Spoffords Travel

Day 5 July 6, 2025 100 Mile House British Columbia to Prince George British Columbia 209 miles

It did rain during the night. The ground didn’t seem all that wet but the hood of the car and the engine were wet. Woodie didn’t want to start but Rob managed to get it coasting and started.

We were traveling on the frontage road to the gas station. A Canadian goose was standing in the middle of the road. Rather than going back where a small group of geese were standing it decided to cross the road to where more geese were beginning to cross the main road. The smaller group proceeded to follow. There was no goose crossing sign.

We made it to the gas station and filled the tank. Another customer who was driving a classic car felt that the rear tire needed more air. Rob agreed. The station had an air station but the hose was too short to reach. Rob dug out the 12 volt electric tire pump and filled it. Now the device tracking the tire pressure thinks a different tire is overly full. Someone (Maybe the driver?) needs to reset the TireMinder unit. Rob also adjusted the trailer brakes.

We have seen numerous signs indicating we are traveling through a wildlife corridor. We finally saw two deer. One on each side of the road.

It’s cloudy again today but no rain until we got to Prince George. The landscape is mountainous with lots of evergreen trees. Some open areas have grass fields some with cattle. We also passed several lakes to include Lac La Hache, Williams Lake (just like a mirror), and McLeese Lake. Lots of recreation activities surrounding them. The hills are covered with a bright yellow daisy like flower.

Someone painted two riders on one of the moose warning signs. Looked like a rodeo event. Seem to be rodeos in the area. We saw advertising signs and small rodeo grounds. An apparent cowboy took a picture of the car.

We had our picnic lunch at one of the rest stops. The temperature was a little cool so we ate in the car rather than the picnic table. Three older bikers pulled up next to us. They wanted to chat. So far we have not felt any negative feelings about us being from the United States.

Only one major construction site today. The wait was very short which was good.

We are listening to an audio book which does make the time go by quicker. However it also means we fail to pay attention to the gas gage. We entered Prince George, passed two gas stations and then ran out of gas. Good thing we have gas cans with gas. Rob put in about two gallons from one of the cans. That will get us to the lodging and a gas station. It is a good story.

One of the larger supermarket chains is quite close so we drove there to get something for dinner. This hotel doesn’t have microwaves. We bought a salad kit and half an apple pie. We will add a can of chicken from our supplies. Then we checked out the Dollar Rama store at the other end of the strip mall. Didn’t find any big bargains there. Lots of merchandise however.

Next stop was the gas station where we filled the car and the gas can. The rain started really coming down just before we left the station. So much for not raining today. The new side curtains are working very well. Now we need to get the windshield wiper working again. Until then RainEx will save the day.

Day 4 July 5, 2025 Bellingham Washington to 100 Mile House British Columbia 278 miles

We left David and Barbara Ann’s house about 9:30 and headed to Costco for gas. Then we stayed in their parking lot and decided where to go next. Turns out that last year we went to 100 Mile House so we decided to go there again. This part of the trip will be very much like last year. Well, the breakdowns will probably be different.

We left Costco expecting to go north to Vancouver but instead the GPS had us go south toward Seattle for a few miles before exiting to one of the state highways. We traveled through lots of farm land with many large dairies and blueberry farms. One farm had a sign for eggs at $7.00 per dozen.

The border crossing wasn’t too difficult and only took 13 minutes from when we got in line until we were through. We did observe that the Nexus line did move much faster so if you frequently crossed the border it would be worth the investment.

We are on Canada 1 which sure feels like a freeway. The landscape is much the same for 20 miles or so. Then we start through the mountains. They would have been beautiful if not covered with clouds. Thankfully the weather is cooler than last year. During this section we went through seven tunnels. Most were short but a couple were a little longer. Our horn really echoes in them.

We stopped in one of the very small towns for gas since we didn’t want to repeat the earlier experience. One of the other customers noted that we hadn’t even taken the car out of the box. That was a new saying for us.

A very short distance past the gas station the gas cap slid off the hood and onto the running board. Connie was sure it was laying back on the road. Rob retrieved it, put it on the gas tank and off we went. Sure felt lucky with that one. Rob does have a spare onboard.

Only encountered one construction project. It was a big one. We had to wait about 10 minutes for our turn to go.

