Stopped Overnight in Whitecourt

Robert, Monday, September 15

We hit the road this morning toward Edmonton. We did plan to go all the way as it is further than we like to drive in one day. So today’s target was Whitecourt, Alberta. The roads keep getting better the further south we get. They still aren’t absolutely great but they are an improvement. We drove 277 miles today and we didn’t hit a single gravel section! That has to be some kind of record. Something I forgot to mention when we got the truck fixed in Fort St. John. Whatever they replaced resulted in a lot more power. The receipt they gave us says the replaced the high pressure oil pump which was the primary cause for the engine not starting. Then they replaced a PID because the engine ran rough. Of course, they also replaced some wiring that was burned by the mouse nest catching fire. Previously when going up a long, steep hill, the truck would slow and not have much pep. Now when going up a similar hill, the truck will actually accelerate. You just don’t realize the loss of power when it occurs gradually. It is like driving a new truck. The campground where we were staying advertizes that they have a place to wash rigs. Well, Leslie asked at the office shortly before we were ready to leave and the woman in the office said that we could just use one of the sites but not to make a mess. As that would mean digging all of the cleaning stuff out, we passed up the offer and headed down the road into town where there was an RV wash. That was a no-go as it was not working. The next choice was further in town but in a direction we were not going so that was a bust as well. Maybe we will find some place to get it washed further down the road. We got to the campground and didn’t even unhook as we were just spending the night. We ate dinner and turned in. We are now on Mountain Time so we are getting closer to home.