Canada eh! 4.10.09

We left Cheney at first light. I was reading in the AAA book the insurance requirements and it stated we needed a “yellow Non-Resident Inter-province Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance Card” – CRAP! We didn’t have one. So we quickly called our insurance agent in Texas. Lucky for us, he answered the phone by mistake as the office was closed for the day (who knew it was Good Friday?!) and he just happened to be in the office checking mail. He had to do some research onto the requirement and then found out, he couldn’t do a thing about it, but could send us to a Farmer’s office in Washington to pick one up. He made arrangements for one town and when we got there were told we didn’t need it! But we were called by another agent who had been called by our agent and she knew all about it and could help us out. Success! It seems this special yellow card is not a requirement, but if you don’t have one and are in an accident, you’re in big trouble. So we’re glad we took the time to get it, even if it took two special stops. We also stopped for the required geocaches in Washington, bringing our state total up to 10!

We made it the rest of the way through Washington and crossed the Canadian border at Osoyoos, B.C. right outside of Oroville. Woohoo! We made it!



Of course, not without Border Patrol and the drug dog going through the vehicle. What is it about us that we look so darn guilty?! Is it the fact we’ve travelled in and out of Mexico or Latin America so many times in the past few years? That we are driving a hippie-mobile? Maybe it’s that our license plate is Colorado, our drivers license California, our state of residency Texas and we’re headed to Alaska for the summer? Or is it that Michael just has that guilty face…WHAT?!!… Haha… Actually, it turned out to be one of the most pleasant interrogations we’ve had so far (wait, THAT’s an oxymoron?!) – they only interrogated Michael, leaving me along, and then took the dog through the van. We even got to chat a bit with the officer after he was finished and he told us stories of people who had just purchased a vehicle or were in rental vehicles where they had found drugs. We weren’t worried but were still relieved when we were given our pass.

The scenery is beautiful! There are budding apple trees everywhere, dormant grape vines, bee boxes, beautiful mountains (with LOTS of snow on them!), and semi-frozen lakes that are just thawing.



The mountains are very rocky with few trees, but are colorful with muted reds, orange, beige, & greys.



The homes & farmhouses are still sparsely located and colorful and we’ve seen a bunch of fresh fruit stands, wineries, bakeries, & honey stands. There are horses and their foals, cows & calves, & the occasional llamas! There are “NO National Park” signs everywhere…I’ll have to ask around as to what is being proposed. Gas is 95.9 CDN per liter, or approx 3.05/gallon. It’s overcast today, high gray clouds looming over us. I hope it doesn’t rain tonight. I spoke too soon – it just started sprinkling. Bummer!

We drove to a little place called Cache Creek and found a lovely campground called Brookside Campsite that we stayed for the evening. It was about $20 to stay but had showers and electricity and a handful other campers. I told Michael I want to own a campground when I’m old. It seems like a great retirement business! And the people are always so nice.



I’ll upload photos when I can find an internet café soon!
Rene