August 7th Heading to Vancouver Island

 Since we had put enough miles on yesterday we knew we had a bit more time to spare getting down to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal.

We made it to Merritt by 10:30 for breakfast at Kryluk restaurant. Their specialty was bannock!

After a great breakfast we headed up the Nicola River valley about 6 kms. to Johnny’s On The Rez gas bar to let Jon & Meg fill up with Rez gas, then back out onto the Coquihalla #5 Highway.

The traffic was steady to heavy down to Hope where we pulled off for a stretch and walk around the town centre and coffee from the Blue Moose Cafe. We also checked out the many wood carvings around town.

We were on the road again and headed into the lower mainland for our 3:00 p.m. ferry appointments. At Chilliwack we hit the bumper to bumper traffic. So we began to worry about making our reservations even though we had an hour to spare we hadn’t counted on the Monday August long traffic starting 100 kms out of Delta! Lots of near stopping and slow downs as the convoy of vehicles accordianed its way to the city.

We made it to the terminal at 2:50 p.m 10 mins to spare!

Jon and Megs rig getting on the ferry.

Lots of excitement since this was a first time for the grandkids and Meg. It was a very nice crossing with lots of exploring done on the ferry.

We made it to Danica’s and Nicks by 5:30 and got ourselves set up for the night. They had supper waiting for us which was very nice. Then we headed to Coles Bay Park to explore the ocean and look for starfish and crabs and any other ocean life the kids could find.

This was James’s first time to explore the ocean. At first he was reluctant to catch crabs but then he got the hang of it with some prompting from his cousins.

Early to bed!

August 6th Early start……Hah!

 Between goodbyes and a slow wake up we didn’t get on the road until 11:40. I knew this would be a problem since we planned on random camping over night and we had to get within 3-4 hrs of the ferry terminal at Tawassen. We also had to detour through Kelowna since there was an active fire at Kamloops and we couldn’t risk having the #1 highway closed. Lots of smoke haze on the trip.

Gratuitous mountain photo

Jon & Megs rig in front of us.

Smokey sunset near Vernon

More gratuitous mountain photos

So we had cell phones and the 2way radios to try and stay in touch. We had told J&M we were stopping for fuel in west Kelowna then turning up the Coquihalla connect to Merritt. All of the road signs say stay on 97C. You just drive towards Peachland and there is lots of signs. Well the connector is 97A and the overhead sign says Trepanier Wilderness Area. Not only that we found a recommended BC rec site called Brenda Mines rec site on iOverlander. The problem is there are 2 Brenda Mine roads listed on Applemaps! 

Jon & Meg went down to Peachland and up through the suburbs then up Brenda Mine road into the mtns. And out of cell service. We meanwhile went up 97A to the Brenda Mine, got turned around on the Brenda Mine chain up area, also out of cell service. The new and improved 97A is a freeway with no chance of U-turn for 10 kms. Back toward Kelowna we go! We pull off on the Paridice Road chain up area which now has some cell service. Jon & Meg realize they are not in the right spot, but have driven up into cell service. And so begins a long and sometimes frustrating conversation of “Where are you?” in the dark!

We eventually determined that Jon &Meg were east of us and they proceeded to head west up 97A. 

We were pooped and thought we could just stay overnight where we were. Yet one more wrinkle! On our way up we passed a dead MCI bus rv conversion on the side of the road. A few miles later we saw a guy sitting on the traffic control barrier along the edge of the road. When J&M arrived we started discussing where we should set up camp, then Meg asks, “did you see the sketchy guy walking this way a few miles back?” We immediately decided to head 10 kms further down the road to the Brenda Mine chain up area. When we arrived there was one other vehicle parked on the edge with people sleeping in it….fogged up windows! It was after 10:30 when we finally had J&M set up. It rained lightly during the night and since our location was about 6m lower than the highways east bound lane we didn’t hear much highway noise. Except for the teenagers who came to drink and left when they found out it was now an RV Park!

Our camp in the early morning along side an asphalt planer.

August 5th The Wedding

 Had a slow morning then took the hike down to Abraham Lake for some exploring. James took his metal detector and found a penny. He was hoping for more!

Renaye and Tim

Gorgeous site for a wedding!

So the wedding was nice and the reception went off without a hitch since I was the MC! We didn’t stay up to late since we wanted an early start in the morning heading for the coast. 

August 4 Leaving Edmonton and heading into the mountains

 After our goodbyes with Tiffany and Teller we hit the road headed for the mountains and David Thompson Resort and Campground.

Last cuddles with Teller

The traffic was heavy, with all the city folk fleeing to the mountains for the long weekend. We decided we wanted to take the scenic route so we headed west on #16 then turned south on #759 through Tomahawk where we picked up fuel. Crossed the North Saskatchewan River at Berrymore then jogged west to pick up #22 just outside Dayton Valley. From there it was down #22 to Rocky Mountain House. Jon and Meg stopped there to do some shopping and we turned west on #11 towards Nordegg, Abraham Lake and the mountains.

The group campsites are quite primitive and narrow at David Thompson Resort. It’s lucky for them that they have good views!

