Day 77: Prince Rupert to Terrace, Canada
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Smithers, British Columbia, Canada
So our plan to "play it by ear" worked out in the end, but did have some dark moments! We got the call to "rejoins your vehicle" at 12:45 or 1:45am, depending on which watch or phone you checked - but we had a joyful reunion with Sara and reassured her we would stay with her and no more Xanax! We were second in line to drive off the ferry, but the owners of vehicle #1, that red pickup, must have overslept, so everyone else in all the other lanes were exiting before red pickup owners finally came down to claim their vehicle and let us out! Now we were near the end of customs lines but still ended up getting through in 30 minutes. This time they asked for car registration, and the first 2 copies I provided, he said were "just receipts" - finally copy #3 seemed to satisfy him; then questions about my bear spray - "does it have a picture of a bear on it?" I said yes, seemed like the right answer, but I had no idea since I haven't had it out of my backpack in 6 weeks! But he finally said we could move on. Now, move on to where at 2am in the dark - and we are very nervous of dark! Haven't seen real dark in over a month, and I vowed never to have to drive the RV in the dark, but no choice here. We went through town on I-16 (it runs all the way to Banff and actually across Canada), saw the Walmart briefly, but never saw the parking lot, so drove out the other side of town until it was even darker, kind of creepy! We saw a turnoff for Port Edward, that said boat docks and camping, so we took the road. Luck was with us as I was able to spot some picnic tables and a roadside pull off, across the street from a school - seemed like a safe location! So we pulled over, walked Sara, and crashed on the one bed that was not covered by our bicycles and the sofa. We were asleep in minutes and awoke to the surprise of our surroundings at 8:30 am - a pretty little city park above a harbor full of fishing boats, all under beautiful sunshine! And two other RV's pulled in behind us. We made a quick breakfast and ate at our picnic table, then talked to the grounds people at the park to get a recommendation for local seafood purchases. Unfortunately, the cannery just down the road from us did not sell fish on weekends, so we had to go back into Prince Rupert ("the Halibut Capital of the World" - I know we've heard that before!) to stock our freezer before leaving the coast. But the town of Prince Rupert was a quaint little fishing harbor with cute shops and lots of seafood restaurants, meeting several animal lovers, one of whom was from Terrace, our next stop! She gave us info for the Provincial campgrounds, so helped us know where we wanted to go. And then it was back on the road eastward bound! Our first stop was Butze Rapids, a 2 mile hike through forest to see "reversing tidal Rapids" - the water direction changes with the tides - we were not there at optimal tide shifts, but it was a pretty hike through "wolf territory" - fortunately, none seen! Next was a stop at Lake Diana, where Diana Creek has a huge dam to create a freshwater lake amongst the mountains. Weather is just warm enough to that I wanted to get my feet wet! Then back on the road - needing to get the 100 miles to Terrace and feeling really tired again. We arrived at 5:30 Saturday and found the Provincial Park on Ferry Island nearly full - only 1 campsite remaining, and we got it!!! Quick dinner during a sudden rainstorm, unloading the bikes, then writing our blog, and the excitement of a solid night's sleep in the comfort of our own beds!
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