Rain, Rain, Go Away

Rain, rain, go away. We have had nearly 2 weeks of rain starting back in Oregon, all through Washington, and now Canada. Since it rained all day we drove and drove, 381 miles to be exact. We saw in the Milepost (a travel guide to Alaska) that their was a free camping place just up the road from where we were in a town called Cinema, Canada at the Cinema 2nd Hand store and campground. This couple, Theresa and Vic, has a nice store that has everything you could want. They would give Walmart a run for its money. They have 5 floors of goods from kitchen supplies, to camping items, to bathroom towels, to furniture, bedding, food, and fireworks, you name it, they have it.   They have a free camping area next to their store and told us that one time they were driving a long distance and needed to stop to sleep for a few hours. The campground charged them the full rate of $28 to just sleep. They did not hook into utilities and would be awake in a few hours and leave before the sun came up. The full fee stayed. This angered them so badly that they decided that on their piece of ground no one would ever have to pay to camp. So they cleared out the area, put up an outhouse for tenters, put in picnic tables, and said it is free to all. Every night they provide a campfire, coffee, and many tall tales.  Their generosity was amazing.

While sitting at the campfire a couple on a motorcycle pulled in, pitched their tent, and came up to  chat. They were from Germany and have been touring the world for three years on this motorcycle. They have a pup tent, 2 sleeping bags, a one burner stove, a 3 piece mess kit, rain gear, a jacket, and 1 extra pair of jeans. Now that’s traveling lite. The only countries they haven’t gone to is Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa. They will be going to Africa after they see Alaska and the Eastern part of the US. I asked how much longer will they be traveling? They shrugged their shoulders and said they like living like this and will continue to go to an area and work a few months then travel on. Sounds neat, romantic, courageous, but I would need a few more changes of clothes and mascara!