Making It Out of BC Was a Big One - Day 1

August 21, 2014 - Thursday - Day 1

Following the decision to stop an extra night at home considering the fiascoes the day before, we ended up leaving quite early.  We drove down our dirt driveway trying very hard to avoid the largest pot holes, or should I say, pot canyons, as we could. There is no choice but to hit some, as they are everywhere. Passing the second gate, we had the pleasure of seeing a remarkable morning sun. Isaiah said it was because the clouds were in front; I don’t know if that is what caused the effect, but the sun was bright orange, the sky was whitish, and the trees appeared in silhouette. It was absolutely breath-taking. I tried to take a few pictures, but my camera could not capture the amazing images.

Smarty-pantys Isaiah remarked, “It took us 12 minutes to drive from the second gate; It’s going to be a long day.” He was right, because you can’t just drive to get somewhere, you have to enjoy the trip there!

We successfully made it through the cattle that were determined to stop the caravan before pulling up onto the asphalt road. 

Tim Horton’s was my destination. I might not be able to get it in the States, but I could certainly begin my day with a “Mocha, heavy on the hot chocolate with whipped topping”. First mistake of the day. I parked in the lot near Tim Horton’s and sent Ayana and Isaiah over to the restaurant with specific instructions of what I wanted: A breakfast sandwich: egg, cheese, sausage, in a wrap, with a hashbrown, and the coffee. Shortly after this they were back with a very small package. Upon peering inside I saw what I had ordered, but all in the wrap. Who puts a  hashbrown in the wrap? Oh well, it all tasted good. It was a little later than I wanted – now about 7:00 am, but still not too bad. My goal had been an 8-8 day. We would see how the day went.

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The drive to Cache Creek was seamless, but that is about all that was our first day. I drove into Kal Tire, as I remembered I had to retorque my tires since all six of them are relatively new.  My Sensible Son Courage repeated his concerns about how low the spare tire was hanging under the van, and asked that I have it looked at.

I have decided I shall keep a running commentary on the Colourful Characters we meet along the way, as they truly add flavour to the adventure! Pulling into Kal Tire, a worker of about my age ambled  in front of me, and obviously seeing a woman driving a rig, decided to have a little tease. Isaiah was clearly not impressed, as the look on his face showed disgust. I was pleased to see I had a protective son with me, but I quickly reassured him the guy was okay. His expression didn’t change; he wasn’t convinced.

 I got my first chance to show off my caravan, when the guy said, “Nice trailer!” and I couldn’t help but say enthusiastically, “You think that’s nice. Want to see the inside?” He just liked the shell and size, but I knew the inside was a surprise, as who would know it would be remodeled? Turned out his girlfriend’s parents were about to make the cross-country RV trip to PEI in a week, and he had been wanting to find a small caravan, so when he appreciated mine, I encouraged him to go get one and make it his own! When he found out the kids and I did it by ourselves, he turned to Courage and high-fived him, very impressed.

Courage pointed out his concern on the underside of the van, and the man said, “Good job, Sunshine! That could have been a real problem if your mum had hit a bump.” He fixed the tire, and I was again reassured that God had prepared Courage to be my main man for this trip! (smile)

We pulled out of Kal Tire, and I realized I had no idea where the road was that I was supposed to be heading for. I did a quick turn and sat on the edge of the gas station waiting for some helpful person to go by that I could snag and ask simply which road, versus giving me road names and confuse me more. When you don’t drive a ton, you tend to know where to turn, versus the names of all the roads. I know, not necessarily the greatest way to head out on the road! Oh well.

As I sat there, I heard a polite little toot behind me, and I pulled to the side a little more to let an extremely long, incredibly old trailer pull up beside me, as the person was trying to get out onto the road. As this person stopped I tried to get their attention. I say their, because I do not know if it was a man or a woman. I wish I had taken a picture of the person and the trailer, because they were unique! The trailer must have been 36’long, with some of the windows covered in tin foil, and there were padlock type chains hanging over the door, as if the door might fall off if the restraints were removed. The entire outfit was literally falling apart, not dirty, just derelict. 

And the driver. Well, this person looked like a guy, with a very wide mohawk. Kind of the middle four inches of the head had hair from the nape to the forehead, and the rest was shaved. And then the person spoke, and I thought I was talking to Mickey Mouse. She/he was ever so helpful. I wasn’t sure at first if I was about to get reamed out for stopping my trailer near the entrance and holding up the show, but no, this person told me they had been around the area for a long time and could they help me.

With directions clear, we eventually drove through the sleepy town of Ashcroft and as we crawled up mountains and through grassy hillsides, I saw that it was either this or the superfast Coquihalla, and I was glad I had chosen this. I didn’t know how slow this route would make me, but at least it was not high-paced. I was very glad we had not chosen to go the night before, as the roads were windy, and soon after the rain began to bucket down upon us. 

