Yes we are still in Trail at the City RV Campground. While one would think being here since July 12th that we would know everything there is to know and have seen everything there is to see in the campground. There is only 14 RV sites and another 16 campsites to be fair. However if you wait and be patient, you encounter other residents of the area you were not expecting….
It has been almost 1 week since our last post. What has happened since then? Well let us tell you……
What we are now looking forward to are the pleasures that lie ahead, which is the hot weather like many of you are experiencing. It will be getting upwards to 40 degrees here over the next week, and our non shaded RV site will certainly test our AC capabilities. While there is no pool or beach here at the RV campground, we have discovered a beautiful freshwater creek coming from the mountains and a spot for us to easily get into it for us to cool down and Winston to lie in.
Watch for new photos in our gallery as we continue to update.
July 17th Creston to Trail BC
Another great sunny day. The drive was very beautiful with 1700m of elevation which was not much of an issue. The grades however were totally a different story. We have encountered many 7% grades in Northern Ontario and east of Creston. However they are no match for the 10-13% grades here just east of Salmo. Today we unfortunately had to use the brakes along with the tow/haul. While we drove incredibly well, in our opinion, up and down and around the curves, the RV seemed to have had a mind of its own on the steepest descent and went in to a 30 second shake event that we had never experienced yet, and hope we never will again. It was rough, loud and unexplainable. Not a warning light of any kind appeared. It was like your car ABS system kicking in x1000. Frankly this is the first time we went beyond nervous to concerned and frankly I will admit scared. We stopped as soon as we could at a local gas station where all appeared well. We stayed for about 20 minutes for things to cool down and by things I mean brakes, our nerves and the animals panting. It was an easy drive for the remaining 40 km to our Harvest Host location a nice local Kootenay Lake winery. Our Host Ben laid out an incredible spread for us to pair with the very educational wine tasting. It was about this time that Barb remembered what I had exclaimed after the shaking incident “This winery better have F#$% amazing wine! After this we deserve it”.
Below some picks:
Beautiful views at every turn
The view from Columbia Gardens Winery and our amazing spread.
We have decided, and prudent decision I might add, to seek out the Ford dealership in the morning to check out our brakes before we have to hit yet another serious mountain.
Monday July 18th – Ford Dealership
As discussed the evening prior, our first stop was the Trail Ford Dealership. It seemed wise to have them check out the RV to ensure nothing shook loose yesterday and our brakes were still in strong working order. Unfortunately the Ford dealership is too small to take us, but Mark referred us to Mike at another service company that is able to handle big rigs. So off we went, only to find out and to no surprise, that Mike is fully booked. We have found a place to stay, the City RV Park and Brian the host was incredible trying to help us out in our time of need. He has found us a spot for tonight and another location until next Tuesday. Fingers crossed we will be able to get into Mike’s to get checked out. We can’t do much until we do, as we don’t want to chance our lives/motorhome just to get to our next destination. Stay tuned all as we continue our adventure, the good, bad, and ugly. We do LOVE IT ALL !!
Sorry for the LONG blog update, but the challenges of Wifi and in certain places no service (and maybe a little bit of being unorganized, NOPE that’s not it) has left us leaving you all a little lost as to where we are and what we are doing. So, here it goes….
If we were not clear enough in our previous blog our mechanical issues were rectified by the Brandon Manitoba posse AND ourselves. It took a little courage on our part to trust the consensus of the group on what to do, but we did and it paid off. YEAH!!! So the next morning we walked to McDonalds and grabbed some coffee and to my (Lori) dismay there were no hash-browns.! Yikes, our perfect morning had only lasted about 20 minutes. HOW in heavens name can a McDonald’s have NO hash-browns!
The drive, fortunately, was uneventful and we arrived in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in great time to find our Harvest Host (HH) location owned by the McMojo’s, a great big gated farm field. Met a lovely couple from Calgary who were heading east to Newfoundland and we exchanged ideas about great places to visit and stay. They were on a 6 month sabbatical from work. Very cool!
Had a super night boondocking and 3 other units arrived. It was surprising as normally HH locations limit to 1 or 2. It felt very relaxing other than the mosquitoes who were still very active here so we choose an indoor movie night.
