory search. They did not look in any of the outside storage bins, nor in the big tool box in the back of the truck. We spent the time talking to a local woman who was bringing a new car back. She said you can save $10,000 buying in the U.S.  She also said this is a recent change in the law.

Back on the road, we came to a bridge over the Kettle River. To the right was the same gentle river we had been following, but to the left was waterfalls and narrow rock chutes. Being desert rats, we had to get out for a better look. We had been saying what a pretty river it was and that it would be fun to float down it. There was a roadside informational sign at the end of the bridge. There used to be a town called Cascade there. The river was tapped to provide electricity in the 1870’s and the town was built to support the building of a railroad. All that is gone now, but the gorge and cascade remain.  I don’t know if the waterfall is too much for a kayak, but it would take considerable skill to shoot that gorge.

We are staying at Holiday Park, a huge park with 500 sites, including owner/member occupied ones. We will stay all day so we can taste some wines and spirits, and maybe locate some local produce. This is a beautiful valley full of lakes and farms and vineyards.  And people. Lots of people.

A good sign

Sorry, this occurred on the interstate too quickly to get a photo as we sped past.
When we left St. Regis, famous for its huckleberry shakes, a road sign said:
         
                         Two Mile Rd.
                             One Mile

Spokane, WA

Last night we pushed past Idaho Falls because we still had daylight and energy. We stopped for the night in Dubois ( the locals pronounce it doo-boys ) at a rest area without hookups or wifi. The wind was howling from our left making driving spooky. We awoke in the morning to 30 degrees and wind howling from the north. Better, we would be driving into it instead of across it.
We were not equipped to make coffee without electricity and decided to have a hot breakfast at the local cafe. There was one other customer and Amber, the waitress, cook, and maybe dishwasher. A larger group came in and Amber called for backup. Soon another woman showed up and took over waitressing. The large group was a bunch of hillbillies (again, yes, I can tell by looking and listening) hauling three trucks of oversize loads and their pilot car drivers. They had spent the night and were waiting to hear that the roads were open. See, it had snowed overnight. We saw a snowplow/dumptruck loaded with sand head out in our direction.
But, hey, we are having adventures so we headed out. Spoiler alert: the road was fine. We got a little blowing snow and some falling snow, but the pavement was neither wet nor icy. The temp was 17 degrees by then. You can't have wet in that, and the snow was too dry to stick to anything. Farther along we passed somebody whose adventure went bad. They had gone off the road into the median and flipped onto the left side. A dually truck pulling a fifth wheel. By the time we got there, the rig was righted and hooked to a tow truck. Damaged, but maybe repairable.
We went up and over three or four divides today. Beautiful country. I-90 follows the Clark Fork, which we must have crossed a dozen or more times. It kept getting bigger. It still had some ice in spots. Leaving Missoula we saw a billboard advertising huckleberry shakes. Sixty miles later we stopped and had one (each). Veeerrryy gooood!!!
Something to remember. Snow turns to slush if it warms up or somebody puts salt on the roads, then semis pass you and you get all dirty. When you stop for gas, there is no water for windshield washing because it will freeze out there. This is another good reason to live where it is warm.
Here is another good question. Why do some drivers pass you, then get back into the right lane so quickly you can read their dashboard, when as far as you can see in any direction, you are the only two cars on the road? Especially in the aforementioned slushy conditions?

Flying J

Picture a place in the middle of nowhere. But add in that it is a Flying J plaza just off the interstate between places that are somewhere. Shouldn't be too busy, eh?
Wrong. Vehicles are at every pump. The islands are so close to the building that a vehicle pulling a trailer must use one of the two islands on either end of the string of eight. So we pull up behind a car. The man standing by the door, turns and saunters, yes saunters in no hurry into the building. Really? He couldn't move the car first? Well, maybe he is going inside to prepay and hasn't pumped yet. We wait long enough for him to have prepaid and return even if there is a long line inside. And there may be, the place is full of cars. A woman comes out to the car. She looks inside for a key in the ignition. Nope. Fishes in her purse. Still fishing. Ah! Keys. She unlocks the drivers door. Perhaps she is going to be courteous and move. She leans into the drivers seat, stands back up, repeats. Then she opens the gas cap door. What? They haven't pumped yet? She fishes in her purse, retrieves a credit card. Stares at the pump as if it is the first she has seen. Inserts the card. Reads the screen. Closes the gas cap door. Returns to the store. We decide to move to the other end. We must go completely around the building to do this. Ahhh! Somebody has beat us to it. Okay, we can wait behind them, but must leave the driveway clear so others can get in and out. The people do not appear to be pumping either. But, hey, the next island in becomes clear, I can just snake into it. We pump our gas, move the truck around back with the rest of the big rigs, go inside to use the restrooms and treat ourselves to a DQ. Unbelievably, the truck we might have waited behind is STILL THERE!!!
Okay, back up. While we were waiting behind the first car, a pickup pulled into the other side of the island. A redneck (yes, I can tell by appearance, not just him, but the truck, too.) Got out, walked around and opened the door for his woman. (Rednecks have women, who may or may not be wives) She got out to go into the store. He took a pit bull, one of three dogs in the cab, from the passenger side, walked it around and put it in the driver's side. The other two dogs seemed free to move back and forth from window to window on the seat.  ????  While he had the door open, he popped the hood. Then he checked fluid levels. Then, he opened the filler cap. Then looked for something in the cab. That's when we decided to go around to the other end.
We observed only those three vehicles. But all three of them behaved as if blocking the gas pumps while they messed with something else was no big deal. This in a place that was literally jumping. Cars in almost every slot and at every pump.

