Slideout fixed!

Sep. 29, 2019

Finally got some good weather so I could check out the slide.  It was a broken bolt on the drive shaft. 

 I thought the little town of Wheatland WY wouldn't have a hardware store open on Sunday but I was wrong.  I bought 2, just in case it happens again.

There's still some life left in the old Prowler! 

Running from the Storm, cont.

Sep. 27, 2019

After a rainy day traveling through the rolling hills of central Wyoming, we made it to the "free" city RV park in Wheatland WY. 

Over the past 5 days we've traveled 1344 miles, not the pace we like to travel!  Here's a map of the route.

Approaching Wheatland it looked like we were outrunning the rain but it caught up with us as we were setting up.  We can stay here for 3 nights and plan to relax and take care of some maintenance. 

Leaving Kelowna BC, we discovered that the power tongue jack on the camper would extend but not retract. 

Not a show stopper, there's a manual override.  We picked up a new jack this morning and it "should" be an easy install tomorrow.  

The forecast is high winds but no rain and low 80's by Sunday.  Tuesday the high is in the 40's, time to move on.

 The other little wrinkle is the slideout won't go out.  One side starts to move but the other side appears to be stuck.  Also not a show stopper, we can function with the slideout in, all be it a little tight. We discovered that two nights ago.  There's a few things I can check but if that fails I have an appointment for service next week in Longmont CO, north of Denver.  

Every time we put the slideout in or out, I hold me breath, almost expecting it to fail in some way.  The slideout cloud hangs over the head of almost any modern RV'er.  Oh well, as we often say,  it's all part of the adventure!

Running from the Storm

Sep. 26, 2019

More from Canada later. 

We spent a week in Canada and had fun with our friends but checking the weather we saw a snow storm coming.  It was time to head back to the states.  We planed to take 3 days to get back to Eureka MT to pick up our stuff but we cut it down to 2.  After packing up and saying our last good-byes we were on the road heading south. We had to travel hard with the storm nipping at our heels. Here's some pictures from the trek.

Monday, Sep. 23

Crossing the border at Midway BC.

Driving through fire damage in northeastern Washington.

Our goal was eastern Colorado (blue arrows) where the extended forecast called for low 70's.

Tuesday, Sep. 24, 2019

Driving the Wildlife Canyon Scenic Byway along lake Pend Oreille, Idaho.

Someware in northern Idaho.

We took a few minutes to walk down to Kootenai Falls on Hwy 37 in Montana.  Definitely worth a return visit.

Wednesday, Sep. 25, 2019

After leaving Eureka,  we saw a fire south of I-90 and smoak obscuring the mountains to the north. 

Majestic peeks, wish we had a better view.

Thursday, Sep. 26, 2019

After a short day leaving Eureka and spending the night at a Wal-Mart in Missoula MT.  We got an early start (7am) for the next leg of the race with the storm. 

Mountains near Butte MT already have a little snow.

Stop for lunch and fuel in Bozeman MT.

The day ends with gray skies.

After a long hard driving day we finally stopped for the night at Wal-Mart in Sheridan Wyoming.  Tomorrow should be an easier day to Wheatland Wyoming and hopefully a few days to relax.

Kelowna BC

Sep 15, 2019

It was overcast while hooking up the camper to leave Texas Creek campground but the rain started again shortly after.

Christena Lake on a rainy morning.

Heading west on hwy 3.

Texas Creek campground. 

Started the Canadian adventure in Eureka MT, spent 2 nights in Gladstone Provincial Park, then on to Kelowna BC.

Sep. 16, 2019

Our first full day in Kelowna started with sunshine, WAHOO! Met up with friends Ray and Cheri and had a nice walk on the western shore of Okanogan Lake.

Some local paddle wheel history.

The S.S. Sicamous is on display for tours at the southern end of Okanogan Lake in Penticton BC.

After our morning walk the four of us headed south to meet more friends from Tucson, George and Ingrid at the Old Grist Mill near Keremeos BC.  The Mill is still operational and there's living history demonstrations during the summer. 

Walking through the garden.

Some Canadian facts...

Canadian currency is very different from US dollars.  It's made of polymer (plastic) rather than paper, it's very colorful and has a lot of very interesting characteristics.

There's no $1 note and no pennies.

The coins are dime, nickel, quarter, $1, known as "loonies" because of the picture of a loon on the back of the coin, the national bird of Canada.  There's also a $2 coin, known as a "Toonie".  It's a distinctive looking coin made of two different colors of metal with a polar bear in the back.  All the coins have a picture of Queen Elizabeth II on the "head side".

The below link has some good images of Canadian money along with descriptions and history.

Canadian Money

Coming next, More from Kelowna BC

On the way to Kelowna British Columbia.

Sep. 13, 2019

We'd made some good friends while staying at an RV resort in Tucson AZ and they invited us to come for a visit in Kelowna BC.  

After over a year of on again, off again preperation, the day finally arrived for our border crossing into Canada.  As they say "... it was a dark and stormy day...".  It started raining just before we hooked up the camper.

Going through the Canadian check point was a breeze.  It took about 2 minutes and the hardest part was remembering the tag number on the truck.

Weather didn't get any better in Canada.

Approaching our first stop in Cranbrook, the horizon looked ominous, complete with lighting. 

We had some clear patches but the clouds were never far away.

The red is what we had left before stopping for the night at Gladstone Provincial Park, blue is the next day's route toward Kelowna. 

Campsite 46 at Texas Creek campground, Gladstone Provincial Park.

First fall colors.

The main attraction at Gladstone is Christina Lake, one of the clearest and warmest in BC.

We stayed 2 nights at Texas Creek hoping to do some hiking but the weather didn't cooperate.  The night before leaving, we drove into town for fuel and stopped in the Christina Lake welcome center to use the wifi.  They had these cool 3-D floor murials.

Can you see where the floor meets the wall?

DON'T FALL IN!!!

Coming next, Kelowna BC