2006 Sept 18 to 24

2006-09-18 Monday

Merritt, B.C. to Grand Coulee, WA  - 230 miles; 6:15 hours

When I left the CG it started raining and it rained almost continuous till I crossed the border into Washington State. This gave an additional and needed free car wash to the rig.

I took PH 5A from Merritt down to Princeton and from there PH 3 toward Osoyoos, where I intended to cross the border on PH 97/US 97. This is a wine and fruit growing area, with lots of orchards and vineyards on both sides of the road. Despite the rain, sprinklers were active throughout.

30 or so Kilometer before Osoyoos PH 3 dips south almost to the border and there was a sign on a side road pointing to a US border crossing. I took this road and so I did come back to the US by means of a little (and little used) crossing called Nighthawk, the same way I had entered Canada 140 days before at a little crossing called Port of Wildhorse.

There was no problem with the crossing, my papers were scanned and after a couple of minutes I was on my way into WA.

Looking back in my rear view mirror I could see every one of the 12,153 miles I drove in the Canadian Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, the Yukon and North West Territories and the great State of Alaska.

So, my days in the Great North are over - at least for this visit.

Stopped in Oroville at the Hornets Nest drive-in for a delicious Buffalo Burger, then drove US 97 south towards Ormak, where I resisted visiting the Walmart Super Center, but instead followed US 155 toward Grand Coulee, the location of the Dam of the same name and one of the largest hydro-electric installations in the world.

Checked into the Grand Coulee RV Park. Excellent WiFi signal and speed and my Verizon cell phone has a strong signal again.

2006-09-19 Tuesday

Grand Coulee RV Park

Very good news from daughter in Germany, she and her family will be in Monroe, NC by beginning of December.

Large amount of voice mail from family, friends and acquaintances has accumulated while I was out of reach. Using many of my free minutes I was able to answer most of the requests for a "sign of life".

Basking in sunshine and warmth I was lured to wear a T-shirt and shorts, but I did resist the total temptation and compromised with T-shirt and jeans.

Had another nice small-town America experience in the local Safeway supermarket. Pushing my shopping cart around the store I must have had that lost look on my face, since everyone of the service personnel asked me very politely and in a nice and friendly manner, if they could help me.

When I asked a manager where they were hiding the chocolate, he told me aisle 8, then, unbeknownst to me, he went from aisle 16 where we were, to aisle 8 and found out that the chocolate was actually in aisle 9, came back, told me aisle 9 and apologized very sincerely, that he had given me the wrong aisle number previously.

The point I am trying to make is, that, despite being an unknown quantity, I felt I was given the royal treatment, because these people, young and not so young, were proud of doing their job the right way.

Looked over the dam again. What a marvel of technology.

Description of Dam in Wikipedia

2006-09-20 Wednesday

Grand Coulee RV Park

Cleanup of rig and some web work in the morning. In the afternoon I went to the Crown Point Vista overlook of the dam and later on I took the Powerhouse # 3 tour.

In the picture below, each of the six penstocks (those round concrete tube thingies coming out at the mid-height of the dam) feeds one turbine/generator combo of between 600 and more than 800 Mega Watts. 

2006-09-21 Thursday

Grand Coulee to Rock Creek Roadhouse near Clinton, MT  - 305 miles; 7:30 hours

Rained over night and in the morning. In Spokane I picked up I-90 East and drove past beautiful Lake Coeur D'Alene. National Geographic has named it one of the most beautiful lakes in the world and even the small piece visible from the Interstate confirms this opinion.

I needed to do an engine oil change on the Van, which I had delayed in Canada, due to the high cost of labor and motor oil. Left I-90 in Missoula, MT, found a Walmart, got 4 Gallons of Shell Rotella-T and the filter and had Jiffy Lube do the change.

This added two hours to my trip time, so it was already 16:30 when I pulled into the Ekstrom's Stage Station CG on Rock Creek Road. A sign in the window said very politely: "Thanks for dropping by, but sorry we are closed for the season". Woodall's description and their own ad said open till October 15 or I would not have chosen it as my day's destination.

Now it was 50 miles in any direction to the nearest CG ( and not guaranteed to be open, either) and it was raining heavily and getting dark. 

There was a Roadhouse style pub called the Rock Creek Lodge at the exit and I asked there, if I could spend the night in their parking lot. Much better, they offered me a spot behind the lodge and there was even 20 Amp electricity, all for free.

So I plugged in and went back to sidle up to the bar and have a beer or two, since I was not going anywhere else tonight.

In walks a lady and asks in accented English if there is a CG around, since Ekstrom's Station is closed. She gets the same answer I had gotten and that is how I met Hans and Brigitte from around Düsseldorf. Now a familiar story: rental Class C , a German couple looking for adventure.

We just had missed by four days the big claim to fame of the Rock Creek Lodge, THE TESTICLE Festival. To  our fortune, there were still tons of Rocky Mountain Oysters left and I convinced Hans and Brigitte to partake in this specialty. We had a very nice time over some beer and Tequila.

I talked with some locals and they all had a Kempin story to tell. The hunting story was one of them. Seems he is not very popular there.

2006-09-22 Friday

Rock Creek to Salt Lake City   - 524 miles; 10:00 hours

After saying an early good-bye to Hans and Brigitte, I headed on I-90 west to Butte, than I-15 south to Salt Lake City. Crossing the Continental Divide twice. Highest elevation was 6891 feet at Montana/Idaho border. Temperatures hovered around the freezing point and once in a rain shower, there was ICE on the windshield.

I had chosen Quail Run CG where I had stayed last year as my destination. This is exit 295 on I-15 south.

At exit 314 a driver next to me frantically waved that I had a flat. I crossed one lane over and pulled up on the break down strip.

The right front tire was shredded. This is one of the two I bought after the Blowout on the Dempster Highway, so it had less than 7000 miles on it. I routinely had checked the tire pressure in the morning and is was normal. Thrice during the 500 miles I had checked the temp when I stopped for refueling and nature breaks

I had the Highway department call a wrecker that put the new second spare on, that I had bought in Fairbanks.

Checked into CG @ 18:15.

2006-09-23 Saturday

Quail Run CG SLC

Did run some errands, got new spare tire. Took advantage of Camping World sale and got the pair of levelers, replacement for those I had bent on the Dalton highway.

Called Thomas and heard, that Dierck and Vera are close by in Moab. Called almost all CGs in Moab till I found the one they are staying in and gave them a heads up that I will be joining them tomorrow.

Later Dierck called and confirmed their whereabouts in Moab.

2006-09-24 Sunday

SLC to Moab  - 225 miles; 5:00 hours

Nice Sunday drive to Moab.

Hooked up with Dierck and Vera in the Moab Valley RV Resort.

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