Tuesday, June 24, 2014

This morning Sam and I got up and walked with the group one last time.  We will certainly miss this place and most of all, the friends we have met here.  We said our good-byes and I readied the coach for travel.  I get a little nervous that I might forget something when we have settled in one place for so long.  I know preparing to get on the road should be habit, but every once in awhile - like I did in Glacier - I forget something.  (That prompted a trip to Walmart for a replacement hose splitter/shut-off.)

Joani planned our route with some pretty easy driving.  We headed to Cranbrook, BC, Canada just an easy 153.4 miles (68,535.8 total), but we also stopped to top off the fuel and fill the propane tank.  I was pleasantly surprised to find propane at the lowest price we have ever paid.  Since we only had driven about 300 miles since our last fill-up, the diesel bill was also one of our most reasonable.

This trip included a new first for us - driving the coach across an International border.  We were not sure just what that would entail.  We had heard sometimes you just get waived through, but we were mentally prepared for a full on-board inspection.  There were probably a half dozen vehicles ahead of us in the line, so we had a lot of time to think about all of the possible scenarios.

When we reached the window, the officer looked over our passports, asked a few easy questions (no we didn't have $10,000 in cash or any weapons on board) and passed us through.  It almost seemed anticlimactic, but we relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the drive.

The first thing to make us realize we were no longer in the US was the speed limit signs all in KPH.  The motorhome speedometer is only marked in MPH (unlike almost every car now that includes both).  Joani got out the calculator and we quickly learned how to translate the numbers.  I probably have no need for concern - I suspect I am almost always driving below the speed limit anyway. 

In Cranbrook we were going to overnight in the Walmart parking lot, but there was a big sign that instantly squelched that idea.

Allstays.com steered us wrong for the first time - "No overnight parking" signs were everywhere.

Fortunately, Walmart's competition, "the real Canadian Superstore", was adjacent to the Walmart parking lot and they allowed overnighting.  Even more fortunate was that we found the perfect space for us (pull through, level and it let us extend the bedroom slide).

Just steps away from Walmart (shared parking lot), The Real Canadian Superstore was our hero.

We unhooked the car so we could find a hotspot and we noticed a few things that were different as we drove around.  Did you notice the Walmart "Supercentre" above?  How about everything's around a dollar below?  

The tiny differences amuse me.

Fiddlleheads - who knew?!  After Googleing to see what they are, I wish I had tried them.

Since Canada has two official languages, everything is printed in both English and French.  There probably are not a lot of French speaking people around here, but they will not feel left out if they are.  I also could not find anything but British Columbia license plates.  I'm feeling a bit like a foreigner here!

Since Verizon would not extend our cellular coverage without taking away our unlimited data plan, we opted to just turn our phones off while we are north of the border.  Updates to the blog may be spotty for a while as we rely instead on public hotspots for the internet.  Trusty McDonalds had free WiFi so we could get ourselves up to date.  All-in-all a good start to our Canadian adventure!