We have hundreds of visitors each year of people headed to or returning from Bella Coola. Bella Coola is 450 kms west of Williams Lake on highway 20. Everybody that travels that way has a story about the famous hill just outside of town or the wildlife they saw.
We met Norman and Sonja after a tow truck towed their trailer into the campsite. Their truck transmission failed coming up the Bella Coola hill. They were able to pull to the side at a wide spot. Fortunately, a Conservation Officer eventually came by. He used his sat phone to call a tow truck. Sadly though the local tow truck driver was on vacation so the truck had to come from Williams Lake. 26 hours later they were back on the road on the tow truck hook. They were towed to the campground but the story doesn’t end there. The bill I’m told came to $4 thousand. I imagine the night on the hill, really a mountain was not restful with traffic going by and being on such a slant.
A new transmission was found in Edmonton and shipped. Meanwhile, Norm and Sonja spent their time in the campground. That week we had plus 30 degree C temperatures so it was very hot in the campground bowl. They were ready to get back on their way but the new transmission was damaged in shipment and not repairable. So, the hunt for a new transmission began again.
They travel extensively as they spend half a year in Canada from their home base in Aldergrove, BC and the other six months in Quarzite, AZ.
Since the only part of Williams Lake they’ve seen is near the campground we took them to Billy Bob’s for dinner and a drive down Soda Creek road for a look at the Fraser, Rudy’s Bridge, the 2017 fire and recent flooding and slide area.
I’m sure they’ll soon be on their way. We’re happy to have met them and like so many others we’ll stay in touch.