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Goodbye Kodiak (Long May You Run)

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The last night with the Kodiak had come. Our buyer confirmed after I shared the results of the inspection that they would go ahead with the purchase the next day. So this was it. We found a place in Calgary along the Bow River, which we also camped aside in Lake Louise just a couple weeks prior (though it felt like months ago). It was a public parking area that people used to access the riverside for walking, cycling and to use the park across a nearby bridge. It made for a good compromise between having a semblance of nature and remaining within the city for the final handoff the next day. We arrived around 5pm and took advantage of the the remaining sunlight to go for a riverside walk.  We also crossed the bridge and went down by the river so Kenting could get one last water sample. Then I went for a jog and picked up a few beers to enjoy our final night in our roamer, listening to some tunes and doing some packing. A pretty standard evening made special because it was the last. Kent
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Appointments and Inspections in Calgary

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On the way to Calgary my wife took the wheel so I could make arrangements to get four new tires in the back and an inspection of the vehicle as soon as possible. We also had to work around a vet appointment and a meeting with the Canada Food Inpsection Agency so that Kenting could be "exported" to South Korea. The tire appointment was easy enough--we got an appointment for that afternoon. The inspection took some doing, but a company that mostly works on large freight trucks but is certified to inspect RVs slotted us in the next day. It makes a huge difference to be in a city of some size. Had we remained in the smaller towns we were looking at a two week delay. So, we were forced to check into a hotel for the night. After all, if our house on wheels is in the shop, then we become effectively homeless. This is a bit more difficult to manage with a dog. I left wife and dog in the hotel and got the tires on that afternoon. It went off without a hitch and the boys at Fountain Ti
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The Road to Calgary/Waiting out Thanskgiving

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With the help of two classy folks, we were able to get out of our rut and move forward to our final destination--Calgary, to sell the Kodiak. We were riding with a winter tire on in the back, along with the all seasons, so we really didn't want to take any more pleasure tours at that point. Loathe as I was to admit it, the trip was effectively over as a result of the blown tire. But, since it was Thanksgiving weekend still, we had to wait for the world to reopen before we could move things forward. After escaping isolation, we managed to drive a little under two hours before dusk. There seemed no cause to tempt fate and risk running into an animal after what we experienced, so we found a highway rest area with good reviews on iOverlander and parked for the night.  It was actually a pretty decent spot with a little lake/large pond behind and some cows fenced in a tree-heavy field beside. Kenting was naturally intrigued by the cows, but also cautious of them. He had no inclination to
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Stranded on Crowsnest Hwy/Willy and Sherry to the Rescue

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We left Nelson and headed toward Alberta along the Crowsnest Highway, the first section of which proved to be a pretty crappy road that featured a 25km or so stretch of unfinished, grated pre-pavement. No matter, our spirits were high and we spent what we assumed to be the early stages of our drive commenting on how lucky we were throughout the trip. The weather was our friend the whole time (I think we only had three days of rain), and we didn't have anything close an accident, or suffer through a single negative run-in with fellow travelers or locals. Yes, everything was peaches and cream and it seemed we could do no wrong. This was to be our final road trip of the journey, and what a journey it had been. Apparently the gods located somewhere in Valhalla Park heard us counting our blessings, because it wasn't ten minutes later that we heard a boom and felt a series of thuds. The Kodiak, our beloved wheeled bear, was limping. I knew very quickly what was happening and managed
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Nelson, British Columbia

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We put the Kodiak up for sale on Facebook Marketplace and scheduled the requesite appointments for inspection and maintenance in Kelowna before heading southward from Nakusp to Nelson. (The initial response was quite positive among prospective buyers. It seemed likely we wouldn't have trouble finding someone to adopt our beloved vehicle. If anything, our asking price, the same as what we purchased it for, may have been too low). Regardless, we had some time before our appointments, so we intended to take a little time to see more of the area first. We stopped at Silverton, New Denver and Slocan on the road to Nelson. The first two seemed like prosperous little communities, while the third was little, but clearly not very prosperous. They were all located at various points along the Slocan Lake, which was quite a sight in its own right. On the other side of the lake was Valhalla Provincial Park, probably the coolest name for a park in the entire country. These tiny communities all t
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