New Tires on RV

We were up at 7 a.m. and broke camp to head over to Les Schwab Tires here in Ferndale. Wouldn’t you know it would start raining just as we were getting ready to leave.

We arrived at Les Schwab about 8:30 and they were working on 2 trucks and it would be a while before they could get to us. Mike had a tech unload the RV flat tire from inside the Vue. We looked at the flat tire and found that it had a 2½" cut in the sidewall which caused it to go flat. We had just under 55,000 miles on the old tires.

 Since we replaced the flat tire with our new tire we had as a spare, we're only having to buy 5 tires today. We're going to keep one of the old tires to have as a spare.

Mike asked where a good place to eat breakfast was and we were directed to the Hilltop Restaurant near Bellingham. The rain had quit while we were at Les Schwab’s, but we rain into some heavy rain on our way to the Hilltop Restaurant.

Mike ordered pancakes with sausage and a biscuit and gravy. I had the Denver Omelet with bacon and toast and we both had coffee to drink. The folks at Les Schwab were right when they recommended the Hilltop for breakfast.

From Ferndale

It had quit raining by the time we finished breakfast and since we were so close to Bellingham, we decided to go back to Wal-Mart to get a couple of things we forgot when we were there a few days ago.

We also stopped at Petco to buy K9 Advantix for Tinker. It was on sale there for $10 off and I had a $2 coupon because I had completed one of Petco’s surveys from the last time we had shopped there.

We returned to Les Schwab a little after 10:30 and they were finished with mounting the new tires. We had a tech load one of the old RV tires that we're going to use as a spare into the Vue. Our bill for the new tires (Michelin XRV 235/80R X 22.5) and installation came to $2780.

I stopped at Costcutter grocery to pick up a couple of things we needed and Mike headed on back to the campground with the RV.

We set up the RV and discovered that our Energy Management panel is now registering the 50 amp service correctly!

After lunch I washed a couple of loads of clothes and spent the rest of the afternoon organizing our photos. Mike cleaned the new RV tires and put 303 Aerospace Protectant on them.

Tomorrow we leave here and head south to McChord AFB and the Holiday Park FamCamp there. From what we’ve heard there are so many trees in the section of the campground with hook-ups that it isn’t possible to get satellite TV reception. We’re considering staying in the dry camping section where satellite TV reception is possible.

Lunch in Ferndale

This morning we took Tinker to Pooch Palace for his 11:00 grooming appointment.

From Ferndale

Then we drove to downtown Ferndale to look around and to find someplace to eat lunch. We passed by the Chihuahua Family Mexican Restaurant and immediately decided to come back a little later for lunch.

From Ferndale

We stopped at the Post Office to buy some stamps and to mail a Thank You note to Rena, Sonja & Edie at the Watson Lake Visitor Center for helping us when we had the flat tire on our RV.

We drove around taking photos of some of the houses in Ferndale.

From Ferndale

We found the Centennial Riverwalk Park and saw these beautiful hanging flower baskets on the Nooksack River Bridge.

From Ferndale

We saw beautiful hanging baskets everywhere in Ferndale.

From Ferndale

After driving around town for a while, we drove back to the Chihuahua Family Mexican Restaurant for lunch.

Mike ordered their Cancun Steak and I had the Burrito Manadero. Our food was served on huge heavy plates and the servings were so large, I thought we would be bringing some home with us. The food was so good that before we realized it, we had eaten it all! Our bill came to $26.00 (we just had water today). We have eaten some really good Mexican food on our trip this summer.

From Ferndale

We passed a couple of roadside coffee shops on our way back to the campground to wait for the call from the groomer that Tinker was ready to be picked up.

From Ferndale

We got a call from Pooch Palace at 2:45 that Tinker was ready and we drove there to pick him up. They did a really good job in grooming Tinker and we were very pleased. Our bill today was $61.00 before we tipped the groomer.

