Back in the U.S.A.!!!

Well, I’ve been putting this off long enough so I guess I’ve just got to get it done.

The last time I wrote we were headed for Terrace, B.C.  Along the way we made a stop to see the totem poles that were on display in Hazelton.  This was only going to be a fuel stop but it was cool to walk among the totem poles.

We made it just fine and found a nice RV Park to stay at so we decided to stay for a few days to see what was in the area.  We hadn’t counted on it raining every day though.

We made a day trip to Prince Rupert but since it was raining and the only thing to do there was walk along the waterfront and do some shopping.  I don’t shop.

So then we headed on to Port Edward to see what was there.  There was even less than at Prince Rupert.  So we decided to head home where I did three loads of laundry.  LOL

The next day we got some sunshine so we decided to take the drive out to the Nisga'a Memorial Lava Bed Provincial Park.  It’s  located about 60 miles north of Terrace in northwest BC. Two centuries ago the volcano erupted, killing approximately 2,000 people and created the pocked lava plain, a moonlike landscape 6 miles long and 2 miles wide.

The water was crystal clear

There were several waterfalls

As the lava spilled from the crater an estimated 250 years ago, it followed a creek bed downslope to Lava Lake and down the Tseax Valley to the Nass River. The lava travelled at different speeds depending on the steepness of the slope.  It also created some tubes where there were trees that burned.

It was pretty interesting and at least we got to get out.  The next day we left our 28 cable TV channels and smokin’ hot wifi and headed for Vanderhoof.

We only stayed one night because there was no TV and the wifi was terrible.

The next day we woke up to, what else??  More rain.  Poor Rod has the worst part when it’s raining the day we want to leave.  Makes for a pretty rainbow when it stops though.

We drove on down further south to Williams Lake.  Again, terrible wifi and no TV.  Seems to be a pattern.  Oh yeah, and we didn’t have cell phone service either.  We didn’t know these places were going to be so remote.  They look like good sized towns on the map.

We headed out the next day to Princeton, BC but the campground that was listed was just a gravel parking lot on the side of a golf course.  No thanks.  We continued on.  We were looking for a nice place to stay for a few days instead of driving, driving, driving every single day.  The camphost told us there were several parks down the road a bit more so off we went.

The first place we saw said “No Vacancy” but there was one right next door that said “Free wifi and cable TV”.  YAHOO.  Yeah, right.  They had 4 channels on their TV and they picked the channels.  In their defense though, the lady said she would change them to whatever we wanted.  Well, it was Canadian channels and I’m not familiar with those so we left them as they were.  The wifi worked great the first day but on the second day I couldn’t get on regularly and when I did get on it kicked me off a few minutes later.  That’s another reason I haven’t written a blog.

We ended up staying for 2 days over the Labor Day weekend and headed out Monday for the border.  We only had an hour to go to get there.  From there we had no idea where we were going.  It was kinda weird crossing the border.  We felt like we were “home” even though we don’t have a “home”.  LOL

They were doing an Agriculture Inspection at the border and when I was asked if I had any produce I had to answer “yes” because I saw every single rig being pulled over and the Inspector was going inside.  Oh well, no big deal.  I surrendered one and a half tomatoes.  I’m so glad we didn’t stop at one of the hundreds of produce stands along the way!

Chief Joseph Dam

We checked out a RV Park close to the border at Riverside but didn’t like the looks of it.  Too bad too because it was on Kendall Road.  LOL.  We drove further down the highway, looked at another park that we didn’t like and ended up at Steamboat Rock State Park.  We’ve been here before but I’ve never stayed here.  Rod used to spend part of his summers here a long time ago.  I love, love, LOVE our site in this park.  We have our satellite service back so we have our own internet and Directv again!!  I’m SOOOOOO happy here!

Our site

Rod and I climbed up to the top of that rock the last time we were here!  That tiny little bump is a rock on top.

Yesterday we ventured out to the Grand Coulee Dam.  When they built the dam back in 1943 it formed Roosevelt Lake and Banks Lake (where we are).  AND it’s part of the National Parks system so I got another stamp!!  We’ve been there before during the summer and they let the water come out of the spillway and do a laser light show right on the dam.  It’s pretty cool.

On June 14, 1951 all the girls from the Washington State Apple Blossom Festival poured a gallon of water from each of the 48 states, the territories of Hawaii and Alaska and the District of Columbia down the channel to symbolize the entire country’s participation in the project.

This is a windmill farm on the highway.  It was put there to honor the man who used to build them out of junk he found laying around.  Everything was useful to him and he tried to teach everybody that.  He used to build these in his yard but after he died they were moved to the middle of town so everybody could enjoy them.  They even have a guest book to sign.

So today we went on another little adventure but this blog is already getting way too long so I’ll write about it tomorrow.