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The Point Of A Journey Is Not To Arrive! Who Believes That?

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Brandywine Falls: a side trip on our way back from Whistler
Brandywine Falls: a side trip on our way back from Whistler

This week’s Weekly Photo Challenge was ‘On the Way.’ The idea was to post a photo of something that happened on the way to your destination. This brought up the discussion between Blair and I about our on going travel debate.
Blair’s travel mantra is “The point of a journey is not to arrive” or “Getting there is half the fun” which means we are stopping a lot. When we plan a trip he will scour the tour books for all the great attractions along the way. Every majestic waterfall, historic landmark and BCAA Gem is added to the itinerary.

I can feel you all wondering what is the problem? I agree, nothing! It makes sense to take In all the sites as we travel to our destination and thankfully he is the driver and so we stop at most of them. Here’s the problem!

  • Checking out the bison in Alberta.
  • Craters of the Moon, a stop on our way to Yellowstone National Park

I am a “Type A” personality, so while I understand all this great site seeing in theory, as soon as we get in the vehicle my “let’s get to the destination so we can start our vacation ” sets in and I have a hard time enjoying the stops in between. When Blair is planning the excursions I am excited and fully on board but something changes as soon as I get in the passenger seat of a fully loaded vacation vehicle. I cannot explain it, logically I know it is best to take in all the sites he has planned, but as soon as we start our road trip I transform into no fun mom and I want to get there now. Once we arrive I am back to myself and ready to enjoy all the area has to offer but the time between our driveway and our destination is not pretty.

Animal Wildlife Refuge where our spare tire cover was stolen by wolf!
Animal Wildlife Refuge where our spare tire cover was stolen by wolf

So here is my summer resolution. I am going to try to enjoy our journeys more. I will relax in the passengers seat and let Blair dictate the travel plans until such time that I can learn to plan and enjoy them on my own.

Wish me luck and I will keep you posted on my progress.

WPC – On The Way, At Least The Marmot Thought So!

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Otter 002 Otter 005 Otter 006 Otter 008 Otter 014 Otter 010

This weeks Weekly Photo Challenge Theme is title “On The Way”. The idea is to select a photo of something that happened on the way to your destination. These photos were taken as we headed camping in Osoyoos. Whenever we head to the south Okanagan we take Highway 3 and plan a stop at Manning Park Resort. This resort is very special to us because it was the location of our wedding. In 2004 we stopped for a picnic and while there, our children spotted several marmots and decided to take on the task of feeding them. It provided for some great memories, photos and laughs.

Advice from Smokey Bear, Tips you need to know!

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It is only May 16 and British Columbia has its first wild fire. It is in the Kamloops area, which is typically hot and dry, but this is even early for them. All reports say we are in for a hot dry summer which, for campers means one thing, campfire bans! Luckily it is not on yet, but if we keep getting weather like this, it won’t be long.

Photo from Ministry of Forest web site.

Photo from Ministry of Forest web site.

For those who camp in BC here is the link to the Ministry of Forest so you can keep up on the forest fire risk and the Provincial Fire Bans.

IMG_4399As a frequent camper I have always felt very confident in our ability to follow campfire rules but a few years ago we were caught off guard. One evening we were at a fire with a group of friends. We finished with the fire and after pouring several buckets of water on it we headed to bed. That evening the winds kicked up adding oxygen to the smouldering embers. Our friends woke to a bright red light and looked out to see the  fire had started back up and a plastic camp chair had been blown into the fire. Luckily nothing was damaged but it was a scary reminder of how dangerous an improperly extinguished campfire can be.

Kamloops fires

Kamloops fires

Here are some tips to help you avoid the same experience.

  • Allow the wood to burn completely to ash
  • Pour water on the fire until ALL embers are drowned, not just the red ones.
  • After the hissing stops, keep pouring. It needs to be cold to the touch!
  • Saturate the embers and ashes around to ensure you have soaked them all.
  • Give the logs and sticks a scrape to get any embers off.

Outdoors, get out there and enjoy!