Tomorrow we drive down to Les Schwab to have the new tires put on the RV.

Olive Garden & Shopping in Bellingham

We drove down to Burlington this morning to go to the Camping World there. We needed a new sediment filter and a filter for under the kitchen sink and some other items.

We then drove up to Bellingham to have lunch at the Olive Garden there. Mike had won a $25 gift card at his high school reunion back in May. We both ordered the Never Ending Pasta Bowl. Mike had the whole wheat linguine with the 5 Cheese Sauce and I had spaghetti with the 5 Cheese Sauce. It was very good and we only had 1 bowl each – no refills. Next time I would like to try the Pizzaiola Meat Sauce. Our bill came to $28.53, so we paid $3.53 plus our tip.

We stopped at Wal-Mart to buy a few things we had forgotten when we were staying here. We drove back to where the RVs park to see how many are there and there were about a dozen RVs.

I needed a new lap desk because the one I have now is filled with plastic beads and the beads are coming out. We’ve tried gluing it, but the beads are coming out from somewhere else.

We had checked at Wal-Mart and they didn’t have any – that is where I bought the one I have now. We went to Office Depot and they only had small lap desks and I need one that will hold my 17” laptop.

We tried Best Buy next and found a couple of lap desks and ended up choosing the one for $35. It doesn’t have any beads that will come out and it has a pull-out mouse shelf which I like.

Our last stop was at Petco to look for some new bowls for Tinker. We have a stainless steel double bowl feeder that is rusting and the rubber cushions that cover the sharp edges have split and you can get a nasty cut from them (I know, because I have gotten cut cleaning his bowls).

We found a stainless steel double bowl feeder that cost $13.03 (inc tax) and I had a $12 refund card from Novartis when I bought Tinker's Interceptor for heartworms. So his bowls ended up costing us $1.03 - a good deal!

After completing our shopping in Bellingham, we drove back north to Ferndale.

Bellingham to Ferndale

This morning we watched a lot of the RVs that spent the night here leave . There are still at least a dozen still here in the parking lot at Wal-Mart. We left the Wal-Mart in Bellingham at 11:00 and drove 9 miles north on I-5 to The Cedars RV Resort in Ferndale and arrived there at 11:30.

From Ferndale

Mike had called Coast to Coast 3 days ago to make a reservation for 5 days here. We are using the Coast to Coast points we “purchased” with the points we had earned on our Good Sam Club credit card, so our stay here is free.

Mike went in to the office to check-in and I went in to the laundry to check it out. Mike paid $16.25 for the cable hook-up even though we should be able to receive Dish Network here.

From Ferndale

There were a couple of little girls with a lemonade stand next to the office and we went over to buy some lemonade. I was busy checking my change and didn’t notice the concrete car stop in front of me. I tripped and fell and landed on my left knee – Mike said he tried to keep me from falling, but couldn’t. I scraped my knee and right hand, but didn’t break anything. We did buy 2 lemonade drinks from the little girls for 30¢ each. Mike, who doesn’t particularly like lemonade, said it was pretty good.

We got back in the RV and while Mike drove us the little distance to our campsite, I put a cold pack on my knee and elevated it for a few minutes.

We are in site #138 (a pull-through) with full hook-ups (50 amp elec). The Cedars is owned by Holiday Trails Resorts who also owns Camperland RV Resort in Rosedale. There are hedges here separating the campsites, but they aren’t as thick or as tall as the ones at Camperland.

From Ferndale

We called American Home Base to have our mail sent to General Delivery in Lakewood, WA near McChord Air Force Base where we’re heading when we leave here.

Mike called Les Schwab Tires here in Ferndale to set up and appointment to have 5 new tires put on the RV next week. Mike had called them just before we left Alaska to inquire about new tires for the RV to be sure they had the tires in stock. We have an appointment for next Tuesday at 9 a.m. for the new tires.

