British Columbia

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At Walmart’s Mercy

People shop early in Kelowna! By the time I got up at 8, manoeuvring out of the parking lot would have been a real challenge. I popped the hood and saw nothing amiss, then started Miranda. She purred and idled beautifully, but I didn’t try to put her in D and move out of the spot.

First order of business was to see how Walmart would feel about my staying a day and second night here if I had to, and then to find some help. No sense wasting time here if they were going to make me move on.

Walmart required some groveling, writing a letter to management, leaving a note on my dash, and promising to spend oodles of money here. I wish I could have actually spoken to management and laid out my case: why make me move to an RV park when the garage I found is literally only a couple of blocks away?

The first place I called this morning was the Ford dealership. They couldn’t accommodate a 31′ motorhome. I’m learning to not take no for an answer and pushed the lady to refer me to someone else, which she did.

I called these other folks and gave only the bare bones story to secure an appointment. They can see me at 8AM tomorrow, which is perfect since it’ll enable me to manoeuvre out of the Walmart parking lot before it’s choked with cars.

The man I spoke to asked for a bit more of the story and told me I surely have one of three problems, all of which are at the top of my list, too: leaky or loose hose, clogged fuel intake, clogged air filter. If it’s a best case scenario, which is that there is no actual problem except a sensor that needs to be reset, I’m looking at $73 bucks with tax. Otherwise, I’m probably looking at a $122 job with tax. Worst case scenarios aren’t even worth considering at this point.

He told me “There’s no reason to panic, this is likely something minor!” and I had to smile since I haven’t been panicking. I know enough about the causes for a check engine light to not be worried about a super costly repair. I’m just still pissed off that this had to happen in the middle of nowhere in some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen!!!

Once I have had Miranda looked at and know that I can hit the road, I will decide if I’m moving to the RV park early or not, provided they can accommodate me.

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Bitter Disappointment

The first part of today was wonderful and merits a gushing post of its own, so that will follow. But it was such a tiny part of this much too long day that I can’t even start with that.

Today was a case of déjà vu. Remember the first time I crossed the Rockies? The day started off great then went to pots around Revelstoke when I discovered I’d lost my 12V power. Followed a mad dash to the Okanagan. Well, that was today. Except the troubles started after the Columbia Ice Fields. And they were engine related.

I was coming down a very, very long 8% grade in low gear when my check engine light came on. It bugged me, but I know that a non-flashing check engine sign signifies a minor problem. Miranda was running great and not making any odd noises. I continued on and stopped a good while later after a stretch of flat so that I could sort of coast into the rest spot instead of having to jam the brakes to make it. My brakes weren’t mushy or showing any signs of problems, but I didn’t want to take any chances.

Soon as Miranda was stopped, she stalled. I took a deep breath, had a bathroom and snack break, then tried to start her. She’d start, then stall. I waited until the coast was clear behind me, started her, shifted into drive, and hit the gas. It took two tries, but she got going. Once she was moving, all was well and she performed well without a hint of trouble. Engine heat and RPMs were normal, there were no odd noises or smells.

I was out in the middle of nowhere and figured that if she was moving okay, I’d better keep going. I had about a hundred kilometres to the junction to the Transcanada highway in which to figure out my next move.

My options were:

1) Go east to Banff. But what then? I’d be a hundred kilometres out of my way in $50-night-for-boondocking territory.

2) Go south to Cranbrook via Kootenay park, as planned. I didn’t want to see the Kootenays that way and I had no idea what sort of conditions I would be heading into.

3) Go west via the Transcanada highway to 97A and the Okanagan, like I did back in ’08. This would get me out of the federal parks and into civilization along a well traveled road. I knew that Kelowna was a long, but doable, distance away, that I could get there with the gas I had on board, and that there I would be well situated to get help or even a tow to Osoyoos if needed.

I picked option 3, of course, and made yet another dash through Yoho, Glacier, and Revelstoke national parks. *sighs* I worked my ass off all summer to make this fall trip especially memorable and instead I’m living a nightmare all over again. Every time I had to stop for construction or a red light took ten years off my life. Some times she’d start up in one try, sometimes it took several. Once, in Vernon, she didn’t even conk out. Crossing that town almost made me regret not picking the Walmart there, but there are a ton of turns and stops and red lights to get into that store while the one in Kelowna is right off the highway.

The mechanical issue is surely minor. I probably have a clog in my fuel intake line or the air filter. It might even be something I’ll recognize the minute I pop the hood tomorrow morning. But put yourself in my shoes: you’re five hundred kilometres from civilization and your stalling vehicle runs normally when you get it going. Would you stop to try to solve the problem right there or make a run for it?

So, I’m now a couple of hours away from Osoyoos and my fun is thoroughly spoiled. Even if I get the problem solved first thing in the morning I’m too close to my destination for it to make sense running around for another week. I think I’ll just call the RV park and see if they can take me in early, then get a head start on the contract/job hunt.

I’m too tired and angry right now to make any sort of wild affirmations about what I may choose to do or not do the next time I take Miranda on the road, but I’m pretty sure this is going to be the last time I take her on a scenic detour.

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Google Embarasses Itself

I’m back to where I was in ’08, trying to decide how I’m going to get to the south Okanagan from Banff, and, of course, want to go a different route. I had thought to dip into Montana and Idaho, but there are too many reasons why I don’t want to cross the border with Miranda at this time.

