Maps of travel routes and campgrounds.
We visited the Alaska Highway Mile Zero monuments and other Canadian icons in Dawson Creek, British Columbia.
Mile 0 Alaska Highway marker:
Mural:
NAR Park:
“You Are Now Entering the World Famous Alaska Highway”:
Stickers:
RVs:
Visitor Centre:
Canadian Tire… not just a tire store, but more like Ace Hardware in the US:
We went to Tim Hortons to get some coffee and Tim Bits:
Then felt like lunch, so went to A&W‘s drivethru for lunch:
The Surveyor Statue:
Passing by the Alaska Highway sign again:
We drove our coach 263 miles / 423 km, about five hours of driving, from MamaYeh RV Park & Campground near Prince George to Mile 0 Park in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading north then east:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Leaving MamaYeh RV Park:
Prince George’s mascot:
Hart Highway:
Paladin sitting on the couch:
A newer Tiffin Allegro Bus:
Snowy mountains:
Bears!
A stop at Bijoux Falls:
Snowy mountains:
We stopped at Azouzetta Lake Lodge for lunch:
Chetwynd has lots of chainsaw carvings:
Pine River bridge:
Welcome to Dawson Creek:
Arriving at Mile 0 Park:
Campground map:
Our site, #36:
Very unlevel:
They had just finished making our site somewhat more level (I hate to think how bad it was before), and were working on the neighboring site when we arrived:
Other sites:
We drove our coach 206 miles / 332 km, about four hours of driving, from a boondocking spot in the parking lot of Mount Begbie Fire Lookout near 70 Mile House to MamaYeh RV Park & Campground near Prince George, British Columbia, Canada.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Begbie Summit elevation 1232 m (4041 ft):
Barn and 130 Mile Lake:
Williams Lake rest area:
Turn to Prince George:
Interesting rocks:
Bridge over Quesnel River:
River and BC-97 highway:
Arriving at MamaYeh RV Park & Campground:
Campground map:
RV park playground:
Our site, #1:
Not particularly level:
But very long:
That evening we went into Prince George for dinner at A&W:
Root beer in frosty mugs, grass-fed beef burgers, and fries; all very tasty:
Back to our site:
On our way towards Alaska, we entered Canada! Oh, so full of hope and plans for the next three months.
We drove our coach 238 miles / 383 km, about five hours of driving, from Lynden / Bellingham KOA in Lynden, Washington, USA to a boondocking spot in the parking lot of Mount Begbie Fire Lookout, 70 Mile House, British Columbia, Canada.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Canadian Border Inspection:
Welcome to British Columbia, Canada:
Maximum 100 km/h:
Trans-Canada 1 East:
Circle Route British Columbia Heritage Discovery:
Welcome to Hope, BC:
Yale rest area:
Yale Tunnel:
Saddle Rock Tunnel:
Saskatchewan train:
Sailor Bar Tunnel:
Spuzzum Tunnel:
Two tunnels in quick succession:
China Bar Tunnel:
Wildlife Corridor:
Thompson River:
We attempted to fuel at a Esso card lock pump, using our Open Roads fuel card, but it didn’t work:
A little later, we had better success at a regular Wesco diesel pump, albeit having to do three separate $250 transactions (yes, our coach takes a lot of fuel); fueling our coach was an ongoing hassle in Canada:
Arriving at the boondocking spot:
Welcome to Mount Begbie Lookout:
Our boondocking spot, where we spent the night with no hookups:
After breakfast the next morning, we walked on the trail up the mountain:
View partway up:
Cell tower at the top:
Lake view:
Fire watch tower:
Back to our coach:
There’s a larger area below where we parked, but it wasn’t very level:
We were on our way to Alaska! (Or so we thought.) Our first leg was to get just south of the border with Canada.
We drove our coach 206 miles, about four hours of driving, from our home base near Shelton to Lynden / Bellingham KOA in Lynden, Washington.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Oakland Bay near Shelton:
Joining I-5 North:
Tacoma Dome:
Rest area with RV dump stations:
Rest area… with a clueless car and a van in the truck parking:
Lunch:
Seattle skyline:
T-Mobile Park, home of our Seattle Mariners, with a closed roof:
Heavy traffic:
Tunnel under convention center:
Zuck’s megayacht:
Rest area:
I-5 bridge over Skagit River:
Almost a collision:
Arriving at Lynden / Bellingham KOA:
Narrow driveway:
Our site, #6:
The site was so short, we had to park our truck over by the office (I think the first time we ever had to do that):
We drove our truck from home down to Cummins, then drove our coach back home on the same day; 255 miles (each way), about five hours of driving (each way), from Cummins Coach Care in Coburg, Oregon to our home base near Shelton, Washington… again.
