Tuesday June 8, Rennie and Jacquie Andersons, Fernie, BC

Miles –  179

A cool morning, but fine and clear. We were on the road by 9. A beautiful drive north along the shores of Flathead Lake, with the snow capped hills behind, all the cherry trees laden with small fruit. Although we have been on this road before, the change in seasons make it look so different. Everything is so fresh and the roadsides are colorful with wildflowers. Lots of wild lilac bushes as well.

 Stopped at Big Fork to check the air in the tyres, only to find the inside dual tires on both sides were flat. This has been a bit of an issue in the past, and we got the guys in Missoula where we stored the van to put tyre extenders onto them. Turns out they didn’t do it properly.  Went to the info centre who sent us to a tyre company about 1 mile along the road. The nice young chap very quickly spotted the problem, removed the extenders, filled them up with air….and wouldn’t take a cent. So often we have had great service like this in the states.

Back cruising to Kalispell where Ian had a list of vehicle things he wanted to get from Walmart….bit disappointing as the store was short on products as they are moving into a big new superstore in a weeks time, but got most of what he needed.

Kalispell is a reasonable sized town, and has a good feel to it.

Eureka is a small town just before the border crossing into Canada, and I spotted a wool shop……haven’t mentioned this yet, but have a new project on the road this year. I find knitting as we travel very relaxing, and the answer was to knit squares and make a memory blanket. Friend Vicki was absolutely horrified at the idea of me knitting peggy square…:you are far to young for that!” When I explained that I was going to use wools from places we stopped at and create all different designs she came round to it a little…

Found  a few balls of wool in the little shop, also a hank of homespun to add to the collection. As it progresses will add some pictures on the blog.

The border crossing was extremely uneventful, the woman officer had zilch personality, couldn’t even give us a smile.

Then it was onto Fernie where Luke and Gracie were so patiently waiting for us. Luke just wanted to see Captain Lippy…he did wonder why he didn’t bring his boat with him.

Just like returning home to the whanau…Jacqui and Rennie give us such a warm welcome. It hardly seems anytime since we saw them in NZ at Xmas, and also last September here in Fernie.

We had a great evening, enjoying the best steaks that they had got from a local butcher…will need to make a stop there, and some wonderful salads…Jacquie loves cooking and it shows. An Australian couple joined us, Mick and Natalie, great fun and lots of laughs. We hauled Mick out into the van to utilize his skills, to see if he could sort out the cables for the TV…having some issues with picking up reception, but no luck.

Noticing as we travel north the evenings are so long….it was 10.30 and still quite light…and the mornings are light really early…a taste of Alaska!