Day 2 and 3

Alex, Michelle, and Greg showed up and settled in for the night. The introductions are over and Brett managed to pass all of the tests. He even managed to impress everyone with his superior fire making skills (when all he really wanted to do was use his new "chainsaw manly" axe. It's a Fiskars axe with a cool black, gray and burnt orange color scheme. He loves it.) We had a fun evening around the campfire, sharing stories and laughs. Brett tried to get some dirt on Rhonda, but alas he was foiled by the fcat that it was confirmed that she is all around wonderful (at least that was the story and we are all sticking to it.

We spent the first night of our trip at the Lamplighter Campground, right in Revelstoke. We had a very unusual request from our campsite neighbour, one that left us pondering what other campsites Revelstoke had to offer. So the next day after breakfast, we headed to Williams Lake Campground, just east of Revelstoke.

Our campsite at Williams Lake was a little less treed and just as packed in, but our neightbours were much more friendly. As well, they had the cheapest campground rates we had ever seen. A site with full hookups (that's water, sewer, and power) was only $24! We set up quickly and decided that we needed a canopy too. The temperature got up into the 30's, and shade was a definite necessity. Setting it up was quite a challenge, but with 5 people, we managed to succeed. After enjoying the shade for a while the decision was made to begin the MG Masters (mini golf Masters). Rhonda was quickly schooled by everyone (well except Greg), and somehow Brett managed to tie for first with Michelle. At least he isn't bragging too much. After the tournament was over, we all headed to the lake for some swimming.

In the evening, we had a blast from the past, listening to 80's music and playing 90's trivia and talking about the "good old days". We were so good at the trivia, the guy from next door thought we were all geniuses. We managed to name all of Alex and Michelle's kids (they now have to have 8) and Bella Button, Del Monty Python, and Ed Wood are three favorites. We also had some great laughs at Greg's tent and his travelling spice rack and quantified isolateral triangles. Alex brought out his hot and spicy beans and we all ate some and cried afterwards.

The 3rd day of our holiday entailed Brett and Rhonda making a dash for the Canada/US border. After cleaning the site and packing the gear like camping ninjas we said good bye to everyone and left. We headed south from Revelstoke to the Arrow Lakes, to cross the lake at the Galena Ferry. Cool! Too bad that Rhonda was too short to see over the sides. A stranger took pity on her and offered to let her stand on his truck hood (she didn't of course). On the way, we got the GPS up and running into some computer problems with the navigation software. First, it would quit unexpectedly. We solved that by losing the GPS extension cord and plugging the GPS sensor right into the computer. Feeling pretty pretty satisified with ourselves, we stopped at a golf course and had a wonderful lunch on a deck overlooking a lake and facing the mountains. It felt like smooth sailing until we got close to the border (around Castlegar). It was then that our GPS started lying to us, urging us to take secondary streets, alleys and assorted back roads to get accross the border. We finally gave up on it in the small town of Fruitvale, only about 20 minutes from the border crossing. After consulting the maps and our travel atlas, we managed to cross at a small, out of the way border station. That was the first and only crank moment so far, and we hope that the GPS is just "city folk" and will be smarter in the cities.

The border guard was really great with us, though. Brett was a nervous wreck, but Rhonda came out of it swimmingly. We got asked for vehicle registration, our occupations, our travel plans and our length of stay. We shot back with, "How far is it to Pasco, Washington?" Brett was a little shocked at the answer he got from the border guard (another 4 hours), seeing as how it took all day to travel a measly 300 km. She suggested a little campground just northwest of Spokane, WA, a further 2 hours down the road. She was extremely friendly, helpful, polite, and (the best part) she didn't subject us to a full vehicle search!! Not that we were carrying anything illicit, but it takes a long time to pack all of our awesome camping gear properly, and it's taken us one full summer to figure out how to do it best. Of course being who we are, when she asked if we were carrying any citrus with us, we were about to claim our Jolly Ranchers, so we think she knew that there was nothing to worry about from us.

So, we find ourselves at this moment sitting watching "nature's TV" (sitting by the fire) at Fort Spokane National Park campsite. It's beautiful, quiet, secluded, and dark! We kind of feel like we are the only 2 people here right now. Earlier, we picked up some necessary supplies (sausages, ice, propane, Sam Adams, and Marlboro's), set up the campsite in record time, and had a dip in the local river/lake after a very hot day (39 degrees Celsius) in the Xterra. Finding the wood for the campfire was a litlle tricky. We had to go to three different places, and we only got firewood at the last place because the store clerk had a litlle in the back of her piuckup that she was willing to sell to me. Brett was quite tempted to buy the giant plastic turkey on display for $70, while Rhonda was impressed by the fish mailbox (and yes, we have pictures of it). In all, it was a great day of our trip. Everyone is still in the truck and we are still feeling pretty serene. The weather is beautiful and so are the views. We travelled 475 km today (the miles thing is still confusing to Rhonda), and are enjoying a relaxing evening by the fire.