Here’s a map showing our route home, heading north:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Our coach:
Departing Cummins:
I-5 North:
Oops:
We stopped at the first rest area again, to see if the issue recurs… fortunately it did not; looks like the turbo replacement was the real fix:
Triple trailer:
Exit to I-205 North:
The mountain’s out — Mount Hood:
Leaving Portland:
Mount Hood again:
“Oregon Thanks You; Come Back Soon”; not for a few months, thanks:
Just can’t get enough of Mount Hood:
Closed rest area:
Back to Gee Cee’s Truck Stop again:
This time, we got fuel:
And DEF:
Then we went into their restaurant for dinner:
A long day; getting towards sunset:
Exit towards Shelton:
Shelton:
Our coach at home:
We drove our coach 113 miles, about two hours of driving, from Cummins Coach Care in Coburg, Oregon towards our our home base, but turned around in Salem when the Check Engine and MIL lights came back on with the same error code.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading north then back south:
An interactive map, with the rest area pinned:
Our coach backing into a Coach Care service bay:
We spent the day in the customer lounge:
Second breakfast at Chick-fil-A:
We parked our truck behind the lounge, and turned on our smaller Bluetti battery, so we could use our truck’s Starlink Wi-Fi (the Wi-Fi in the lounge was not very fast):
Our coach emerging:
Parked for the night:
Doing an engine regen:
Heading out again, full of hope:
We stopped at a rest area, to see if that triggers the issue, as it had before:
Alas, it did:
So we turned around at the next exit, and headed back to Cummins:
We stayed the night again, then had Dutch Bros Coffee for breakfast while they looked at the coach again:
And later, went to the cafe at the nearby truck stop to have breakfast for lunch:
That afternoon, we had more news: the engine’s turbocharger was damaged (which I had suspected based on Facebook posts). The tech showed a scope shot of the damaged turbo:
So, this repair just got way more expensive; about $11k to replace that and the actuator, including labor. Sigh. But at least they finally found the root issue!
We left our coach there, and drove our truck home, while they ordered in the part, and did the work.
We drove our coach 255 miles, about five hours of driving, from our home base near Shelton, Washington back to Cummins Coach Care in Coburg, Oregon.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
On the way:
Rail crossing:
WA-101 South:
“Take Turns Merging When Congested”… yep, that’s how it’s supposed to work; zipper merge, people:
To I-5 South:
Engine fire:
Bump:
A pipe thing… I wonder what it is? ChatGPT thinks it’s a conveyer segment, which seems plausible. Looks like a catwalk and handrail on the right inside:
Gee Cee’s Truck Stop, a favorite stop on I-5:
They have a restaurant and deli:
We had lunch at the restaurant:
Back to our coach:
Train:
Interstate drawbridge between Washington and Oregon:
Entering Oregon:
Welcome to Oregon:
Fremont Bridge:
Portland:
Aerial tram:
Coburg exit, again:
Back to Cummins:
Parked at Cummins:
We drove our coach 255 miles, about five hours of driving, from Cummins Coach Care in Coburg, Oregon to our home base near Shelton, Washington.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Our coach parked at Cummins:
Helpful tip:
Preparing to leave:
Heading to I-5 North:
Roadworks:
Exit to I-205:
Entering Washington:
Closed rest area:
Bump:
Fuel stop:
Soon after the fuel stop, about three hours (200 miles) after leaving Cummins, the Check Engine and Malfunction Indicator lights came back on, with the same SPN 102 FMI 18 fault:
At that point, we decided to just continue home. The exit to Shelton:
City limits of Shelton:
Welcome to Shelton:
The SPN 102 FMI 18 fault code on the dash:
Back to Cummins after the weekend!
Jenn drove our coach just 13 miles, about 20 minutes of driving, with me following in our truck, from Oregon Motorcoach Center in Eugene to Cummins Coach Care in Coburg, Oregon.
Since OMC didn’t have any luck figuring out the check engine fault issue, and I noticed that Oregon’s only Cummins Coach Care facility was just across town, we decided to take our coach there. Cummins is the manufacturer of the engine (and generator), and they have better diagnostic tools. If they couldn’t solve it, nobody could.
An interactive map:
Following the coach:
Arriving at Cummins:
A tech reading the codes from the diagnostic port in the engine bay:
They couldn’t investigate the issue(s) for a few days, so once again we left the coach and headed home. Fortunately, they have electrical hookups available:
Our site:
The place was practically deserted at the time, with no other RVs parked outside (there may have been some inside their shop, though).