McLeese Lake |

Well, the one night at the Chasm wasn’t enough to catch up on so many weeks of poor sleep! I fell into bed at 9 last night and woke up at 8!!!

Checkout at McLeese Resort was a civilized noon, so I took my time. I dumped the tanks, topped up the fresh water, and actually spent a couple of hours reading before rolling out. With the way I felt yesterday afternoon, I had envisioned myself tearing out of there at first light, but it was almost 11 before I left.

This was one of those non-memorable days. I just drove about 150km with only three stops.

The first one was at the Walmart in Quesnel (Kweh-nell). This was my first time seeing a big box store since Chilliwack and it was like an oasis in the desert! I felt like a pioneer reaching an outpost with a fully stocked general store! I bought a new sewer hose and then moved two blocks down to a Canadian Tire, another welcome sight!, to get some clamps to effect the fresh water intake repair.

Getting out of Quesnel was very difficult as highway 97 was closed for some reason. I used a combination of Majel and following the crowds to get around the block.

Here is the view parked at the top of the big hill as you exit Quesnel:

view in Quesnel

Part of the route went over a narrow bridge where I scrapped one of Miranda’s side mirrors (it now has a nice yellow mark on it). If the adage of bad things happening in threes is true, I should be good until I get to the Yukon! 🙂

There is a string of RV parks on the south side of Prince George and I decided to try each one until I found internet compatible with my Mac. The first one worked out fine! I’m at the Bee Lazy RV Park (BEE because they do apiculture here). I had thought to stay a few days in the vicinity of Prince George, but this is one of the cheapest parks and it’s not cheap! Plus, you have to pay for internet! That said, the connection is so good (I can’t remember the last time I surfed so effortlessly) that I feel it’s worth it. I was just going to sail past Prince George and find lodging on the other side of town, but am glad I stopped before. A checking of my email revealed a tantalizing offer that could keep me here for a bit. I will say no more on the subject at this time. 🙂

One of the reasons I was eager to stop this afternoon was that I could feel a storm rolling in. I had just enough time to get settled in here when the sky opened up. This was the sky just after arrival:

storm rolling in

This day was like the one from Thunder Bay, starting off great, with no warning of the disaster to come.

I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in about a month, so imagine my shock on Monday morning when I discovered I’d slept ten hours straight! The chasm turned out to be a great spot for a good night’s sleep, being pitch dark and blessedly quiet.

This was my first time ever waking up somewhere that did not require me to be out by a certain time, not counting Revelstoke that required me to leave because of my non-existent battery issues. I took my time, savouring the crisp, cold morning. I had fretted about how to get out of the site without unhooking, finding the turn to be very sharp for an RV, but the The Milepost, my bible for this journey, kindly informed me that Chasm Road loops back to the 97 highway.

I stopped just 30km from the Chasm to climb up to Begbie Summit, where there is a fire watch station. This was a 10 minute hike that told me that I really need to do more of these if I want to be ready for the Chilkoot. 🙂

My next stop was for lunch at the 108 Mile Ranch site. I’d topped up the groceries at the Save-On-Foods at 100 Mile House, so I had a very nice picnic.

My water levels were getting low, my tanks were getting full, my house battery was ready for a bit of juice, and I had a mountain of laundry to do. So, I decided that a night on full hookups was in order.

Using the Milepost, I determined that the McLeese Lake Resort, between Williams Lake and Quesnel, would be a good place to stop as it boasted full hook-up sites, easy RV access, and wi-fi.

Williams Lake

Williams Lake

Well…

This was a beautiful resort, but really not made for RVs over the size of a class B. I took a turn too sharply to get into my site and clipped the post holding the water outlet, then drove straight over it with the toad. Miranda has a nice scrape down the side of the battery compartment door and one of its closures is dented.

Damage at the site looked really bad and the owners thought they would need to call in for a backhoe to get to the underground leak. I was told that I was looking at a 500$+ repair bill. They were very nice about the whole thing, but I was beyond mortified and freaking out. My trip was over if the bill came to fruition; I’d have to dash straight to Whitehorse to get work.

Several hours passed as I did laundry, puttered around the house, and otherwise tried to keep myself occupied as I waited for the final verdict.

Finally, the groundskeeper came around to announced that he got to the leak with just a couple of spadefuls. As it turned out, the water hose was just that, a flexible hose, not a pipe, and all I’d done was rip a connection apart. It was a two minute repair. As for the post, it seemed pretty rotten and did not factor into the equation when they came up with a bill for me–50$ for the inconvenience and labour. Fair enough. *relieved*

The people at the resort were just so nice about the whole thing. I paid them in cash last night, but still went into the office this morning to make sure that everything was okay. The manager took me around the outside of the office and showed me where someone had just about taken the roof off the porch with their rig! I could tell that she was trying to make me feel better and it worked somewhat. She told me I’m welcome back anytime, but I’m not going back there!

The resort is absolutely gorgeous. I had a nice spot by the water, something that enchanted the kitties. But the ‘pull through’ site was barely so and their wi-fi is WEP encrypted so I couldn’t get on. So, while my night there wasn’t a complete and utter disaster, it won’t bring back pleasant memories. 🙂