Washington-Idaho-Montana

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Yesterday, we ended up not leaving until late in the day. After purchasing one extension for the trailer hitch, Richard discovered that we needed yet another extension. Arghhhh! Off to Burnaby Hitch for the needed part while Kayla packed the truck. We can't believe everything fit, including way too many clothes.

When we finally hit the road, it was about 4:00 pm, but we drove on into the evening and stayed the night at Stemwinder Provincial Park near Hedley, right on the Similkameen River. What a sound to fall asleep to!

Today we started off early by Kayla's standards - a very civilized 9:00 am. Drove through Osoyoos, dumped all the fruit and veg only to find out we could have taken everything with us. South of the border there wasn't a fruit stand or market in site, so we stocked up on Safeway produce from Mexico and California at Colville. Sigh!!!! All that beautiful Okanagan fruit we could have had. Disappointed, we pressed on through beautiful mountain passes on state Highway 20, successfully avoiding any large populated area, and thoroughly enjoying the drive with almost no other vehicle on the road. Yes, it's great to be retired and traveling after all the kids are in school. We even saw a few larches that had turned a golden yellow, but it's a bit early for the real colour in most places.

Drove on once again into the evening, careful to avoid all the deer. We've discovered that the headlights on this truck are not well adjusted and everyone flashes at us like our high beams are on. So either we fix this ourselves, or we stop at a Dodge dealer to see what can be done with this rented rig. Or we stop driving at night.

Oh and I should mention that the Sirius satellite radio is not working. After personal help and many calls to the rental company, the Dodge dealer in Vancouver, the rental company's headquarters in Calgary, consultations with their technicians and a few calls to the Sirius radio folks, we still can't get the signal. I did mention to the Dodge dealer that our BMW dealer set this all up for us when we bought the car and it worked just fine. Dodge doesn't do that for its customers. Chalk one up for BMW.

Arrived in Trout Creek, Montana (southeast of Sandpoint Idaho) at 9:00 tonight.

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Photos

Stemwinder Provincial Park
Not so early morning, ready to hit the road, near Hedley, BC.

Stemwinder Park
Richard ready to go while Kayla takes photos of the park.

The Red Rig
Our home away from home for the next 6 weeks.

Trout Creek Montana
Another not so early start. Next Stop - Yellowstone National Park.