Crossing into British Columbia, Canada, Part 1....They let us in.... with a stop overnight in Prince George

We crossed over the Canadian border at about 9 am on June 16 to start our trip to Terrace, BC to see Ron and Patsy. Not having been over the border only one other time last summer into New Brunswick with Steve and Debbie from Down The Road. We felt a little uneasy but the Canadian border guard was very polite and only asked us a few questions. We must have answered them correctly because they let us in. Wow. 

We crossed at the edge of Osoyoos , BC. and followed the GPS routing. The GPS routed us onto Route 3 to Princeton then 5A to Merritt and then Route 5 to Kamloops then Route 1 to Cache Creek and finally Route 97 which lead us to Prince George where we had a reservation at the Travel Lodge in town. Our friends, Ron and Patsy, later told us we should have just stayed on Route 97 through Kelowna to the 97 connector then Route 5 to Kamloops and then Route 1 to Cache Creek to Route 97. Probably would have saved about an hour drive.

We didn't know any better so what the harm. We did however begin to notice changing landscape with more fir trees, mountains and for some reason the clouds even looked better.

It was a long drive and took us all day to get to Prince George. Oroville, WA to Prince George is about 500 miles or 8 hours and 30 minutes drive. Of course this was all driving in the car, not the motorhome so we were able to move more quickly. If we had taken the motorhome it would have been a 2-3 day drive. We typically drive 200-250 miles with the motorhome. As you know with our delay  in travels due to the car accident and the delay in the motorhome warranty repairs we had to cancel several reservations and move our trip into Canada back a couple of weeks which then lead us to deciding to make the trip by car instead of motorhome. Good decision.

We found the gas prices much higher and those prices are based on liters not gallons. There are about 3,87 liters in one US gallon. Gas prices were anywhere from $1.32/liter to $1.49/liter. That's around $$4.00/gallon. The good part however is our US dollar is worth more compared to the Canadian dollar. We exchanged $300 US and got back $377 CA. Certainly helps.

Along with the changing landscape, the exchange rate and liters,  we  had to get used to kilometers per hour and kilometers for distance. We started seeing signs that read....100 km/hr. OK, quick conversion from my running days. 10K is 6.2 miles htne times 10 is 62 mph. I do have marking on the speedometer for Km but they're smaller and harder to read. I kept a close eye on my speed.

And I had to think in kilometer in distance too. I'd see signs that read maybe 100 km to a city and think, We'll never get there. Then do the conversion and it's 62 miles. That's better.

I must say it didn't take too long to start thinking in metric system terms. 

After a few short stops along the way we found our hotel in downtown Prince George. We got our room and started looking for a place to have dinner. It had been a long day and we were interested in checking out a small section of the town. Glenda found a nice BBQ place near the hotel named 

The Copper Pig BBQ House

I had the pulled Pork Sliders

Glenda had the Seafood Kabob

My sliders were on bread not buns. The bread had a slightly farm crust but a nice soft middle. They make their own potato chips and cole slaw. Very delicious and much like you would expect in any BBQ house in the states. Our waitress was very friendly and we had a good chat about our travels, her background and her future plans. After a satisfying dinner and beverages, we took a short walk downtown. As expected like in the states they have their share of homeless and panhandlers.

We got back to the hotel, tried to watch a little TV and get some sleep for another long drive the next day. We're on a mission to get to Terrace, BC to see Ron and Patsy. They told us they have a full schedule of places and things to show us. Whirlwind trip and can't wait to tell you more.

Next post, We make it to Terrace and the adventure begins. Part 2 still to come. I hope you'll follow along.