Good bye Baker City, OR hello Winchester, ID

We started our trip into Canada at Baker City, OR.    We went through Hell’s Canyon on the Salmon River.  What a site! Sorry but I don’t have any pics as my co-pilot (Chica) was too busy sleeping.  It is a place I would love to return to some day.

One of two stops before crossing the border was Winchester Lake State Park.  It is a beautiful spot and would be a great spot in the summer months where you could enjoy the lake.  Day 1 – 268 total miles.

I got confused and went down a frontage road used by the park crew.  There was no place to turn both my rig and the toad so it was the first spot I had to disconnect in order to turn my rig around.  Fortunately I have got the process of connecting and disconnecting down so it didn’t take me long at all.

This is a pic of my campsite and a another of several LD’s in their sites.

Chica was cold

It was cold out so Chica wore her stylish leather coat.  It helps to keep her warm and she does not object too much when I put it on her.

We took a walk down to the lake and Chica even went out on the dock.  However she does not want to go near the water.  I can’t really blame her as it was very cold.

Second Day – Farragut State Park, ID

Our second day we drove to Farragut State Park just south of Sandpointe, ID.  This was a huge state park with lots of loops and campsites.  Most of us were able to park in the same loop. Day 2 – 179 total miles.

Once I knew I was going on this trip I made reservations for the Idaho State Parks since we were going to be arriving there on Memorial Day weekend.  It is a good thing as both parks were filling up.  At Farragut State Park there were a lot of families pulling in with all the kids bikes and toys.  Canada celebrates their Memorial Day at a different time so we did not have a problem with reservations at any of the Canadian parks.

I only got one pic of my campsite at Farragut.

Crossing into Canada

On Saturday we crossed into Canada.  During our meeting at Baker City we had all discussed what we could and couldn’t bring across the border.  I was a bit worried that I had too much wine since John, Linda and I had bought wine at all the wineries on the way to the rally.  We were going to split up our wine with some others who were not carrying any, but decided at the last minute that we would just chance it.

The line at the border was very short.  I was right behind John and Linda.  I was asked if I had any liquor and I did tell her I had 4 bottles of wine.  She did not even ask me about Chica (who was sound asleep on my lap), but I had her papers to show just in case.  The crossing was very easy and took less the five minutes.  The customs people were very friendly.

Just after crossing the border we decided to stop and take a break and let the dogs out.  We were now in British Columbia.

I bought Chica a new coat at the Petco in Lewiston, ID.  She really doesn’t like it since you have to put her legs through it, but I’m sure she will get used to it eventually.

Crowsnest Pass RV Park

After crossing we drove to Crowsnest Pass outside of Bellevue, Alberta.  Most of the time we were in British Columbia until we hit the Alberta border.  The Rocky Mountains up here are spectacular and there is no way to describe it.  I will get many photos of it before we leave so our first priority was getting to our campsite as it was a very long day.  Day 3 – 255 total miles.

The GPS had us driving through the center of Coleman which is right next to Bellevue.  We finally found it and got settled in.

Happy Birthday Nikki!!

It just happened to be Nikki’s birthday so we celebrated with a cake and ice cream.  It was the first time we all got together as a group on the road and it was a lot of fun.

That is Nikki in the middle cutting the cake.

We will be here at the Crowsnest Pass RV Park for two nights so we plan on seeing some of the sites and museums in the area.  This area is know for coal mining and includes some natural as well as man-made disasters.  It should be a fun day.