Well, we drove about 10 miles to an RV place in Bellingham called Al’s I-5 RV Inc and gave them our sob story about the leaking sewer system. Fortunately, they took us right in and diagnosed the problem as a hole in the hose coming out of the drain of the tank. Then they set in to fix the problem. A couple of hours and $204 later, they had us back in business. We were so grateful they we able to do this for us. In fact, we made an appointment to go back tomorrow afternoon and have the RV serviced since it has been over 4000 miles since I last serviced it.
Barbara did a couple loads of wash and that was about it for the day.
Tomorrow we’ll check out of Cedars RV Resort, get the RV serviced and then report in to our reunion cabin in Maple Falls, WA. We are told there is no cell phone service in that area, so our internet access will be a problem. We are hoping to have stuff ready to upload and when we get back toward Bellingham we plan to upload whatever is waiting to go.
Temperature range: 51 to 77
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Day 23, Tue, Jun 26, 2007 Ferndale, Washington
Today was a down day since we are in the area of Barbara’s family reunion, but the place isn’t available until Thursday afternoon. We did go to town to look for some pipe tobacco for me and we also went by the ferry terminal to see just where we have to go next Tuesday when we leave Bellingham for the ferry trip to Whittier, Alaska.
When we got back to the campground, we decided we should dump the tanks before settling back into our site. After I dumped the tanks, I saw this giant puddle under the RV and backed up to check it out. Surprise, it was sewage!! Obviously we have a good sized leak when the macerator pump is running. So I cleaned up the mess and set up on our site again, knowing that tomorrow we would have to see about getting this problem fixed, and just hoping beyond hope that someone would take mercy on us and slip us in for the repair.
Temperature range: 44 to 66
When we got back to the campground, we decided we should dump the tanks before settling back into our site. After I dumped the tanks, I saw this giant puddle under the RV and backed up to check it out. Surprise, it was sewage!! Obviously we have a good sized leak when the macerator pump is running. So I cleaned up the mess and set up on our site again, knowing that tomorrow we would have to see about getting this problem fixed, and just hoping beyond hope that someone would take mercy on us and slip us in for the repair.
Temperature range: 44 to 66
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Day 22, Mon, Jun 25, 2007 Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada to Ferndale, Washington, USA
We woke up to a rainy, cold morning in Kamloops and hit the road at 10:00 AM (early for us). We wanted to get back to the US before stopping for the day. Kamloops is very mountainous, but it looks like a desert. We drove for several hours before we got back into the beautiful green mountains we so like and by mid afternoon we were seeing snow capped mountains again. What beauty.
About 10 miles before we came to the border, we saw a farmhouse selling fresh strawberries, so we stopped and bought a container for $5.00 Canadian. Barbara washed them and starting eating them before we hit the road, then we remembered we were not allowed to bring fruit across the border, so she threw them out after eating only a few. She said they weren’t really all that good anyhow.
We finally hit the border at 3:30 PM. It took us 30 minutes to get through the line. After answering a few questions, we were waved on through. We looked at a campground just beyond the border, but didn’t like the looks of it, so we headed east to another site that looked good according to the Campground Guide. About halfway there, we decided to backtrack and ended up going to a really nice campground in Ferndale, WA, arriving around 6:30 PM. There are hedges between each campsite for privacy—really nice.
After a lengthy travel day (for us anyhow), we needed groceries, so we went to town. While looking for the grocery story we saw a Chihuahua Mexican restaurant and decided to eat there. That was a mistake, but we did leave there with full tummies. It was the worst Mexican food we’ve ever eaten. We then found the grocery store and stocked up and headed back to the campground to call it a day.
Miles traveled: 285
Hours traveled: 8.5
Temperature range: 44 to 66
Pictures: Click here
About 10 miles before we came to the border, we saw a farmhouse selling fresh strawberries, so we stopped and bought a container for $5.00 Canadian. Barbara washed them and starting eating them before we hit the road, then we remembered we were not allowed to bring fruit across the border, so she threw them out after eating only a few. She said they weren’t really all that good anyhow.
