Camping

Greg & Tess

Spud & Camper

Camping, or more accurately, Rving, is one of our passions. We spend as much time as we can travelling in our motorhome named Seven. Why Seven? This is our 7th RV over the past 35 or so years we have been doing this. We bought Seven in October, 2011 to replace our previous rig named Thirsty.

We tow a dolly that carries the front wheels of our car so we have something easier to manoeuvre when camped. Altogether the setup is 54’ long and 10½’ wide including the mirrors. The only time the size is a problem is when we have to pay for a ferry!

I keep a journal and for those interested, here are the entries for last year and this year.

Where we have RV’d - all Provinces and Territories plus 11 States.

What we RV in. Click here to see the inside. Of our 2004 Bounder 35E

2011 Trips

Wednesday, May 25, 2010 (1) Whitecourt, AB – cloudy, windy, showers, 6C

Our first trip of the year and after a very long, cold and snowy winter, the weather is still not very good. We arrived after an uneventful trip out here and got our favourite site – 157. It is on the peninsula overlooking the lake and only steps from the seawall where we always fish. There is a fire ban in place so no campfire at least for tonight. Since it is cold and rainy I hope they will lift it in a day or two.

I tried to set up the satellite dish but couldn’t get a signal. I think there are too many trees in the way up here on top of the peninsula. Oh well, no clear TV signal for us. There are a couple of fuzzy channels on the antenna and we watched a movie on the laptop so even though it is too cold to be outside, we were entertained.

Fish tomorrow!

Thursday, May 26, 2010 (2) Whitecourt, AB – cloudy, windy, showers, 10C

Fish? Lots of fish! We kept 10 nice rainbows in only 3 hours. We threw back several small ones that weren’t hurt and should survive. Fishing doesn’t get much better than this. As soon as we got back to the rig Tess cooked up 4 and ate two of them. The verdict – mmmmmmm!

This was Camper’s first experience with a live fish. He was very curious about it and had no idea what it was or how to react to it. He tried to play with it then, when it flopped around, he was afraid of it and backed off and barked. Then he snuck up and pawed at it. Very entertaining. Silly dog.

The radio says the fire ban has been lifted so we got to have a fire after dinner. Tess ate as many fish as she could so that she can go fishing tomorrow.

Friday, May 27, 2011 (3) Whitecourt, AB – sunny breaks, 16C

A nice day now that the wind has died down. Fishing is still hot and Tess caught 10 in about an hour. She had to release almost all of them of course as the possession limit for two licences is 10 fish. Me? Tess wouldn’t let me fish because she was having too much fun.

So I took the dogs for a walk and watched the Fisheries people dump another 44,000 trout fingerlings into the lake. They said it was the second release of fish so far this year. I’m sure there are weekend days when 1,000+ fish are caught so restocking regularly is a must. Since this is where the fishing licence fees go, I don’t mind the $20 per year fee at all.

The campground has filled up as is usual for a Friday night. Everyone was quiet and well behaved. As we get older we go in to bed earlier (and get up earlier – why is that?) peaceful neighbours are important.

Saturday, May 28, 2011 (4) Whitecourt, AB – sunny, 16C

We woke up to a lot of smoke. The wind shifted yesterday and blew in smoke from the wild fires burning up north. Visibility at dawn was down to perhaps 2km but by lunch had increased a couple of times over. The smoke smell is quite strong.

We got a phone call from Brian S who is now home from the hospital after his heart attack. Good news. We will go visit them or have them over in a few weeks as Brian gains strength.

The day warmed nicely and we spent our time going for walks with the dogs, napping, visiting other campers – the usual.

Had a nice fire after dinner then came in around 9:00 because it was getting chilly. There is a frost warning for tonight. We decided to watch a movie on the computer and go to bed at a decent hour.

Sunday, May 29, 2011 Whitecourt, AB – sunny, 16C

We left the park and had planned to stay one more night at the Eagle River Casino but after contributing our budgeted amount to them we decided to come home.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011 (5) Wabumun, AB – sunny, 23C

We took the dogs in for their haircuts and then hit the road around noon. We usually get a spot up top but there was a nice pull through available in the more woodsy loop that also has power. It is almost 100’ long and has a large level area; quite nice. This loop is about 70% full with lots of kids and dogs producing the usual campground sounds.

We were a little disorganized this trip and Tess forgot to pack her lobster and my Sumbuca! I forgot to check the water tank to make sure I refilled it after our last trip in May. I didn’t so we will have to watch our water consumption as the tank is only about 2/3 full. Oh well.

At least it is nice and shiny. I did the whole rig with PoliGlow and it shines like new. If it lasts a year and only needs a couple of quick refresh coats next year I will be very pleased.

We went for a drive around the campground. I forgot how big this place is with almost 300 sites. There are two other class A rigs in this loop and a monster 43 footer up top. We visited the beach area to watch the boaters launch and retrieve their toys. Lots of people, boats and dogs. And lots and lots of hungry mosquitoes.