We went up and down lots of hills but most were not labeled. The one that did have a sign was called Jackass Mountain Summit with an elevation of 1184 feet. We thought the name was funny and the height much shorter than expected.

Another sign indicated big horn sheep were in the next four km. By golly there actually were a few beside the road. Unfortunately no photo this time either.

We were following a river that just happened to have train tracks on both sides. At one point there were trains on both tracks. The one on the opposite side of the river must have been at least a mile long. We could never see enough of the front to know how many engines there were. Most of that train was fuel cars. Most of the other train was containers.

Several large signs are now advertising Roadkill BBQ Buffet. Might almost be worth a stop to check it out. We did eventually see the place but didn’t stop.

The sky is getting more clouds and they look more threatening. The wind has picked up and the temperature has cooled down. Our lodging was on the edge of town so we checked in. The skies are really dark now and we can hear thunder. We opted to go to the small corner market rather than the bigger one. This was much closer and we wanted to get as much as possible done before the rain hit. We got our microwave meals just as a big gust of wind hit. We were very fortunate that we got everything done before any rain. Duct tape was used to temporarily fix a potential leak into the trailer pantry.

Day 3 July 4, 2025 Renton Washington to Bellingham Washington 107 miles

Today was spent visiting with family and friends. Great way to spend the Fourth of July. We left brother Ed’s house about 9:30 and headed for Connie’s cousin Darlene’s place in Kenmore Washington. We had a nice visit with her and her husband Deyane.

Then it was off to granddaughter Maddy’s place in Bothel Washington. We had brunch with daughter Amy, all four grandchildren (Maddy, Meagan, Matthew, and Merik) and Maddy’s fiancé Jake. So good to catch up with everyone.

Way to soon but it was. time to head off to friends David and Barbara Ann in Bellingham Washington. We took the freeway since that was easier. (The driver did not necessarily agree.) At least it was moving today. The roads are really rough however and the woodie is not the smoothest vehicle to ride in. We had a wonderful dinner with them on their deck that overlooks the lake. We visited until the fireworks started. There were so many and so beautiful. They were firing from all around the lake.

Day 2 July 3, 2025 Condon Oregon to Renton Washington 277 miles

We had our microwave breakfast and then headed for the gas station. We filled the tank with premium ethanol free gas for a mere $4.999 per gallon. Then Rob took one of the small thermos in to fill with ice from the soda fountain. They charged him a dollar. When he took the second one in they were going to charge another dollar but a another customer protested so they didn’t.

The landscape out of town was similar to that around Grangeville Idaho. Rolling hills with huge fields of grain. All around are hundreds of big wind turbines. They are turning rather quickly because the wind is really blowing. In fact it is blowing so hard that it popped the passenger side door open three times before we figured out that the wind against the side curtains was forcing the door to open. The latch on that door has been bad for awhile and needs some special attention. We removed the curtain and the problem went away.

We came to a turnout that pointed to each of the volcanoes and named them. We could see Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood, Mount St Helens, Mount Adams, and Mount Rainer. They were truly beautiful.

A big brush fire had gone through one area recently since the ground was still black. They managed to get it out before destroying a house and some out buildings.

We continued down the road and eventually came to Biggs Junction. That is a small community and major fuel point just east of The Dalles. There are at least four major fueling points here. We chose the Pilot which seemed to be the busiest. We get a small discount there. All those others must also.

After fueling we crossed over the Columbia River to the Washington side and continued up the hill to the highway. We figured it would be much the same as when we used to go to Vancouver. Much to our surprise we turned off and went further up the hill toward Yakima. This section of road is not very scenic. Lots of dry hills and sage brush.

Toppenish was the first town we encountered. Just happened to be a small park with a parking spot in the shade so we stopped for our cheese, beef stick and crackers lunch. The temperature was very pleasant.

The landscape after we left town contained lots of fruit trees. Lots of apples and other fruit that must have already been picked as the trees looked bare of fruit. We eventually came to another town. We drove through quite a bit of it before we realized we were in Yakima. Most of the time we take the freeway and the backroads don’t look the same. We saw lots of fruit stands most of which were promoting cherries. We didn’t realize that we should have purchased some.

We must have missed a turn because we ended up driving through the orchards on some rather really small back roads.