The following morning it was rainy and super foggy. We waited around for the fog to lift somewhat, and had to wait even longer for our massive windshield (the one some of you have been making fun of, “you know who you are”) to clear up enough to see out of, we finally got that rectified and headed out. It was supposed to be one of our longer days (about 5 hours of driving) and given the weather (lot’s of rain) we were on the road much longer. We were thrilled when we finally arrived in Brooks Alberta to find our Harvest Host location The Back Forty, a working farm. Going up the long driveway we came to a fork in the road, as one does in life, and we had a decision to make. There was somewhat of a ‘disagreement’ as to which way to go. When Barb said ‘You always go right….with a great big laugh…unless you are supposed to go left”. We decided to go right and found the perfect parking spot and settled in. OK so maybe Barb was right….about going right… The rain finally stopped and we met the owners and purchased fresh eggs, sausage and of course BACON! We went for a walk to visit the chickens and corn fields and once again ran back due to the swarms of Mosquitoes!
Early to bed as the next morning we had an 8am appointment at Brooks Lube, an AMA approved location, for our pre-booked RV safety. This of course is a requirement to get our RV licensed in Alberta. Since the previous owner BW had a safety in Ontario we assumed all would go well and we were not worried, well I was a little worried, Barb was cool as a cucumber.
We popped across the street to the local A&W for breakfast. NO HASH-BROWNS!! The hash-brown shortage continues!!! Clearly this MUST be a nation wide issue! Oh ya and for the record, we were the youngest people in A&W by far. Welcome to early retirement!! Well at least we feel it is early seeing as how we are still so young 🙂
It was a ton of fun to watch the mechanics do their very thorough check of our RV from across the road. Two hours later, they called to tell us they were done and we went back for the outcome. Great news we were certified. However some new learnings. The head mechanic shared he had called some government vehicle association to ask whether he could pass us as he is not to pass anyone without working air bags. Now don’t misunderstand…it’s not that ours don’t work…our RV simply doesn’t have them! We had a holy shit moment until he told us apparently many RV’s don’t have them installed. Kind of hard to grasp in this day and age. Anyhow we both acknowledged that our Wills and POAs are up to date so we got back in the RV with certificate in hand. As we were leaving the mechanic said he was super impressed with “our Rig” and also “highly intimidated” by our massive front window. We had a huge laugh and Barb told him that was her very first thought when she initially saw the RV. We now of course love it for the incredible views.
Once settled into our Calgary West Campground in Alberta for the week we quickly grabbed an Uber to Lori’s house to relieve B&B from their pet sitting duties. How fun to be ‘at home’ with Lori’s 85’ tv where Barb was introduced to the series Bosch. OMGosh now Barb is hooked! Good thing there are 7 seasons and a new one called Bosch Legacy, but alas we had real work to do. I (Lori) sold my home and we had a week to choose and pack everything for the RV and then prep for the movers to come and pack everything else. Sounds simple, right??…..Well day 1 we made some headway and packed up the car and drove to the campsite (leaving the animals behind) only to find that the top lock on our door was jammed! We couldn’t get in, and of course being the diligent people we are we had locked this puppy up tight as a drum so there was no way in. What does one do now? Call a locksmith of course. Sunday morning, 9 am on the Calgary Stampede opening weekend……it took a while but we found a guy who came out and saved the day. He also had worked until 2AM the night before dealing with Stampede “issues”. We also got a great discount with our premium AMA RV card. So, into the RV and we continued rearranging and packing for the next couple of days. Sunday Winston and Safiya entered the fold and settled in for their new life onboard.
Monday movers showed up to pack, and Tuesday to continue to pack and to move the stuff out. 22 hours later….I hope I am not paying by the hour….the house is empty. Car got picked up and with an Uber back to the campsite, I (Lori) am officially a Nomad. (I really need to watch the movie…)
Wednesday we were off in the direction of Creston BC, stopping first at a horse farm in Pincher Creek AB. A little off the beaten path but well worth the trip!! Heidi is a wonderful host and clearly LOVES the animals she has on the farm. She has Canadian Horses which is a rare breed and Canada’s official National Breed. She joined us in the RV for what I will call a Q&A period with Barb asking most of the questions. (Good ones I might add). As with all farms, you have livestock & you have deadstock (JL will appreciate that comment) so Barb was quite interested in learning about what happens when you bury a dead horse (obviously, not a live one) on the farm that is deemed “Native Grasslands and I believe conservation land”. Like all good farmers, the shrug of the shoulders from Heidi, and the “no big deal” attitude let us know that the burial of a horse is just the way things are done.