We finally hit the border at 3:30 PM. It took us 30 minutes to get through the line. After answering a few questions, we were waved on through. We looked at a campground just beyond the border, but didn’t like the looks of it, so we headed east to another site that looked good according to the Campground Guide. About halfway there, we decided to backtrack and ended up going to a really nice campground in Ferndale, WA, arriving around 6:30 PM. There are hedges between each campsite for privacy—really nice.
After a lengthy travel day (for us anyhow), we needed groceries, so we went to town. While looking for the grocery story we saw a Chihuahua Mexican restaurant and decided to eat there. That was a mistake, but we did leave there with full tummies. It was the worst Mexican food we’ve ever eaten. We then found the grocery store and stocked up and headed back to the campground to call it a day.
Miles traveled: 285
Hours traveled: 8.5
Temperature range: 44 to 66
Pictures: Click here
Day 21, Sun, Jun 24, 2007 Valemount, British Columbia to Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Today started out beautifully. We played the Oak Ridge Boys hymns and gospel CD and with the snow-capped mountain scenery it was as close to heaven as one could get and still be on earth.
Kamloops was a bit disappointing. It’s mountainous, but all dirt except for some scrub bushes. I’m sure the people of Kamloops would disagree with us; sorry, folks!
Miles traveled: 255
Hours traveled: 6.5
Pictures: Click here
Kamloops was a bit disappointing. It’s mountainous, but all dirt except for some scrub bushes. I’m sure the people of Kamloops would disagree with us; sorry, folks!
Miles traveled: 255
Hours traveled: 6.5
Pictures: Click here
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Day 20, Sat, Jun 23, 2007 Valemount, British Columbia, Canada
Today we decided to take a down day. We had some internet work we wanted to do and some cleaning we needed to do. It was a beautiful day here in Valemount, although a little windy this afternoon. We got the motorhome cleaned up, took the rugs out and shook and vacuumed, and went to town (actually a small village) and got a couple of items we needed. Late afternoon we went back to town and found a nice little Chinese restaurant and had a great dinner. Afterwards we got relieving showers at the shower house, updated our pictures and blog We almost have our pictures updated now. We added Days 13, 15, 18 and 19. We also added more pictures to Day 17 if you want to go take a look. We are hoping to get an early start to Kamloops tomorrow, as it is about a 200 mile trip and we are hoping to arrive there fairly early.
Temps ranged from 44F to 68F
Pictures: Click here
Temps ranged from 44F to 68F
Pictures: Click here
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Day 19, Fri, Jun 22, 2007 Hinton, Alberta, Canada to Valemount, British Columbia, Canada
We left the Walmart at Parks West Mall which is anchored by Safeway and WalMart. This Walmart looked like just a regular store, nothing at all like we expect a Walmart to look. We had a gorgeous drive today, seeing snow capped mountains all day long. We drove through Jasper National Park and saw a herd of dall sheep and a black bear along the side of the road, but we couldn’t get their picture before they disappeared into the weeds. We passed into the Pacific Time Zone and also crossed the border into British Columbia, Canada. We’ve now been in four Canadian Provinces on this trip. We finished this short day by stopping at a very nice campground in Valemount, BC.
Miles traveled: 129
Hours traveled: 3.5 (does not include time stopped)
Temperature range: 42 to 68
Pictures: Click here
Miles traveled: 129
Hours traveled: 3.5 (does not include time stopped)
Temperature range: 42 to 68
Pictures: Click here
Friday, June 22, 2007
Day 18, Thu, Jun 21, 2007 Perryvale, Alberta, Canada to Hinton, Alberta, Canada
We left North Wapiti Kennels, home of the Ramsteads, after a delicious breakfast. Mark and Karen were very gracious hosts and we appreciated their hospitality. What great people they are! From their house we headed to the West Edmonton Mall, the world’s largest shopping and entertainment center, complete with an ice skating rink, an amusement park, and a beach with several slides and wave pool. The place is huge! We left there and headed west and ended the day in Hinton. While looking for a campground in Hinton we found a truck/RV wash, so took time to wash this filthy RV. It was really a mess after two plus weeks, driving through a lot of rain and being on some pretty muddy roads. Then being unsuccessful in finding a campground, we ended up pulling into the Hinton Walmart (along with about ten other rigs) and spending the night.
Pictures: Click here
Pictures: Click here
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