Shortly after my last post I headed outside and stuck a hair dryer between the rig and the valves in the hope of thawing them out. Then, I got the car loaded with the bike and auxiliary propane tank. I was ready to deal with the kayak when Donna, who always has impeccable timing, came out to help. She got to work on my valves while I did some other prep and Ken helped me try to fill my fresh water tank.

The rig was ready by about quarter to eleven or so and I rolled down to the office to get propane. That took a bit of time since they seem to have a problem with the nozzle that screws onto the propane tank. I then went back up the hill to fetch the car and say my teary goodbyes after Donna helped me adjust my mirrors.

I gassed up at the Husky and rolled out of Osoyoos for hopefully the last time in my life at bang on noon. ETA for Tradex: 6PM.

Miranda performed well on the very sinuous highway 3A that took us through Keremeos, Princeton, and Manning Provincial Park. It’s a frustrating drive because you crawl up a mountain only to come down the other side. It got a bit slick near the top, so I inched my way down. I appreciate that the long queue behind me didn’t honk when it finally got a chance to pass me! My memories of the last time I did this are pretty fuzzy, but I know that today’s drive was very easy compared to that of two years ago!

Like last time, I ended up driving straight through. I got cell reception at Hope, so I was able to check the time and was shocked: it was 3:30 and I was less than an hour from Tradex!

We pulled in at just shy of 4:30 in waning daylight and I was quickly able to match reality to the maps I’d looked at. I parked but did not unhook just in case. Since it was still quite early, I decided to see if anyone was in at the administrative office. There was, and she knew nothing about the arrangement made for me to park here until I can move to power hookups on Thursday! I just had to say the magic words “I’ve been driving my RV all day and I just want to stop!” for her to agree to sort it out in the morning. So, I went back to the rig and moved to a flatter spot (I’m on grass), then unhooked.

It’s unusually cold here, too, and I’m going to be without power for three days. I’m therefore focusing on heat and my phantom draw exclusively. No lights, no water pump, no computer charging. So, decided that I might as well start off strong and not heat until as late as possible since I was only twenty minutes from Langley where there is a Montana’s right across from a movie theatre. I figure that it’d be safe to go back there after two years.

It’s amazing how much easier this gets every time I do it, with ‘this’ being the whole packing up and driving off after a prolonged period of being parked. It’s also amazing how different the rig is now than it was when I arrived in Osoyoos four months ago. I had to move all of half a dozen things and I was set up the same way I am when I’m parked.

The next few days are going to be manic! I have an early morning interview each day and I need to go to Surrey tomorrow to pick up some things I need for the show. I’ll post all the juicy details as soon as I can!