We left on Friday June, 24th. It was payday (a week early actually. Thanks, Boss) but I didn't want to drive the distance the wrong way back to town from work, so I had to find a bank along the way. Fortunately for us there is an RBC across the street from this giant ass truck in Sparwood, BC.
So I went to the bank then took the boys to pee on the truck. I didn't actually let them pee on the truck. But about 8 years ago Kodi did manage to do it while I wasn't paying attention. There was no repeat of the situation for Badger though. Both dogs were acting a little nervy, and despite having their leashes tied together I didn't feel safe (and neither did they) getting far enough away to get the whole truck in the picture with them. So a tire will have to do.
We hit snow in the Kootney Pass. The pond up there still had some pretty solid ice on it and it was snowing pretty heavily when I hopped out real quick to take the picture. On the way back by on July 2 the ice was melting and it was sunny up there, but the snow was still several feet deep in the shade.
I tried not to stop too often on the way, I needed to get to Christina Lake before dark so I could set my tent up (in the rain of course) without too much trouble. With my gas light blinking at me and one more big pass to go, I decided to fuel at the Shell station in Castlegar. Why are you mentioning this, Monika? No one cares where you got gas.
WELL!
I am mentioning it, because the young lady who worked at the Castlegar Shell station was the NICEST gas station attendant I have ever met in my entire existence! And you know what we talked about? Rainbows! It was a highlight for me, ok?
I didn't beat the dark, unfortunately, and it was raining good and hard in Christina Lake when I arrived. But the camp ground attendant was awesome, and it's on my list to stop there again someday and actually enjoy the lake, which I didn't see, because it was dark.
I arrived in Mission on Saturday and there are actually no pictures from that day. In fact, the giant truck, and the pond at the top of the Kootney pass were nearly it for touristy type photos. I only snapped three on Sunday, when I had to find my own entertainment while my friends were busy or sleeping off a night shift.
These are the three.
This is a road.
This is my car on that road.
This is a creek running under the road. I highlighted the Sasquatch in the upper left there for you.
Psych. There is no Sasquatch. That's a sun spot.
Actually, the story behind that is rather simple. I was trying to find access to Stave Lake via what looked like a road on my map. This road started out ok, and then it gradually became less and less of a road. By the time I'd passed the 3rd tow truck hauling more rugged looking vehicles than mine (my vehicle is a rugged thing disguised as a suburbanite's car) out I decided it was not enough of a road for my tastes anymore, especially since I didn't have a phone with me and I didn't really know where I was and I had to pee really bad. It's apparently a place where people go offroading in Mission, and there were several ATVs and dirt bikes. So I turned around and pulled over by this creek, took a picture, and got kind of creeped out about the woods (which I had to enter to take care of my other problem), the dozens of 'missing' posters and the empty car parked by mine with no paths anywhere near. Why are trees so big and intimidating in BC?
I was later informed by my friends about this incident when I told them where I'd tried to go.
Doors open, engine running, radio and wipers on... body not recovered for over a year. And all only 200 meters from his campsite. A quick search for the area on google matches the missing posters tacked to the trees. Lots of young men disappear off the road to Stave Lake. One site suggested as many as 22 and I found 3 names since 2007, all with the same story, cars found, people not. Had I known this before I would not have run into the woods behind my car to answer nature's call! That kind of stuff just scares me, woods like that, just so easy to disappear in.
I can't say I'm entirely surprised though, given what I witnessed the young men doing, for example the fellow standing on the bumper of the jeep hanging on to the roof rack with his pants around his ankles... to be fair I should suppose there were likely some young women involved as well.
Either way though, the vast number of missing posters, and the stories like those of John Kahler always make me feel both sad and uneasy. I have to admit, the uneasiness often out does the sad too. I've got the willies just thinking about it now.
To cheer us up, here is a video of some guy stuck in a big puddle. He is standing on his driver's seat because he doesn't wish to get wet. (I did not get this far on the road and this video was taken in the winter, not by me)
One commenter describes Stave Lake as "a shithole where retards gather annually to destroy their vehicles while intoxicated"
I managed to not go missing though. And here ends the touristy pictures from my trip. The rest were all of dogs or friends, but mostly of dogs. To be honest, I didn't do anything particularly touristy. We hung out at the house, watched the dogs play in the yard, it rained most of the week so we went browsing shops in town, and ate lots of food, and watched lots of tv, and fell asleep on the couch more often than any of us might care to admit. Napping and talking and making the same trip in to town 5 times a day for different reasons. And I laughed. I laughed so hard my stomach ached. It has been a very very long time since I have laughed like that. It was the most laid back, mellow, carefree vacation I have ever had.
The dog pictures are to come next post.
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