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Deep Cove, North Vancouver

 

 

We are very lucky to live in a part of Canada where it’s possible to get outdoors 12 months a year. Yes, we get more than our share of rain, but mixed  in are plenty of dry, mild days that make it easy to get out and enjoy our city and province.

Living in Greater Vancouver means we are under an hour’s drive to several ski hills, hiking trails, lakes, parks, ocean beaches and golf courses. Here we can golf, hike, bike and walk outside 12 months of the years. We can ski in the morning and golf in the afternoon. Other than our few very wet weeks, there is no excuse as to why we are not outside several times a week.

Manning Park

Manning Park

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Kitsilano Beach, Vancouver

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Surrey

Blairs Iphone 558

Fun with Diane. English Bay, Vancouver

 

This week I went for a walk with a friend and she was telling me her goal, starting now, is to have more fun! That’s a great goal. It’s not to work less or worry less it is just to have more fun! I have decided to embrace her goal but add to it by getting “outdoors” more. I think by working on this “O” the overworked, over stress, over booked and over whelmed will take care of themselves.  I am starting this weekend so watch for a post next week on what I did to get “Outdoors”.

Thanks Diane!

 

Blairs Iphone 141

White Rock

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Crescent Beach, Surrey

 

Whistler

Whistler

5 top Lakes to camp at in BC

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When my family and I head out camping, one of the top criteria is water.  Fresh water is always our preferred swimming. We have camped at many BC lakes over the last 12 years so narrowing it down to my top 5 is a challenge but here you have it. Continue reading →

Favourite Family Attractions When Camping In BC

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Finding fun activities while camping often takes a bit of research. I have put together my 5 favourite  family attractions when camping in BC. It was very hard to get this list to 5 and there was no way I could rank them so I took the easy way out and I will list them in alphabetical order. I have selected activities that are unique to BC and represent our landscape and environment. Continue reading →

Why it’s Hard to Find a Campsite

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campground full

How often do you have trouble booking a campsite?   Ever wonder why?  Our rough research shows that there are indeed far more campers than there used to be, and the number of camp sites hasn’t grown to meet the demand.

Some interesting numbers

1) There are probably 3 times more campers than when I was a child

To start with, there are twice as many British Columbians now than back then.

RV table

2011 RVDA Study

Further, camping is relatively more popular than it used to be. In 2011 over 18% of British Columbian households owned an RV.  As recently as 2005, the Canadian average was just 12% of vehicle-owning households. Continue reading →

Haynes Point Provincial Park – Osoyoos BC

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1 week until Discover Camping, BC’s provincial campground reservation system, opens up. For campgrounds like Haynes Point you have to be booking right at opening. Check out this blog before booking.

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http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/haynes_pt/

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We have only been lucky enough to book into this campground once. It is likely the most popular provincial campground there is and if you want a site you will have to get up  before 8:00, 3 months before the date you want to camp and start trying to book it, even then you are lucky if you get in. We were able to get the site because I logged on about the same time as someone was cancelling their reservation and I scooped it up. Otherwise, good luck!

We were there at the end of August and stayed in site 10. It was not a lake front site but we took what we could get. Osoyoos is always very hot, but the good thing is there is often a wind coming off the lake. It’s a hot wind but at least it’ a wind. The downfall with the…

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Montague Harbour Provincial Park – Galiano Island, BC

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Summer is just around the corner. Check out this review to get the best site at the beautiful Gulf Island campground.

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http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/montague/

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I consider myself very lucky, 16 years ago my parents started their dream by selling their home and moving aboard a 52 foot cabin cruiser. We spent many great summer holidays on the boat but as the kids got older there just was not enough room for all of us to sleep. That is where the camping came in. We would head over to Montague Harbour Provincial Campground and set up our sleeping spots. The trip to Montague starts with a short ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay to Galiano Island. This camping trip was a bit different because we were tenting. The cost of taking the trailer on the ferry was just too high and because we planned to spend most of our time on the boat it was not necessary to bring it over. With only 28 sites in the park reservation are recommended during peak season and it does fill up early. There is an overflow field…

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