Day one - RoadTrip '09
The day finally arrived for a departure! The last of the stuff was just tossed into the back of the camper, to be organized later, - in a warmer location.

Made a stop in Golden, just west of home to have coffee with an 'old' friend there, then carried on west. He arrived with his suitcase packed, but I didn't take the hint!

Back in Roger's Pass, I took a couple of shots to show how high the snowbanks are there!

Only made it a few miles on the first day. As per plan, I stopped to visit a friend in Revelstoke, and camped the nite in his driveway, after taking in some cultural events downtown.

It was snowing a bit in the morning, so that was a good incentive to hit the road early.



Three Valley Gap, west of Revelstoke.

It was not that cold, but very winter-like nevertheless! I fueled up in Grindrod area where diesel fuel was going for 90 cents a litre.
A friend in Vernon was not at home, so we kept heading south to visit another 'old' friend, and had another coffee - in the coffee shop operated by that friend and his wife. Strangley, he had a suitcase packed, too, but I didn't let him aboard either.

The bridge in Kelowna.
I ran out of luck when visiting yet another 'old' friend south of Kelowna. This time I was lured with the promise of beer and food, and another driveway to camp in, so spent the second nite, entertained by some 'police actions!' in the neighorhood! Good food and good company. I was surprised to see robins already back in the Kelowna area.

Day 3 - back on the road west on 97C to Merritt, home of the big country music Festival, and then on the Coquihalla highway. Temps were -9C over the pass to Merritt, and I listened to some great music on the Sirius satellite radio, including Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, George Strait, and Beckie Hobbs.
This is the first time I have been on the highway since the toll was removed. Until last fall it was a $10 toll each way, but now all the toll booths have been removed, and it is free sailing through!



One of the avalanche paths along the Coquhalla highway.
Once off the Coquihalla, the snow and cold had ended, so treated the truck and camper to a quick wash to get rid of the road grime and salt.
Kept moving through Abbotsford and down to the Sumas border crossing. It was about a half hour lineup, so that was adequate time to get my affairs in order including swapping my Canadian cash for the US variety, getting the old passport out, and turning the data feature 'off' on my new iPhone as the roaming charges in the states would be astronomical, compared to Canada. What ever happened to 'free trade'?

Made it to Bellingham before having to fill the tank again - at about $2.23/gallon. Then it was onto I-5 for a fast run south, switching from JR FM 93.7 in Vancouver to KMPS 94.1 in Seattle.

Found water available at a rest stop north of Everett, so I filled up the tank, and started the de-winterizing process. Made a bit too good of progress and caught the last part of rush hour going through Seattle, but managed to avoid the worst tie-ups by paying attention to the road reports and took the alternate I-405 to avoid the construction downtown.The other lanes had come to a completer halt in the above pic.
Only had to test the brakes once, and that was enough to move the camper forward about 2 inches to where it should have been sitting anyway.

Peeled off of I-5 at the state capitol Olympia and headed for the coast in plus 7 temps and continuing great music, and driving conditions. The new truck just purrs along like a dream
Time to pick out at good coastal-veiw campspot in the South Bend, Wa area.