The orchards gave way to forest. Now there are lots of RVs on the road. Not sure where they are all going to fit. Most of the campgrounds have full signs at the entrance. There are quite a few campgrounds. Some actually have bigger camping spots. The drive is beautiful even with all the traffic. The driver has a different perspective.

The highlight of the day was seeing a group of big horn sheep right down by the road. They seemed to all be ewes and young animals. We didn’t see any of the rams with the big horns. There must have been at least 15 of them. They hurried up the rock slope before we could get a picture.

Everyone must be careful driving on this road. One side has sharp edges that drop in a deep barrow pit or against the mountain. The other side drops down the mountain side a very long steep distance. Stay alert, stay alive.

The mountains in the distance still have some snow on them. The closer we got to the top the more snow we saw near the road. Now there are numerous turn outs. Some are quite large. Lots of people are stopped to go hiking or simply to enjoy the view. Small waterfalls are scattered all along the mountain side.

Oh my there is a Model T on a trailer going the opposite direction. We weren’t expecting that one.

We think this pass that we just went over was Chinook Pass. We never saw a sign for the summit so no idea how high we got. Also not sure the name but the distance signs earlier kept giving the mileage to Chinook Pass.

Well we made a mistake somewhere along the way and neglected to fill with gas. We passed a gas station and then the sign that said next gas 50 miles. We checked one of the apps which said we had 52 miles to empty. Just to add a little more tension we had to keep pulling over to let cars pass.

Well we finally got to that next gas station where we put in 10.936 gallons in a ten gallon tank. That gas was also $4.999 per gallon.

We arrived at Rob’s brother Ed’s house about 6:00 pm. The rest of the evening was uneventful. Ed and Rob worked on the car and trailer for awhile. It is true, two minds are better than one.

Day 1 July 2, 2025 Boise Idaho to Condon Oregon 298 miles

We got off at our usual 9 am. Didn’t have to stop for gas so that was good. We decided to take the back roads and a different route. We started on Highway 20 then to 26 and finally 19. Definitely some new roads for us.

At a stop sign in Caldwell a group of killdeer were making a lot of noise. Rob thought something was wrong with the car for a moment or two. Certainly glad it was only the birds.

We climbed several summits but none very high. They were about 4000, 4600, 5100, 5300, 3800 and 3300. Luckily some flatter space was in between. The car got warm on the hills but did not boil. The new radiator made a big difference.

We ate lunch in the shade off the road in Unity Oregon. That is almost a ghost town. A lady stopped on her way to the small store and post office. She talked for several minutes before continuing on her way.

We saw lots of cattle all along the route. Once one of them was on the wrong side of the fence. Luckily it was on the other side of the road and in the barrow pit. Lots of hay some in bales and some still drying. It will take a lot for all the cattle.

One field had two donkeys however. Couldn’t get the camera up quick enough for a photo.

The wind was blowing hard most of the day. That will affect the gas mileage since it wasn’t a tail wind.

We are driving the Journey Through Time Scenic Byway. Well it certainly took a lot of time. Lots of green and lavender color in the cliffs. We passed the cut off for the fossil beds out of John Day but didn’t stop. Looking up the story of John Day was rather interesting. Also significant was Thomas Condon who identified the significance of the fossil beds.

The road followed the John Day River for a long ways. We saw three single person pontoon rafts going down the river. The side of the river are lush and green. The other side of the road is very brown and dry. Like Idaho, water is a very important resource. Some sections were really hot and others were nice and cool.

For several miles we drove through what was the remains of a forest fire from perhaps last year. The ground wasn’t black but the tree bark was.

Some of the rock formations are quite unusual. Mother Nature has done some interesting work. Not as much color as Utah or Colorado.

We saw one deer along the road on the right. Luckily it took off up the hill. Rob helped it along by honking the horn.

We arrived at the Motel a little after 4 pm local time. Rob should sleep well tonight after 8 hours behind the wheel. After checking in we returned to town to get dinner at the one grocery store. As I am writing this five horses and riders just went by. Maybe they are practicing for the parade. Don’t know if there is a parade, but we were told by a local that the 4th is a big deal here.

May 15-16, 2025 Tanzania to home

So begins the long day(s). No game drives or sight seeing today. Just the drive to the airport. Someone thinks we need to be there at least three hours early. Our flight is at about 6:30 pm.

