My son proposed to his girl friend this weekend and told us they plan to get married on August 19th of next year. We're exciting and committed to attending the wedding (who wouldn't be?) however, they live in Northern BC which is about 900 miles from us so we sat down and did some math. Air fare, hotels, rental cars etc, driving a car, hotels, food etc VS the option we like better, taking the truck and camper.
After all the math it will be cheaper, as pretty much always, to take the camper ๐
I then sat down and began looking at some options and came up with a tentative plan that will likely go through some changes over the course of the next year but at least at this point I have a preliminary trip planned:
1 - Home
2 - Stemwinder Provincial Park
3 - Ten Mile Lake Provincial Park
4 - Chetwynd where my son lives
5 - The old Homestead
6 - Ten Mile Lake -- this may change
7 - Knox Mountain -- there used to be a camp ground here when I was a kid
8 - Home again
Once I sat down and planned this out the anticipation began to grow! It's sorta crazy really because I have not considered making this drive previously; it's just so darn far! I used to drive 1000 miles in a day, no problem but these days, in my 50's, I just don't like driving more than 200-300 miles in a day.
Our last trip was about 1200 miles and we drove the first stretch in two days (~300 miles per day) and it was no problem really but the return we did in one day and that 600 miles was a bear and beat me up pretty well. Thank god we had the camper and could pull over and relax, even lay back and rest a little when we wanted.
So, this trip we're planning will be much different. For one, I grew up in BC and lived all over the province so a couple stops will be in order. One, Vanderhoof where we homesteaded a quarter section in 1967 to 1969. I want to go by and see if we can find the old place just to see it. It's been a LONG time. I'd also like to go to Knox Mountain in Kalowna where I used to skip school and go dream of racing as a 6 and 7 year old.
Other than that I just want to see the province (burned or not) where there is so much beauty, and just soak it in. We're thinking we'll take 3 days on the return trip but are actually pondering 4. So, if anyone has good places to camp south of Prince George, maybe North of Hixon and perhaps somewhere around 70 mile house I'd be interested as we may break the trip up a little more than shown here.
Anyway, the anticipation is killing me (which sounds kinda bad since you'd think the wedding would do that but honestly, I'm a guy and while I am excited for my son and his betrothed, I know the wedding will be just one days event to attend with perhaps a day or two of visiting around it but the drive will be an adventure of a lifetime for us -- while he embarks on his lifetime marriage adventure) ๐
Anyway, just wanted to share.
After all the math it will be cheaper, as pretty much always, to take the camper ๐
I then sat down and began looking at some options and came up with a tentative plan that will likely go through some changes over the course of the next year but at least at this point I have a preliminary trip planned:
1 - Home
2 - Stemwinder Provincial Park
3 - Ten Mile Lake Provincial Park
4 - Chetwynd where my son lives
5 - The old Homestead
6 - Ten Mile Lake -- this may change
7 - Knox Mountain -- there used to be a camp ground here when I was a kid
8 - Home again
Once I sat down and planned this out the anticipation began to grow! It's sorta crazy really because I have not considered making this drive previously; it's just so darn far! I used to drive 1000 miles in a day, no problem but these days, in my 50's, I just don't like driving more than 200-300 miles in a day.
Our last trip was about 1200 miles and we drove the first stretch in two days (~300 miles per day) and it was no problem really but the return we did in one day and that 600 miles was a bear and beat me up pretty well. Thank god we had the camper and could pull over and relax, even lay back and rest a little when we wanted.
So, this trip we're planning will be much different. For one, I grew up in BC and lived all over the province so a couple stops will be in order. One, Vanderhoof where we homesteaded a quarter section in 1967 to 1969. I want to go by and see if we can find the old place just to see it. It's been a LONG time. I'd also like to go to Knox Mountain in Kalowna where I used to skip school and go dream of racing as a 6 and 7 year old.
Other than that I just want to see the province (burned or not) where there is so much beauty, and just soak it in. We're thinking we'll take 3 days on the return trip but are actually pondering 4. So, if anyone has good places to camp south of Prince George, maybe North of Hixon and perhaps somewhere around 70 mile house I'd be interested as we may break the trip up a little more than shown here.
Anyway, the anticipation is killing me (which sounds kinda bad since you'd think the wedding would do that but honestly, I'm a guy and while I am excited for my son and his betrothed, I know the wedding will be just one days event to attend with perhaps a day or two of visiting around it but the drive will be an adventure of a lifetime for us -- while he embarks on his lifetime marriage adventure) ๐
Anyway, just wanted to share.
When we do road trips they are very free form. Kind of like sailing where you plan a direction and then see how far you really get. Then choose where to drop anchor vs. power boating with fixed destinations.
When traveling in BC and AB we use the Backroad Map Books to find and navigate to the smaller recreation sites. They have a GPS based digital version as well. So when we get tired, we look around to see what's available and stop. They also show what is crown land, if you just want to boondock.
The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations BC also has a Recreation Sites and Trails on-line site giving details about the over one thousand provincial recreation sites.
The Provincial Parks online site gives similar details for these.
BC Hydro has recreation sites where you can stay as well. Going to the specific site gives you directions as well as a google map. Placing your cursor on the site and right clicking will bring up a menu. Clicking on 'Whats Here' will display the GPS coordinates for easier off-line navigation to the site.
Below are images from my mapping program of the BC Recreation Sites for Hixon / Vanderhoof and 70 Mile House. They were kind enough to send me the shape file, which I used to get the GPS coordinates to load into my PC based naviagtion system. Yellow pins are the designation that an RV (2WD Class B or C) could travel that road, Green Pins means cars should be able to travel the road to access the site and Dark Blue means high ground clearance 4WD vehicles (aka truck campers) should be able to access the site. The number afterwards is the number of sites (fire ring and or a table), 0 means just a parking spot.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Click For Full-Size Image.
When traveling in BC and AB we use the Backroad Map Books to find and navigate to the smaller recreation sites. They have a GPS based digital version as well. So when we get tired, we look around to see what's available and stop. They also show what is crown land, if you just want to boondock.
The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations BC also has a Recreation Sites and Trails on-line site giving details about the over one thousand provincial recreation sites.
The Provincial Parks online site gives similar details for these.
BC Hydro has recreation sites where you can stay as well. Going to the specific site gives you directions as well as a google map. Placing your cursor on the site and right clicking will bring up a menu. Clicking on 'Whats Here' will display the GPS coordinates for easier off-line navigation to the site.
Below are images from my mapping program of the BC Recreation Sites for Hixon / Vanderhoof and 70 Mile House. They were kind enough to send me the shape file, which I used to get the GPS coordinates to load into my PC based naviagtion system. Yellow pins are the designation that an RV (2WD Class B or C) could travel that road, Green Pins means cars should be able to travel the road to access the site and Dark Blue means high ground clearance 4WD vehicles (aka truck campers) should be able to access the site. The number afterwards is the number of sites (fire ring and or a table), 0 means just a parking spot.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Click For Full-Size Image.
