September 8, 2016 - Surrey, BC, Canada

The sun was trying so hard to peek through the very thick, stormy clouds.  The temperature was in high 50’s.  Erwin picked up his IPhone and there was a message with an attachment from Wayne.

Last night Wayne asked us how we pronounce ‘salmon’ and after we told him how we pronounce it.  Wayne replied back that we did not say it correctly because we pronounced it with ‘l’. Well, he included an attachment explaining how to correctly pronounce it.  Of course, we got a chuckle out of it.  No big deal for us!

After light breakfast and coffee Edith rode with Wayne in his car while following Erwin, who drove the Lil' Home to Traveland RV in Langley, BC.  After dropping the LH at the service center we three went out for sightseeing. Wayne had some places he wanted us to visit.

First stop was to visit the Redwood Park in south Surrey, BC. Redwood Park is large beautiful forested park.  Back in about 1893 David Brown, one of the early pioneers, gave the property to his DEAF twin sons, David and Peter, on their 21st birthday.   The twin brothers started planting 32 different species of trees from around the word, including seedlings from Redwoods.  David and Peter were much interested in evergreens that they began to collect seedlings from Russia, Austria, Japan, France and many other countries.  While living at the park they decided to build a two-story treehouse to live in.  The treehouse was rebuilt several times because of fires.  Later, they donated the park to the City of Surrey.  The existing treehouse is not original. We took a stroll among the forest for about an hour or so.  It was very beautiful and there were not too many tourists there.

There are over 50 different native and exotic species of trees, as well as five towering groves in this tree-lover's paradise.  There is Giant Sequoia, the whimsical Monkey Puzzle, Wych Elm, Katsura and ancient Dawn Redwood. There are picnic shelters and tables, also a playground fun for everyone.

Story about DEAF twin brothers, David and Peter

This is a water fountain

Different creatures around the fountain

Paper Birch Tree

Erwin and Wayne taking a stroll 

The treetop was closed and locked off

Erwin was asked by a Russian family to take pictures

Giant Redwood... Guess how wide it is? 

Take a look at the picture below

Roadside Attractions on our way out of Redwood Park and on way to Point Roberts, WA, USA

Mailbox!

Wayne wanted to take us to USA soil, so he can show us the border between USA and Canada that was established as the 49th parallel. Point Roberts, WA is an unincorporated community in Whatcom County. There is a post office and has a population of about 1,300.  

On way to Point Roberts

Approaching USA-Canada Border

The 49th parallel landmark

Ferry Service leaving from BC for Victoria

There is a fence alongside the border

The house is in Canada!

From there Wayne took us to Lighthouse Marine Park in Point Roberts, WA to take a look around.

On way back to Surrey, BC from Point Roberts, WA Wayne spotted an unusual flag and we all thought it was cool!

After getting back to Surrey we went straight to Traveland RV to pick up our Lil' Home.  After getting back to Wayne's place Wayne suggested that we go out for supper at Montana Cookhouse. He commented that the foods are good there.  After Janice got back from work we went off.

It was not crowded at Montana Cookhouse and we were seated at a table promptly.  We all enjoyed our meals.  We had a good long chat and filled Janice in with the events of the day's outing.

September 7, 2016 - Anacortes, WA to Surrey, BC, Canada

It was all grey outside with lots of thick clouds, some light grey and some so dark grey.  At least it did not rain during the night while we slept.

Since we were up at 7 am it was too early to leave Swinomish Casino RV Park to go to Camping World, which opened at 10 am.  Edith spent the time editing pictures and post for our blog, while Erwin got the Lil' Home prepped.  

It was nearly 9:30 am when we got ready to leave the RV Park. We went in separate vehicles because the brake/signal lights did not work when the Jeep is towed to the Lil’ Home (LH). Edith went to get gas fill-up for the Jeep because gas prices in Canada are high.  Erwin went straight to Camping World in Burlington, WA and waited for Edith's arrival.

We went to see Jason at the parts/service department at Camping World to find out if he got the information on leveling jacks from Atwood Co.  Not much information to share and Jason suggested that we contact Atwood and Newmar Corp.  We will do that when we get back to Montana in 3 weeks.  While there we mentioned to Jason that the brake/signal lights on the Jeep did not work.  He suggested to buy a can of battery cleaner, spray it on the tow connectors.  $6.43 for a can and it did not work.  We went back inside and told Jason about the problem.  He came out with us to check the connectors, tried to wiggle it, cleaned it, but nothing worked. He called a mechanic over and he tested the wiring connector.  He found that the LH wirings were bad and needed to be replaced.  Uh oh!!! However, much to our relief, they were able to take our LH in for the service and said it might take no more than 2 hours.  While the LH was being worked on Edith spent time checking emails, FB messages, etc in the lounge area while Erwin read a book.

