Recharging Our Batteries

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  Redmond, Washington, United States
Sunday, August 17, 2008

We have just concluded the Western Canada/Alaska portion of our trip and spent most of this last week relaxing and visiting with family, both Tracy's and mine.  Now don't worry...just because we were back in civilization doesn't mean that we don't have stories to share.  From the comments we received last week it doesn't appear that anyone believes all my stories anyway...

Let's start with a very special day...August 8, 2008...a day we will remember always.  That's the day we joined The Club!  We pulled into Prince George, B.C. and headed directly to a campsite that is legendary among our RV brethren...the Walmart parking lot!  I don't know how it started, but to consider yourself a true RV'er you have to spend at least one night "camping" at a Walmart.  We had a full fresh water tank, empty waste tanks, and most importantly, a box of wine we were given that had been saved for a special occasion. 

Upon arrival, we were able to procure a nice site under a tree at the end of the parking lot (even though 10 or 15 other "campers" were already there), and we went inside for a hike

Central B.C. Totem Pole

.  In rating this campground we gave their bathrooms high marks for cleanliness...much nicer than the outhouses at our previous nights' campgrounds.  The lack of showers was more than offset by the well stocked camp store...the Ranger on duty informed us that the Oreo species of cookie had Rollback Pricing...bonus!!!   After putting the kids to bed, we sat outside the RV enjoying the pleasant wine and watching the sun set behind the scenic range of big box stores off to the west.  A very nice way to be initiated into The Club.  And free (except for the cookies).  We are big fans of the Wal-Mart executive who came up with the idea of allowing RV'ers to park overnight.

We went from Prince George to Whistler, where we spent 4 days.  Tracy's parents had taken the train out to B.C. from Ontario and we met up with them at a chalet owned by one of Tracy's cousins.  It was a beautiful place and nice to spend a few days away from the Big Zeke (if you can believe it).  Highlights of our stay in Whistler include the following:

·    Walking through Whistler village during Crankworx, which, per their website, is billed as the "most ground-breaking gravity fueled mountain bike festival in the history of all things badass!...off-road electricity hardwired to the soul of mountain biking's next generation of backflippin, tailwhippin, 720 huckin' superstars".  I don't know exactly what that means but seeing the bikes racing and jumping down the mountain was neat (or should I say "totally knarly, dude!");

·    The drive to Whistler (coming from the north)...very scenic;

·    Both Tracy's dad and I tried our luck at riding the mechanical razor (think of a mechanical bull, except replace the bull with a giant Gillette razor)

On the Road to Whistler

.  With my new found skills (not to mention my new complimentary disposable, triple blade, smooth glide, razor) I'm now ready to head back to the Calgary Stampede!  By the way I didn't see any of those bad-ass mountain bikers trying to tame the razor...chicken, bawk, bawk, bawk!;

·    Olympic Bobsled/Luge/Skeleton Run tour...it was quite fascinating to learn of all the ingenious "enhancements/cheats" these athletes have come up with over the years, and what gets done by the officials to counter them.  For example, the temperature of the bobsled runners is taken before and after the race to ensure no artificial heat has been applied to them.  And, each runner is rubbed 5 times with 900 grit sandpaper to remove any potential lubricating substances... It was also interesting to find out that these tracks have a built in cooling system...who knew?  Added to my lifetime "to-do list" is to have a guys  beerogganing night at this run;

·    I'm not sure if it was a highlight but we drove to Vancouver from Whistler down the Sea to Sky Highway.  While there were some nice views, there was too much construction, traffic and narrow lanes for The Big Zeke's (and my) liking.  Also the "Danger: Rock Slides" signs took on added significance considering that part of this highway had been buried under such a rock slide only a week and a half earlier.  The day ended well - a very enjoyable dinner with some of Tracy's relatives and the opportunity to meet one of the newest members of the Barnes clan, one year old Liam.  What a great little guy and very cute (can I say that and still maintain my manliness?).  Even though they came to our place, they didn't call us trailer trash once, and they were quite okay with me pinching their beverages

Dude!

.

