Camp That Site: Enjoy BC with the right site the first time

Our 2 week summer vacation kicked off with a bang. 5 days in we had encountered 4 ‘events’. Our friends joke that ‘travelling with the Stacey’s’ is always an adventure and this trip was no exception!

Major Event 1

Headed to the Shuswap on a sunny Saturday morning and things were going well. We stopped for lunch in Merritt and as I approached the trailer I heard a hissing. We alternated putting our ear to the ground and concluded it was in-fact a leaking tire.

Living in denial we felt we could ‘limp’ the trailer to the tire shop 1.5 km away. Wrong! Smoke, banging and a few loud yells brought us to the side of the road and a much more pressing matter!

After digging out the jacks and tools Blair swapped to the spare and we headed to the tire shop. (helpful tip #1: don’t store the jacks under all you camping gear!)

The plus side: only 2.5 hours later, we had a new tire, great service from Kal Tire (we were their 4th trailer that day) and assurance our other tires were fit for the trip.

Minor Event 2

Arriving at my dad’s to dry camp for a night we had taken minimal water. As we set up it was clear we had a vapour lock in the lines and not enough water in the tanks to clear it. (Helpful tip #2: a 4 minutes water fill will never be enough!)

This was a minor set back but a disappointing end to a long day.

The plus side: we enjoyed our time with family, and picked buckets of delicious fresh cherries!

Frustrating Event 3

We arrived at Salmon Arm Camping Resort and were assigned our site. Map in hand we made the last turn into the cul-de-sac only to realize there was no room to turn around. After 40 minutes of back and forth maneuvers, and several unpleasant exchanges, we turned the unit around and parked successfully.

Why didn’t we just back out when we realized our fate? Great question and one we asked ourselves several times after we had hit the point of no return!

Why didn’t they tell us we needed to back in? Looking at the map it is clear they did mention it and the person getting the instructions (me) had not listened to the full spiel. (Helpful tip #3: listen to the park operator when being given park instructions)

Why didn’t I take a picture or video of this event for my blog? I have been happily married for 29 years and would like to keep it that way!

The plus side: we were parked and set up before most of our friends arrived!

Shi#*y Event 4

The campsite we were assigned was clearly not designed by someone with an RV. The sewer was at the very front of the site, about 25 feet from most trailers sewer line and 5 feet short of the amount of hose we had! (You can tell where this is going)

We realized we did not have enough hose, but not to worry, our friends offered us their ‘extra’. This was great and made the 25 foot run successful. Connection made and pipe pulled…only to realized there were several holes in the ‘extra’ pipe.

Blair was at the point of no return, and the black water emptied in a similar fashion to the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas but not at all as enjoyable.

The plus side: there is no plus side when an ‘event’ involves sewage but we now have a fancy new Rhino pipe!

As I write this we are safely home from our vacation and we have not had another ‘event’ to add. These events create lots of laughs and have inspired the start of Oops Digest.