October 11, 2010 by Rae

A Wenatchee Detour

Donna, another friend, and I headed into Washington state today. The purpose of the trip was so that Donna could have her defective Verizon phone replaced while it was still on warranty, something which was going to expire in a couple of days. Verizon had told her that Omak had the nearest store. We figured we’d pop in at the Princes grocery store in Oroville then go to Omak, do the Verizon store, grab some Mexican food at Tequila’s, and finish the day at Walmart. I drove because my car was quicker to empty than was Donna’s truck. 🙂

Slight change of plan at the Verizon store, which is located in the Ace Hardware. They are just a distributor and it was necessary to go to a proper Verizon store. The nearest ones were Spokane or Wenatchee. I’d seen a road sign for the latter, so I confirmed that it was just a hundred miles away. We’d already come this far, it made no sense to let the warranty on Donna’s phone expire! So, we came out of the store and told our other friend that she could either spend the afternoon at Walmart or join us on an impromptu road trip. The decision was easy to make!

Unfortunately, Tequila’s was closed, so we decided to push on and stop at the first promising location for lunch.

The drive to Wenatchee was just gorgeous and easy. Our stomachs were a rumbling trio when we got to Pateros, so we pulled into the strip mall and decided to try out the little bakery there. We had nice turkey and cranberry sandwiches (Thanksgiving, remember!).

Coming into Wenatchee was a bit stressful because we didn’t really have directions and I’d left the GPS behind. We got off the highway, crossed a bridge, and headed into downtown, which made the whole day worthwhile. Downtown Wenatchee is stuck in the 1950s! Nearly all the store signs are those old signs they had back then. It was a most amazing time warp! The road through downtown led to the shopping district where we recognized the landmarks we were told to look for. We’d gone a little out of our way, but not actually done a detour. I definitely want to go back and do a photo tour of town!

It was late afternoon when Donna’s phone issues were satisfactorily resolved, so we agreed to shoot straight back to Omak, do Walmart, then grab dinner at the Mexican place in Oroville if it was open. We stopped again in Pateros for gas and then pushed on. It was getting late, so we didn’t dally at Walmart, but I will be going back there with fabric samples ASAP since I found there something for the rig I’ve been looking for since I started planning the decorating phase….

Thankfully, the restaurant in Oroville, Trino‘s, was open! Between the chips with cold slaw, the gigantic burritos, and the deep fried tortilla cheese cake bites with ice cream (not my idea!), we pretty much rolled out of there! I may not have to eat for a week. 🙂

Getting back into Canada was reasonably painless and then it was a hop, skip, and a jump to home. What a great day!

September 21, 2010 by Rae

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.

December 30, 2009 by Rae

Up in Arms About Border Crossings

There is a thread going on right now on an RVing forum about bringing handguns into Canada.

Handguns aren’t permitted, it’s as simple as that. Many members of the forum apparently travel with handguns and were quick to link to Canadian legislation on the topic. There were a lot of ignorant responses like ‘Canadians aren’t allowed to protect themselves’ (actually, we have at least as many firearms per capita as do Americans, only in the form of rifles) and ‘there’s nothing worth seeing in Canada anyway’ (your loss).

I’ve never understood the American zealousness towards their handguns, but I will say that I’ve been equally motivated lately to not enter the United States, especially by air. Frankly, I find it insulting that I would have to be patted down, never mind how I feel about having to check my laptop.

During my brief stint in the intelligence field my suspicions were confirmed: the ridiculous airline security policies put in place since 9/11 only exist to put the mind of travelers at ease. Yes, they do scare off the less serious criminals, but they won’t trap those who are truly motivated. Case in point, the Christmas-day 2009 attempt.

I’ve been working hard at putting together a plan that might enable me to spend at least part of next winter in the southern US seeing as my Canadian snowbirding options have all been explored. But with the amount of suspicion between both countries and the uncertainty at the border, I’m loathe to make any firm decisions.

So much for the longest undefended border in the world.

July 21, 2009 by Rae

Sheep Camp to the Summit

Because of the risk of avalanches later in the day as temperatures rise on the summit, it is recommended that hikers leave camp very early, no later than 6AM. This meant getting up at 4:30. I was surprised to find out that it’s dark at Sheep Camp at 4:30. I haven’t seen much darkness in the past few months!

The morning was damp an a fine rain began to fall just as we finished packing. We all slipped into rain gear and covered our packs then began the long slog to the summit.

This section of the trail is called the Long Hill, a steady ascent through rock fields that was a lot easier than research would have led me to believe. In fact, long slow climbs were never much of an issue for me during this trip; my training worked! We stopped for a brief break at a section of the Long Hill called the Flats and then pushed on to the legendary Scales. This is where packers would drop the miners’ goods, reweigh them, and up their prices for carrying the articles over the pass. Many things were abandoned at this point and a lot of artifacts remain. I would have liked more time to explore this area, but I did get to poke around even as I scrambled to change clothing, have a snack, pee, and try to see the pass for the first time, which I was unable to as it was ‘socked in’, a common occurrence. A sunny day would have been great, but incredibly lucky; Mark only saw the pass clearly once or twice in his twenty or so times over it. We had ‘normal’ weather, not great, but nowhere near a worst case scenario.

The next hour or so was endless…

We crossed a snow field and then started up the field of boulders known as the ‘Golden Staircase.’ I did not feel very confident, so I was happy to let Mark lead me up what he deems to be easiest path, taking much longer than anyone else to climb as we ascended in a zig zag pattern while others climbed directly. He provided guidance with where to step and occasionally offered an arm to get up a particularly tough section, but I otherwise did all the work myself, hauling a 40lb pack up a 45 degree rock cliff. I even took time to turn around and look down. The climb was hard, scary, thrilling, and oh-so-satisfying. I had such a profound feeling of accomplishment when I got up this section that had terrified me so much!

The top of the Golden Staircase isn’t the top of the pass, however. There was another snow field, another rock field, yet another snow field, and a final rock field before we reached the true summit. The site is marked with a cairn indicating the border into Canada. During the gold rush, there was a Northwest Mounted Police outpost here, where the Mounties made sure that all arrivals into Canada had their requisite tonne of goods before being allowed into the country.

Even here, there was no rest for the weary as there was still a brief climb up to the warm up shelter, over which flew a welcome sight: a Canadian flag! The warden on site provided us all with hot water for drinks, a much appreciated gesture. I was happy to tuck into peanut butter and honey wraps, then sip hot cocoa, feeling smug, elated, and a bit daunted by the fact that six hours had passed since we’d left Sheep Camp and we still had six hours left to go…

4:30am at Sheep Camp

half of the day ahead

what we could see was made all the more beautiful by the fog

Long Hill

Final slog up Long Hill

the Scales

Start of the Golden Staircase

towards the second summit

snow field between first and second summits

we’re definitely in Canada!

Yes, the outhouse is on wheels. It is over a barrel. When the barrel is full, the outhouse is rolled onto the next barrel and the full barrel is flown out by helicopter!

July 20, 2009 by Rae

Fraser to Skagway on the Whitepass and Yukon Railroad

The Whitepass and Yukon Railroad spelled the end of the Chilkoot trail’s usefulness, providing an easy route into the Klondike. Today, the railroad is renowned the world over for its gorgeous vistas.

We boarded the WPYR in Fraser, British Columbia, and rode it all the way into Skagway, Alaska, 40 odd miles through some of the biggest and most beautiful country I’d seen so far.