Another Lonely Journey To Somewhere New

Everything I own into my little three door hatchback

I hate moving to somewhere new alone. I got to pack alone, drive alone and explore a new place alone. Although, the only thing about moving alone is that I can fit everything I own into my little small car and head to wherever I want. Luckily, I don’t have lots of stuff and barely manage to squeeze everything in.

Moving During The Hottest Week Canada Have Ever Experienced

I am sure most of you have heard of British Columbia experiencing one of the hottest Summer in the news. And I picked this week to move with a car without A/C. Long story short, the move was brutal. Just minutes after driving off, I could feel the heat. Opening the window doesn’t help much since the outside air was hot as well. Even my phone gave me several overheating warnings and threaten to shutdown Google maps and every other features that were useful for my trip. The overheated camera produces some wavy photos. I guess it was the camera’s way of complaining.

Wavy patterns form at the bottom of the picture due to phone being over heated.
Wavy patterns form at the bottom of the picture due to phone being over heated.

My Car Struggles Up the Slopes

People I talked to told me to take Highway 1 to Prince George instead of Route 5. Highway 1 is flatter, is shorter and therefore faster. I was advised not to push my car in this heat and take it slow if I want my car to arrive in Price George under its own power. I did get a BCAA membership just for this trip and specifically for its towing service which I hope I will never use.

Langley to Prince George
This is the route I took!

Although I was advised to take Highway 1, guess which road I chose? If you guessed route 5, then you are correct. Thanks to the wildfires, Highway 1 was closed to aid with the firefighting efforts. So I took a hilly, longer and therefore slower road to Prince George.

I was cruising along at a reasonable speed until the hilly sections. Cars were zooming pass me at this point. I have to climb those hills with the trucks traveling slowly along side me at gear 4 and sometimes gear 3!

Lunch Time!

My plan was to stop every 300 km to 350 km for fuel as I am not familiar with the route and not sure how far apart are the rest stops. As for food, I only planned one stop. And that stop was at Horstings Farmers Market at Cache Creek.

Beef pie and soup!

I had no intention of staying overnight somewhere to rest. I didn’t want to wake up the next morning and find my car and everything I own missing! After the wonderful meal, I was back in my hot car which was baking under the hot sun while I was having lunch.

Smoky Air, Smoky Skies

Smoky road up ahead. My phone was still overheating at this point 🙁

The further north I drove, the air and skies slowly but surely starts to get smoky. I was hoping to see some burning forest along the way so I can see those water bomber in action. But sadly, I saw nothing of that sort.

Arrived Safely

Even my companion monkey could sit upright after the ling journey.

After a long drive of 765 km, I arrived safely in Prince George. But my day didn’t end there. I still had to sort things with my new landlord, unload my car and get dinner before everything closes.

What a long and tiring day! Fresh start in Prince George!

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