We also called Pooch Palace here in Ferndale just north of the campground to get an appointment for Tinker to be groomed while we are here. Tinker has an appointment for Monday for the works – clipping, bath, ears plucked, and toe nails ground.

Crossing the Canada/US border into Washington

We got up at 8:00 and Mike took some photos of the campground this morning.

From Rosedale to Bellingham

From Rosedale to Bellingham

Then we walked up to the campground restaurant, Country Kitchen, to eat breakfast. Mike had pancakes and sausage and I had eggs with bacon and sausage and toast for $17 - a very good breakfast.

From Rosedale to Bellingham

We went back to the RV and took our time getting ready to leave the campground. Check-out is at noon and we only have about 55 miles to drive today, so it was 11:15 when we left Camperland RV Resort.

We stopped at the Shell station just down the road to get gas in the RV. We got 209.01 liters at $1.269 a liter (55.231 gal at $4.886 a gal). I reminded Mike that we were only a few miles from the Canada/US border and we should wait to get gas there – but he wanted to get gas before we got on the road.

From Rosedale to Bellingham

We drove through Abbotsford where the houses and apartments were built up on the surrounding hills.

From Rosedale to Bellingham

We reached the Canadian/U.S. border at 12:20 and there were only a few cars ahead of us.

From Rosedale to Bellingham

After answering the standard questions at U.S. customs, we were on our way south to Bellingham.

A few minutes after crossing the border into Washington, we passed this USA gas station where regular gas was $3.779 a gallon and we paid $4.886 a gallon in Rosedale! Did I say "I told you so" - Noooo, but there was definite clinching of teeth to keep from saying it. I figure Mike can beat himself up enough for not waiting to buy gas without me saying it.

From Rosedale to Bellingham

We passed by a car dealer in Lynden where we saw this colorful truck parked on the lot.

From Rosedale to Bellingham

We also saw these vintage cars

From Rosedale to Bellingham

and this ‘71 Willys Jeepster.

From Rosedale to Bellingham

We drove south on SR-539 and stopped at the Safeway in Lynden at 12:45 to buy some groceries and we had lunch while we were parked there.

After lunch we drove south on SR-539 to I-5 South to the Wal-Mart in Bellingham where we’re spending the night.

We arrived at Wal-Mart at 2:00 and were surprised to see how many RVs were already parked there. We found a place to park the RV and unhitched the Vue. Then we went into Wal-Mart (not a Supercenter) and did a little shopping.

Mike drove the car over to a car wash across from Wal-Mart to wash the road grime off before we went to dinner.

There is a Taco Time near the Wal-Mart and we drove over there for dinner tonight. Rena at the Watson Lake Visitor Center told me that Taco Time was so much better than Taco Bell and we decided to try it tonight. We don’t eat often at Taco Bell, so I really couldn’t tell much difference.
As the afternoon and evening progressed more and more RVs came in to spend the night at Wal-Mart. There must be at least 25 RVs here and a few of the ones near us look like they have been living here for a while.

Mike talked with a couple who are near us that are from British Columbia and they drive down to Bellingham every few months to go shopping. They had come down and bought a stove among other things. They said they save a lot of money coming down here where the taxes aren’t as high as in Canada.

Tomorrow we are driving north up to Ferndale where we’ll be staying for 5 days and getting new tires on the RV.

Our last day in British Columbia

We left Wal-Mart at 7:30 and stopped at the Petro-Canada gas station across the street from Wal-Mart to get gas. We got 199.141 liters at $1.269 a liter (52.623 gal at $4.862 a gal). We left the gas station at 8:00 and headed south on Highway 97.

We drove through Williams Lake and saw some sculptures for the Williams Lake Stampede and the British Columbia Cowboy Hall of Fame is in Williams Lake.

From Quesnel to Rosedale

We’ve seen a lot of stone or rock inukshuks, but this is the first wooden one we’ve seen.