The drive should take about four hours not including lunch and bathroom stops. We traveled most of this road earlier in the trip so nothing different. Still lots of goats, sheep and cows along the side of the highway. The vehicle seems to be doing just fine.

The bathroom stop was at a high end tourist souvenir mall that sells tanzanite. The stone is found only in Tanzania. Both the other ladies wanted to get a piece of jewelry. The stones are a blue violet ranging in color from very pale to quite dark. The amount of violet reflecting depends on the light and the cut of the stone. It’s a relatively new stone having been discovered in 1967. The shop sells every kind of souvenir you could possibly want. We bought some of the cotton fabric to take home for her collection. They also sew clothing there so you could pick your fabric and style and they would make it on the spot. This was not the cheap place.

Lunch was at a fancy spa. They tried to get us to spend the day. Lunch was priced similar to home so not a bargain either. It was included in the tour cost so no additional cost. Then we went in the small gift shop. Not much here but an interesting piece of fabric that had lions, giraffes and village huts. We bought that too. This shop really didn’t want to bargain. The first one we encountered on the whole trip.

We arrived at the airport well ahead of the three hours. Everything had to go through an x-ray just to get in the building. That included shoes and jackets. Then we walked through a metal detector. Finally inside we learned that the flight was delayed an hour. Check in would begin in about 45 minutes. Well their system is still not working and the staff has no clue what to do for passengers going multiple places. They are still using a laptop that the operators don’t know how to use. Furthermore they don’t even know the keyboard. They have to hunt for every letter and number. The couple in front of us spent about an hour trying to check in. They gave up and went to a different airline. Oh yes that required eight people trying to figure it out. When it was finally our turn they had no clue what the airport codes were and argued that the baggage would have to be checked again when we got to the states. We won that discussion. They finally wrote the bag tags by hand after Rob gave them the airport codes.

Immigration wasn’t difficult just slow. Then of course security and bag check again. Then its the walk through all of the duty free items on sale. Finally made it to the gate and learned the flight was delayed even more. Our long layover in Nairobi will not be so long. The plane arrived about two hours late. They were able to turn it quickly. The flight was fine thankfully.

We were bussed from the plane to the terminal. The escalator isn’t working so we took the elevator. Oh joy another security check. Luckily a man with a wheel chair was going by at the end of the security screening. I asked if he was available and he took us to the plane. Good thing because we didn’t have boarding passes so he helped get us through quicker. The agent took down the information about our bags and entered that into the system. We will be very surprised if the bags make it. We barely had our boarding passes when they let us on the plane. Being in the wheel chair really helped.

The flight to Paris left timely and the flight was good. We have a few hours here which is good since the Paris airport is very large and the signs aren’t very good unless you speak French. There are some in English however. Here is where we split up from the other two ladies in our tour group. Now we have a long wait. The Salt Lake flight leaves from the lower level of the concourse. Looks like another bus ride. Only a few other people are waiting. As we got closer however the area filled up. We were bussed to the plane. Yea it is a Delta air craft and not Air France. The flight was so much better. The food was better and the flight attendants were much friendlier.

Salt Lake has been renovating their airport. The international arrival area is backwards to any airport we have ever been in. You must collect your luggage before going through immigration. While Rob waited for the bags, I asked what we should do if the bags didn’t make it. Golly gee both bags made it. They had new bar code tags on them too. I took back one negative remark about Air France. Rob did not.

After clearing immigration we headed for the gate. Well that is at least a mile down the way. Luckily one of the golf carts was there so we hopped on. Sure was better. After sitting so many hours our legs and knees don’t always work well.

All went well from here. We got in the house about 5 pm. Sure feels good.

Day 9 May 14, 2025 Ngorongono Crater

Well our breakfast this morning was a little more unusual. We had eggs to order as usual and lots of fresh fruit and sweet breads. A first for us was what they called chicken lollipops. They were the middle section of the chicken wing with the meat all pushed to one end. They were seasoned with a mild teriyaki sauce and fried I think. The bacon was labeled fried streaky bacon. Definitely had less fat than at home.

After breakfast we are off to the crater. The crater is actually the largest fully intact caldera in the world. It’s like a giant bowl. The rim and sides are covered with trees and brush like a jungle. The bottom is savanna. Although the animals can climb out they choose not to. There is plenty of feed and water for them to survive.

