Back in the USA!

 

This is our lovely home after 7 days traveling through Canada….I think this is the “before wash” picture but the after wash still leaves a very dirty trailer. 

We are traveling through the Fraser River canyon on our last leg through BC.  After days surrounded by forests and green fields, we suddenly find ourselves in a high desert, all brown and rocky.

We are in this amazing gorge…..traveling for hours and hours along the mighty Fraser River.  After googling the river I learn it is the longest in British Columbia, 854 miles.  It is running faster than any river I’ve seen.

We are heading for Chilliwack, BC and a visit to the Escape factory.  Our planned overnight stop, a provincial park, is surprisingly full and we land at Telte Yet Campsite at Hope, BC. 

I can see the Fraser from our campsite and it’s more awesome up close!

It’s less than 30 miles from Hope to Chilliwack and two items are on our agenda before crossing back to the States. We want to see how the famous Escapes are made and I am in pursuit of a 80 watt portable solar panel that is sold at Fraserway RV in nearby Abbotsford. 

We have some very special friends who own Escapes…..it seems natural to learn more while we are here.

(Hi! Jenny and Ian..Vermont friends!  And Ranger Duke, Beverly, Vicki and Marv… Texas friends!) 

Dave from the factory gives us an excellent tour…even though we explain that we are not buyers.  We look for Tom’s (from our Egg Camping club) trailer but it’s not completely hatched yet.

The new solar panel is found and purchased and we are heading back through the border.  After a 30 minute wait, we are heading south on 9 and I am turning the cell phone back on. 

It’s hot, the road is narrow and winding and we head for the first Wal-Mart we can find.  Dinner is at Panda Express, a short walk from the super-store.

The next morning we are getting on I-5, what a traffic nightmare!  But managed to get through Seattle without a collision.

At days end we check into American Heritage Campground just below Olympia, WA.  The plan is to rest one or two nights.  I’m exhausted and did not really know it until we quit traveling!

Resting place for the past three days!

Sailboat race on Puget Sound..Olympia harbor.

I am almost back to normal.  Writing this morning seems to help get me grounded again.

Looking at the trip back through Canada, we endured many stressors but the road conditions were the worst problem.  The stretch from the Alaskan border to Haines Junction is real bad.  This is where the engine light came on both going and coming back.  One must constantly be on look out for the huge dips in the road.

Another problem is all mine….I get very anxious when my husband drives.  The twelve years between our ages has not caused much difficulty, but it does cause me to not relax when he is behind the wheel.  So I drive and drive until I’m ready to collapse; then he drives when I no longer care if we die!  I hate admitting this…. he prides himself on his excellent driving.

Problem number 3 is the amount of rain we encountered.  The roads are bad, visibility is poor and the huge tractor trailer trucks are still running wide open!

Mosquitoes come way down the problem scale.  Most of the time we could keep them out of the trailer.  It was really just a few nights that the constant whine in the ear affected our sleeping.  I got really good at catching and killing them!

Problems with the engine light stressed me.  But we were so fortunate not to have a flat tire or a rock thrown through the windshield as both frequently occur on the Alcan.

I was an emotional wreck, in need of personal space, by the end of Canada.  We had been frequently angry with each other, often yelling to relieve the strain.  One time while David was driving, I asked him to just pull over.  Got out of the car and just screamed at the trees…..it was better than screaming at him!

I’m feeling better after a rest.  We are heading south today toward the Columbia River gorge.   Hope it’s a easy drive and we find some magical place to camp!