Mile 0, Victoria BC, let the great Canadian adventure begin
The planning of this trip started in June of 2017. Joe came home from his job of 35 years and said, "I'm done, lets sell the house, retire and get on the road while we are still healthy enough to do it"
I think I had already packed our first box by the time he finished his sentence.
To be honest, we have been thinking about doing this trip across Canada for a few years now, but there always seemed to be another destination calling. In fact, unless we up and sold everything and just became vagabonds, I don't think we will ever manage to see all the places on the list. For every 1 destination we get to, we add another 3 places to the list.
The first thing we had to do was to figure out what kind of vehicle we wanted to travel in. Camper van, motorhome, truck and trailer, convertible BMW, or just a broken down VW van. We settled on the truck and trailer. Joe is used to driving a big truck so that is what he was most comfortable with.
Next decision was how big the trailer needed to be. We have camped in everything from a tent to a 20 ft 1979 travel trailer to a tiny camper van. The van was way too small and uncomfortable (you had to put the table down to sleep and up again to eat), the old trailer would fall apart and frankly, I have become a princess since entering my 50's and refuse to sleep in a tent. So we settled on a 22 ft 2007, Nash trailer in impeccable condition. Small enough to tow without difficulty and big enough to feel luxurious (or at least that is how we hope we feel after 8 weeks on the road.)
And now, we’re off...
Our plan was to leave May 24th on the first ferry and Revelstoke our first destination. But when you live on an island you are at the mercy of the ferry and all the reservations were taken for the first ferry so we pushed our plan back a day and decided to leave at noon on the 23rd.
But even the best laid plans can have a kink in them and our kink came in the form of a broken electric brake plug. Joe went to hook everything up the night before and the plug just fell apart in his hands. Of course it was late at night so he couldn’t get a new one until morning. We also had another appointment at 9:00 a.m. so we decided to go straight to Canadian tire when it opened.
It took a bit to find the plug and by the time we got home it was almost time for our other appointment but our daughter Katie happily stepped up and said “No problem, you leave the plug with me and I will change it out for you while you are gone.” She’s a bright young woman who just YouTubed a “how to video”and had it changed in about 15 mins! Brilliant!
We hit the road around 11:00 and we were just in time for the noon ferry. Because we had gained a day we ended driving to Silver Lake Provincial Park which is about 20 kms from Hope BC. This turned out to be just a spectacular place with only 25 campsites nestled beside a glacier lake.
We were awestruck at the natural beauty and I highly recommend this campground for anyone looking for a little piece of heaven.
We were sad that we had only one night here but Revelstoke and our friends Tim and Ingrid await so we headed out first thing after we took a nice long walk along the lake. We will definitely return.
Our drive to Revelstoke was uneventful and only 4.5 hours long. Tim was waiting for us to arrive.
It is nice to know you can still maintain a friendship with people from 38 years ago and just pick up where you left off.
We had a great dinner on their deck looking over the Columbia river.
We couldn’t have asked for better hosts and after what seemed a long day we all turned in early. We had another full day of driving ahead, this time on to the outskirts of Calgary.
Driving thru the Rockies always feels like coming home. I lived in Banff from 1981-1986 and where I made some of the most important and long lasting friendships of my life. I still love driving thru Banff National Park. I gives me warm fuzzies every time I do!
We had to stop for gas in Lake Louise which is a high tourist area so we felt gouged after we put a few drops in to get us to Cochrane. In Victoria, diesel cost us $1.28/Ltr, and in Lake Louise it cost $1.42!
I guess its the price you pay for the view. And what a view!
I think I had already packed our first box by the time he finished his sentence.
To be honest, we have been thinking about doing this trip across Canada for a few years now, but there always seemed to be another destination calling. In fact, unless we up and sold everything and just became vagabonds, I don't think we will ever manage to see all the places on the list. For every 1 destination we get to, we add another 3 places to the list.
The first thing we had to do was to figure out what kind of vehicle we wanted to travel in. Camper van, motorhome, truck and trailer, convertible BMW, or just a broken down VW van. We settled on the truck and trailer. Joe is used to driving a big truck so that is what he was most comfortable with.
