08/21/2000
It's Monday, and we crossed into Canada last Weds. We are about 25
miles north of Nakusp, British Columbia, staying at a small hot springs
resort with a small RV park. It is on a big, pristine lake in the
mountains and is in the middle of nowhere.
Nakusp is a small town of about 1,500 and is very pretty. It's a resort
town with lots of skiing in the winter, and hanging out in the summer,
full of health food stores and alternative medicine practioners. We
also bought a loaf of fresh bread in the local market that was the best
bread we've ever had. We ate a little as a snack before we left the
parking lot, and ended up eating half the loaf in one shot! It was so
good, Cordula went back in to buy 2 more loaves, but alas, the last
loaves were sold while we were gorging in the parking lot.
When we crossed into Canada at the US town of Sumas, into the Canadian
town of Abbotsford, we had a little delay. Canadian Customs decided
that we fit the profile of gun smugglers and consequently, searched our
RV for a good half hour - they looked into cereal boxes, all of the
cabinets, and even unscrewed a few panels to look behind them. It was a
little nerve racking, as we had to sit outside of the RV, and wait for
the Customs agent to go through all of our stuff - what if someone at
the RV factory stuck in a little surprise?
It was also weird, because after searching the main "cabin", they
decided to let us proceed. They never searched the compartments below,
and that's where stuff could be hidden easily. For those of you who
haven't seen our RV, there are large compartments below, like those on a
Greyhound bus. There is plenty of room for all kinds of contraband. To
give you an idea of how big they are, we have, in several different
compartments, 2 large lawn chairs, 40 pounds of dog food, a case of
bottled water, a bicycle, 2 tool boxes, a third tool box with spare
parts, 2 garden hoses, a computer monitor, a step ladder, some warm
jackets, extra dog supplies, power cables, cleaning supplies, the
generator, the control panels for the water system, access to the fuel
filters, and more...and the compartments have plenty more room for more
stuff.
Who knows what will happen when we cross back into the US?
We spent two nice days in Manning Provincial Park - no hookups, so we
"boondocked" - lived off our own batteries and water system. The park
is in the mountains, and is about 75 miles from one end to another. We
ran the generator once to recharge, and it was pretty simple. It poured
rain one day, and it was very cozy inside with just ourselves and the
dogs. We drove up to Cascade Lookout at 6,000 feet and could see miles
and miles.
One morning it was very cold, wet and foggy. I was walking the dogs
through the park. Some parks have showers in the campground, but this
one just had a few pit toilets. I saw a woman who was not happy to be
camping with her family, desperately wandering around in the rain,
asking about the non-existent showers and sinks. At that moment, I knew
I could have made a quick $50, renting out our bathroom and hot water.
The Canadian dollar is worth about 2/3 of a US dollar. After converting
to US dollars, most things seem to be about 15-20% less expensive in
Canada than in the US. Restaurants seems to be a good 25-30% less
expensive. Even new cars seem about 10-15% less. Gas and diesel runs
about 10% more than in the US, so not too bad. There is a 7% Goods and
Services Tax (like a sales tax) but if you are an American, and keep
your receipts, you can actually get a refund on the GST at the end of
your trip.
WE spent one lousy Saturday driving to Vernon, BC. On the map, from the
terrific Manning Park, the roads looked like country roads, and the
towns seemed small. At first, it was OK. We stopped in Keremeos,
population 1,200, which claims to be the fruit stand capital of the
world. It could be so. There were maybe 50 or 75 fruit stands, ranging
from little more than a shack, to large corporate type operations. We
also took a tour of an 1870 restored wheat grinding mill, powered by a
waterwheel, which still works and was a mechanical wonder.
After Keremeos, it was like driving on El Camino or the Boston Post Road
for 60 miles. The area turned out to be booming with every American
concept imaginable - Walmarts, Costcos, fast food, used car lots, tire
stores, tanning parlors, Starbucks, Office Depots, Safeways - nothing
seemed Canadian and the traffic lights were totally not synchronized.
The only business we saw that seemed to have a local name was Canadian
Bagel (a completely wrong concept, and not well executed, let me assure
you).
I think we spent almost 4 hours going 60 miles, then the RV park we
wanted to get into was full. So, we went another 15 miles and found one
that had one last space big enough for us. It was very disillusioning
to see how the suburban sprawl was even worse here - strip mall after
strip mall, billboards, no zoning controls at all. In Vernon, I went
for an early Sunday morning bike ride and found a combination farm
market and Indian restaurant (Samosa Fruits, Vegetables and Take-Out).
We got out of Vernon early Sunday morning and finally got back into the
countryside again. We went up and down through the mountains, and had
to take a ferry across a lake. We found our way to Halcyon Hot Springs,
and here we are...for two nights.
We plan to meander for a few days, seeing the sites, and maybe stopping
at another hot springs before making our way to Glacier National Park.
We've been eating well, RV situation is stabilized, getting e-mail from
friends and family, so after about 5 weeks on the road, we are still all
systems go to stay on the road through mid-September.
- Cordula & Steve