We were greeted at the entrance by a large congress of baboons. They are very accustomed to tourists and trucks. The rim is used by lots of trucks transporting goods to other parts of the country. Our guide warned us to keep the windows closed because these baboons like to get in the vehicles and take things.

The road along the rim is paved but somewhat narrow. Lots of twists and turns so passing is not usually easy. Most of the drivers are considerate and pull over when they can. We came to the fork in the road where the trucks went one way and we went the other.

The floor of the caldera is covered with lush grass but not may trees. There is a lake and several rivers. Small ponds also dot the area. We saw lots of different antelope. The herds are fairly large. Several groups of wildebeest also. Our guide says that when God finished making all the animals he had some parts leftover. He used those to create the wildebeest.

We came across a male lion out for a stroll. Off in the distance were three or four single wildebeest who were keeping a close eye on the lion. The herd was much further away. As the lion got closer the wildebeest would move further away. A lion will never catch a healthy wildebeest. They are too fast and the lion doesn’t have enough stamina to endure a long chase. It was interesting to watch the interaction however.

Lots of different birds inhabit the area as well. Both song birds and water fowl. Some are very colorful and some can really hide. The flamingos here are mostly white so I sometimes think they are storks.

As before jackels and hyenas are on the prowl looking for any leftovers. The jackels look much like a fox or coyote so they are cute. The hyenas on the other hand are very viscous looking and rather ugly. Kind of one of those faces only a mother could love.

In the lake was a group of hippos. They are so peaceful looking that its difficult to believe more people are killed by them than any other African animal. A couple of them are standing on the bank. The ones in the lake just look like big rocks. As much time as they spend in the water i would think they should eat something in the water rather than graze on the grass.

Oh my gosh a group of ostriches. One male and several hens. They strolled across the savanna and onto the road. They don’t seem to have a care in the world.

Perhaps they should have a care since not too far down the road were three lionesses laying in the grass right beside the road. One lifted her tail or we would have missed them. They must have eaten recently because they were not in hunting mode. A couple of them did get up and walk a short distance and laid down again.

We also saw water buffaloes and a giant eland. The water buffaloes in Africa are not domesticated like the ones in Southeast Asia. The giant eland is the largest antelope in the world. The males and weigh up to 2000 pounds and stand 6 feet tall at the shoulder. Quite a size range between the dikdik at about 2 feet tall at the shoulder.

The highlight of the day was seeing a rhino. Our guide said a young one was sleeping in the grass beside the adult. Unfortunately they were a long ways away. You really needed telephoto lense or binoculars. This park doesn’t allow vehicles to drive on the savanna unless they are trying to save a baby rhino. Evidently they are very vulnerable to lions when they are little. The rhinos are endangered so efforts are made to protect them.

Before leaving the crater we stopped for a bathroom break. As usual the bathroom was clean. The area also had numerous picnic tables. Another tour group was having a box lunch. Sitting on a stump was an elephant skull. No tusks but the size of the teeth is impressive. Most elephants get six sets over the course of their life. As ones wear out another set pushes forward from the back of the jaw. Each molar can weigh up to 9 pounds.

Now its time to head home. The road out of the crater is steep, narrow and winding. Most of it is covered with pavers. The road is strictly one way thank goodness. Well we had noticed a gas leak during the bathroom stop. The vehicle seemed to have less and less power the further we went. Finally he had to stop. We all got out of the vehicle and started looking for rocks to put behind the tires. Rob and the guide took a look but didn’t have a solution. Another vehicle went roaring by but the next one stopped as did the third one. We eventually got in the third one which took us back to the lodging. They were staying there too. When we arrived the staff greeted us with song. We had lunch in the restaurant and then had the afternoon free.

We later learned that the second vehicle was able to pull ours to the top of the hill. Once there our guide was able to drive it back to town. He took it to a mechanic who was able to fix it that afternoon. It turned out to be a fuel valve switch that failed.

When we returned to our room the housekeeper had made a welcome back sign on the coffee table. It was made of nasturtium and green plant life. That might have been part of the leaves. The staff has time right now. Next month will be different. It did help with her tip.

At dinner we learned that our butler who we all thought was about 25 was actually 43. He has a wife and three children. They live in the village not far from the lodging. Our guess is that the pay here is really good.