We Got Lucky Twice (Long Post)

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

(On edit, we hear there is a storm and flooding in or near Clearwater.  We may detour to Derek and Teresa's.  I need to check the weather and reports.)

We got lucky twice.   Okay, maybe once and the other we did our homework and then got lucky.   We spent Monday night at the Cascade Casino.   After a short nap we went in to sign up for the rewards card.  They gave us $10 each to play with.   We like penny slots as they last longer.   Good thing about Canadian casinos is there is no smoking.  Makes for a nice environment.  I won $6.35!  Wow!  I guess I can buy a coffee at Starbuck’s with that.

A class C was parked next to us that night.  Yesterday morning I got cleaned up and stepped out of the trailer to “Buenos Dias!”.   The retired couple flies to Guadalajara every year and spends six months in Chapala.  They don’t use a car and walk or take the bus everywhere they go.  Very nice people and of course they love Mexico.

We walked into the downtown area of Langley in the morning.   Cute place with lots of small shops, bricked sidewalks and old-fashioned street lamps with lots of landscaping.   We needed to mail some things to the U.S. and found out that the post in many places, at least BC, are set in small shops and drug stores (correct me if I’ve got this concept wrong).  The shop we went to sold office supplies, had a small sandwich shop and the post.   As we have found so far of most Canadians, very friendly and helpful.

We also stopped at the Value store which is like a thrift shop.   Very expensive for thrift but I found a pair of jeans for $5.   In Texas they would cost $1.99.   We hitched up and said our goodbyes to the city of Langley and the Cascade Casino.

 

 

Another great thing about BC and we hope we find it throughout the provinces are the visitor’s centers. Here is a good story and one we wish we had taken a pic of.   The Langley visitor’s center is located in the events center on 200^th St.   We had passed it coming in and I wanted a BC Forest Service guide.  I found their website a bit difficult to manage.   As we pulled into the convention or events center, we saw flags from all nations and people chatting out in front of the visitor’s center.   We parked and walked up and what did we see?  Four Mexican folk dancers posing for a picture.   Of course they were as happy to see us as we were of them and we had a great time in Spanish.   They immigrated to Canada and married Canadians and another was a Mexican couple who changed countries.   They miss Mexico mucho and I can understand.  The visitor’s center employee helped me find the two places I had on my list.  One is located here outside of Lytton where we are now.  BTW, they event we attended had food, snacks and coffee and they shared with us.   We each had a nice croissant.

Off we headed to Lytton up highway 1.   Gas Buddy has been working well for us and we pulled off in Mission where we found fuel for $1.37.  In Langley it was $1.52.  Quite a savings for checking on line.  A beautiful mountain drive past the Bridal Veil (?) Falls, Hell’s Gate and into Lytton.   While we were traveling the crockpot was cooking some delicious beans we would have later with our dinner.

 

 

In Lytton we stopped again at a visitor’s center.   The girl confirmed that we could stay at the forest service site 17 kms away at Botanie Creek.  They have three sites there for no fee and up far away from noise, cables and the city.  We followed her directions and stopped again to fuel up.  Here at the gas station I couldn’t get the pump to work.   A nice kid who was also buying gas offered to help me and we chatted for a few minutes.  Everyone stares at our license plates and stops to ask us.  Best of all, they wish us a very good time while we are in Canada.   The road that takes you up to the lake was right around the corner from the gas station.   We had realized while in town we were in a First Nation’s area.   As we entered the road there was the sign.  “No Trespassing Onto Reserve Land Without A Permit”.   We turned around and wondered why no one had told us.   300 meters back at the gas station we asked what we should do and a very helpful woman came out of the office.   She said to ignore the sign (she is first nation’s) it was an old dispute, don’t cross into private property and if we went to the lake which was about 500 meters away we would be on First Nation’s property.   She said we couldn’t miss the three sites as there is a small cabin for groups.   Up we went with some apprehension.   The road was paved for the first half and then changed to well-compacted what I call caliche.   Sure enough, we found it and as you can tell by the pictures it is a real jewel.  This site, by the way, is marked as motorhome friendly.  I would say nothing over 26ft if you wan to remain level and get back on the road.   The road itself though is very good.  We may disconnect and drive to town so we can post this blog, check our mail, take pictures of the river and buy some fresh produce.

 

The road that goes up to Botanie Creek Campground

 

 

Botanie Creek Campground (BC Forest Service)

 

 

Our site up in the woods.  Apart from the rain and cold, it's a great place to be.

 

 

Juan caught a picture of me through the window.   Nice and toasty inside.

 

We joked all night about what might happen while we were here but it was very quiet except for the birds singing in the trees.   We spent the evening reading and watched a DVD.  This morning it is very cold, about 5C and there is a light rain falling.   If it clears up we want to go for a hike staying within the forest service area.   This is what we are looking for and we have found it.  Let’s hope it continues this way.   That is why I said in the beginning it looks like we got lucky twice.