September 7-8, 2006 (Days 106-107)

Thursday:
Could we expect the nice weather to last? This morning it was a cool 44 degrees. We left with the Waters at 7:15 a.m. It was cloudy. We stopped in a small town named Smithers for breakfast. We were able to park right on Main Street in front of the restaurant. It was a good breakfast. We were back on the road at 9:30. We met up with two other couples from the caravan at the restaurant.

As we traveled, we saw many logging trucks. Lumbering is a big business here. We passed a couple huge logging camps and lumber mills. We began to see livestock in the fields. It was becoming more populated. Remote homes were becoming more visible and businesses, along with billboards, electric and power poles along the road.

The fall colors were very evident. There are many yellows here from the aspens. Some weeds and bushes are bright orange and a few are red.

We stopped in the small town of Houston to see the World’s Largest Fly Fishing Pole. This was mostly a gimmick, but fly fishing for steelhead is big in this area. The sun was out by then and it was getting warmer. When we reached Prince George, it was 76 degrees. We were an hour ahead of the parking window, so we wasted our time in a Wal-Mart, first one we had seen for some time.

In the evening, the Waters’ and we toured downtown and had dinner. Everyone was tired, so we returned to our trailers and went to bed early.


Friday:
Everyone seemed to be up and enjoying the nice weather this morning. They were peeling the coatings off their trailers and tow vehicles that have been on for stone protection since the beginning of the trip. Some also had stone guards and they were being dismantled. Several washed their tow vehicles and trailers. Many were doing laundry. Dan and I took our laundry to a spot in town, as the campground laundry was so full. We had five loads of clothes, towels, etc. Each washer was $3 and each dryer was a quarter for four minutes. Expensive! Our total laundry bill was $27.50. Oh, give me my own washer and dryer!

Tonight was the farewell dinner at the Ramada Inn in downtown Prince George. It was a beautiful banquet. The buffet was great. They had about 8 salads, rolls, four fishes, three hot meats (including prime rib), broasted potatoes, two vegetable dishes and a dessert bar. After eating, we had a great program. Certificates were given out to each caravaner for various Adventures and Misadventures. We won the award for “Maintenance Champions”. It stated: “Dan and Beth have had many problems with their rig on this caravan. The TV antenna broke, the microwave oven shelf broke twice, the pantry doors came off, clothes rod came out of the wall, the mirror broke, a tire was wearing due to alignment problems, another tire was leaking, he had water leaking into the trailer, and he had the first cracked windshield on his tow vehicle. The most remarkable thing is that they are still smiling!” We also received a certificate of achievement for being first-timers. Then we had to make our good-byes to everyone. It was hard to say good-bye to these new friends we had made over the past two months. They had become family. We know there will be some that we will keep in touch with for a long, long time. Our leaders wished us safe travels and said, “See you down the road.”