We were up early Monday morning to finish packing...and since we were going to take the 9:00 a.m. ferry, we had to leave shortly after 8:00. Angie and Conner also got up early so we were able to have some last minute cuddles with the little man.Here's a close up of his t-shirt..."My finger may be small..." (got that right!!)
And after one final picture....
...and big hugs, we were on our way. It's going to be tough not seeing the little fellow everyday...thank goodness for Skype!
The ferry terminal was very busy when we arrived...oh, oh...hope we make it! Especially with the sailing this time of year only every two hours...we didn't want to have to wait until the 11:00 a.m. ferry! But we made it...it really is quite amazing the number of vehicles that the ferries can carry.
We had an uneventful trip over to the mainland and as we left the ferry, driving down the causeway, I snapped this picture of a wind-surfer (it was a pretty windy day)...
We arrived at Econo Storage in Langley to pick up our fifth-wheel...all was fine with it except the bedroom slider had crept out. We have been having trouble with it but this is the most it has ever crept out...especially odd since Steve had turned the slider valves off. We will definitely be stopping at Fraserway RV in Abbotsford when we continue our travels...must get that fixed!
We arrived at Fort Camping, Brae Island Regional Park, in Fort Langley at 12:30 and after checking-in, we headed to our favourite site, C-1...so glad that it was available! It was after 3:30 by the time we were all set up and the suitcases unpacked, so I decided to walk into Fort Langley to Lee's Market and pick up groceries for dinner tonight and breakfast in the morning. I needed to do a "major grocery shop" but was too tired to drive into Langley so now that Fort Langley has a market (it was under construction last year after burning down the year before), I figured I'd just get the bare necessities and go into Langley tomorrow.
Just as I was about to start cooking dinner, there was a knock on the door...it was Neil. We met Neil and Lisa last year when we were here...I spotted their motorhome when we arrived but they were out and we were too pooped to go over later, so we figured we would greet them tomorrow. Well, Neil took care of that...we made arrangements to get together tomorrow afternoon for happy hour.
After dinner, we relaxed inside...oh, it's good to be back in our "home on wheels"!
Tuesday, after a slow start to the day, I jumped in the truck and headed to Langley...it was shopping day! While I was gone, Steve off-loaded our bicycles...it had been awhile since we had ridden them. Well, the Thule bike rack had cracked again and was in poor shape. It gets a lot of stress put on it being on the back of the trailer. I guess we will need to deal with that before we leave.
That night, we got together at Neil and Lisa's site. It was great re-connecting with them! They leave tomorrow for the Thousand Trails RV Park at Cultus Lake where they will be workcamping again this year. We visited them there last year when we were next door at the provincial park. We also met their neighbours from across the road, Chris and Pat. Left to right...Steve, Pat, Chris, Neil and Lisa.After a couple of hours and a great visit (we also met Lisa's daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter), we said our goodbyes and after hugs and handshakes, headed home.
Wednesday, we left at 8:30 to take the truck in for it's annual service. After all the paperwork (and a long chat with Dave) was done, we walked the short distance to Willowbrook Mall...where we wandered around (and around) wasting time while we waited for the phone call from Gold Key Isuzu. It was going onto 1:00 by the time they called...by this time we had plunked ourselves down at a table in the food court and were reading (Steve on the iPad and me on my Kindle).
On our way back to Gold Key, we stopped at Cap-It to enquire about bike racks. The fellow there was quite surprised that our replacement bar that we had to have replaced over a year ago when we were in Tucson wasn't covered under warranty. As far as he knew, Thule products have a lifetime guarantee and he had never heard of any limited guarantees. So he gave Steve the number at Thule to call. We'll give it a shot!
