Good Karma!

 We're off on another adventure, a ten day camping trip tour to Prince Rupert to visit granddaughter, Nyah, and her Mom. Unfortunately, Eby's little election fiasco interfered with me completing the engine refit on our white VW west, so we have rented a van from Karma campers. The van is a big Ford transit, and Karma fits them out a little more rustic than your typical camper rental. It has a big high double bed, wood slat ceiling, lovely wood countertop, bench, and shelving. The only down side is that it does not have a built in cookstove. It has a portable butane cookstove that has to be used outside. Not so great for winter camping!

We set off from West Van about 1:30 Tuesday, up the sea to sky highway, pausing at Pemberton about 4 pm to determine whether or not to proceed across the challenging Duffey Lake road. We decided to go for it because there was to be a free BC Hydro campground just short of Lillooet.

The road was OK... we have done it before a few times, big grades, very winding, and rough pavement, but that can be fun for a guy who enjoys driving.

We arrived at the BC Hydro campground only to encounter a "closed for the season" sign, contrary to what our Camp4U app had to say. There was already one camper parked outside the gate so we just pulled alongside for the night. It took a while to work out the van's storage and gas heater before settling into a very cozy bed and a nice long sleep.

Wednesday Oct 28:

We got up and set off quite early, as we had gone to bed quite early. Took a little boo at beautiful downtown Lillooet (not!), and then head eastward and then northward on Hwy97.

Snow began shortly after Lillooett and pretty much on and off for the rest of the morning. We stopped in Clinton for a nice coffee break at a little hotel restaurant. It was immediately characteristic of a small town BC cafe... old photos and posters on the wall, old farmer types at the tables drawling about their tractors and the injuns.

Stopped for lunch in the camper in Williams Lake... planning to carry on to Quesnel tonight.

The drive to Quesnel was uneventful, aside from the snowy conditions. We only saw one wipeout... a pickup pulling a house trailer jackknifed into a ditch. Guy was OK.

We did have a little drive around Williams Lake to find a thrift shop for a pair of mitts for Bill. Nothing particular to write home about.

The campground in Quesnel was behind a motel near the airport... quiet and comfortable.

We tried using the little butane stove supplied with the camper to heat up our chili. It has to be used outside of course, due to CO build up. It seemed to Tak forever, and indeed never did heat thoroughly. Same thing in the morning... wouldn't boil water.

So I looked it up... turns out butane doesn't work well below 10c. Who knew? Really the only thing disappointing about this van.

Thursday, Oct 29:  Onward to Prince George.

The roads had cleared from Quesnel, so the drive to Prince George was uneventful. It certainly is big country up this way... vast fields and pastures, often with cattle, and the occasional horse farm.

We arrived in Prince George at noonish, and headed downtown to find a coffee shop. First impressions were of a fairly significant city with numerous suburban malls and commercial parks. The downtown certainly has its seedy side, but not at all in a threatening way.

We had been messaging Pat's nephew who is in nursing school at UNBC, but hadn't made contact, so we headed up to the campus just to scope it out. It is a fairly tight complex of some quite modern and very impressively designed and organised buildings, somewhat like SFU.

We spent an hour or so wandering around, pretending we were some 60 years younger! I guess were were enjoying it so much that the only pix we got were the garden and the parking lot!

From there we sought the nearby campground, Blue Cedar and registered. It was expensive... more than $60, even with the 25% winter discount. But due to the impending -10c night, we wanted electricity for our electric heater. The van has a good gas heater, but it seems to be a bit temperamental at times.

Later in the afternoon we head down to the Cottonwood Island park in PG for a lovely stroll through the cottonwoods along the Nechako River. We had noticed the pretty little chickadees flitting around us as we walked, and a couple of them landed on my toque. Obviously they were used to being fed by the walkers.

And we noticed these amazing beaver shoppings along the way.

We were about to leave the park when an old guy approached and said... have you seen the moose? At first we didn't think he was serious, but he walked us down to the riverside and along a smaller trail, and sure enough... a female and her adolescent relaxing right in front of us! these are not magnified.

And as we walked toward the car he gave us a few seeds for the chickadees.

Friday, October 30:  Westward to Smithers

 I realise this is getting to be a long blog, but I haven't had the opportunity to forward it earlier.

The first stop along Hwy 16 was Vanderhoof Very commercial along the highway, but off toward the river was a very pretty park at riverside for a nice 30 minute leg stretch.

Further along the towns were mostly small and definitely farm country vibes, until we approached Smither with its beautiful Hudson Bay Mountain, and surrounding snow covered peaks.

The town itself had a completely different atmosphere from the other Hwy 16 towns... much more like Nelson or a less touristy Whistler, with its focus on shops and restaurants aimed at the young outdoorsy crowd. After a late afternoon Main Street stroll, we did feel compelled to drop into the Smithers Brewery.

We are boondocking this evening alongside the town soccer field. Hopefully the gas  heater works well.

I'll try to send this off this evening.