There were also signs to watch for wild horses along the stretches of high cliffs. 

The roads were vacant and for thirty miles we drove mostly uphill. I found the first leg of the trip sucked up a ton of gas as we climbed so many steep and curved hills. At one point, Isaiah remarked that an upcoming hill looked like it had a 30% grade. 

On one hillside, we saw a fox standing in a green pasture filled with large boulders, overlooking the town below, and it reminded me of England.  Coming around a bend we just had to pull over as we fell upon a surreal situation. It was a land like no other! Awestruck we all gazed down on a Caribbean like sea of shallow water and miles upon miles of white sand. Down in the sand, there were tiny little dump trucks and graters working to create what appeared like a child’s playground. Isaiah told me that this was a race-track for dirt-bikes, but I am not sure. All I know is I felt like a giant looking down on a child’s sandbox with little miniature trucks and men at work.

When I opened the side door for the children to get out for a look, the door handle broke off. No more side door. Seriously? I guess the kids will be climbing out the front door from now on! What was I thinking when I envisioned a meandering jaunt across the country. It was more like Chevy Chase’s Family Vacation, and we had barely even left home!

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A couple hours later as we drove past a fire station in a small town, Israel commented on the nice shiny trucks parked in front, and minutes after that we rolled into an intersection, and I pulled up beside a fire truck. I looked to my left, and the fireman was looking in my direction. His gaze drifted along the length of my van to the caravan, and he asked with a bright smile, “Looking for somewhere in particular.” I am sure he had seen the maps in my hand!

I replied, “Osoyoos. We’re heading for the States.” He kindly told me to keep going straight, but sadly, that is all he told me and that is when I began to go wrong! I am sure Christopher Columbus followed a few wrong stars. Driving along a road that was clearly not the right one, as it was much too fast, and though it said, 5A South, it also said Yellowhead Vancouver, and I was sure I was headed in the wrong direction. Panic took a bit of a hold of me, as the vehicles whipped past me, and I knew that the next turn off was Hope – 112 km away! And to make it worse the speed limit was 120 km per hour, and I was traveling about 80-90!

I immediately prayed for calm, safety, and clear direction, and very shortly after this, one of us saw a sign for U turn route. “Praise God!” Burst from my mouth, and I carefully maneuvered my way through the underpass, and back onto the road.

 At this point, at the stop sign, I noticed I had my shirt on backwards. Seriously? Is that the way to start the day? (laugh) When I spoke of our journey I wrote that it would be unpredictable. I did not think it would be that unpredictable that fast! This would be the first of many opportunities to pray when roads get confusing!  As I drove back towards the intersection where I took the wrong turn, I took a chance when I saw “Princeton left and Kelowna 5A South”, and then as I crawled up the hill I saw the sign “Osoyoos”.

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A humorous moment – One of the children said, “I can’t wait to get to Washington. I want to take a picture in front of the White House.” And, I replied, “It’s the other Washington.”  This child looked confused, so I said, “How many Washingtons are there?” To which said child responded, “One – Washington, DC.”

I decided to take this geography lesson a little further, because you see, we live hours north of America, and we don’t study American geography, and our Canadian geography is a little rusty, hence the idea of this History/Geography trip. “What state are we entering?” My smart child replies, “The driving state.” Hardy har har!

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My route was beginning to make me feel like Mountain Family Robinson, as we travelled through forests, and beside rivers, and cliffs. I prayed for smooth sailing, but I suppose on every voyage there will be some turbulence. After a rocky start getting through the stressful Merritt/Kelowna/Kamloops freeway intersections I found my way south and was eventually able to enjoy a relatively relaxing drive along the river. In a valley we stopped for some fresh fruit, and boy was it good!

I wonder if I have bitten off more than I can chew? I knew as I created my plan I might be being over ambitious, but what choice did I have? The children and I had already explored Saskatchewan and Alberta, and a trip down south to California and Arizona must certainly include the Framer. Therefore, I was compelled to bit the bullet and head east. I would leave Alaska and the Yukon for another day.

I am also aware that there will be days, minutes, hours, when I feel that I might want to turn back, but I am okay with that. I have never been to Spokane, and if that is as far as I get I am not ashamed to say I did my best. Reading the book "Wild" I learned of a woman that walked the Pacific Crest Trail with absolutely no walking experience. She began because she needed to go, and that was what this is for me. A journey that I need to make. There is no real destination in that I am okay going home at any time. I do have a destination in mind, but each place we stop will be somewhere we have never been before. The woman in Wild only made it three miles her first days and she had so many problems.There were times when she was just trying to get to the next pit stop, so that she could get off the trail and go home. I get that. It is a big thing to take on 1500 miles of walking. Well, it is a big thing to take on my plan. A kind lady customer/supporter/encourager said to me that if all I did was make it out the driveway *that was okay*, and I appreciate that attitude, because I was a little concerned what people would say if I didn't make it as far as I have planned. 

