Day 45 - Sunday July 2/17

A travel day today, from Yellowhead Campground (where we had electric and water service at the campsite, and showers and laundry facilities in a central building) to North Thompson River Provincial Park (basic ’dry camping’ with no power/water, and pit toilets). But the campground is wonderful, nestled in the forest beside the North Thompson River which flows south to Kamloops. (map)

The day started casually with a lovely morning sleep-in and interlude, followed by a shower and then protein shake and toast and PB breakfast.

We then spent a half-hour writing up a blog post, and prepped the trailer for departure.

We went to the ‘trailer dump’ to empty the holding tanks, and discovered that the valve to open the ‘black water’ (toilet sewage) tank was not functioning, and we could only empty the ‘grey water’ (sinks) tank. (photo)

A quick check at both the camp office and the local auto parts store indicated that the closest RV sales/service/parts centre was in Kamloops (where we had specifically planned NOT to go to save travel time!). 

OH well, so much for ‘the best laid plans of mice and men’, off to Kamloops we went. (map)

The RV centre was open until 4pm, and by the time we left town we had about 4 hours to travel the 350km to get there, including stopping to drop the trailer at the North Thompson River Provincial Park. We booted it as best we could from Yellowhead Campground to North Thompson River Prov Park, with mountainous terrain and other RV and truck traffic delaying our progress. Pushing hard consumed a lot of extra gas, but after traversing wonderful valleys along the North Thompson River we got to the campground by about 2:30pm. 

We found our (reserved, thanks be) campsite and unhitched the trailer, and then hit the road to Kamloops - some 110km away - at about 10 to 3. The gas was low, the traffic was dense, and the road ran through many mountains. We arrived at the RV Centre at about 5 to 4, only to be told that the Parts man had left about 5 minutes previously. Our plaintive entreaties led the staff person to call the parts man, who agreed to come back (not without grumbling!). (But we will send an email note of thanks to the dealership for meeting our needs! And maybe even a ‘Trip Advisor’ recommendation))

We got the needed parts, then went to fill up with gas (our largest fill-up yet, as the gauge was on ‘empty alarm’ - almost 90 litres), and went to a local Safeway for groceries. 

We noted that there seemed to have been a forest fire north of Kamloops within the last couple of years (blackened dead tree trunks), and that the hills along the river valley seem to be moraines rather than mountains (photos)

A more leisurely drive back got us to the campground by 7pm; we made supper of bbq’d pork ribs, mashed potatoes, and carrots, and had a lovely meal at the picnic table. 

Around 8pm, Nancy had a Skype chat with her son Jamie and grandson Roland, and then we have been writing blogs for the last hour and a half.