"My Co-pilot Watches for Moose" and other unexpected tales from the road...

I left Barkerville fairly early in the morning and in the rain and headed for the tiny town of Wells. I had been told that there was a gas pump behind the pub and someone should be around to turn it on for me. (If you've never been to a tiny town before, things run a bit differently than pretty much every where else. ) Sure enough, I pulled up behind the pub/gas station/market/art gallery/bait stop/tire collection spot and the pump was turned on and Bud made me a breakfast burrito for the road. 15mins later and I was on my way. Thanks Bud!

While I was there and perusing the art gallery, I came across this fantastically appropriate painting done by a local artist. I laughed so hard when I saw it and it is now neatly packed in a safe spot in my car. I can't wait to get it home and in a frame. (*Wells is a fantastic little town that has to be mostly inhabited by artists. There are more art galleries than anything else and they apparently have a very active live theater group that puts on multiple shows through the year. Such an eclectic spot to stop.)

Skipping right along... I would just like to say that BC is big and it is beautiful. I feel like I need to do this trip again but with a driver. It is very hard to watch for moose, deer, bear, cars, trucks, cyclists (who ARE those weird people??) and see all the things there are to see (even with Calliope - that's what I named my guardian angel co-pilot - watching the road for me.). There are mountains, rivers, lakes, sky, forests, etc every which way you look. 

AH. MAZE. ING. 

Had a bit of a plot twist in the way things went today. I arrived to my campground and someone was in my spot. I stopped and called out to the people in the tent (who were OBVIOUSLY in there) and said, "ummmm helllllooooo I think you're in my spot." Nothing. Nada. Crickets. Realizing I may have hmmmm, 'interrupted' something, I decided to drive through the park and see if there was a park guy around to check that I had the right spot and reservation details. No park guy. And honestly, the whole place gave me the creeps. It was a provincial park, but it seemed like there were people living there, with old rv's and a lot of taped off things, etc. That all sounds so judgy, but trust me, my gut said the vibe was off. I did another lap past my spot and thought I'd give it one more go - surely they knew I would be coming back and would have emerged from the tent? That would be a big, fat NO. I was starting to feel like Sheldon, "you're in my spot".  Anywhooo, between the star crossed lovers in my spot and no park dude(ette) to help me out and the bad juju, I decided to leave, drive to town and figure things out from there. 

I settled in at McDonalds (free wifi and dollar drink days!) and searched hotels in the area and checked in with the bff. Imagine the thoughts running through my head when she told me that just a bit before she had looked up the link to the campground on my itinerary and had a weird feeling about it!! Two bad gut feelings = a hotel room for the next two days. Let me rephrase... a (M)otel room for the next two days. 

I feel like lots of travel to many different places have prepared me well for times like these. One side of the place has obviously had a fire and is closed off, and it looks more than a little sketchy, BUT the reviews were ok, the room is clean and the bed is comfy. I stripped the beds, lifted the mattresses, checked all the cracks and crevices for bugs and scoured the bathroom - not a mosquito or bed bug to be seen. SOLD.

AND, they had laundry facilities....

Remember how I was adopting a new definition of glamorous? We will just throw this all in to that same space. Sometimes, you just have to laugh and go with it. I've stayed in worse and I've stayed in better. We will just think of this as another story to colour up the adventure.
Oh, and I'm pretty sure I've earned some street cred with the truckers staying here when I popped my head out my door to find a couple of them checking out the Honda camper. Don't worry, I was holding a can of bear spray, ready to fire, in my other hand, behind my back. And yes, my windows are locked, door is locked and bear spray and air horn are beside my bed. Seriously though, the people here are nice and there is no bad juju. And I survived the laundry room, so I now have clean clothes. Win-win.

To cap things off, I'm in a real bed, watching a totally cheesy movie and eating Chinese food that was delivered right to my door. Back to wildlife counts and weather reports in a few days - I don't care about either right now.

I 💚 camping.