O! Canada!

We spent the weekend north of Spokane along the Kettle River about 5 miles from the Canadian border.  We were entirely alone and other than Otis, the border patrol guys were the only people I talked to the entire weekend.

I finally got the plastic storage out of the van...

and put the other two wooden ones in.  They are bolted through the floor so hopefully they won't move.  I put straps down the middle between the knobs to keep the drawers closed when I take tight corners at 80mph.

I got the rack finished.  Well, mostly finished.  I still have a bit of tweaking to do.  I got rain gutter brackets and attached 2x4s to them.  I painted the wood black.

Along the side is the clip on support for my shade canopy.  The grommets in the tarp clip into eye screws with carabiners.

The Kettle River holds the BEST swimming spot in the state of Washington.  I have been swimming here for the past 30 years.  There is a nice little eddy that is nice to float around in.

We both get curly hair when we get in the water.

Right before it got dark I heard something getting killed across the river.  I think it might have been a goose and it was probably a coyote or badger by the sound of it.  It was freaky.

Petal had a good time.

This was my view for most of Saturday with breaks to jump in the water.

On Sunday morning we crossed the border and went up to Christina Lake in BC.  I had never been to the campground so we decided to check it out.  I took the canoe to test out the rack and to maybe take a paddle but I was too lazy.

We did find a private beach and I swam around for a while.  The lake reminds me a lot of Priest Lake but not as developed or insane.

The water was crystal clear.

We took a little walk on the Trans Canada Trail to look at the falls on the Kettle River.  The trail when completed will span 14,000 miles.  Over 10 thousand miles have been completed.  I see a bike ride in our future.

The falls.

The trail (the one we took to the falls was a side trip from the main trail).

The Canadian side of the border.

Welcome to the USA!!!  Going in to Canada they hardly looked at me.  Coming back into the US the border guy actually got into my van and opened my cooler.  He also gave Otis a dog treat.  I think he was probably sniffing for pot as well.  After all, I was in a van.