Day One and a Half

The hours of last minute details took a little longer than expected, so we didn't leave Tucson until about 2pm. Had a brief visit with Casey at her work, then spent about three days in Phoenix' rush hour traffic, with one accident related lane blockage to prolong the fun. We didn't get to Cottonwood until almost seven. But Don and Karin had saved us some dinner, so we did fine. Then we stayed up late to visit with Dave and Margie after they went to a play.
We slept well in our new Relax-the-Back (like temperapedic) bed. Our new down comforter was perfect.
We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with Greg and Amy at Camp Verde's Roadkill Cafe (not the actual name, just an inside joke) and actually started north at 11:00. Not a good early start. But the truck pulls the trailer up the grades just like it was meant to, so we made good time. As mentioned a couple of years ago, we love driving across the reservation on US 89. The colors were spectacular today. The grassy areas seemed to glow from an internal light source. And the dirt and rocks areas hold more colors than we have names for. When Flagstaff radio got too staticky (I made that word up) we found that Xavier Rudd makes perfect reservation-crossing music.  Due to the earlier earth slide that closed 89 south of Page, we had to take 89A across Marble Canyon, along the Vermillion Cliffs, and up over the Kaibab Plateau. In order to see some new road, we turned at Fredonia to see Colorado City, and join I-15 at Hurricane, UT. I wanted to stop at Hurricane so we could flush the rust out of our water lines (a legacy from Mountain View RV park in Skagway) but we missed the RV park, so continued on to Cedar City, which was our Plan A destination for tonight. We got here at 6:30, not too bad, then remembered that we had crossed into daylight savings time, and it was 7:30.
So the first adventure of the trip (rusty pipes don't qualify) was discovering that the RV gremlins had tied the power cord in knots inside that little hole it hides in, so it wouldn't come out. Never had that before. So I went ahead with the water and sewer hook -ups so Peggie could run the rust out. Then, I took the molding off the power cord's hidey hole, stuck my hand in there and unknotted the cord. Now it is coiled nicely like it is supposed to be. You just gotta love an easy fix. And, even without Don, I had the right tool.
Tomorrow we will drive the length of Utah.

The glass half full.

Okay, so all the things getting in the way of our departure have been dealt with.
The new floor in the master bedroom has been halted until fall. The subfloor is warped way out of level. The plywood will have to be removed and the beams either planed or shimmed (some of both) so our new laminate can be put in place. So everything is out of the bedroom, which looks just like a construction site, and in stacks in the office and living room. It will stay that way all summer. Whew.
But, we think as long as all that has to be done, maybe it is a good time to go ahead and remodel the bathroom and repaint the whole area. OMG $$$$
The new carpet on the stairs has been installed. It looks and feels great. $$
We had planned to leave today for a short drive to Cottonwood. Instead we now plan to leave tomorrow. So we would have been a day late, except that the original plan was to leave on Saturday. So, in that regard, we are still a day early. (See title of this post)
We still have time to include a day in Kelowna, BC for winery tours, and a day to make a detour for a look at Prince Rupert. Too early for accurate weather forecasts, but what we can see looks good.
Anyway, as long as we arrive in Skagway by the 30th, we are golden. We are traveling north on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, which he haven't done since 1995. That was in June, this is April, so there will be more snow.
Today we will complete the hours of last-minute details: laundry, dishes, return library books, hit the drug store, get gas, etc.

I couldn't pick a title

The show at the Drawing Studio downtown is open. We had the reception Saturday, and I did a fine job of manning the wine table. I learned from watching Dave.  Peggie already sold another piece. Wow!
We are hard at it getting ready for Skagway. But there are interruptions. My annual physical resulted in several (seven) additional medical stops. You don't want or need the gory details, but suffice it to say I have been thoroughly examined from head to toe and those regions in between. I've had two ultra sounds and I am not pregnant. I have it on good authority (including color photos) that my bowels are in fine shape. I can stay on a treadmill that somehow keeps going higher and faster. I am going to have to reduce my cholesteral. This is a genetic condition, so family, beware.
Getting running boards on the truck seems to be more of a problem than it ought to be. Finding time to get tires on the trailer, also. But we think we can finally do both this weekend.
Remember Peggie's little computer mishap? Happy ending. We went to cousin Bruce's house for Easter and while telling the woeful tale, got an offer of a laptop to borrow from the son of another cousin. This cousin-once-removed lives in Tucson and we were able to arrange a pick-up without much trouble. Thank you, Alex.
We found a guy who seems knowledgeable and reliable to take care of the landscaping all summer.
We think we can get the new flooring installed this weekend, and the stairs carpeted right after.  Oh, but we have to move everything out of the bedroom for three days. We aren't really crazy. Our thinking is that there is that stinky out-gassing from these products, and we want that to happen while we are gone. No stink!
I got a call from Heath (new owner of Southeast Tours, for whom we will be working) today. He is driving my (that is my) new ( only 40,000 miles) bus to Skagway. He says I am going to love it. Everything works. It has AIR CONDITIONING. We (I mean, I) will have the only air conditioned bus in town. He is caravanning with other company employees who are taking another new bus, maybe Peggie's, a bunkhouse trailer, and two new four-door jeeps. Our garden this year will not be five planters on the boardwalk, he his bringing equipment and other interested parties so we can plant an actual in-the-ground garden.
Surprising fact-o-the-day: We have been retired for SIX YEARS! ........So, remind me again. Why are we going so far to work?
Answer: For the fun of it!