last evening I was unable to access the site probably due to the bear that was wandering around, I did not see it HOWEVER it left significant evidence three feet from the coach front door!!!...so Monday I walked through Grand Forks from west to east stopping a Jitterz for some walking fuel, the town seems like a rather pleasant place...as I was walking I was joined by "Mary" for about a km, we chit-chatted, swapped stories (about blisters and charities) she had just done a 64 km walk in approx 13 hours, I actually bumped into her again this morning in Christina Lake at a coffee shop, Smoochies, so far the best walking fuel I have had on the trip!!!...made it past Christina Lake about 5.5 miles when my baby, baby brother Bob and his two sons, Matthew and Brandon came along...we grabbed some grub at the golf course and then went for a quick dip in the lake...it was nice to see them, they live in Castlegar where we should get rather close to by the end of the day tomorrow...today we got started only to have the safety light on top of the Jeep stop working, about an hour and a quarter later still no light, walk on anyway...about as hot as it was Sunday and Monday only a LOT more humid with no breeze AND of the 20.1 miles today the first 13.5 ALL uphill!!!...we like our water!!!...the honks and the waves from passing motorists, again and still, is very energizing...some of the same truckers and bus driver ply the same road and some of them almost feel like old friends with a friendly wave and a tug on the horn...being connected in this life is a good things...so a summary of the let two days and some observations:

Monday 21.3 miles, 41,000 steps found nothing of substance

Tuesday 20.1 miles, 34,838 steps, all in one pile: 27 Chuck-E-Cheese tokens, one toonie, one nickel, one penny, one car-wash token, one pen with BDC logo (blue ink ), one iPod cord and a box of BandAides

I will have to say ever since the west end of Grand Forks the amount of trash on the roadside has diminished significantly (still and AWEFUL lot!!!), perhaps the folks in Grand Forks and Christina Lake get out and pick it up from time to time, or by the time people travel all the way from Vancouver they have thrown everything out already!?!?!?...beer cans and beer bottles still abound!!!

Speaking of trash, my final word for the day:  I found a rather fresh banana peel on the side of the road with the "organic" sticker still on it!!!...bear in mind that there is NOTHING in North America that will EAT a banana peel, why conclusions can we draw about the "throw-ee"???...cheers