Once back at Gold Key, Dave explained that one of the boat-loader mounting brackets had snapped (they have to take the loader off in order to tilt the cab to do the service work). The aluminum wasn't strong enough to withstand the stress. He had actually gone over to ITB (Intercontinental Truck Bodies...the company who built the box, etc on the truck) to get a new one made but the holes hadn't lined up...sheesh...so after paying the bill, off to ITB we went. No big deal since we were actually planning on stopping there to have a missing rivet replaced. We were expecting to have to make an appointment but they took care of everything right away...making new mounting brackets out of thicker aluminum. They continue to give us great service and it was no charge again!!
Thursday morning, Steve called Thule and after explaining the situation to the warranty service rep, she asked for pictures to be emailed. After taking care of that, we decided to take the bikes out for a ride along the river...it was cloudy but fairly warm out. The forecast for this weekend is for a big heat wave...record breaking temperatures are apparently in store...sweet! We stopped just outside of the park so that I could turn on my tracker app to track our distance...One part of the trail goes along a road for a short distance before it reaches Derby Reach park. We stopped at this entrance to one of the properties along the road because we couldn't believe the waterfalls, ponds and landscaping...it was just beautiful! Of course, the pictures don't do it justice...
Another stop along the trail...
They have added a few new interpretive signs to this lovely trail... (click on pictures to enlarge)
We rode to Edgewater Bar Campground, Derby Reach Regional Park on the Fraser River where we stopped for a rest at one of the few empty campsites. The place is full for the weekend...yup, I'd say people have been listening to the weather forecast! We would love to stay here however there are few sites that we would be able to get both the 5th wheel and truck in and the nightly rate with no hookups is $25.00. We are paying that rate now with the monthly rate and have full hookups.
After a short break, we rode the trail back and after stopping at the Market in Fort Langley for a few things, we were home...a great 16 km bike ride!
While we had been on our bike ride, we had received an email from Thule asking if the rack had been bumped since it was in such bad shape. Steve responded that it hadn't and shortly after that, we received notification from them that a new arm would be sent to us. YAY! So we were out of pocket for the one in Tucson but they were taking care of this one. Hmmm...perhaps it is the difference between Thule Canada vs Thule US??? However this doesn't resolve the issue of a poor design as this one will eventually crack as well, so Steve will take the old and new post to a welding shop to have them beef it up where there are obvious weaknesses.
Both Friday and Saturday, we decided to go for walks along the trail here in the park...the blue sky and sunshine have arrived! That is the bridge over the Fraser River (in the background) that goes across to Fort Langley and the trail that we rode on our bikes yesterday goes along the river on the other side. With the hot weather and snow melt the river is very muddy looking.
This is at the very end of the trail...Tavistock Point...
On our bike ride the other day, I mentioned the beautiful landscaping of the property on the left that we passed...well, this is the property from the riverfront...
Sunday morning, we went for our powerwalk going along the park trail to Tavistock Point...this is taken in another loop of the trail...
And...finally...after almost a week...here is a picture of our campsite here at Fort Camping...
Our son and his girlfriend (Chris and Angela) are driving out from Burnaby this afternoon for a visit and barbeque. As we were waiting for them to arrive, our neighbours from across the road, invited us over to see pictures of their trip to the Yukon and Alaska that they did last year. Theo and Lauralee are from Smithers, BC and made a quick two week trip last July/August, covering a lot of territory. They lent us their copy of "The Milepost" a must have book we have been meaning to get for our up coming trip north. They also showed us pictures of their ranch just outside of Smithers...beautiful! They graciously invited us to stop by when we are up in the area...we may just have to take them up on that!
Chris and Angela arrived just before 2:00 and we sat visiting for awhile......and then decided to go for a walk. We considered walking into Fort Langley but that would mean walking in a lot of direct sunshine and it was close to 30C/86F (amazing for this time of year!) so we chose to walk along the trail to Travistock Point witch is relatively shaded. But it was still pretty darned hot!
Mount Baker in Washington State...
We had dinner outside...and after relaxing for bit, we had dessert (pie supplied by Chris and Angela) and before we knew it, it was time for them to head off. Great seeing you, guys...hopefully we'll see lots more of you before we continue our travels and leave the area May 29th!
