Family/Friends on the Lower Mainland of BC

We have reached the half-way point in our journey for 2019. Since leaving Millville, NS on May 8 we have put 10,500 km on our 2019 Honda Pilot. Of that, 7,300 km represents the distance we have towed the TaJ-ma-Haul (our 2017 R-pod) to get to Mission BC. 3,200 km has been added in local touring.

Canadian gas prices have been between a low of $1,10 per litre ($4.21 gallon) to a high of $1.49 per litre ($5.69 gallon). We have an average fuel economy of 22.6 km (13.7 miles) per gallon.

July 4-11

We met up with my daughter Danielle, partner Tyler and grandkids Beckett (age 9) and Nylah (age 7) at the Coquhalla RV Park in Hope, BC. We had originally planned to meet at Manning Park, but cold and wet weather there changed our plans. Camping in rain and wet conditions at 7 degrees Celcius in a campground with little or no services would not have been fun for the kids, or us adults. The RV Park ticked the boxes on all fronts for our 4 night camping adventure.

The kids are cute, Hope has lots of hiking/walking trails and we took advantage of them.

Hope is a very nice small city at the very edge of the Fraser Valley. The rail line runs right though town. A very busy rail line, with about 20 trains per day passing through on the way west to Vancouver. The town is also noted for its chainsaw sculptures. This one is of a CN conductor checking his watch:

We had campfires every night, cooked hot dogs and grilled hamburgers over an open fire. Every morning the kids would bundle into TaJ for an hour of video enjoyment, while mom and dad got a bit of extra sleep.

We headed an hour west to Mission BC, where Danielle and family live. Tyler works in downtown Vancouver and each morning at 5:30am he hops on board the Westcoast Express for his 75 minute commute to work. He gets home exactly 12 hours later at 5:30pm.

The next 4 days in Mission revolved around doing things with the kids, cleaning up TaJ. We emptied Sully (our Honda Pilot) of all the gear we had been hauling across the country and stored it in Danielle's garage. Nylah had her first horse riding lesson:

On July 11, we shut up TaJ, packed a bag and headed in to Deep Cove, in North Vancouver, to visit our friends, Jim and Mary Klimek, and their son Eric. Jim was the best man at our wedding and Jenny and Mary have known each other since 1981, We regularly stay in their basement suite, affectionately named, the West Coast Family Lodge. They operate the suite as an Air BnB.

We had a wonderful 5 days at the Lodge, did a lot of hiking about the North Shore mountains and walking around Deep Cove. A good time was had by all:

We celebrated our last night together with Margaritas, you know, that lovely mix of tequila, triple sec and freshly squeezed lime juice, in a salted glass. In case you forgot what they look like, here we are:

We returned for one last night at Danielle's, to get TaJ and Sully ready for the road to Victoria and the continuation of our journey. Nylah had a blast with the face paints, first Jenny's hand, then Grampa's bald head:

We got up on the morning of July 18 to head for the ferry to Vancouver Island. A slight dark cloud on the horizon was the appearance of several warning lights on Sully, six of them to be exact, indicating an engine problem. We decided to make the run to Victoria and deal with the issue there. We have a reservation at the Fort Victoria RV Park, and they would charge us for the night whether we arrived or not, so off we went. Here we are at the Ferry Terminal.

Once we arrived in Victoria, we got a hold of the only Honda dealer that had service space available, in Duncan, about 50 km north of Victoria. Because of our extensive warranty protection, we were provided a loaner vehicle while Sully gets checked out. We headed back to Victoria where we drove through city streets crowded with Deuce Coupes. This is the tri-annual Deuce Weekend in Victoria and 1400 custom cars are in town for the event. This isn't a Deuce but is indicative of the types of cars on show this weekend. The big event is tomorrow morning.

We did a long walk along the Dallas Road waterfront, one of the most beautiful walking routes in all of Canada. At the end of the day we got the verdict on Sully. Failed fuel injectors, need to be replaced, all under warranty, so the roughly $2,000 cost will be paid by Honda. It is great to have a really good warranty when you are on the road as much as we are. We have put 95,000 kilometers on Sully since purchasing it 2 1/2 years ago, much of it towing our R-pod. Sully will be put back together and be ready to go when we are next week.

The weather has been fantastic here on the island. Sunny, with highs in the low 20's C and nights around 12 C, great for sleeping.

July 20

We got up bright and early and did a power walk along the Galloping Goose Regional Trail, a great use of the old rail line to Sooke. Bicyclists, runners, and walkers of all shapes and sizes make use of this trail.

After a leisurely breakfast, we took in another local annual event, the Moss Street Paint-In. About 200 artists set up along 16 blocks of Moss Street, from Fort Street down to Dallas Road and the crowds are tremendous:

We get Sully back on Tuesday, July 23 and depart on our next leg, a three night stay at French Beach Provincial Park, on the western shore of Vancouver Island. There is no wi-fi there, so our next post will come from Ladysmith, a bit farther up island in about a week's time. It should include our day trip to the Carmanah/Walbran Provincial Park, an area with trees dating back 1500 years.