Hello family, friends, and other dear readers. If you noticed the subtle change from “Weeks” to “Chapters”, well then good for you! Frankly, I needed to change because we are starting to lose track of how long we’ve been on this adventure… and we’ve barely started! It’s going to be easier for me to document all this in sections of “our path taken”. So with that said…
We have just parked in Kitwanga, BC. This is the official beginning of the Cassiar Highway which we are taking north to the Alaska Highway. It appears most people take this south as they are leaving Alaska! While I am a little sad we aren’t going to get the selfie at the official start of the Alaska-Canada Highway in Dawson Creek, so far our trip has made the miss totally worth it.
We crossed the border in Osoyoos on July 4. We had prepared the RV to have nothing that would trigger the Canadian Border patrol, but we got searched….as every RV experiences. We passed, of course, likely after they determined our refrigerator was not stuffed with booze, and they found no extra people hiding in the bathroom. They did leave us with a non-working door handle which we did not discover until we stopped at a fruit stand and restocked a bit of produce. Not to worry, dear reader, we have other ways to get in and out, but we were now faced with our first opportunity to be a DIY maintenance team!
Dale had a hard time remembering that this is NOT a holiday in Canada, and was shocked at how many businesses were open. Of course, the dreaded heat wave hit the area the same time as we did. And while its not 116 (sorry full time AZ friends!) it still is bloody hot. We had reserved two nights at two different Harvest Hosts. But in the end, we went in search of an RV park where we could have hookups and AC. We are self-declared wimps. We did visit both hosts, however. We felt bad about cancelling but wanted to spend money with them anyway.
The first was a Firehall Brewery in Oliver, BC. We had gone as far as setting up for the night, went in for lunch and a beer, and chatted with the host. We left with a free tasting at vinAmite Winery and Lounge. First of all, I have heard of this wine area, but this was our first visit. And when you get a free tasting, well then you have to go! Fortunately, they had lovely wines and we left with a couple of bottles ( I know, dear readers, but we just don’t have room for cases!) From there we drove to Gallagher Lake Resort and spent the rest of the night in cool air. We were thrilled to get this spot, and were absolutely AMAZED that the park was FULL and it appeared EVERYONE had their kids! And all those kids were out PLAYING. It was so wonderful to see. None of them were glued to a screen, they were swimming in the lake, playing in the fields, riding bikes around the park. I hope this isn’t uniquely Canadian, but I haven’t experienced any this like it since I was a kid!
The second night We were supposed to be at Remedy Ranch in Cache Creek, BC. On the way there we decided to stop briefly at Logan Lake and play nine holes at a little course called Meadow Creek. We had a ball!
Being still hot, we booked an alternate stay at Willow Spring’s RV (a bit farther up the road), and then had our most unnerving drive to date. The road was rather hilly, and Dale is a big believer in using the transmission, rather than the brakes, to control speed downhill. Dale pushed so many buttons trying to do this effectively that it appeared that the transmission stopped working. Not happy, with visions of a long tow back the way we came, we limped our way to the closest auto shop….who didn’t have time to help. So, we took a risk, meandered over to Remedy Ranch, chatted with the host, picked up the homemade sourdough bread we had ordered, and continued on to Willow Spring’s. Such a lovely little park, with full hook ups, a view of a lake and a HOT shower. And the best part, together we fixed our door! YouTube videos are a powerful thing. And when we started up to leave the next day, the rig operated just fine. So lesson learned, brakes are cheaper to replace than transmissions and electronics!
The next stop was MaMaYeh RV just south of Prince George, BC. We committed to two nights – and they were two nights of rest. We had a great private spot, but we weren’t really motivated to unhook and go visit the town, and biking anywhere involved being on the highway. So we read, watched movies, and cleaned up the RV storage.
On the way to our next stop we decided to stop at Aspen Grove Golf Course for another nine holes. This small town golfing is an absolute hoot! We have had these courses completely to ourselves.
We were supposed to spend two nights at Fraser Lake, but the park I chose was right on Hiway 16 (noisy), and there really wasn’t anything to do. So one night there, then we packed it up and travelled 30 miles to MolyHills Golf and RV. On Lake Francois, this tough, hilly small town nine-hole course has actually been around for 50 years! We were so impressed. The current owners, Clint and Therese keep the course clean and fun. Gorgeous views of the lake, close encounters with deer and fox, we played three rounds of nine. Hoping we would get better each time, but only got worse, so decided it was time to move on. I do hope that more travelers find this little oasis, we sure fell in love with it!
We stopped in Smithers, BC at the Smithers Brewery on the way to Kitwanga. Situated at the base of a mountain, it had a lovely Alps vibe with the ski area visible from our seat. It was around 80degrees, a little muggy, and very telling of how rarely this area experiences these temps, they had their patio misters on! Dale and I kept thinking it was raining. But the beer was good and it was a great break before the last stretch into Kitwanga.
We have finally found some rain, neighbor feedback on road conditions into Alaska (rough), and Dale made pizza. Now its time for a laundry day!
Sorry for the long length, readers. Its pretty obvious that we are finally doing things that are new and I just want to share! The next chapter will include our experiences along the Cassiar Highway and our trip through the Yukon before we hit Alaska. stay tuned!
Regards and happy trails, Lady Wandering-wise
Weise's Wanderings 
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