Well, I learned a lot of things this trip. Like american snow is 32f, and Canadian snow is 0c, but if you hold either in your hand, they are both equally cold.
I also learned that when a
west bound semi-truck is the east bound lane, and you are also in the
east bound lane if you flash your high beams on and off rapidly the truck will
or did move back to it's righteous lane. If the truck hadn’t moved back, I hadn’t
downloaded plan B yet but I think it would have involved ditch diving.
One thing I haven’t been able to figure out is why would you put slide bolt locks on the outside of the outhouse doors?
As the trip winds down, and the impending ride in a Boeing
approaches, I have been mostly dry camping. Or staying in forestry camps
without any power, or water. My limit for off grid camping is 3 days, as by
then my tanks need draining, fresh water needs filling, and I need a shower.
After my first 3-day stints I have added a requirement for dry camping , and that is at least a working 4g phone signal, 5g preferred. The reason for this requirement is without a phone signal there isn’t much to do as bedtime approaches, and I have been forced to make a campfire for entertainment. Luckily ample wood was provided.
Now a campfire isn’t bad entertainment, but after a while
everything starts to smell like a campfire, including you, and just like
everything smelling like garlic, that gets old.
Also beware of any campground hosts that have arrived before
the season starts, and the parks officially opening. These hosts are friendly
folks and without anyone to talk to, they will want to talk to you, for long
periods of time.
My last couple of nights on the road, I spent at Lake
Roosevelt National Park, Kettle Falls. I didn’t recall the National Parks reservation
system being so complex, but to make a reservation here you have to first have
a reservation.gov account. Then figure out where you are. Then figure out what
site is open, then make the reservation making sure you get your golden age
discount. Then pay your $21.00 for three nights. Gee. Good thing they have a
strong 5g signal.
I was skeptical at first of this park because the signs at
the entrance said the water wasn’t on yet, and I needed water. But the water
was on and was even on at the parks excellent dump station, that was designed
to be down hill from your tanks.
This park must be very busy in the summer, as it has a large boat ramp, and a high and dry marina that rents huge houseboat’s for over $1000.00 a day.
Lake Roosevelt is the largest reservoir on the Columbia, so perhaps the lake level will rise to the level of the marina and the houseboats, by opening day.
The fastest was into town would have been 395, but I was not
in a hurry and decided to follow the
river/reservoir and take highway 25. This turned out to be a excellent road, through
some tiny towns that are not on the map.
At Gifford there is a ferry that takes you across the reservoir to Inchelium a tiny town in the Colville Indian Reservation. The original town was flooded when the reservoir was created in 1940.
I didn’t take the ferry, as it looks like the only way to call it is on CB channel 5, so I guess I will have to ride my motorbike the one with a CB there and see if the ferry will cross to pick me up.
You can see that the reservoir level is quite low.
The other thing I discovered, and I have been wondering
about it for a while now. Is just where does the Spokane River flow into the
Columbia?
Well at Fort Spokane, of course. The fort is only raided in the summer, and was still closed for the season, but now I know were the river goes.
And then a couple of afternoons of interior clean up, before
being tied down in storage, where the waste dump is uphill.
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