Chuck:
Before starting today, we try to decide whether to do the last 115 miles in three days or two days. I like the three easier days, because the heavy traffic with heavy loads are tedious and tiring. But, we need to fill our fresh water tank and the next RV campground is 64 miles away. I really like a shower at the end of the day. Betty also appreciates me having a shower at the end of the day. The showers win; we will take the two day option. Actually, we make the final decision at a 50 mile rest stop. At that point, I decided to switch from the road bike to the mountain bike because I am forced to ride on the shoulder which is now gravel and not safe with a road bike. Good decision, trucks with heavy, wide loads such as dozers, derricks, stacks of large drilling pads, huge compressors, etc. keep me on the shoulder much of the time. Late in the afternoon, I saw traffic ahead of me was stopped in both directions. A large black bear was ambling across the highway. It has been several days since we have seen any large animals. Also this afternoon, I saw something on the shoulder directly ahead of me. It looked like weeds or maybe a chunk of hay. As I wheeled over it, I saw that it was a dead porcupine as the sandal on my left foot skimmed over it. Fortunately, I did not pick up any quills.
As I entered Fort St. Johns, the Rotary RV Park was on my left, a welcome site. After that important shower, we joined our next door neighbors for an “in progress” happy hour. Ben & Ellen and their friend Sara are all from lower British Columbia and are doing contract work with oil or gas related companies. They have had very interesting lives and a lot of different experiences. Unfortunately, their opinion of Americans in general, was not positive. Actually, they really do not like Americans at all; they made an exception for us (I think) maybe because Betty drove the RV by herself and I was drinking Canadian beer. When I asked why the low opinion, they felt that Americans saw Canadians as ‘Eskimo like’ people who live in igloos. Not much we said could change their minds. An interesting side note, Ellen’s father played a major part in the development of Ultra-Light aircraft, especially the light engine used for propulsion. They were fun folks and we had a good time.
Betty: Ben, from next door, helped get me backed in to the site when I arrived. I normally opt for a pull-through site that way I don’t have to unhook the car and I also can see where I am going and do it easily by myself, however none of the pull-throughs were equipped with water, electric AND sewer. Since I also wanted to wash some clothes we really needed the sewer hook-up and therefore a back-in site was the choice. It was an easy back-in and Ben did a great job guiding me into the slot.