Sunday, December 11, 2011

The Pigs are Flying!

And, believe it or not, UPS finally ran out of excuses not to deliver the package I was waiting for.

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Since the pigs were flying and the weather was good, it was finally time to make a break from the beautiful, but frozen north.

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With my ‘slightly less than new’ all-season tires, I was a bit concerned about making it up the first hill out to the main road, but with a pail of gravel as insurance, and both Hailey and I crossing our fingers (paws), we made it with no problem.  Soon, we were on dry pavement, and headed down the road into a breezy, well above freezing chinook wind.  Just west of Lake Louise, on bare pavement, we tested our reactions on some black ice that had us doing some amazing manoeuvres for a few hundred yards, but disappointed the ‘ditch gods’ who were sure they were going to claim us more than once.

The next day was clear sailing as well, and we breezed through Salmon Arm on on westward.  CIMG7299 - Copy

The BC road reports said the Coquihalla road conditions were ‘bare with slippery sections’ but the worst we encountered was some wet and dirty sections coming on the downgrade into Hope, when the sunshine changed to cloud and clag.

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Once we were beyond Hope (ha, ha), there was no more snow or danger of black ice hiding on the road, so Hailey kicked back and took a cat nap.

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She did her best to be cute, then intimidate the bad men at the border crossing, but they ended up taking her very own catnip plant. Sad smile There was no line-up at all (perhaps that Harper-Obama discussion helped out?), so of course we got searched, but at least they were professional and polite, which is not always the case Winking smile.

Elk tracks on my lawn at home.

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Now it’s time to find some cheap(er) US diesel, some almost free US beer, and think about de-winterizing the rig as we start heading down the coast. 

Good-bye long johns, hello shorts!

Come along for the ride!

12 comments:

  1. I am getting to the poiint that I wish I was going south with you. I have been reading Al & Kelly's blog plus many other snow birds and I am getting jealous. Maybe I had better gather up my stuff, put my wife in gear and head out for Arizona or some place like that so I can get out of this cool temperatures (32d F to about 0 d F) and almost no snow. I guess really we aren't so bad off after all.
    Wilf Blakey

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  2. I am getting to the poiint that I wish I was going south with you. I have been reading Al & Kelly's blog plus many other snow birds and I am getting jealous. Maybe I had better gather up my stuff, put my wife in gear and head out for Arizona or some place like that so I can get out of this cool temperatures (32d F to about 0 d F) and almost no snow. I guess really we aren't so bad off after all.
    Wilf Blakey

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  5. Glad to see you have escaped Old Man Winters clutches. Travel safe.

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  6. Salmon Arm rang a bell for me. I drove truck for Bennet's Hardware in Vernon for awhile and Salmon Arm was one of the towns we delivered stuff to. Looks like you got out of all that snow and ice just in time. Overall, weather has been fine down here in these southern Arizona parts.

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  7. It is nice to hear you made it safely out of winter roads. Enjoy and keep us posted of your adventures. Look forward to reading them .

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  8. So glad u are on your way to warmer climes!

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  9. Good news! Happy you are finally headed south. Looking forward to stories of this year's journey. Be safe.

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  10. Glad to read that you are indeed on the way, fur a flyin'. Maybe it was your crossover that caused a downpour and cold weather here in the Coachella Valley. No, I think not, and we wish you safe travels.

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  11. Howdy. Glad to see you are finally on your way. Meals on Wheels will be offered again next spring. Glad to see your travels so far have been mostly on bare roads. Will check the Blog regularly and be jealous. Cheers Duane

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  12. Yea! you finally made it out and just in the nick of time. You are still in the cold though so be careful on those roads.

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