The road ahead, June 27 to Aug 15

It is Thursday, June 27, 2019. It has been rainy much of the day and Jenny and I have gotten the laundry up-to-date, downloaded our GPS watches and had a bit of a shopping trip around Lethbridge. We have been searching for a copy of Season 1 of Corner Gas for our Texas travel buddies, George and Karmen Reid. We found it today, one day after we parted company with the Reids! Well we will hold on to it and give it to them on our next go-round.

However, it is now time to turn our attention to the upcoming mid portion of our trip...the 50 days between now, and when we start for home on August.

Here is the map:

We have Camping reservations for much of the Vancouver Island leg of the journey, without them it is difficult to ensure there is a place to stay.

Getting onto and off Vancouver Island, with a trailer in tow can be expensive. Our ferry ride from Vancouver to Victoria on July 18 will cost us about $275. The ferry off, from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert, will be almost $1,500, but that ride north will save us a lot of backtracking and will get us to Northern British Columbia in about 18 hours. If you are ever contemplating taking the ferry on this northern route, you should be aware that a reservation is a must in the summer months. We made ours back in March.

When we get to Manning Park, we will be met by my daughter Danielle and family for 4 days of fun camping before heading back to Danielle's home in Mission, BC, where we will park in her driveway for a week. We will visit our good friends, Jim and Mary Klimek, and son Eric for 3 days in Deep Cove.

I worked in Victoria for 22 years. I left in 2002 and have many old work friends to visit and get reacquainted with after my long absence in Nova Scotia. I'll also try to catch up with my son Matthew, perhaps to shoot a bit of pool.

One of my favourite work buddies, Lori and Gary Kirk, live out by French Beach Provincial Park and we shall make use of their showers as French Beach has limited facilities. I think we might tip back one or two beverages to the good old days.

We meet up with another travel buddy, Debra Duncan at Cowichan River, and her boyfriend Victor. Debra and Victor will join us on the excursion to the Carmanah/Walbran, a provincial park of giant trees at the very end of the logging roads out past Cowichan Lake. 1000+ year old trees.

We'll pause for a day to say hi to another old work mate, Brian Wallace in Nanaimo before heading north, with Deb and Victor to Prot Hardy where we will camp for 7 nights and explore the very northern tip of Vancouver Island.

We will take that inside passage ferry ride to Prince Rupert on Aug 8. It is a bit like taking a cruise as the ferry follows a similar route, but no overnight stays...18 hours and you are there.

From Prince Rupert we will head to Stewart BC ( and Hyder Alaska) to take in the grizzly bear feeding in a local river. As many as 15 bears at a time in the river as you watch from an enclosed boardwalk above the festivities.

Our last stop on this leg will be Hazelton, where will will rest and begin the serious job of planning the route home.