As we travel it is important to us that we give back any way that we can. This time at Heidi’s, it was Winston who did the contributing of giving back. (I have a video I will try and get uploaded and all our awesome pics etc in our gallery here). It just so happened that Heidi wanted a video of her Canadian horses running, which is quite stunning, for her website but she has never been able to capture this yet on film. SO, in comes Winston. The horses were quite interested in him and always seemed to run towards him when he came out of the RV for a walk. So we had Winston run along the gate and the horses ran along side him. (OK for those of you who know Winston, it was more of a jaunt and gallop than a run but it worked none the less) Barb caught this on video and low and behold, we now have Canadian horses running for Heidi. Well done Winston!
Thursday we landed in Creston BC, nice very small campground but with lots of tree shade. Barb drove all day as she wanted the experience of mountain driving. We started anxious about our weight (to be clear not our weight but the RV weight) and how it would perform on the hills. Barb did an awesome job using the ”tow/haul” feature which helped us keep our speed on the down hill portion and our RPMs on the way up. We got to Creston and had a glass of wine to celebrate our successful journey across Crowsnest Pass. What we failed to understand and only found out the following day, that it is in fact Poulsen Pass & Kootney pass are the higher hills, so we really haven’t done the big stuff yet, and it is now my (Lori’s) turn to drive. Good grief. We have however been able to relax and enjoy our quiet time here in Creston, and we were able to take a private tour with a local company, Creston Valley Tour Co. We visited Kootenay Meadows farm/Alpine Cheese, orchards, and of course a winery! Baillie-Grohman Winery. This tour company owned by Gillian Kemle was just OUTSTANDING! They go above and beyond to make you enjoy your day. We were greeted with fresh fruit and water to start, then we moved onto fresh veggies and dip. We decided to go healthy and decline the chips and other treats available for us. If you are ever in Creston BC, reach out to Creston Valley Tour Co. Gillian also owns the Valley View Motel in Creston and it is NOT what you would expect!! It is a cozy gathering of quaint cottages that look over the Creston Valley. Our favorite part of the tour was the Kootenay Meadows farm/Alpine Cheese stop. This farm is state of the art and the dairy cows are looked after with kindness, comfort and all the perks of living a great life in the valley. Each cow wore a collar that told the owners everything, and I mean everything about the cow. When they are eating/sleeping/milking (they do this themselves, the cows I mean) if they are pregnant, sick, giving birth, you name it! I have to expand on the cows milking themselves as I found this fascinating. Apparently you can easily train cows. The collars they wear open up gates for them IF they are allowed in. So when the cow wants to get milked they go up to a gate, the collar signals to the gate to open and the cow goes forward to the milking machine. The back gate closes and the cow is in a small penned area. A laser machine identifies where the cow is, washes the underside of the cow with what frankly looks like a car wash, then the machine finds each teet and milks the cow. While this is happening the cow gets a treat of some sort of grain. Again the collar notifies the owners who has been milked, who hasn’t, and one cow in particular one day tried getting back in line 67 times in one day (she likes the treat of grain apparently) and the machinery and the collar knew that the cow was not to be milked again so the gate didn’t open for her, so back in line to try again. Unbelievable !! The technology that is, the cow story is just damn funny. The cheese and milk production was also state of the art. We purchased cheese and milk/cream from them. Can’t wait to dig in!!
Tomorrow we are off to Trail BC with a detour to a favourite place of mine (Lori) Nelson BC.
