Saturday, July 2 to Sunday, July 10, 2016 (Tunkwa Lake Camprgound, Tunkwa Provincial Park, Logan Lake, BC)

Well, as usual another week has zipped on by! Why didn't time go by this fast when we worked?!

Saturday, we drove into Kamloops...time to stock up on groceries again. We thought it might be a little quieter at the stores being the long weekend...nah, it really wasn't! I guess all the folks from Kamloops who went away for the weekend were replaced by folks visiting Kamloops...LOL!

Sunday, Tucker and I went for a walk around Leighton Lake...and Steve joined us. He seems to really be into flower pictures lately...

Notice the white baggie I'm holding? Yup, it's a dog poop bag...Tucker seems to wait until we are out of the campground to do his business, which is fine, but I wish he'd go off into the bushes to do it, then I'd just leave it! Not too cool leaving it right on the side of the trail...consequently, I end up having to carry it all the way around the lake LOL!

Leighton Lake...

Now for the moment Tucker had been waiting for...swimming!

As I've said before, there are tons of marmots in the park. Steve even managed to get some good close-up pictures...see him...

This one was actually just outside the side window of our trailer...

Monday morning we decided to hit the trails on our quads. Steve wanted to check out the trails west of Tunkwa and see if we could find Bose Lake. We drove over to the staging area at North Leighton Campground and off-loaded...

Tunkwa Lake in the distance...

Tunkwa and Leighton Lakes in the distance...

Wild life!

Tunkwa and Leighton Lakes off in the distance...

Although we didn't managed to find the right trail to Bose Lake, we still had a great day checking out the area. Using the BC Back Roads map on the computer Steve had downloaded a possible route to the lake however all the roads we took had either been decommissioned or were too overgrown. With some ominous clouds on the horizon, we raced home in hopes of getting the quads loaded back into the truck before the rain hit...but that wasn't meant to be. We didn't get rained on but when we got to the truck, Steve fired it up to move it, but when he put it in gear nothing happened...the transmission console was totally dead. Great what should we do? We know that riding quads is not allowed in the rest of the park but they are our only means of transportation...we didn't really want to walk back to Tunkwa Lake Campground, especially with rain on the way and all the stuff we had to carry. So, we decided to ride the quads to the park compound. We parked them there and Dave (the park operator who Doug took over for) gave us a ride back to our rig. So what was a great day, didn't really end so well...

Hearing of our demise, Doug and Sue came over and put themselves at our disposal for anything we might need....we can use the park office phone, borrow their truck and anything else we might need. Thanks guys...very much appreciated!! Doug drove Steve back over to the truck to check the fuses...perhaps it's just a blown fuse. But no such luck...

Tuesday morning, Doug picked us up so we wouldn't have to walk up to the compound in the pouring rain. It was time to start making phone calls...thank goodness we have the use of the park phone....I'd hate to have spent the morning using the pay phone at the campground entrance! Especially with the amount of time Steve spent on it.

Steve started off calling our service fellow at Gold Key Isuzu in Langley to get his view on what the issue could be. He agreed with Steve...perhaps start by calling the Isuzu dealer in Kamloops and explain the situation to them. They may suggest you call the Allison Transmission dealer. In the end, it was Cullen Diesel & Power, the Allison Transmission dealer in Kamloops, where we would have to have the truck towed to.

Now it was time to call Coach-Net, our roadside assistance provider. I had recently renewed our policy and our hearts sunk when we were told our "Basic" policy would only cover a tow of 35 miles, and only if we were connected to the trailer. Say what!? What kind of coverage is that! We have always had the "Gold" policy and when I renewed, that policy was no longer offered, so I had to make a choice between two levels of service...with little information on the difference between the two. Of course, I chose the wrong one. We think that Coach-net may have had other complaints because when we explained the problem I had upon renewal, they allowed us to upgrade our policy so that our tow would be covered. With that done, we would have to wait 24 hours before they could proceed with the service, though. Whew! Sure glad we were able to do that...I'd hate to think what a tow from here to the other side of Kamloops would have cost!

With nothing else we could do, we spent the afternoon back at our site. Steve got a campfire going and we sat reading...look at those clouds!

We invited Sue and Doug over for dinner that night...always good spending time with them...

Wednesday morning we woke to fog...but as it dissipated, there was lots of blue sky. A nice change from yesterday's dark clouds.
Shortly after 8:30 Steve was back on the phone with Coach-net making arrangements to have Buster towed to Cullen Diesel Power. After confirming with Don's Towing that they'd be here in about an hour and a half, we went home, did dishes and cleaned up. By the time that was done, it was time to head back up to the compound and borrow Doug and Sue's truck and head over to Leighton North Campground and wait for the tow truck. After getting a few things out of the truck (i.e. fishing gear) we waited and waited...and then decided to drive back out closer to the park entrance and wait so that we could guide him in when he came.