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Sometime, later we saw a number of cars on the side of the road, and there was the most curious site. It was a place called Spotted Lake, and it really was that!

We pulled into the town of Osoyoos, and I bust out, “Thank you Lord for getting us through! We should be there by 8:00 pm boys and girls! Told ya so! I budgeted just the right amount of time!”

Shortly after that I got lost again….

But I had a chance to meet some more colourful characters: a grizzled old man with broken teeth, who was very hard to understand. He didn’t know the names of roads, but told me if I went left at the first lights, and then went to the end, and then took a right, I would hit the road I wanted. He didn’t know the name of it. His wife, who looked quite unlike him, sat very quietly in the seat beside him, and I looked to her for some reassurance that he was heading me in the correct direction. She quietly nodded yes. Okay!

Off we went, just to drive in a few more circles – we were in the off roads of the main road, and ended up in an Indian Reserve.  I have to tell you those American Indians sure are nice! I pulled over a car with a man, a woman, and the cutest little baby girl, who was standing in the front seat between her mum and dad, and asked them for directions. They were able to do much the same as Mr. Beard from the previous encounter, but this time with a little more clarity. What I didn’t know was the names didn’t match the map. …

I headed off as they told me and when they said go right the name did not match. So I turned around and around again, cause my GPS wanted me to turn into someone’s yard. Yeah right!  So I sat on the side of the street, in this dinky little town, off the main road, and calmly looked at my big ole map, and prayed.  I watched for cars to come by but told the kids to keep still, as we weren’t exactly in the best of neighbourhoods. A big white truck began to pass me, so I stuck out my arm, and waved down to Native young men. I asked them where Washington 155 was. It turned out it was directly in front of me. This is the same road Mr. Beard, and the Family told me to take, but it was called Omak Road, and not Washington 155. I would soon learn that I better clue into mixed up names very fast if I wanted to get anywhere!

I took the turn, followed the kind boys who told me they were going that way, and headed east – peace and rest for another 50 miles! Yeah!

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After we had passed through all the forested areas, the land opened up into wide open spaces, and there were blue skies, and golden colours as far as we could see. The views took me back to the Western movies I had watched, and all the history books I had read. The highway was chiselled out of the mountain in one area. Spectacular!  

The colours were literally a smorgasbord for the eyes! The golden wheat fields, rich red farm houses, nestled in groves of dark green trees, and all of this offset by a gorgeous blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds.

As we approached the first town after miles of wheatfields, I noticed a sign bearing the town’s name, Wilbur, and said, “Oh look! Maybe it’s Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web.” Meandering slowly through the dilapidated little town, Ayana and Israel burst out in unison, “Mum, look!”  and there before our eyes were bigger than life models of Fern and Wilbur. Of course, the children, upon invitation, eagerly scrambled out of the van for a photo opportunity.

Looking Fondly at Fern

It’s these unexpected and often little advertised perks along the way that make a road trip most memorable. I remember back in 2007, while on a road trip with several of the boys, the Framer was asked when I would return home. It had already been several weeks and he replied, “It depends on whether she finds anything more unusual things to explore, like a mushroom farm, or something else odd.” And that’s the way I roll – I travel with a destination in mind and many unique stops happen before I reach it.

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As our day drew to a close, the sun dropped low in the sky, and yet we continued to see wheat-fields. 

I pointed out to the children that the flour we use for baking comes from fields like these. I was reminded of the Dust Bowl, and how it all began, and I shared the dramatic events of the time with the kids It’s those teachable moments with a captivated audience that makes me appreciate home-schooling.

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We arrived safely in a small town outside of Spokane, Washington, and decided to call it at a night.  But it wasn’t to be that simple. Upon making the effort not to feed them, what my tired body wanted to: bread and cheese, but instead a full meal of Calico Beans, I discovered the can opener I had just purchased was a piece of junk. 

Off went Isaiah with a few dollars to buy the best can-opener he could find. He came back with something strange.  “Why can’t they just make a normal can opener!”  I couldn’t open the top side, so after beginning the can, I flipped it over and started the other side, all the while spilling sauce on the counters. 

I then realized that our most vital appliance had been left at home: our rice maker. Back to the store went Isaiah to see the prices on rice makers. Tomorrow.

Shortly after that the pump was turned on, and the counter was flooded, but hey, Cup Half Full is my motto: At least we know the water works.

Someone remarked, “We are probably the noisiest campers at Walmart,” because of all our chaos. Uh huh, very likely!

As we chowed  down on our delicious, hard-earned meal, Israel said, “Where we going tomorrow, Mama?”

Good question…