Greetings from the Fraser Valley!

Majel (the GPS) told me that a 9AM departure would get me here at 2. I laughed and figured 6 if I was lucky. Fate took that difference and split it; I arrived at 4.

I was up around 8 this morning since I didn’t have that much left to do and I didn’t want to wake up everyone since what I did have left to do was noisy. The RV battery wasn’t charged enough to crank the engine, so I had to take the trickle charger out, but it got the battery going in the time it took me to bring my trash to the dumpster. Hooking up the toad was surprisingly easy. I mean, really, really easy! Everything I’d worried about didn’t happen, so I had an uneventful ride out… once a helpful neighbour managed to pry my levelers off the very frozen pavement. 🙂

Google maps has a wonderful feature that lets you see topography. Using that, I was able to figure out that from Oliver almost all the way to Hope would be uphill into increasingly poor weather, but that the rest would be downhill into rain. Sure enough, that’s what happened. Part of the drive to Hope was of the white-knuckled, hands clenched around the steering wheel, variety, but only because  a lack of guard rails next to sheer cliffs made staying on the road the foremost thought on my mind. As I’d expected, the roads were fairly devoid of other drivers, which reduced the stress considerably.

I had thought to stop in Hope for a leg stretch before continuing on the final third of the journey, but finding spots to stop wasn’t easy and I wound up getting all the way to Chilliwack before I could stop and rest for a half hour!

No sooner had I entered Surrey than I had my closest call ever with Miranda. There was a semi driver ahead of me whom I think was either half asleep or inebriated. He kept on switching lanes with very little notice. I tried to stay as far behind him as I could, but he still managed to cut me off. Thankfully, Miranda’s brakes are really, really, really good and while I laid down a patch of rubber, I didn’t hit him. The only thing that budged in the coach was my spice rack, which spilled most of my cumin down the sink. 🙁 I try to find the humour in such situations. 🙂

The park is literally on the border with the US and had I followed the GPS directions, I would have found myself in line for customs! Thankfully, I noticed little signs indicating the detour to the park and followed them to avoid the long lineup that preceded my turnoff point just before the ‘all vehicles beyond this point must report to US customs’ sign.

Settling in was a non-event although the handyman insisted on guiding me in. I appreciated his help, of course, but told him that I have a hard time translating flailing arms with what direction to turn the steering wheel. Backing up is one of those things I can do only if I don’t think about it. So, getting in wasn’t as smooth as it sometimes is, but it wasn’t embarrassing. I just hooked up the propane and electricity since my water hose is now just 10′ long and I need a much longer one to get to their tap. This is something I’d expected, so it’s not a big deal. I have plenty of water in the holding tank and the temps being above freezing, the pump is working just fine!

The cats were great on this trip, Neelix staying close by me, Tabitha sticking to her favourite spot on the bed.

Foremost on my mind right now are dinner and a loooong swim. Pool’s open till 10!

The last three months feel far behind me already.