July 19: if we only had a smart phone...

July 19:  if we only had a smart phone...

This morning, Daddy opened this door into a secret room.  He let me lick the floor, then he put me out and he went inside and closed the door.  I could hear water and it looked like Daddy was fighting off the water.  I sure hope he wins!  Oh, here he comes.  Good thing I supervised so that he would win.

Last night, Spouse and I set out to explore the Blue Lake campground.  It is very family oriented and people really trick out their campsites.  We headed into a meadow and walked with another couple for a while.  They showed us salmonberries.  They resemble raspberries and taste like a mix of raspberry and maybe strawberry.   They told us about the Lookout Trail so Spouse and I headed up. 

We really were not prepared for any kind of hike, and we did not think this would be but a quick jaunt.  We climbed passing pines, aspens, cedars and aspens.  We munched on salmonberries.  Nearly 25 minutes later, we were wondering.  How long is this trail?  It is after 8pm, we have no water, we have no idea where we are going...  Maybe this is not a good idea, so we turned around.  As it turns out, we had about another 5 minutes to the summit.  Oh well...  It was a nice bit of exercise.  We came back and lit a fire using our free firewood.  Spouse cringed at leaving all this nice wood behind, but we wouldn't be able to get it across the border so, why keep it.

 We decided to get an early jump in the morning.  Kind of.  Yes we decided that, but Spouse decided to wash the truck.  Huh?  We will be going down the dirt road from hell, and he wants to wash the truck?  Creating mud?  What is he thinking?  Eventually, we do get on the road.

First stop is about 20 miles south at Hell's Gate.  This is an airtram spanning a rugged canyon where the turbulent Fraser River churns.  Salmon need help reaching their spawning grounds here and concrete corridors have been built to assist them.  The descent is steep.  I would have preferred a zip line.   Wow, that would be fun!  After we got down, we found out you could hike it, but no trail is evident.  You have to work to find it.  We looked at the exhibits and headed back.  On to Abbotsford, where we are hoping to find the part to fix Hannah.

The Fraser Canyon is very beautiful surrounded by very steep mountains.  When we get to Hope, Spouse cannot help himself and must stop for a Dairy Queen ice cream.  Apparently, the wind came up when he and Crew were indulging and let's just say, they did not have enough napkins...  Continuing on, we get to Abbotsford.  We do not know where the RV place is.  Spouse just imagines it will pop up before us.  Crew and I inform him that if we had smart phone, we could find it.  His counter argument was that all the info on a smart phone is on his GPS.  So, my response was to look at the GPS and find the RV place.  Ooops !  He didn't load Canada...  He just doesn't get it!  We stopped at a rest stop, and Spouse found someone to give him directions and off we go.  And NO, they did not have the part.

 Now it is time to come back home to the states.  While we are in line waiting to cross the border, Spouse sees a duty free store.  He just can't help himself and must see if they have a good price for cigars.  They haven't yet, but he has hopes.  We are stuck in this long line and he wants us to get out of it.  Crew and I are a bit cranky, but we turn into the store.  Fortunately, there is a traffic controller who puts us back in line after Spouse returns.  No great deals he said... Duh...

The first thing we notice as we cross the border... smell... cows, sheep, etc.  Charming...

Back in the states, we can now revive Crew... we see a Taco Bell!  He is saved!  We pull up to Camping World just as they were closing.  They may have our part...  In the meantime, we found a spot right on the water near Anacortes.  No hookups, but we will live with it for the view.

 

And our phones are now turned on!