Cousins, Car Tweaks & Country Roads

The Blue Gnu spoiled us.

After more than 400,000 kilometres together we'd refined our little travelling home to near perfection. Every bag had its place. Every movement had become automatic. We could transform from driving mode to sleeping mode in minutes without really thinking about it.

The Albino Rhino...

Well... we're not quite there yet.

This trip is as much about getting to know our new little travelling companion as it is about the journey itself. Our first official mission is Cotty's Epic Cousin Quest—a tour around BC visiting as many of his cousins as we could. It seemed like the perfect excuse to keep tweaking the Rhino while spending time with people we don't get to see nearly often enough.

After a few final Vancouver errands (and cheering Canada on in their final World Cup match), we pointed the Rhino toward Langley. We squeezed in a visit with Muffy and Lee—and of course the bunnies, who may or may not have stolen the show. We hung around for a while hoping to catch Cotty's dad as well, but eventually Kamloops was calling.

Our first cousin stop was Jeremy and Carolyn's place, complete with bonus appearances from Kelsey, Dane and little Walker. I love how family visits often work that way. You arrive expecting to see one or two people and you get bonus visits in.

Even better, the Albino Rhino officially made its debut in our "friends in our bed" photo collection.

The first night's sleep was actually much better than we'd expected. Shorter than we'd hoped—but surprisingly comfortable.

Morning, however, provided our first proper Rhino comedy moment.

Cotty was inside watching the Formula 1 race while I tackled packing away the bed by myself. It seemed straightforward enough.

Somewhere during the process...

...I lost my phone.

Inside a relatively small car.

I searched every bag. Every pocket. Every little storage cubby.

Eventually I admitted defeat and recruited Cotty.

After he used the "Find My" app, we heard the familiar chime coming from beneath the bed. Somehow I'd managed to tuck my phone safely inside the stuff sack that held the sleeping bag.

Neither of us could believe it.

There was much laughing.

With access to a driveway, tools and electricity, we decided it was the perfect opportunity for Version 2.0 of the Rhino setup.

The inflatable SUP graduated to the roof, instantly giving us a bit more breathing room underneath the bed. A few storage bags migrated to new homes, and after resisting for far too long we finally surrendered to those aggressively uncomfortable factory headrests.

They got turned around.

Before anyone worries, we added padding to the now rear-facing side so they'd still do their job somewhat safely. It isn't exactly elegant at the moment. A couple of inexpensive black cotton T-shirts became improvised covers and, while they won't be winning any design awards, they're doing the job remarkably well.

Once I'm back home with my sewing machines, I have plans.

Plenty of plans.

Then it was time to head toward Lone Butte.

As seems to be becoming our tradition, we ignored the fastest route.

Highway 24 was a fun drive and allowed us to access the ranch from the back side.

Our next stop was Tim and Teri's impressive collection of projects, where Rowdy provided excellent entertainment, along with their two horses.

We spent the evening exactly the way good road trips should be spent: catching up over dinner at the Iron Horse Pub, watching another entertaining football match, swapping stories and, as a bonus, getting to see and squish Emily.

Back at the farm I even got to walk one of the horses along the road while it happily sampled clover from the verge. It was one of those wonderfully ordinary little moments that somehow becomes one of your favourite memories.

I drank entirely too much water at dinner, which meant an early morning adventure involving climbing out of the Rhino in the cold, finding the facilities and then attempting to wriggle back into bed without waking myself up completely.

Mission... mostly accomplished.

By the time morning arrived we'd enjoyed hot showers, breakfast inside and one last visit before it was time to continue the quest.

I missed giving Tim a proper goodbye squish, and Teri had arrived home so late the night before that our visit had been far too short.

So if you're reading this...

Virtual squishes for both of you.

Leaving Lone Butte, we once again ignored the fastest route.

The road turned to gravel at likely and stayed that way for quite some time. Thankfully Ghost Lake surprised us with a tiny TreeNet tucked into the forest and an absolutely roaring waterfall that reminded us just how much water is still moving through BC this year. We hadn't expected either, and those unexpected little discoveries are often the ones that stick with you the longest.

Then came more dusty roads.

Eventually those roads delivered us to Barkerville.

If you've never been, it's hard to explain just how much history fits into one little town. We wandered the streets going back in time and imagining life during the Gold Rush, as you'll probably notice from the ridiculous number of photos that follow...

I got a little carried away.

Seriously.

So.

Many.

Photos.

A quick stop in Wells rounded out the afternoon before we continued on to Quesnel, where another wonderful family reunion was waiting.

This time it was cousins Rick and Shelley, bonus cousin Shane imported from the Peace region, Uncle Rick and, naturally, plenty of catching up over a delicious Chinese dinner.

One of the nicest parts of this trip has been discovering that every family visit has its own personality. Different conversations, different stories, but always the same warm welcome.

The Cousin Quest is already turning into something pretty special.

I have a feeling this won't be the last time we drive these roads.