Smithers and Prince George
8/9/17
We left the campground in Stewart at 8:15 a.m., headed for Smithers, our last stop on the
Fantasy Tour. It was a fairly easy drive to Smithers. We passed through more canyons and large lakes that ran alongside the road. This area was a favorite habitat for black bears, and we did see many of them. I didn’t count, but saw quite a few along the road. Here are two that I took pictures of. The white mark on the first picture is a bug on the windshield (couldn’t keep it clean)!
We stopped at about 11:30 in a turnout and had a leisurely lunch next to a lake. Then, on to Smithers. The RV park we stayed in had a Par 3 golf course next door. The spaces were small, and it took a little ‘jimmying’ (is that a word?) to get in. Tom had to go around twice to get us close enough to the electrical post, and far enough away from the pine trees. We got set up around 2:30 and had a nap. I was very relaxed, as I got 3 blogs out while we were in Stewart. Last night, we had to drive to downtown Stewart and park in the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) parking lot to get a strong enough signal to post the blog, but I got caught up and that felt GREAT!
At 5:00 p.m. tonight, we all gathered at the Hudson Bay Lodge in Smithers for our ‘Farewell Dinner’. The dinner was served up ‘buffet style’, and the food was very good. The Tour Company bought everybody a drink and our dinner, and we had a slide show of all the pictures that our Tailgunner had taken during the trip. There was a lot of laughing and lots of hugs, as we had all made friends during this 48 day tour, and hated to end it all. Every person in the room spoke of their favorite part of the tour, and many spoke about their worst – but all in fun! Two of our group, Bonnie and Keith (not a couple) got a little teary-eyed talking about all the camaraderie they had enjoyed. Several couples invited any and all who could come to visit them to just come, as they had lots of space. Then the Wagonmasters and Tailgunners passed out bags of goodies for each rig, full of snacks and pictures of the participants and two large group photos to keep as a memory.
I started out on this trip with a little nervousness. How would everybody get along? Would any of the rigs have major mechanical problems? What if anybody got terribly sick? You must admit, if you put 45 people together who are primarily of retirement age, there would bound to be problems. Also, Tom and I had been on a Rally once before with a Tour Company and really didn’t like it. Since this was our first caravan, we really didn’t know what to expect. Thankfully, it turned out wonderfully. There were no problems, not even one incident that required our Wagonmaster to write up for the Tour Company. We made new friends and really enjoyed all the social events. They fed us quite a bit more than we expected, and both Tom and I added unwanted pounds, but it was all worth it – we will take it back off when we get home.
8/10/17
The Wagonmasters hosted a Continental Breakfast at their rig as our final farewell. Again, there was a lot of hugging going on – even the men. As each rig left the park for their individual destinations, we all waved goodbye.
A few of us were headed south to Prince George, in different campgrounds. Trish, who is a native of B.C. knew of a really good restaurant in Prince George that served Vietnamese food and invited anybody staying in Prince George. She passed out the name and address of the restaurant, and she ended up with 14-16 of our group that were planning on coming. It was kind of nice, as we didn’t have to say a final goodbye to those that we would see again for dinner.
Dinner was at 6:00 p.m., and boy was Trish surprised - we ended up with 24 for dinner. The restaurant put us all upstairs (I think so we wouldn't disturb their other customers). It didn't matter, as we were so loud, and having such a good time, that the customers downstairs could hear it all anyway. The food was delicious, and I have never had Vietnamese food before, We were all there for 2 1/2 hours and had a hard time saying goodbye again. But when the time came, we did part and went our separate ways.
Trish and Bev, and Tom and I, were staying in the same campground in Prince George. Two other rigs came in after us, so there were 4 rigs here in total. We called it a night.
8/11/17
The other 2 couples left early. Trish and Bev slept in a little, and weren't ready to leave until 9:00. We said our goodbyes again, and Trish got a little teary-eyed. We have made such good friends in her and Bev, and we will see them again in 2019. She also promised to come down to see us if we can find her a lab puppy. I will have to get to work on that when we get home. Trish was headed north for a family event, and then home to Victoria, BC. We are staying on for one more day, as Tom has a date with a man that he buys his car parts from for the Austin. Trish pulled out, and we were left here alone - it felt a little strange.
At 1:00, Tom met up with Kevin in Prince George to look at his collection of cars and car parts. I thought he would be gone all day, but he came back after only a couple of hours. He said Kevin was very busy, but they talked a lot about cars and Kevin made a list of all the parts Tom was looking for.
Tonight is just dinner and cards, then to bed early as we have about 300 miles tomorrow to drive. Since there are so many wildfires burning in BC (over 20), some of the roads are closed, including Highway 97 South, which was our planned route. So, we had to detour over to Highway 5 to bypass the fires. That added a few miles to our itinerary. It also forced us to cancel our stop in Clinton, as all roads around Clinton are closed. I worked on new reservations this morning, so we are all set. We will stop in Pine Grove for an overnight, then on to Vancouver as scheduled.