We had a good dump of rain last night and a pretty good thunder storm. The noise doesn’t bother the dogs at all.

Thursday, July 7, 2011 (6) Wabumun, AB – sunny, 24C

Another busy day of camping. Blue skies all day and everything is fresh and clean after the overnight rain. Bacon and toast for breakfast with coffee – mmm.

Since we explored the park yesterday, we headed down the highway to the flea market place only to find they are only open Friday through Sunday. We went into Seba Beach at the west end of the lake and explored the town. On our way back we stopped in at the town of Wabumun to pick up some scratch lotto tix and my Sambuca.

While walking out on the pier, we spoke to a couple of fishermen who were still excited about the large 3 foot long and 12 – 15 pound pike they had just caught. This lake is catch and release only so they did toss it back but they were happy to show us the photos they took. Nice fish.

A couple of hours later I was there with my rod and over two hours I caught one small jack and one pretty good sized one. Next I fired up the metal detector and checked out the playground. As usual, I had kids following me around but I got no hits – not even a pull tab which is very unusual.

Back home to bbq steaks and a nice fire before bed.

Friday, July 8, 2011 (7) Wabumun, AB – rain, 18C

It started raining around midnight and continued all day. We stayed in watching movies on the computer and reading. A lot of campers left around mid-day but a lot of new campers showed up around dinner time.

Hopefully the rain will stop tomorrow and we can get out.

Saturday, July 9, 2011 (8) Wabumun, AB – sunny breaks, 15C

Today turned out pretty nice – at least it didn’t rain until nearly bedtime. We went back to the flea market and Tess picked up a couple of things she didn’t know she wanted. I resisted the temptations and left empty handed.

We managed to pick up quite a bit of fairly wet firewood from two sites where people had left early because of the rain. It was poplar which doesn’t burn well but the price is right. It should be dry enough to burn by next year.

Back home tomorrow because I am working Monday for my partner Dave who is going on a camping trip with his son.

Friday, August 5, 2011 (9) Whitecourt, AB – sunny, 24C

We left home around noon on Friday afternoon, something we never so and we won’t do again. Dad arrived for a visit on Thursday and Tess had a doctor’s appointment late this morning so we got away late. We tried Carson-Pegasus Provincial Park but they were full up. Next we drove to Satiwah (or something like that) but I couldn’t find anyone to take our money. Besides, it is basically a parking lot and very crowded even if it did have a petting zoo.

I called the other two campgrounds in town but only the Lions answered the phone. We arrived to find a large pull through with full hookups amidst lots of trees. Fire pit, picnic table and a level site so we were happy even at $35 per night.

We had bbq burgers for dinner then a nice fire. It started spitting and thundering but it didn’t develop into anything. We came in around 9:00pm and visited for a while before going to bed pretty early. Tomorrow we go fishing.

Saturday, August 6, 2011 (10) Whitecourt, AB – cloudy, 18C

After a big breakfast Dad and I went fishing at Carson-Pegasus Provincial Park which is a 15 minute drive from this campground. We sat on the bench washing marshmallows and Powerbait for a few hours and didn’t catch anything. We didn’t see a single fish come in anywhere on the seawall or in any of the boats trolling back and forth. We’ll try again tomorrow.

We came back to the campsite after stopping at DQ to buy Tess a Peanut Buster Parfait treat since we weren’t bringing her any fish.

After dinner we had a nice fire until dark. The mosquitoes were out but we only got a few bites each.

Sunday, August 7, 2011 (11) Whitecourt, AB – cloudy, 18C

A busy day today. Dad and I went fishing again and for the first couple of hours it was a repeat of yesterday – no bites. We moved farther along the seawall and after another fisher gave us their left over maggots, we added them to the hooks.

Then I caught two fish in 10 minutes so things were looking up. Dad got a nibble or two but we didn’t catch any more fish over the next two hours and we eventually gave up. At least we were able to bring home a couple of fish for Tess. It’s a good thing we don’t have to feed ourselves – I’d be a lot skinnier!

We fired up the bbq and I cooked up steaks and garlic bread to go with the baked beans and salad. Great dinner. We had a nice fire and visited for a couple of hours. We decided to play a 3 handed (seated?) game of Scrabble before we went in for the night.

We will head back home tomorrow as I am on call starting Tuesday morning.

Tuesday, September 27 (12) Yorkton SK – sunny, 25C

Goin’ to Winnipeg! (That’s a popular culture reference to an advertising slogan from WestJet airlines.) We are here in the Wal-Mart parking lot at Yorkton, SK on our way to Winnipeg. Tess’ nephew and family have just arrived in Canada as new immigrants and we are going to welcome them. As a bonus, Tess gets to see her sister Carling (who lives in Texas) who is visiting her newly arrived son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. Tess and Carling haven’t seen each other since their mother died 21 years ago. This should be fun. More later.