And speaking of pinching someone's beverages (and food and bedrooms), we also visited my brother in Redmond, Washington.  It was a bit of an ordeal to get across the border as, in addition to the 2 hour wait in line, the discussion with the border guard went something like this:

Me:  "We are going to Redmond to visit my brother's family";

Border Guard: "Ah, Redmond...does your brother work at Microsoft?";

Me (proudly): "Yes, he's an executive there";

Border Guard (while noting our Canadian passports): "Yeah, Microsoft doesn't hire any Americans anymore but they sure like to stand behind the good ol' US flag when it suits them";

Me (somewhat subdued): "Oh";

Thump...that was the sound of the notice slapped on our windshield indicating we had to pull over for the special vehicle search

Taming the Razor

.

Just a slight hiccup however and we were able to proceed to my brother's place:

·    It is a beautiful house...however, if you look closely at the picture you might notice that his grass is a little dry.  My clandestine emptying of the RV's black water tank should help that out.  Serves him right...if he can afford a full size squash court and an elevator in his house surely he could open the wallet for a proper Sani-dump;

·    It was a lot of fun playing Rock Band on his X-Box (another quality product brought to you by Microsoft).  Although with his 5 kids, and our 3, my performances elicited way too many boos...so I missed a few notes on the drums, cut me some slack.  I also found out that playing it late at night with no sound (because everyone else is sleeping) isn't nearly as much fun.  On the upside however, everybody now knows the words to Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" for the next campfire sing-a-long;

·    And speaking of the X-box (another quality product brought to you by Microsoft) it was a little surreal to see a video of my brother rocking to The Who with Steve Balmer (Microsoft CEO) using the Rock Star guitars, and having it end with them smashing the guitars to pieces;

·    I, unfortunately, had to surrender my ping pong championship belt to my brother...he was entirely too pumped after he finally beat me.  Methinks the Elop's might be a tad too competitive;  His life isn't so great

Olympic Bobsled Run

.  I thought I should toss him a little bone...

·    It was also great to meet up with my cousins and parents while we there;

·    For the record, and much to Tracy's chagrin, Starbuck's beverages do not grow magically on trees in Seattle...another urban legend destroyed;

Other interesting bits from our last week in North America before we head out internationally:

·    Two more "giant" things to add to our list...the Giant Fly Fishing Rod in Houston B.C. and the Giant Cross Country Ski's somewhere else in B.C.  No pictures, as we are entirely "gianted" out;

·    I blame Tracy's influence but somehow Michael has picked up a habit of creating/singing rap songs...he seems more interested in rapping "Daddy Shouldn't Put Beans on his Fajita's" than in quietly enjoying the scenic views;

·    It's a small world...we had written in an earlier entry that we had met an interesting German couple in a North Pole, Alaska RV park

Whistler Pin-ups

.  Well, two weeks later, in a B.C. RV park we were very pleasantly surprised to meet up with them again...it was a good thing we didn't drink the entire box of wine the night before in the Wal-mart parking lot, or our Martha Stewart entertaining marks might have suffered.  Another very enjoyable evening. 

And for those who are interested in these sorts of things, a few stats from the first leg of our Round the World trip:

·    Kilometres driven: 14,000 (vs. the budgeted amount of 12,500....we added destinations in the Yukon, and apparently you have to do some driving once you are in a town...who knew?);

·    Expected number of windshield cracks and flat tires on the Alaska Highway after listening to the prognosticators who, incidentally, had never driven on the Alaska Highway:  10.  Some of the sample "advice" received: "See these jagged rocks boy...you'll be drivin' over 'em on the Alaska Highway and they'll chew up your tires just as sure as a skunk stinks";

·    Actual number of windshield cracks and flat tires on the Alaska Highway: 0;

·    Average cost of accommodations: $23

·    Average cost of food: exactly the same as we spend at home;

·    Highest gas price paid: $1.69/litre in Dawson City, Yukon. 
 
And one final note before we head off on our flight to Peru...while I named this entry "Recharging our Batteries" it is interesting to note that we actually forgot the charge the batteries for the kids' Nintendos...I hope the movies are good!

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Elops of Redmond RV Park

Just Having Fun

Victory (heavy sigh)

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