Day 7-20 People and Places Read More »
Day 6 in Brandon Manitoba
1. We can fit two men in the bathroom and a few more in the bedroom.
2. We know where the fuse box and main electrical is
3. We know how to recalibrate the slides
4. We know how to control the hot water on demand……..kind of
5. Mosquitos come in the trillions this year
6. Everyone (so far) is friendly and helpful if you are friendly first
7. The fridge works great if you are level
8. One can live in the same clothes for 5 days and no shower if one ignores the situation
9. You can own too many flip flops
10. Well we knew it all along, but this adventure is epic and we are only on Day 7
Day 6 at the Brandon Meadowlark Campground
We learned more in the span of 4 hours than all the reading, utube videos and calls to the mechanics. What did it take? A small pose of men, all long time RVrs convocating on the day after one of their daughter’s wedding, and frankly trying to cure their hangovers with another few cans of Milwaukee & Michelob. When you start asking questions and letting these gentlemen know what your issues are in your own RV, well the puzzle solvers can’t help themselves but to jump into action. They were respectful of our privacy and only entered the RV when invited to check out the ”issues” and they hung around outside the unit giving us further maintenance tips that will certainly help divert issues down the way. We can’t tell you all how grateful we are/were for this group of people. In fact one couple, seeing us flush our tanks at the end of the day with Barb in her full Mosquitoes suit (YUP they do indeed make them for purchase, and I will post a picture when I can) came over to give us an Off contraption to keep the buggers away
Today off to Moosjaw Sask & Brooks Alb boondocking. This means no or potentially weak internet so if you don’t hear from us until we get to Calgary, this is why. Chat soon!
Day 1 June 27
We left Barb’s and headed off on our adventure! Our first stop was a gas station south of Barrie (we both got hand cramps having to hold the pump so long), no surprise there. Our second stop, a gas station LOL, which we thought was going well until we had a mechanical problem with the pump, which was realized when the gas overflowed and hit our running shoes. OK to be fair, maybe we weren’t paying attention.
Road to our first overnight stop was good and while we had rain/construction we got to the Serpent River campground and pulled in. We had a smooth set up and a nice chicken dinner. What we neglected to do however is check the temperature. We left Toronto and it was hot and humid, so why would any other place in Ontario be any different. Hmm there is a new definition of “freezing ones ass off” when you go to the bathroom in the chill of the morning, it was 5 degrees outside. Bloody Hell
Day 2
Our goal is to close-up and get moving onto our next destination. Seems simple enough, unhook from power/water, retract stabilizers/slides and do your final check around the unit to make sure all is well. Well, all was not well, as the neighbor saw our back slide awning/cover did not retract properly with the slide itself. So Barb pushed the slide out 1/2 way and I crawled onto the roof from the RV ladder at the back of the unit. There were twigs in the awning/cover unit of the slide and I thought I could just remove the twigs and voila the slide would fix itself. So up I am on the roof removing twigs and the awning” snapped” back quickly and thank God I have lightening reflexes as I was able to get my hand out in time. So frankly we, and by we I mean me, thought the problem was fixed. NOPE the slide is now going in crooked! So we pushed out again and recruited the neighbor Aldo and the local handyman Brian to help two damsels in distress on DAY 2!!! Brian got his ladder (because Barb and I chose to leave out ladder at home because why in heavens name would we need it in the first 6 weeks….) and went up and low and behold it wasn’t just a few twigs but a damn birds nest! Brian did a great job cleaning the mechanical motor out and we were able to finally get the slide in with the help of Aldo and Brian pushing the one end in that was retracting slower. Excellent work all around and we were OFF 2 hours later than expected!
We travelled to WaWa to the Algoma Highland Wild Blueberry Farm and Winery to boon dock (for those that are not familiar with this term it means parking with no electricity/water etc.) our drive was relatively smooth however we were rattled by the rough start of the day and arriving late at our destination. Thank goodness our location for the night was excellent and the owner Trevor was welcoming and over the top accommodating even willing to go into the winery outside retail hours giving us wine for the night because all was not well with the back slide……
As we started pushing it out for the night, it pushed out crooked. SO in it went and we decided quite wisely to not use it again until we got it fixed. What does that really mean other than we kind of lose a bed? We have NO access to clothes. No socks/shorts/tops/pants/underwear etc. All locked in their wonderful closets and drawers blocked by the slide. Now for those RVrs out there, yes we should have put stuff in the overhead cupboards, but we were saving these spots for when we landed in Calgary and really loaded up from my house. Ah well, the things you learn on the way.
In the morning however, Trevor once again took us to the retail shop, again outside of hours, to purchase some blueberry jams. They are excellent by the way! He ships to Ontario locations if anyone is interested. So all in all, another great pit stop!
