Trip Report -- WA to Northern BC and Back

Took me a while to post this here because I had to come up with a new way to host pics for posting trip reports and the like.

We left Moses Lake WA on August 10th with a quick stop at Dutch Bros for fuel :D Of the Coffee kind ;)


With tasty iced coffee's in hand, the generator running to keep the AC on and the camper cool, we headed north in our new setup with smiles on our faces as we had planned this trip a LONG time.

Since we'd already done 1200 miles with the new 6.7 dually we knew it would be a breeze with the new truck so no worries there and we would learn, as the miles ticked away by the hundreds that we had no idea just how nice the new truck was! Can I saw it was awesome? a beast? bad as....well, you get the idea! What a truck!


Couple hours into the trip found us at Chief Joseph Dam for a short break to get rid of some coffee ;) Then we were back on the road but not before capturing another pic with the dam this time.



We continued north until the duty free to pick up some spirits at serious money savings, then waited in line for our border crossing which was a tad slow for Osoyoos but overall a breeze. Once across we continued to point north and headed to Peachland where I'd once lived and went to Kindergarten.


It had started raining along the way but the rain didn't last long and we were soon strolling around looking for my old house, having lunch, checking out the old school and just generally having a great time and experience.


If your old school is a museum does that make you old?

Once we were done in Peachland we continued on our Northward trek heading for Merritt BC and finally Monck Provincial Park a few miles out of town. The climb up into the hills was not just uneventful and undramatic for us in the new truck but I had toi keep slowing DOWN! 8% grades going up over 6400 feet with the new 6.7 was like driving on flat ground! Wow! I'd pass slow moving struggling rigs and look down and go "gee, I ought to slow down now!"...too easy! Down hill was even better with no breaking at all really! Engine breaking is awesome :D


After a slow and bumpy drive out of Merritt to the campground we get settled in for a relaxing evening. It was easy to check in, the site was great and frankly we were just all smiles. We love traveling with the camper frankly and having it nice and cool on arrival was a big bonus though the temps were now such that we wouldn't need the AC much moving forward. We'd left central WA with temps in the high 80's and low 90's and come to the BC interior where temps were in the low to mid 70's :D In other words, heaven!


We had picked up a second set of leveling blocks and were glad we did because the site was small and not too level for our rig but it was a breeze to setup anyway.


I had, however, broken our flimsy step ladder just prior to the trip (on our last one) so had to improvise! I'll get a better one soon.


Loved the site and lake and wished I had brought the canoe but then my arthritic wrists might not have and I am fighting some serious tendonitis in the elbows so it probably was the best. Maybe just a relax at the site with a drink would be better ;)


We continued north and ran into some mild BC weather along the way. It's to be expected really and having lived some 20yrs in the province I was prepared. Again, however, loving the camper, it was easy to pick a spot to stop for lunch and since the camp grounds frown at generators running in the wee hours of the AM my wife took advantage of the stop to run her hair implements which she is happiest doing in the morning and which require the generator to be running. I ate a nice home made sandwich and chips and pondered what fish might be in the lake while relaxing in the dinette. Another truck camper was just ahead of us doing the same thing :D In fact, truck campers were everywhere we drove...it's like 97 is Truck Camper BiWay!


As the miles ticked by so too did places I had heard about and been through as a kid and I couldn't help but get at least one pic. We had plans though, so didn't spend any time in each of the 'mile houses'...still, kinda fun to see them all after all these years.


and then there was this....I'd been to Bella Coola on my way to Ocean Falls back in the 70's and there, in big letters, was the direction to head if one wanted to make that long trek to the coast. I wondered if the road was still gravel?

Another tidbit is that 8 years ago I was hired to do some work for a company by their president who grew up on a homestead near Bella Coola and that was down in Central WA. Small world eh?


After some 350 miles or so we finally made it to Barkerville which was a lifelong destination for me. My sister had been some 45 years earlier and I'd always wanted to market the trip myself and here we were...met by heavy rainfall but it didn't dampen our spirits at all!




Day two done, time for a meal, some relaxing, cards and bed....since this is pic intensive I'll stop here and post this part of the report and continue in a reply......