From Quesnel to Rosedale

Then we saw this animal crossing sign which is different from all the other wildlife crossing signs we’ve seen. We thought maybe a badger or wolverine, but they have longer tails than this. We’re still puzzled.

From Quesnel to Rosedale

Since leaving Williams Lake we have driven through small towns with the names 150 Mile House, 140 Mile House and we drove through 100 Mile House where we saw these giant cross-country skis.

From Quesnel to Rosedale

These towns were on the Cariboo Wagon Road and they were named according to the distance they were from Lillooet which was Mile 0 where gold had been discovered.

Once we passed through Cache Creek the terrain changed again and we are driving through the Fraser Canyon.

From Quesnel to Rosedale

We could see railroad tunnels across the Fraser River from us that had been built in the Fraser Canyon for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

From Quesnel to Rosedale

We drove through the China Bar Tunnel that was built in 1960 and is one of the longest tunnels (almost 2,300 ft.) in North America. This is one of seven tunnels we will drive through in the Fraser Canyon.

From Quesnel to Rosedale

We passed by Hell’s Gate Airtram where 2 25-passenger airtrams take people down 500 feet across the Fraser River to view the narrowest point. It was the most difficult terrain for construction of the highway and railroad and earned it’s name Hell’s Gate.

From Quesnel to Rosedale

When we were just south of Cache Creek when we had to pull over and change from our long-sleeve shirts to short sleeves. We were now far enough south that the temperature had warmed up into the mid-70's. We even turned the generator on so we could run the air conditioner.

We stopped at a rest area next to Lake of the Woods just north of Hope – what a beautiful place to stop! The Lake of the Woods is just gorgeous.

From Quesnel to Rosedale

We arrived at Camperland RV Resort just after 4:00.

From Quesnel to Rosedale

We are staying here under our Adventures Outdoor Resorts (AOR) membership. Our campsite fee is $9 and we paid extra for cable TV and wi-fi for tonight, so our total for tonight is $16.35. The standard rate here for full hook-ups is $52 a night – that’s why we like our campground memberships.

We are in campsite #43, a pull-through, with full hook-ups (50-amp elec). The campsites are separated by tall hedges and the whole campground is very attractive – it actually looks like a resort! We didn’t take any photos today of the campground, but get some tomorrow before we leave.

We are right next to the laundry and I gathered up a few loads of clothes. There were standard dryers and a few larger ones and I chose to use the smaller one for $1.50 for 45 minutes – bad choice! Our clothes were still damp when the 45 minutes were up and I transferred them over to the larger dryers where a quarter got you 4 minutes of drying time. Yes, that was 4 minutes for $.25 – that was the main reason I didn’t choose the larger dryers in the first place.

World's Largest Fly Rod & Tintagel Cairn

We got up this morning at 7:00 and prepared to leave Riverside Park. Before leaving this morning, Mike called our roadside service, Coach-Net, to complain to a supervisor about the problems we had when we called from Watson Lake about our flat tire on the RV. We were given an address where we can mail the receipt for the tire change so we are reimbursed for the expense.

We left the campground at 8:30 and drove south on Hwy 16. We actually had sunshine this morning – a welcome change from the rain we’ve had the last few days.

We stopped in Houston to take a photo of the World’s Largest Fly Rod.

From Smithers to Quesnel

From Smithers to Quesnel

The topography has changed and we are now driving through farm land.

From Smithers to Quesnel

An hour after driving through Houston we drove through Burns Lake and took a few photos as we were driving through.

From Smithers to Quesnel

We stopped at a rest area about 12 miles south of Burns Lake to see the Tintagel Cairn.

From Smithers to Quesnel

According to the information in the 2011 The Milepost (we use it  to help us find interesting places to take photos), the center stone in the cairn once formed part of the Norman walls of Tintagel Castle which is reputed to be the birthplace of King Arthur.