Day 3
From WaWa we will be traveling to Dorian Ontario staying at the Canyon Creek Co- Op store. Had a good sleep in WaWa but woke up to heavy fog and environment Canada warnings of extreme danger and to stay off the roads (which is why we had time for the blueberry jam purchases) We got on the road an hour or two late as the fog lifted, but the day went from bad to worse. We had torrential rain and low visibility, construction, multiple bridge constructions with NO advance warnings and no shit there were guys with stop signs jumping up and down and waving them in the middle of the road to stop people! Unbelievable.
SOOOO we arrived late yet again at our destination. That night huge rainstorm. Good times
Day 4
We got up and left Dorian thinking this would be a better day because frankly what more could go awry?? Well hurricane force winds for one………the drive for both of us was “HAND CRAMPING” as we had a death grip on the steering wheel, like the hand cramping to the friggin gas pumps!! We landed in Canyon Creek, it was seamless but for the million mosquitos who wanted us for dinner! OMG. Not much else to tell about this stop, relatively uneventful, despite the thunderstorm all night.
Day 5
Got up to inclement weather and thought what a great day with no torrential downpours in the forecast. Well shit!, Wind gusts of only 25 km per hour do feel like 100 when you aren’t used to the full brunt of a wind push against your large vehicle. Another long Friggin driving day!!! LOL
We landed at The Ranch, outside of Kenora and we can’t stress enough what a beautiful location this was and what wonderful hosts. (I will post pictures when I figure out how to do this on my iPad) It was worth the stress getting here. We love boon docking as you meet the most wonderful people. While the above notes regarding driving all sounds gloomy, we have had enjoyed wonderful dinners, good wine and great company so far.
We recognize we are novice RV owners but we will get more experienced and will get more organized with our posts along the way. Please be patient as we grapple with internet/wifi and lack thereof as we move forward.
Day 6 July 1
Up early and heading off to Brandon…..where we hope we will get our slide fixed on Monday. We also hope for great WiFi so we can update you further on the Canada Day long weekend…..yes we are driving on the Friday of a long weekend! Stay tuned
Love you all
BL
The first 48 and beyond….OMG Read More »
Well its been a while since we posted anything since we purchased the Motorhome. What has happened since then?
We are looking forward to grabbing the RV on Sunday, packing up enough to get us through to Calgary and OFF on the road on Monday!! Stay tuned for updates along the way. There are sure to be be misadventures in the midst of the big adventure!
WHAT A RIDE!! We thought our first post should be about ”how” we ended up with our 2021 Entegra Coach Vision, and the wonderful individual we purchased it from, whom we will call BW.
Barb was relentless in looking daily for RVs on sale in Auto Trader/Facebook and RV dealerships and a few days into my retirement she found one! It was perfect! UNDER 30 feet, white farmhouse cupboards, great layout and a nice size shower. It also had plenty of storage! But we had to act fast! Barb reached out through Facebook and also called the seller. I would say we patiently waited, but that would be a lie. I was panicking that it would be sold before we could talk to the owner. After what seemed like an eternity (It really was probably only a few hours) BW’s daughter reached out to Barb. We were IN and Barb set a time to go out and see it, and meet BW. We also arranged for me to be on FaceTime while she was going through the Motorhome so I could see and experience everything in real time. Needless to say, seeing this with Barb on FaceTime really solidified the fact that I wanted us to get this particular unit, and I could tell Barb did as well.
BW is one of the most genuine and kindest people you would want to meet. There were other folks calling him while we were together wanting to purchase, but BW had made up his mind that he wanted to sell to Barb & I. He had made a lot of safety upgrades and felt that we would be perfect new owners being two women traveling around North America. Barb and BW shook hands, we made a down payment (by we I mean Barb), and became the new owners! We haven’t yet taken the beast out for a tour yet because Barb is planning her daughters’ weddings, and I am away touring Scotland with our great friend ER. We will begin our journey at the end of June!.
We are excited about the months ahead and can’t thank BW enough for taking the time to really make sure Barb & I know how to run everything and that we will be fine on the road. BW will be a friend for life and can’t wait to keep him and you all up to date with our adventures!