Brothers Garry and Dave

Had to put the mirrors in and walk around back to get in the trailer!

Jon and Meg were set up beside us with nephew Evan next to them.

Out and about in Edmonton Wednesday/Thursday, August 2 & 3

 So once we had settled in on the street at niece Tiffany’s, and we had a good visit with her and Trevor and cuddles with Teller, we headed out to explore. On Wednesday, Jon and Meg took the kids to West Edmonton Mall while we relaxed and did some shopping. Thursday, after a slow start we went to Fort Edmonton historical site.

They had good interpretation of indigenous history up to the fur trade and the Métis. They had a very modern interp Center. The shot gun approach took some getting used to. There was a mix of static artifacts, audio visual, talking trees and active demonstrations through live animators. This was all happening at once so it was a bit overwhelming. I didn’t even figure out that the trees were talking to me until Meg pointed it out to me after we left. Then it was pretty much standard, “here is a bunch of old stuff  settlers made and built.” Most of the buildings and artefacts were in good shape and well presented, but there was very little interpretation or animation. The animators they did have only talked about the stuff and didn’t represent a character from history. This is different from the interpretation we have been used to at Parks Canada historical sites. I thought they missed a real opportunity, not representing themselves as real characters from history. I felt bad for the two boys in the fur loft who pretty much got swamped by Jon, talking about guns and furs.

To properly see the whole property you would need to allow yourself an entire day of exploring.

Sleeping on the streets of Edmonton

 

We made it to Edmonton at around 8 pm last night. The drive was uneventful.

Jon and Meg caught up to us in Saskatoon as we all had shopping to do. 

The only small wrinkle was the A/C Heater control doors on the truck were acting up. This is a common complaint with 2nd Gen Dodge trucks. Anyway after playing with the heater controls we were able to get it to blow cold air on the A/C. This was absolutely necessary as the temp was +28C and we were driving into the sun.

It’s nice traveling with a portable toilet! Stop where you need to!

There is still some water in Saskatchewan but the water is very low in all the lakes and ponds.

Now we will have a couple of days of family time and cuddles with our nephew Teller!

Fuel to Edmonton was about $250.

Part II of the 50th Anniversary Tour begins

 So our original plan was to buy a truck camper (Bigfoot) and then go driving off to the Yukon for August and part of September.  

In the winter  nephew Tim announces he is getting married in the mountains at David Thompson Campground on the August long weekend. Oh! And uncle Rick will you be the MC? Then Jon and Meg say, Hey if we are going all the way to western Alberta, let’s make a holiday out of it and go to the west coast! Hey Mom and Dad do you want to travel with us?

Well we haven’t been to the coast in years and who wouldn’t want to hangout with grandkids while they have their first west coast adventure. Oh and Tim and Renaye offered to let us use their 36’ sailboat!

So our tour plans have changed and this is the story of our west coast 50th Anniversary tour!

So we found a good Bigfoot camper last fall and took it on several overnight test drives.

As we began to prepare in July we realized that we were having a hard time moving from the 5th wheel Oakland and down sizing to an 11.5’ truck camper. So hey let’s do what we have seen others do and add a small cargo trailer to put all our stuff in. Now it just so happened that brother Garry has a nice little 5x8 cargo trailer we could borrow. So last week we headed out to Lake Audy with the rig to see how it all worked. 

Some background on the 1994 Bigfoot 11.5. It is one of the largest campers made and is just under the max capacity of our 2000 Dodge Ram 2500 5.9 diesel. The camper overhangs the back bumper by 30”. So to use the receiver hitch you need to put a hitch extension on which in this case put the cargo trailer uncomfortably close to the camper. It also was a multiplier on the the tongue weight of the trailer. We were seriously down on our overloads! 

When we arrived at Lake Audy Amy and I looked at each other and arrived at the same conclusion, this was not going to work travelling long distances. We are taking the Oakland! 

So the prep focus and my snag list changed to running down the long list of little things that needed to be done on our 1996 Oakland 26’ 5th wheel while also completing the list for the truck. We have worked until 10pm most nights this past week since we were also helping Jon and Meg bring their “new to them” StarCraft popup tent trailer up to speed for a road trip. 

We didn’t push ourselves on packing and repair/upgrading, we just ran down the list. We had a notional target of August 1st for departure. But we told ourselves we would leave when we have finished packing.

Well we finished today at 3:00 pm and rolled out of the yard at 3:30!

We went to Onanole to drop off some of Jon and Megs stuff then headed west on #45 highway. We stopped at Russel MB for an early supper at our favourite burger spot in Russel, Connie’s. 

As we headed west the thunder heads began to build. We just dodged one passing Theodore SK while it was just starting to build. When we got west of it, it had really grown in size!

Our decision was to put on as many kms. as we felt comfortable driving. So we pulled into Foam Lake SK at 8:45 and found a spot open in their small municipal campground. We are plugged in and enjoying a cool prairie breeze after a hot day. 

Tomorrow the plan is for a leisurely start and let Jon and Meg catch up to us on our way to Edmonton.