It was around 12:30 pm when they told us the LH and the Jeep are ready to hit the road.  It turned out that the fuse and the wirings were defective and replaced.  They waived the 2nd hour of labor, let us pay for just one hr of labor plus parts.  Whew! After paying for the service we were all smiles when we saw that the brake/signal lights were working beautifully.  Now we can relax when on the road without worrying about vehicles behind us crashing into the Jeep.

We finally left Camping World at 1 pm, got on I-5 N for Surrey, BC Canada.  The weather looked very bleak. 

It was around 3:15 pm when we were few miles away from USA-Canada border.  There were three vehicles in front of us, but it took less than 8 minutes before it was our turn at the booth. The border agent asked us some questions and after giving our answers we were given permission to enter Canada.

Billboard Lead Pencil Studio at Blaine's Peace Arch Border

The Peace Arch

Approaching Canada Border

The route from the border to Surrey, British Columbia was easy and without hassles.  We were on way to visit our dear friend, Wayne and his girlfriend, Janice.  

Before we got to Wayne's place he told us that we could park our Lil' Home on the street next to his house.  However, there was a restriction that we could park there no more than 72 consecutive hours.  We thought that should be okay for us.

Wayne mentioned that he looked up on the internet and found Newmar RV dealer/service center in Langley, BC, suggested that we go with him to talk to the service department about the "handicapped" leveling jack that we had trouble with yesterday.

Traveland RV Supercentre is one of Western Canada's largest multi-location RV supercentres with locations in Langley, BC, Kelowna, BC and Airdrie, Alberta. At first, the service department was not going to check the leveling jack because we did not buy our motorhome from them.  However, we mentioned that since they are authorized to sell/service Newmar motorhomes they should be able to work on our Newmar motorhome.  After talking to the manager of the service department they agreed to look into and fix the leveling jack.  We then asked if there was any way they could quickly check to see if the jack is still good or not. After a quick test they told us that the jack was working just fine.  They suggested that we bring our LH in tomorrow and they will re-install the jack in the housing.  We had a 9 am appointment.  We left the center feeling very relieved.

Since we had plenty of time before getting back to Wayne's house for supper Wayne suggested that we go visit White Rock, BC.  The city was named for a distinctive large white boulder on its beach near the promenade. 

Erwin and Wayne 

White Rock Pier
See the white rock on the right side

It almost reminded us of hilly streets of San Francisco, CA

Janice was already home when we got back from sightseeing.  After supper we four spent the night chatting our heads off.  Since Janice has to go to work tomorrow we discussed with Wayne about the next day's plan.

September 6, 2016 - Burlington, WA & Anacortes, WA

It was our last day at Cathy's place and we were ready to get our Lil' Home on the road going north to British Columbia, Canada.

When Edith pulled up the shade on the passenger side she was surprised to see a note left by Cathy, Bob, Niko and Tim.  How sweet of them to leave a note and to tell us they love us and to travel safe. Very touching!

Erwin was ready to extract leveling jacks (used to stabilize the motorhome while parked). Unfortunately, one of the leveling jacks quit functioning.  It would not extract all the way.  We tried different methods of retracting/extracting, but to no avail. Edith googled to see if there was a trick we could use to make it work. Nothing! 

Cathy and Bob had already left for work and there was no one around to ask for assistance.  Edith decided to contact one of RV service centers to see if any one of them was available to come at a short notice. The first one said they did not have any time slots available, so Edith tried the second one.  They told us they can send someone over in a short while. Whew!

We waited for like 45 minute before a guy riding in a stepvan drove in, stepped out, took a look at the "handicapped" leveling jack.  With tools on hand he tried to get it to extract, but it would not.  He came out and told Erwin that the only way we could get our Lil' Home on the road was to remove the leveling jack. "How long will that take?", we asked him.  "It should be less than 15 minutes", he replied.  We told him to go ahead and do it.  

After few whacks and turns the mechanic finally got the leveling jack out of the housing, placed it in the back of the Jeep.

It was about 3 hours before we were finally able to hit the road.  However, we decided to stop at Camping World in Burlington, WA to see if they have any available time slot to take the LH in for check-up.  Nope, they were full.  

Because it was already getting so late in the afternoon we decided not to continue driving to British Columbia, Canada.  We went to Swinomish Casino RV Park, parked at an overflow parking lot, spent the night there.