Loved ones who are no longer on this planet are never very far away from us. When the all-consuming pain that engulfs us after they pass away eases into a grief that is still always there but shares space with smiles and good memories, they come to us at the least expected times. Sometimes we cry Sometimes we smile. Sometimes we do both.

That is where I found myself at our first stop this morning — in a 7-Eleven parking lot in British Columbia eating a turkey, cranberry, and dressing sandwich with tears in my eyes thinking about my mom.

When I saw the sandwich, I knew it had to be my breakfast. Much better choice than Cheetos and chocolate, right?! 😁 What I didn’t know was that it also had dressing on it — a hallmark of the sandwiches my mother made for us for meals after Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

The second I bit into it, I was instantly transformed back to eating turkey, cranberry, and dressing sandwiches with my family. I felt my mother there with me right then.

It was a good feeling. I love when I feel her presence nearby. I feel my father’s at times, too, and I love those moments as well.

My parents aren’t gone. They are still very much with me. We just have different relationships than we did when they lived on earth. For that, I am thankful.

Great start to this travel day!

The remarkable things that occurred today in our travels were: (1) Every portion of road traveled on today was paved; and (2) we had cell signal most of the day!

We stopped in Prince George to pick up a few things and headed down Hwy. 97 to Quesnel.  We booked one night at Robert’s Roost Resort and RV Park on Dragon Lake.

As we went through Quesnel, right in town, we saw wildlife!  A deer ran across the road right in front of our truck. We missed it with both the truck and the camera, but we saw it!

We landed at Robert’s Roost Resort, our campground for the night, got parked, set up, ate a little chicken outside, and then we both walked down to check out the lake.

And then, it was time to do a couple of loads of laundry. Some chores follow you around. Laundry is one of them.

Robert’s Roost Resort is a beautiful campground on Dragon Lake. It is very well maintained; has a nice shower house and laundry room; and very nice, level campsites. They rent boats and other water sport items as well. If you are a water sport person and are in this area, this is your place. Dragon Lake is a popular destination for rainbow trout fishing.

If there is any cleanup in Tramper that needs to be done, it will be a swipe here and there, and I’ll call it done tonight. I didn’t really look very well when we arrived. Perhaps I didn’t really want to know!