Which route will we drive?
It is wonderful to be able to cuddle with our (in-law) children again in the Netherlands!
We were invited to attend the wedding of our dear niece Sharon & her beloved Majed. This wedding, spread over two days is like a fairy tale. The first day has a Dutch touch and the second day mainly takes place more in Arabic spheres. We have never attended such beautiful weddings before!
Especially the Arabic live music is so beautiful! Almost everyone of the 310 (!) guests danced the whole evening. The bride and groom look amazing both days! Besides plenty of food and drink, there is mostly plenty of fun and love. Sharon's late mother (Ingrid's sister) and Majed's grandfather are not forgotten and are also present on these beautiful days for us.
This video below is on Tiktok, the rest I'm sure the bride and groom would like to share themselves.
Time difference
We don't quite get into the Dutch rhythm: the evenings are long and the mornings are there very soon.....and on top of that, we also follow an online webinar in America twice a week, 01:30 Dutch time. The time difference with Vancouver-Canada is 9 hours.
Back in Canada
We have travelled with KLM a few times now and we do like it a lot. We leave a little later this time, but still arrive on time. It's convenient this time, because we have to collect the camper from storage before the campsite reception closes.
Sometimes the queues at customs are quite long, so we wish we were lucky to be in all the right queues and that we will soon arrive at the storage by taxi. Everything goes smoothly and then when we also have a taxi driver called Lucky, we laugh and are grateful that our ‘wish’ has come true:)
Go with the flow
We have no idea yet what we are going to do. Which is just as well, because Robert has a temperature. He feels ok, but we don't go out with a fever. At reception, we ask if we can stay longer. Everything is full, but -very sweetly- a place is arranged. If we want to pay, we don't have to. A day later things are better again, but we don't leave yet. Another day later, Robert has a fever again; we ask again if we can stay longer. Again, we don't have to pay. How sweet is that? Very sweet!!!!
Travel in high season without a reservation? It can be done!
From Vancouver, we drive to Provincial Park Porteau Cove. On the internet, everything is full, but when we arrive there is a beautiful spot by the water available. We pay ?39.30 for one night. The next day, we drive to a Fist Come First Serve campsite. Besides the fact that we don't like the place, it is also full. So on to the next place: Whister RV Park, a campsite we also visited in 2018. A lot has changed in our lives since then!
This campsite too is full, but we can use the overflow pitches. At this spot, with beautiful mountain views, there is no electricity or water available, but we don't need it. We stay here for two nights and watch the losing Dutch team. We pay ?33 for one night.
The town of Whistler is a former Olympic Games venue. The centre and all its amenities look beautiful. Definitely worth a visit!
In the province of British Columbia - Canada, many picnic areas where you can also spend the night. These are places that you drive right past and then you have no idea how beautiful the place is behind the trees. Gott Creek is such a place for CAD$15 a night. On the same website, you can also find campsites: for example Cal-Cheak, located in a beautiful forest also for just CAD$15 a night.
Birkenhead Lead campground
A motorhome site is available online at Birkenhead Lake Campground, which seems lovely by a lake. The last 15 km on the way to this campsite is not asphalted, which we prefer to avoid with our camper. We read in the reviews that it is doable. Our advice: don't! You get overtaken by much faster cars, everything is a dust mess, the road is full of mega potholes and it ends up taking us 53 minutes to get there..... The campsite, while beautiful, is not worth the drive for us.
We meet people who have also been scammed by the same broker
How likely are you to meet people you have a connection with in mega big countries like America & Canada? Once we get the beautiful and free camping Seton BC Hydro drive up, Laura comes cycling towards us. She, her husband Tino and little daughter are also travelling through these beautiful countries with their German campervan.
We are together in a sizeable group of people who have been ripped off by Robert van Straten. The frustration and sadness still runs high with them. Tino considered cancelling the entire trip and also drove to this man's home town before departure to confront him about the scam. They have been on the road for a long time now, but it still gnaws at them and we understand that very well!
The campsite is beautiful and located by a river and lake, which is just as well because it is so hot (approx. 40 degrees). Really too hot for us and we decide to travel further the next day to a campsite where we can turn on the air conditioning.
Remblokken
Laura & Tino have been staying at the campsite longer, because something broke off at their brakes and they have to wait for parts from Germany. Tino asks about our brake pads and we tell him we brought them with us from the Netherlands. He tries to scare us a bit with comments about our brakes, but we don't let that happen. The brakes are still fine and we want them replaced before Mike & Sanne travel with us.
When we arrive at camping Cache Creek it is so funny that an administrator comes directly to us and inquires about our Dutch campervan. We tell Tino's story and before we know it, he is on the ground checking our brakes. He is a car mechanic and concludes that the brakes are still top notch and show almost no wear!
Before leaving for Canada, the camper was fully checked by our local garage. We start to doubt that we have had the brake pads replaced in the Netherlands as well...it turns out not. Unbelievable with 60,000 km on the odometer.
Herald Provincial Park
If no camping space is available online, you can set up an alert. There are so many people who cancel last minute that places almost always become available. Similarly at Herald Provincial Park. We have a lot his to go here. As we walk around the campsite, we start to recognise things. Later it turns out that we were here in 2018 too, even have many photos of it, but had completely forgotten this, really so funny! This park comes highly recommended!
Tip: Take a short walk from the campsite to Margaret Falls.
Farm with Dutch owners
We spend the night at Grass Roots Diaries in Salmon arm. As soon as we arrive at this Harvest Host location, we discover that this nice place belongs to Dutch owners. Among other things, they make their own cheese here and offer lots of Dutch products. We've heard it several times, but even in Canada all the regulations make it very difficult for farmers. Why????
It is a lovely place to stay.
The next stop is also in Salmon Arm at Boondockers host Berry and his wife. We stand in the driveway and Berry insists we put the motorhome on electricity to use the air-conditioning in the heat. Again, a very pleasant stop.
Heat area
We have been in an area with heat warnings for a while now. At 40+ degrees, it is really hot! It really feels a bit like ‘survival’ at times. With the garden hose and in a lake/river, we try to cool down a bit. For the time being, we only want to camp in places with electricity. In well-known places, this is not easy, as many are fully booked. We spend one night at campsite Big Chief RV in Vernon, with electricity, but in full sun, pfff. We also book a couple of nights at Apple Beach RV in Oliver. Again, with electricity, but also in full sun. The campsite (Desert Lake RV) which is right next to it still has shade spots available, really lovely!
Both Apple Beach and Desert Lake RV are located on a beautiful lake in which you can enjoy swimming or boating.
Okanagan valley
Okanagan valley is an area known for fruit growing and vineyards. You see stalls and wineries everywhere and we really enjoy spending the night at one of them. Once again, it is a Harvest host and we are parked with two other campers. As non-wine drinkers, we buy a bottle of wine.
Swiss Haynes Point Provincial Park
The next day we drive to Swiss Haynes Point Provincial Park. This campsite is on a peninsula. The first night we sleep at the overflow campsite, which is the road to the campsite, with water on both sides. The next nights we stay at the campsite, right on the lake with its own little beach. This is one of the most beautiful campsites we have stayed at in Canada!
Near the US border
We will pick up Mike & Sanne in Calgary at the end of August. We can take the Crownsnest pass through Canada or take a trip to America first. We opt for the latter and cross the border at Osoyoos.