From Smithers to Quesnel

We stopped for lunch at noon at a rest area east of Fort Fraser. There was a historic marker at the rest area commemorating the last spike being driven for Canada’s second trans-continental railroad.

From Smithers to Quesnel

We drove through Vanderhoof which is the geographic center of British Columbia on the Alaska Circle Route.

From Smithers to Quesnel

We passed through Prince George at 2:00 and left the Yellowhead Highway and turned south onto Highway 97 or the West Access Route.

From Smithers to Quesnel

We arrived at Wal-Mart in Quesnel a little after 3:30 and there were already a few RVs parked here. We drove 307 miles today.

Since we are close to the US/Canada border, I cranked up our satellite dish to see if we could get any TV reception. I had a pretty good signal and was able to receive Dish Network. But our programming was messed up (it said we needed to subscribe to the networks which we already subscribe to) and I tried calling Dish, but all I got was a busy signal. Apparently their 800 number doesn’t work in Canada – how frustrating!

Mike called Coast to Coast to make a reservation for Aug 26 – Sept 1 at Ferndale. He also called the FamCamp at Ft. Lewis for the Labor Day weekend, but they are already full. He then called the FamCamp for McCord AFB and they don’t take reservations. Since we’re going to be arriving on Thursday, Sept 1, it shouldn’t be a problem for us to find a campsite.

After a little while I went into Wal-Mart to buy a couple of things we needed and then later we ate dinner and settled in for the night.

Since we’re not able to watch satellite TV, we watched some of our Babylon 5 DVDs.

Black bears & our last day on the Cassiar Highway

It was raining this morning when we got up, but had quit by the time we stopped at the dump station to empty our holding tanks. We stopped to take a couple of photos of the Tatogga Lake Resort office.

From Iskut to Smithers

We were on the road by 9:15 and heading south again on the Cassiar Highway. We had been driving for about 30 minutes when it started raining again. Then a little later this black bear cub ran across the highway in front of us and I tried to time my photo so as not to photo the windshield wiper blades – it didn’t work. I bet Mama black bear (we didn’t see her) got after him for dawdling about before crossing the highway!

From Iskut to Smithers

The Cassiar Highway is known for its scenery and mountain views, but with the low clouds and rain we've only had these views of the mountains - still pretty though.

From Iskut to Smithers

We stopped for lunch at noon at a pull-out alongside the road.

After lunch we saw this black bear near the side of the road. He was standing up and I did get a photo of him (it’s not the best), but he ran off before I could get another photo.

From Iskut to Smithers

We’ve seen about 6 black bears alongside the highway, but they were either too quick or we saw them too late to get a photo.

We had planned on staying at Hazelton tonight, but we saw a billboard for a Boston Pizza at Smithers and decided to stop there for tonight. I looked through our Trailer Life Directory and the British Columbia Campground Directory we got at the Watson Lake Visitors Information Center to find a campground in Smithers. There is a municipal campground in Smithers and it sounds nice, so we’re going to stay there.


We stopped for gas at an Esso station at the Moricetown Indian Reserve and who should pull in next to us, but Merla & Steve who we met in Skagway. They had been behind us on the highway and recognized the RV and car. They said they had passed by our RV when it was parked on the Cassiar Highway and saw our note in the window about the flat tire. We had already gone back to Watson Lake when they drove by, so we missed seeing them.

Steve and Merla had also stayed at Tatogga Lake Resort, but they were there the night before we got there. It turns out they had 2 flat tires on their trailer since we had seen them in Skagway. They were going to drive another 4 or 5 hours before stopping for the night. We exchanged cards and e-mail addresses before they left to continue on south on the Yellowhead Highway.

We got 201.526 liters at $1.24 a liter which equals 53.253 gallons at $4.736 a gallon at the Esso station. They had a strange way of pre-paying for gas. You told them how much gas you expected to get and they would charge your card for that amount and then when you finished fueling up, they would put the correct charge on your card. Very strange - if we had known about this, we wouldn't have stopped here for gas.

