Days 24 & 25, July 26 & 27

We were at the shop by 7:30 to pick up the motorhome. We loaded our clothes, food and other items we had with us for the last few days. We took the motorhome for a spin and all appeared in working order. We spoke with Allan, the service manager, paid our bill, hooked up the Jeep, did our pre trip checks and we were on our way. 

The motorhome performed beautifully for an hour and then we came upon some construction. We had to stop for about 15 minutes to wait for the pilot car to lead us through. Just as we started to follow, the check engine light came on and we lost power again. We pulled into the construction lane and there we sat. Lawrie checked to ensure that the repair that had been done the day before was still intact and checked as many items as he could think of. 

After 45 minutes, we decided it was time to call road side assistance again. This turned into a 2 hour long futile effort. They couldn’t find anyone to come for us and said we should make our own arrangements and submit the bills to them. We contacted Livio who had rescued us from the highway on Wednesday night. He contacted a buddy in Chetwynd that was willing to come but it would be 4 1/2 hours. 

At that point, the road was about 2 hours from reopening so we had to get off the road. We talked to the flag man who held traffic while Lawrie backed up 300 m to a side road. No check engine light and there was power. We decided to try going back to Prince George. The flag man tucked us in after the last eastbound car and we knew we would have at least 15 minutes before any eastbound traffic started up again. If we ran into difficulty, we knew we had time to find a place to pull over. 

Allan was waiting at the Freightliner shop when we arrived without issue. He put it on the computer and this time some codes showed up. At least there is somewhere to start. 

So we have yet another day to put in here in Prince George. We went to the visitor centre for some suggestions. We went to the Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park where there is an indigenous cemetery. The Lheidli T’enneh cremated their dead before the arrival of the Catholic Church in the 1860’s. They were encouraged to do burials instead. In 1862 all the children of the village died of smallpox. 

In the early 1900’s the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad started putting pressure on the band to give their land to the company. In 1911, the band with the help of the Catholic Church, negotiated a settlement that included maintaining the cemetery as their own. In short order the town, church and cemetery were bulldozed. Today, there are fragments of 8 of the original gravestones at the memorial.

Another area that was suggested to us was the Forests of the World. We followed the directions on a brochure and the road signs, but the road deteriorated into a track that kept getting more and more overgrown. Lawrie was loving the off-road adventure, me not so much. I was glad when Lawrie found a spot to turn around and retreat. See photo at top.

Around 7 pm we got a call from Freightliner. They are still trying to figure out the problem. They have narrowed it down to the throttle position sensor but that style is no longer available so they are trying to come up with an incentive fix.

They spend 99% of their time chasing and 1% fixing. So we will likely be here at least one more night.