Next decision was how big the trailer needed to be. We have camped in everything from a tent to a 20 ft 1979 travel trailer to a tiny camper van. The van was way too small and uncomfortable (you had to put the table down to sleep and up again to eat), the old trailer would fall apart and frankly, I have become a princess since entering my 50's and refuse to sleep in a tent. So we settled on a 22 ft 2007, Nash trailer in impeccable condition. Small enough to tow without difficulty and big enough to feel luxurious (or at least that is how we hope we feel after 8 weeks on the road.)
And now, we’re off...
Our plan was to leave May 24th on the first ferry and Revelstoke our first destination. But when you live on an island you are at the mercy of the ferry and all the reservations were taken for the first ferry so we pushed our plan back a day and decided to leave at noon on the 23rd.
But even the best laid plans can have a kink in them and our kink came in the form of a broken electric brake plug. Joe went to hook everything up the night before and the plug just fell apart in his hands. Of course it was late at night so he couldn’t get a new one until morning. We also had another appointment at 9:00 a.m. so we decided to go straight to Canadian tire when it opened.
It took a bit to find the plug and by the time we got home it was almost time for our other appointment but our daughter Katie happily stepped up and said “No problem, you leave the plug with me and I will change it out for you while you are gone.” She’s a bright young woman who just YouTubed a “how to video”and had it changed in about 15 mins! Brilliant!
We hit the road around 11:00 and we were just in time for the noon ferry. Because we had gained a day we ended driving to Silver Lake Provincial Park which is about 20 kms from Hope BC. This turned out to be just a spectacular place with only 25 campsites nestled beside a glacier lake.
We were sad that we had only one night here but Revelstoke and our friends Tim and Ingrid await so we headed out first thing after we took a nice long walk along the lake. We will definitely return.
Our drive to Revelstoke was uneventful and only 4.5 hours long. Tim was waiting for us to arrive.
It is nice to know you can still maintain a friendship with people from 38 years ago and just pick up where you left off.
We couldn’t have asked for better hosts and after what seemed a long day we all turned in early. We had another full day of driving ahead, this time on to the outskirts of Calgary.
Driving thru the Rockies always feels like coming home. I lived in Banff from 1981-1986 and where I made some of the most important and long lasting friendships of my life. I still love driving thru Banff National Park. I gives me warm fuzzies every time I do!
We had to stop for gas in Lake Louise which is a high tourist area so we felt gouged after we put a few drops in to get us to Cochrane. In Victoria, diesel cost us $1.28/Ltr, and in Lake Louise it cost $1.42!
I guess its the price you pay for the view. And what a view!
There was a lot of road construction on the trans Canada hwy so it ended up taking us 6 hours to drive what should have been 5 hours. Lucky for us Todd and Loraine had wine a beer waiting for us when we arrived.
They had arranged a dinner party with our other mutual friends Jennifer and Eric as well as all of their children and one granddaughter!
This trip really is turning out to be more about the people we see and meet than the destinations. But I think that is why we love travelling so much, your world just opens up in so many ways!
After too many laughs and probably just enough wine, we went to bed around 1:00 only to have to hit the road once again.
2 provinces down, 8 more to go...
With the one mechanical gremlin under your belt, and in the best place to have it (well but maybe not at the best time) I say you've paid your dues!
ReplyDeleteSilver Lake PP sounds like an awesome place! Were there train tracks close by? Hope you can figure out how to do a map of the roads travelled up to your future blog entries. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Travel safe and enjoy the journey. Looking forward to your next installment.
Suzanne
I feel like I am right there with you... Only MY view is suckier, and my adventure less panoramic.
ReplyDeleteKeep it coming, friend! And keep it up with the photos too!
xo A.
I didn't know you were going a big trip! Have fun! Love the blog post! Keep 'em coming.
ReplyDeleteGreat posts that are inspiring. Wait 'til I tell Jan.
ReplyDeleteWayne
PS - BR is my stage name. Offers anonymity from all of those CRA calls/e-mails LOL.
Delete