We left the campground in Stewart at 8:15 a.m., headed for Smithers, our last stop on the
Fantasy Tour. It was a fairly easy drive to Smithers. We passed through more canyons and large lakes that ran alongside the road. This area was a favorite habitat for black bears, and we did see many of them. I didn’t count, but saw quite a few along the road. Here are two that I took pictures of. The white mark on the first picture is a bug on the windshield (couldn’t keep it clean)!
 |
| Brown bear on the road |
 |
| Another black bear |
At 5:00 p.m. tonight, we all gathered at the Hudson Bay Lodge in Smithers for our ‘Farewell Dinner’. The dinner was served up ‘buffet style’, and the food was very good. The Tour Company bought everybody a drink and our dinner, and we had a slide show of all the pictures that our Tailgunner had taken during the trip. There was a lot of laughing and lots of hugs, as we had all made friends during this 48 day tour, and hated to end it all. Every person in the room spoke of their favorite part of the tour, and many spoke about their worst – but all in fun! Two of our group, Bonnie and Keith (not a couple) got a little teary-eyed talking about all the camaraderie they had enjoyed. Several couples invited any and all who could come to visit them to just come, as they had lots of space. Then the Wagonmasters and Tailgunners passed out bags of goodies for each rig, full of snacks and pictures of the participants and two large group photos to keep as a memory.
I started out on this trip with a little nervousness. How would everybody get along? Would any of the rigs have major mechanical problems? What if anybody got terribly sick? You must admit, if you put 45 people together who are primarily of retirement age, there would bound to be problems. Also, Tom and I had been on a Rally once before with a Tour Company and really didn’t like it. Since this was our first caravan, we really didn’t know what to expect. Thankfully, it turned out wonderfully. There were no problems, not even one incident that required our Wagonmaster to write up for the Tour Company. We made new friends and really enjoyed all the social events. They fed us quite a bit more than we expected, and both Tom and I added unwanted pounds, but it was all worth it – we will take it back off when we get home.
8/10/17
The Wagonmasters hosted a Continental Breakfast at their rig as our final farewell. Again, there was a lot of hugging going on – even the men. As each rig left the park for their individual destinations, we all waved goodbye.
A few of us were headed south to Prince George, in different campgrounds. Trish, who is a native of B.C. knew of a really good restaurant in Prince George that served Vietnamese food and invited anybody staying in Prince George. She passed out the name and address of the restaurant, and she ended up with 14-16 of our group that were planning on coming. It was kind of nice, as we didn’t have to say a final goodbye to those that we would see again for dinner.
Dinner was at 6:00 p.m., and boy was Trish surprised - we ended up with 24 for dinner. The restaurant put us all upstairs (I think so we wouldn't disturb their other customers). It didn't matter, as we were so loud, and having such a good time, that the customers downstairs could hear it all anyway. The food was delicious, and I have never had Vietnamese food before, We were all there for 2 1/2 hours and had a hard time saying goodbye again. But when the time came, we did part and went our separate ways.
Trish and Bev, and Tom and I, were staying in the same campground in Prince George. Two other rigs came in after us, so there were 4 rigs here in total. We called it a night.
8/11/17
The other 2 couples left early. Trish and Bev slept in a little, and weren't ready to leave until 9:00. We said our goodbyes again, and Trish got a little teary-eyed. We have made such good friends in her and Bev, and we will see them again in 2019. She also promised to come down to see us if we can find her a lab puppy. I will have to get to work on that when we get home. Trish was headed north for a family event, and then home to Victoria, BC. We are staying on for one more day, as Tom has a date with a man that he buys his car parts from for the Austin. Trish pulled out, and we were left here alone - it felt a little strange.
At 1:00, Tom met up with Kevin in Prince George to look at his collection of cars and car parts. I thought he would be gone all day, but he came back after only a couple of hours. He said Kevin was very busy, but they talked a lot about cars and Kevin made a list of all the parts Tom was looking for.
Tonight is just dinner and cards, then to bed early as we have about 300 miles tomorrow to drive. Since there are so many wildfires burning in BC (over 20), some of the roads are closed, including Highway 97 South, which was our planned route. So, we had to detour over to Highway 5 to bypass the fires. That added a few miles to our itinerary. It also forced us to cancel our stop in Clinton, as all roads around Clinton are closed. I worked on new reservations this morning, so we are all set. We will stop in Pine Grove for an overnight, then on to Vancouver as scheduled.
Jake got your birthday message. It put a huge smile on his face. Looking forward to your return home. Love you!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing trip! I am so glad you guys did this. This is the sort of thing a lot of people talk about doing, but very few ever actually do it!
ReplyDeleteWe hope the fires don't spoil your next couple of stops and with the luck you have had so far We doubt that will happen. Your goodbye's make it a story book ending. We took your car out again and put another 10 miles on it. It ran great. Look forward to you return to Southern Cal. Love, Dad and Liz
ReplyDelete