So, I decided to see if I could hit Radium Hot Springs and the Crows Nest Pass in one fell swoop. I put into Google Maps the following locations:

A) Banff

B) Radium Hot Springs

C) Crows Nest

D) Osoyoos

Without asking for any clarifications, this is what Google spit out:

(I particularly like the part where it has me go to Australia and then come right back around to BC.)

At any rate, the Crowsnest Pass is out of my way, but I will be going through Radium Hot Springs and the Kootenays, a route a friend tried to convince me to take back in 08′. Let it not be said that I don’t pay attention to comments!

This route puts me at three easy days to Osoyoos while, not counting today, I have nine days left before I start paying rent. I’d like to divide the mileage up into shorter days and perhaps spend a day or two in another location outside of the national parks system.

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The Big Horn Highway

Since I was going to lose an hour today, moving into Alberta time, I wrangled my butt out of bed by 8PST and was on the road within the half hour.

Gas in Dawson Creek was the cheapest I had seen since leaving the Yukon: 106.9. Having only a third of a tank left and heading into unknown territory I was going to take advantage of this low price when suddenly I remembered that several Alberta guests this past summer told me that gas is very cheap in Alberta. Having more than enough fuel to get to the next big town, Grande Prairie, I decided to see if this was true.

Immediately after Dawson Creek, you enter the oddly named town of Pouce Coupe. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the town lost its accent and is actually Pouce Coupé or Cut Thumb. As I said, odd name. 🙂

The first gas station after the Alberta border is a Fas Gas offering easy RV access, which is more important to me than price. Even when the price is 96.9. Ninety-six point nine. Ninety-six point nine. Less than a dollar a litre!!! I sure was glad I didn’t gas up in Fort St John (109.9) or Dawson Creek!

I pulled out the GPS for the first time in so long that it thought the nearest Walmart was in Fairbanks, 400km away! I put in the town of Hinton so that the GPS could give me an estimated ETA time. It said 2:30ish PST which felt like a reasonable driving day.

Out of Dawson Creek, one takes BC highway 2, which becomes Alberta highway 43. At Grande Prairie, you need to turn south to highway 40, The Big Horn Highway, and then it’s a straight shot to Hinton, gateway to Jasper. Thanks to Mile by Mile I knew to expect a good, but isolated, road with some steep grades.

Except for some rough patches near the end, the road was a dream to drive! The grades were all short and sweet and the landscape was amber and verdant as far as I could see. Which wasn’t far seeing as I drove straight into fog and snow all day. The conditions weren’t bad enough to pull over since the snow wasn’t sticking to the road, but the limited visibility meant for a slow pace. A lot of people honked at me today. With only a tiny handful of places to pull over, there wasn’t much I could do to soothe their impatience.

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The RV park I’d picked ended up being closed for the season even though the website said they were open well into October! I was not pleased since there was no way to turn around. After driving hard for six hours, the last thing I wanted to do was unhook the car and figure out how to turn the motorhome around. At least, I did that instead of pushing on down a tiny road hoping to find a place to turn without having to unhook!

There were a couple of other options, the nearest of which was the KOA which I knew was open. Like many RVers, I avoid KOAs since they are very pricey, but I decided to check out this one. Lo and behold, a FHU site was just $30.90, taxes included. It must be an off season rate! I paid up for two nights, but won’t be hooking up the water and sewer tonight since it’ll probably go down to freezing. I’ll just finish off my fresh water tank with an indecently long hot shower and then refill the fresh water and dump the black and grey tomorrow… after I get back from visiting Jasper!

For tonight, I am debating driving into Hinton and having dinner… but staying home with a movie and leftover spaghetti sounds sooo appealing.  It seems that the more I settle into my RVing life the less of a tourist I become!

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This is Awesome!

I can’t believe I’m boondocking and working on my main computer while surfing the net. If I could only get my generator back on line life would be perfect! My batteries are holding up well, but are definitely due for a good charge. Tonight I need to ration my battery usage to ensure I’ll have heat throughout the night (I have to wonder if the weather is ever good in Dawson Creek!).

Before anyone comments, I’m still having the same issue I’ve been having with the generator–no gas is getting to it and it looks like I’ll have to change out not only the fuel filter but also the entire line. The project is too daunting for words and I’d rather focus on finding a tiny portable genset, something with just enough juice to recharge the batteries but not actually run anything. I don’t need or miss 120V power when I’m boondocking and can’t bring myself to sink money into the onboard generator without knowing that it’ll definitely pay off. I’ve seen several possibilities for less than $100 on Craigslist, but I’m always too late. I’ll keep checking.

At any rate, thanks to Google (and Telus!), I have plotted my way to Banff, concentrating on getting to Jasper. I’d really like to get to an RV park near there tomorrow because the batteries need charging, but the distance seems a bit ambitious on an unknown route. I have lined up where I hope to stay and made a note of the distances between the major centres so that I can decide mid-afternoon whether I need to stop or keep going.

The weather forecast for the next few days isn’t promising. The prairies have been hit with a cold snap and there is a snowfall warning for Jasper. So, I’m highly motivated to get to a place where I can justify paying for hookups in case I need to hang out for a few days. But I am not wavering on my itinerary. It took longer than I thought it would, but I am finally making my way back to places I thought I’d see in the spring of ’09!