When we reached Smithers we turned on to Main Street (we saw this Alpine Man statue at Main Street)

From Iskut to Smithers

and drove out to Riverside Park. It’s right by the Bulkley River and is a very attractive campground. We chose site #28 and have full hook-ups with 50 amp electric and there is LOTS of grass. We arrived here at the campground at 5:13 and had driven 312 miles today.

By the time we got the RV setup and ready to leave to dinner, the sun was shining – a welcome sight. Before we left the campground, we saw the campground attendant coming around collecting the camping fees and we stopped to pay him the $26 CAD for tonight’s stay.

From Iskut to Smithers

We drove back into town and stopped at Boston Pizza for dinner. We got an order of Cactus Cut Potatoes ($8.45) and ordered a medium Rustic Italian pizza ($25.25). We really enjoyed the Cactus Cut Potatoes and the pizza was OK – I don’t know if it was our choice or just not as good as we remembered one we had at a different Boston Pizza.

Before returning to the RV we stopped at Safeway to get a few groceries and then stopped at Tim Horton’s to buy some donuts and fritters. Smithers is a pretty town and we wish we had more time to explore it, but we are ready to get back to the lower 48.

When we got back to Riverside Park we took Tinker for a walk down along the Bulkley River which flows alongside the RV park. Tinker hasn’t seen this much grass in a very long time – a couple of months, I think. He really liked running around or doing the “Bichon Buzz” in the grass.

From Iskut to Smithers

Flat tire fixed & heading south to Iskut

Mike took photos of our campsite at Watson Lake this morning.

From Nugget City to Watson Lake

We drove over to the Visitor Center at 9:00 and Mike called Verizon again and have the Canadian calling plan added to our phones. Tech support said our phones may work once we get into an area with stronger cell service.

After thanking Rena at the Visitor Center for her help yesterday, we left Watson Lake at 10:45 and headed back west along the Alaska Highway and then south down the Cassiar Highway.

Yesterday (and again today) we drove through a large burn area that just went for miles and miles and it looked fairly new.

From Watson Lake to Iskut, BC

I asked Sonja at the Visitor Center this morning about it and she said the fire occurred last year and burned from April through November and burned 450,000 hectares (over 111,000 acres) and it even flared up for a short time earlier this year. Sonja said that there was also mud slides at the same time as the fire last year and the highways were closed. She said if they had had to evacuate, which way could they go – towards the fires or the mud slides?

We stopped for lunch at 12:15 at the Beaverdam Rest Area – didn’t see a beaver dam anywhere. We have been driving on the Yukon Plateau and now are entering the Cassiar Mountains.

From Watson Lake to Iskut, BC

We saw this German RV parked beside Simmons Lake and had seen the RV back in Watson Lake yesterday – they sure picked a beautiful spot to stop!

From Watson Lake to Iskut, BC

We stopped at Super A Foods in Dease Lake to get gas in the RV and got 107.936 liters at $1.449 a liter (28.522 gal at $5.532 a gal).

We drove by the Lower Gnat Lake and then the Upper Gnat Lake where we saw a few RVs dry camping.

From Watson Lake to Iskut, BC

We arrived at Tatogga Lake Resort at 5:10 after driving 220 miles from Watson Lake. Just as we stopped at the campground, that’s when it decided to rain! I went in to the restaurant/office and registered for the campground. I was given a map of the campground and shown where the pull-throughs are located and told we could just pick one.

We are in site #23 with water and 30-amp electric hook-up. There is wi-fi here up in the restaurant and I don’t feel like walking through the rain and the mud to go there.

From Watson Lake to Iskut, BC

There is also a Man Camp here for loggers that work in the forests here. We could hear helicopters landing at one end of the campground and then we would see men walking up to the Man Camp carrying their bags. Then we would see different men carrying their bags and walking out to where the helicopter was waiting to take them out to the logging camps.