Welcome to Canada!
Wow, what a great stop! Last time we came, it was dumping rain and the drive was terrifying. I couldn’t even see all the beauty we were driving through. I was just happy to get to the KOA alive, but was still grateful for full hookups and laundry. This time the skies were blue and we got to enjoy gorgeous views the whole way. It was windy, but it was a tailwind, and with good visibility, I could drive slow and people could pass me. There were no issues whatsoever at the border crossing. Glad they did not ask me how much wine I was carrying. It feels good to be in Canada, particularly after seeing that the Bonners Ferry billboard saying, “Welcome to Tr@mp Country” is still up. Jesus, people. Still?? Definitely not a cult though, right?
Really nice place with views of distant imposing mountains the background
We did five loads of laundry in all, with one being a waterproofing treatment of all of our rain gear. Weather forecasts are calling for rain in Banff, so we used this stop to refresh and prepare. Richard used the campground wifi to replenish our movie and shows options. While he was doing that, I made a Bertoli pan dinner, threw in some frozen peas, and brought plates over to the laundry room so we could dine in style with the spin cycle.
Excellent laundry facilities
The backdrop on Cranbrook is really beautiful. I hear that as towns go, it may not be the most hip and happening, but it was plenty for us. In fact, given that there might be a nice bike ride from Cranbook to the local hip happening town of Kimberly, maybe we’ll stay two nights next time.
Also amazing campground shower, for those who partake in that
After laundry, I blogged and Richard walked along the river. There’s some place called “Dirty Darts” that is 1.8 miles from the KOA, so he chose that as an investigatory walking mission. Seems like a darts place. Not sure why it’s dirty. Scared to Google it.
Lovely drive, made much nicer with visibility
Cranbrook continues to make a perfect post border crossing pit stop. It has all the things and we left feeling recharged and clean smelling. Before leaving town, we drove to Sportcheck and I got myself a new daypack. I’ve been researching options that are bigger than the lightweight Marmot I’ve been cramming with clothes and food. Went with an Osprey Tempest 22 and I love it. It holds my hiking sticks and I can get them and stow them while walking. It’s so awesome in fact that now Richard is jealous. I see an Osprey Talon 22 (men’s version) in his future. All good! So fun!
Total miles from Priest Lake: 181.2, 18.9 mpg, 6 hours 29 min with stop in Sandpoint for groceries and waterproofing stuff. Site 88 close to laundry room. They gave us a 50amp to 30 converter so we could use that site. Very nice staff. Laundry room is awesome with 4 front load washers and dryers (one dryer out of order). Really nice bathroom. Tempted to use shower, but did not. Great fast wifi for downloading movies. Full hookups. Sewer pipe too high so we had to snake, but oh well. Richard got coins at the casino next door.
