A very long drive

We got on the road at 710am today, 20 minutes behind schedule.

After a quick stop at Starbucks for my morning espresso clover, just for fun I dialled in Butte Montana on the GPS. The GPS lady suggested we drive to Osoyoos but we headed towards highway 33. She complained bitterly telling us at every intersection to complete a legal u-turn (I don’t actually think u-turns are legal in BC). In any case before I could turn her off, Zach called and because I’m so technically challenged, I couldn’t figure out how to turn her off without disconnecting the call with Zach. This became a big source of frustration for the lady sitting in the passenger seat and for Zach whose patience finally ran out – “don’t you know how to get to highway 33 without a GPS?!”. The lady in the passenger’s seat finally figured out how to suspend the GPS lady and we moved along chatting with Zach until the cell service dropped on the other side of the Big White turnoff.

After dropping the call with Zach, the GPS lady directed us to take highway 33 to highway 3 and a right turn to Osoyoos. She is definitely stubborn! I proceeded to turn left on highway 33 towards Midway. At this point, I think the GPS lady gave up because she stopped talking for a long time and while watching the screen, it appeared she was having a crisis.

We arrived at Midway and turned right towards the US border crossing at Ferry Washington where the road was blocked by a Red Racer wagon with a stop sign mounted dead centre. I wanted to take a photo but after looking at the border agent, decided no…taking a photo is likely going to result in a delay. After a quick check inside the RV, grumpy told us to have a nice day and rolled the Red Racer back to let me through.

We enjoyed the drive from Ferry to Coleville where we stopped for gas and a washroom break. It was there that I encountered this sign…

and just in time mind you! I disposed of my chew appropriately and we headed down the road to Safeway for groceries.

After loading up the RV, we thought we’d stop for lunch at a rest stop along the way but wouldn’t you know it? There were no rest stops. So on we drove to Spokane where I noticed a Camping World beside I90 and then it dawned on me…I forgot the chairs! The lady beside me was gracious. She just looked at me, smiled and said. “I asked you this morning if you put the chairs in the truck and you responded with ‘yes’. Were you not listening to me again?” Busted!

I had given up on the GPS lady, so thought I’d ask Siri where the next rest stop was. She told me it was at Liberty Lake 22 kms away from the I90 and asked if I’d like directions. I said no. To which she responded – there are no others. I swore she was incorrect but decided to turn off the I90 and park in the Cabella’s parking lot for a bit of lunch. This turned out to be serendipitous because Cabella’s sells fine camping chairs. We purchased 3 new chairs and a can of peanuts (this was an important decision in hindsight).

After leaving Cabella’s we got back on the I90 and 5 minutes later there it was. A rest stop! Stupid Siri!

We kept on and stopped for gas in some God forsaken place where Connie held the door open for a lovely older woman who asked her if she was travelling somewhere. My first thought is ‘no this is our final destination’. Not! Connie said we were on our way to eastern Canada, to which, she received a funny look. The woman said, “oh that’s nice. I was in Nova Scotia once but I flew there!” She then asked where are you headed tonight and Connie said Butte. “Oh dear, you do have a long drive ahead of you”. No **** Sherlock!

At long last we arrived in Butte at 9pm. We are in the KOA where the mosquitos are plenty. Off to sleep now as we have another long day tomorrow.