We had an uneventful trip here although gas is very expensive here in central SK at $1.25 per litre. We saw lots of dead critters but no live ones. We will get to the ‘Peg tomorrow and the visiting can get underway.

Wednesday, September 28 (13) Winnipeg, MB – sunny, 25C

We arrived at Bird’s Hill Provincial Park and settled into site 22. We found out later in the day that we will have to move on Friday because this site is reserved for someone else but in the meantime, here we are.

While setting up I was rummaging around in one of my junk boxes looking for a can of WD-40 (that I forgot to bring) to free up a sticky knob on the awning support when I found a new box cutter blade. They are very sharp and I saw a steady stream of blood pouring from my finger tip. No problem, I brought a nurse with me. Turns out I’m not the only forgetful one – no first aid kit! Ever the resourceful one, Tess cut up a face cloth and used duct tape to make a pressure bandage. It did stop the bleeding but it looks pretty funny. And its hard to type!

Nicely settled in we headed off to see Aileen, Carling, and Jojo and his family. Lots of laughing, food of course and visiting. We will see them regularly over the next couple of days.

Thursday, September 29 (14) Winnipeg, MB 25 - sunny, 25C

We spent the day with Tess’ family, as we had planned. JoJo and I had spent some time polishing his resume yesterday and today after his newcomer class, we delivered it to a potential employer. I treated everyone to lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant suggested by the GPS. Reasonable price and pretty good food so everyone was happy.

We went shopping for winter clothing for the kids and bought a couple of good foam mattresses too. While the girls were shopping, JoJo and I went back to the mattress store to get the foamies. We managed to squish them down enough to get them into the back seat and take them to Aileen’s apartment. Getting them out again proved a challenge because they expanded to fill the entire back half of the car.

Friday, September 30 (15) Winnipeg, MB - sunny, 25C

We had a busy day today with lots of running around. The first order of business was to move campsites. Campers can reserve specific sites here and because the weather is so nice, they expect the 220 still open sites to fill up. The site we were in has been reserved for someone else. The new site is more open then we usually pick but we didn’t have much choice. And we aren’t spending much time here anyway as we are here to visit family.

More visiting of course and then we took Carling, JoJo and Neng to see the Regent casino. After a short stay (because they can’t yet afford to throw money away in a casino) I left Tess and Carling there and brought them to the campground to see the motorhome. Next it was back to the city to pick up Christian and Carlo at school.

The sisters are still at the casino and after dropping off JoJo, Neng and the kids, I went back there. I took the dogs for a walk and after we ate dinner in one of the casino restaurants, I hit the blackjack table. I wound up ahead by $15.

Carling came out to stay the night in the RV. I went to bed around 10:30 and the girls were still yakking.

Saturday, October 1 (16) Winnipeg, MB - sunny, 20C

Our last full day here and when I woke up the girls were still yakking at 100kph. They claim that they did go to bed at some point but when I got up they were at it again. It is a sister thing, I think.

We delivered Carling to the apartment then JoJo and I went to Wal-Mart and he bought a wood closet kind of thing for their clothes. We spent an hour assembling it and it will get their clothes off the floor and make more room for sleeping. They need to buy everything that didn’t fit into their suitcases so it is going to take a while.

We promised to stay in touch and in the late afternoon we returned to the campground. We ate dinner and had a quiet evening. We hit the road tomorrow morning.

Sunday, October 2 (17) Battlefords, SK - partly cloudy, 18C

Up early and off towards home. Other than an intermittent problem with the ignition neutral start switch (which I will fix later), we had an uneventful trip. Around 7pm we parked amongst the semis behind the casino for another free night.

We decided this will be our last trip of the season so I will try to get the winterizing and maintenance items done tomorrow. We hope to get out more next year.

Seven

We went to Saskatoon at the end of October to pick up Seven, our new rig. The dealer gave us a very thorough walk through and road test before taking our money. I continue to be very impressed with Michael Blackburn and the way he runs his business. We spent overnight in Battleford, Saskatchewan on the way home and I'm happy to report the bed is comfy and the furnace more than capable of keeping things toasty warm at freezing temperatures.

A couple of days travel turned up a few very minor problems - I replaced the electrical switch that controls the slideouts ($4), noticed the CO detector has expired (who knew they expired?), and realized the 3 crispers for the fridge are missing. Blackburn Motors has covered all these issues without complaint or delay. Good for them. They even filled up the gasoline and propane tanks before we took delivery!!!

Speaking of gasoline, the first fill up (once we got home) showed gas mileage at 9.7mpg which is a lot better than the 6.0 average we got with Thirsty, our previous rig. Woo hoo!

Now we are really looking forward to the 2012 camping season.

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2012 Trips

Since I am writing this in February and we live in Alberta, we haven’t been out yet this year.