Well, it was about 11:30 when he finally arrived. After assessing the situation, Mark got to work. He had initially wanted to hook up to the back end so that he didn't have to disconnect the drive shaft, but then didn't want to take the chance that the truck wasn't in neutral...it could cause more damage if by chance it wasn't. So he decided to disconnect the drive shaft after all which took a bit of time.

Steve had a look inside the very plush cab of this new Peterbilt. Wow lots of leather and total comfort...

About an hour and a half later, we were on our way...we followed in Doug and Sue's truck...

It was after 2:00 when we arrived at Cullen Diesel & Power, on the eastern outskirts of Kamloops...

We went in and took care of the paperwork and then drove back into Kamloops for lunch. They were going to get on to it right away so said that they should have some news for us by the time we got back. Well, it took a lot longer for a diagnosis...mind you, they also had a shift change too. It was well after 5:00 by the time they came and told us what the problem was....a faulty shift selector keypad was the issue. It was too late in the day to order one today, but hopefully their shop down at the coast would have one and they would be able to ship it in the morning. We were to call them tomorrow morning at 10:00...by then they should know if they have been able to locate one and have it shipped.

Thursday morning when we called we were disheartened at the news...they hadn't located a keypad yet. Oh sheesh! Well, we'll call later...hopefully they will have better news by then!

So we spent the rest of the morning by taking Tucker for a walk up to The Bluff. Along the way we saw two garter snakes...the first one (along the side of the road in the campground) didn't move at all when Steve prodded it....pretty sure it was dead (but no, it hadn't been run over). The second one, along the trail, appeared dormant at first but coiled up when Steve got close...

Another picture of the lake from the bench up on the bluff...

 Time for a rest and a drink of water....

 And we're on our way back...

When we got back to the compound, Steve called Cullen's again...better news this time. They had located the part and it would be there first thing tomorrow morning. Yay!

Friday morning when Steve called Cullen's, they said the truck was ready! So...off to Kamloops we went! We were on the Coquihalla Hwy about a half hour away from Kamloops when we got a text on the phone from Earl and Alison (our ATV friends that we first met in Quartzsite back in 2011).
They were on their way east to Winnipeg for a family wedding, were going to hook up with Earl's brother, Eric, and then heading north to Inuvik, Northwest Territories. They had a feeling that we may possibly be in Kamloops picking up the truck...wow, what timing! We agreed to meet for lunch at Montana's. They weren't attending any of the ATV/BC events this year...so we didn't think we'd get a chance to see them. We enjoyed catching up over lunch...and then they were on their way...and we continued on to Cullen's to pick up Buster. Great seeing you guys and safe travels! We look forward to hearing all about your trip.

Doug, Sue, Steve and I all took guesses as to what our repair bill would be...Doug won! What we thought would be a fairly inexpensive part (maybe $200 or $300) turned out to be over $700! Steve asked if they'd give a courtesy discount since he used to work for a parts wholesaler. Luckily they did, which eased the cost somewhat...but with labour and taxes we still had a $1701.66 bill to pay though.

This is the old shift selector keypad...

Now that we have Internet again Steve went on the Coach Net site to review the available plans. Both the Premier and Basic Plans under "Unlimited Towing" indicate No mileage or dollar amount limits.

What gives...don't the agents know what their selling? The reason we chose the Basic plan was that the Premier Plan had a lot of what we don't need.

Saturday was another mainly cloudy day...and cool with rain threatening. Steve decided to get out for one final fish while I took Tucker out for a walk. His total count to-date is 26 trout! Then it was time to load the boat back onto the truck. A few buckets of water to wash out the inside...

Sunday morning we watched horse riders head off on the trails...Steve took this picture from our side window...

Then it was time to get to work. Steve started packing up outside while I gave the inside a thorough vacuum and cleaning. Once I was finished inside, I went out and collected and cleaned the solar lights so Steve could pack them away.

With the work done, we had lunch and then headed out for one final walk around Leighton Lake with Tucker...

Sunday evening we walked up to Doug and Sue's for one final dinner together. My buddy, Tucker, resting his head on my foot...too cute! I'm sure going to miss him!

We enjoyed dinner and a wonderful visit...and then we walked home while Sue and Doug headed off to check out the campgrounds for new arrivals.

We have really enjoyed our visit here...but it's time to move on tomorrow! Thanks Doug, Sue, Tucker and Po for a wonderful time...maybe we'll see you at the end of August...