Creston to Trail

July 17th Creston to Trail BC
Another great sunny day.  The drive was very beautiful with 1700m of elevation which was not much of an issue.  The grades however were totally a different story.  We have encountered many 7% grades in Northern Ontario and east of Creston. However they are no match for the 10-13% grades here just east of Salmo.  Today we unfortunately had to use the brakes along with the tow/haul.  While we drove incredibly well, in our opinion, up and down and around the curves, the RV seemed to have had a mind of its own on the steepest descent and went in to a 30 second shake event that we had never experienced yet, and hope we never will again. It was rough, loud and unexplainable.  Not a warning light of any kind appeared. It was like your car ABS system kicking in x1000. Frankly this is the first time we went beyond nervous to concerned and frankly I will admit scared.  We stopped as soon as we could at a local gas station where all appeared well.  We stayed for about 20 minutes for things to cool down and by things I mean brakes, our nerves and the animals panting.  It was an easy drive for the remaining 40 km to our Harvest Host location a nice local Kootenay Lake winery.  Our Host Ben laid out an incredible spread for us to pair with the very educational wine tasting.  It was about this time that Barb remembered what I had exclaimed after the shaking incident “This winery better have F#$% amazing wine!  After this we deserve it”.  
Below some picks:

Beautiful views at every turn

The view from Columbia Gardens Winery and our amazing spread.

We have decided, and prudent decision I might add, to seek out the Ford dealership in the morning to check out our brakes before we have to hit yet another serious mountain.
Monday July 18th – Ford Dealership
As discussed the evening prior, our first stop was the Trail Ford Dealership.  It seemed wise to have them check out the RV to ensure nothing shook loose yesterday and our brakes were still in strong working order. Unfortunately the Ford dealership is too small to take us, but Mark referred us to Mike at another service company that is able to handle big rigs. So off we went, only to find out and to no surprise, that Mike is fully booked. We have found a place to stay, the City RV Park and Brian the host was incredible trying to help us out in our time of need. He has found us a spot for tonight and another location until next Tuesday. Fingers crossed we will be able to get into Mike’s to get checked out. We can’t do much until we do, as we don’t want to chance our lives/motorhome just to get to our next destination. Stay tuned all as we continue our adventure, the good, bad, and ugly. We do LOVE IT ALL !!