It's not all about what we see....the "stats" of our roadtrip so far
I've been thinking that it's time to talk about the realities of an "RV", recreational vehicle trip, across this huge country. Tom has been keeping pretty detailed statistics about our trip to date and here's what we've done.
Since leaving Denman Island we've driven 5,028.6 kms or 3124 miles. We've used 1099.5 liters of fuel and had the reality shock of gas mileage of 10.75 miles/gallon or as his truck tells us, 21.8 liters/100 kms. Tom has been diligent about using the towing vehicle, his F150 truck responsibly and not driving too fast to strain the truck or the trailer. He uses trailer brakes whenever possible to relieve the truck of the load and also monitors tire pressure, oil levels and gas usage daily.
We even drove the truck and trailer over a roadside commercial vehicle scale in order to feel reassured we were not carrying too much weight. The truck loaded with gear and us weighs 3190 kg, or 7,032 lbs and the trailer weighs 1940 kg. or 4,277 lbs. For a grand total of 11,309 lbs well short of the maximum capacity of 13,500 lbs. Whew...I said that I might have to be the "ballast" we jettison as everything else was for more important to the trip than me.
We have taken three of the six ferry crossings we plan for our entire trip. The BC ferries are our daily reality on Denman Island so it was of great interest to see how Ontario manages the Great Lakes ferries. The cost for our truck and trailer was similar, but the efficiency and professionalism of the crew and staff was impressive. Food prices were less than half and the real plus was the acceptance of Ollie, our dog onboard. It was a cheerfully casual ride taking the normal one hour and fourty five minutes we usually spend going from the mainland to Vancouver Island, but this time from Manitoulin Island to Tobermory. Marine based locations in the center of Canada.
I had been told that RV travel is not a "cheap" travel means, and I would fully agree. By the time one owns the right RV plus truck, buys all the equipment needed, gasses up regularly and maintains the vehicle and pays for the overnight amenities in parks, the costs are similar to what one would pay for air/hotel stays, except we can set our route and see what's between those airport based destinations...the country...that's where having an RV excels!
The trip has been primarily on Canada's Trans Canada Highway, Route 1 except for choosing to drive on Hwy. 3 through BC in order to avoid the Coquihalla and also to visit friends in Kimberley. The fires forced us to alter our plans for Windermere and instead we continued on the Crowsnest Highway to Hwy 22, the Cowboy Highway into Calgary.
After Calgary we went on the TransCanada again to the Southern part of Saskatchewan and drove a lot of long empty stretches of Hwy. 18 across the very south of the province until we couldn't stand it any longer and had to come back to the TransCanada outside Brandon. Our highways are under constant repair with many closures for bridges, new asphalt and widening. We've encountered flagman and escort vehicles so many times it's really a tribute to Canada's infrastructure improvement program. There have been so many times we've passed convoys of schoolbuses being deployed for the upcoming school year.
Entering Ontario one realizes there are the "have" and the "have not" provinces. Suddenly road signage, highway maintenance, and provincial parks all got pretty sophisticated. Reminders of not to drive tired, check your tires and when to expect gas were frequent. The vast shoreline of Lake Superior was our first lengthy stretch of 500+ km. days for 3 consecutive days. This area of Canada is the home of Cree, Ojibwa and other First Nation's tribes whose names are complicated and foreign to me. But magical to imagine this land when we were not here and vast stretches of the resource rich Canadian shield were home to nomadic tribes who used the animals and fish for their sustenance.
I left on the trip trusting Tom's judgement about RV parks. He had travelled extensively in N. America and recommended private campgrounds over the provincial parks as his experiences were largely good in the US. I've not shared his viewpoint on this. I've found the privately owned RV parks to be widely disparate in their state of repair and charm...mostly non existent on the charm scale. The owners have been at times extremely nice and efficient and obviously working hard to create a nice environment for the crowds of RV travellers using them...but they are in locations which lack any merit on their own. The parks on the other hand, may lack electricity or piped in water to each campsite but they are the reason I'm taking this trip, to see nature's beauty whenever I can. So we are changing tactics a bit.
The price of campsites mostly includes everything and ranges between a low of $30/night, a barebones dirty campsite, with old-fashioned shower buildings outside Brandon to $58/night in Lake Superior Park, a large gem of geography on the shores of Lake Superior.
This is the home of Group of Seven artists and the pink granite cliffs make the best sand ever.
The range of travel vehicles is also of interest. Very few people still travel in tents, it mostly seems to be the domain of young couples or new immigrants. Families and seniors travel in style with the range of travel trailers to 5th wheels and motorhomes being vast. I think that we feel that small travel trailers are gaining in popularity in Canada, and that is what we have mostly seen on the roads. From as small as the Boler to modernized sleek versions of Rpods and Airstreams, we are travelling with a group of likeminded people.
Since leaving Denman Island we've driven 5,028.6 kms or 3124 miles. We've used 1099.5 liters of fuel and had the reality shock of gas mileage of 10.75 miles/gallon or as his truck tells us, 21.8 liters/100 kms. Tom has been diligent about using the towing vehicle, his F150 truck responsibly and not driving too fast to strain the truck or the trailer. He uses trailer brakes whenever possible to relieve the truck of the load and also monitors tire pressure, oil levels and gas usage daily.
We even drove the truck and trailer over a roadside commercial vehicle scale in order to feel reassured we were not carrying too much weight. The truck loaded with gear and us weighs 3190 kg, or 7,032 lbs and the trailer weighs 1940 kg. or 4,277 lbs. For a grand total of 11,309 lbs well short of the maximum capacity of 13,500 lbs. Whew...I said that I might have to be the "ballast" we jettison as everything else was for more important to the trip than me.
We have taken three of the six ferry crossings we plan for our entire trip. The BC ferries are our daily reality on Denman Island so it was of great interest to see how Ontario manages the Great Lakes ferries. The cost for our truck and trailer was similar, but the efficiency and professionalism of the crew and staff was impressive. Food prices were less than half and the real plus was the acceptance of Ollie, our dog onboard. It was a cheerfully casual ride taking the normal one hour and fourty five minutes we usually spend going from the mainland to Vancouver Island, but this time from Manitoulin Island to Tobermory. Marine based locations in the center of Canada.
I had been told that RV travel is not a "cheap" travel means, and I would fully agree. By the time one owns the right RV plus truck, buys all the equipment needed, gasses up regularly and maintains the vehicle and pays for the overnight amenities in parks, the costs are similar to what one would pay for air/hotel stays, except we can set our route and see what's between those airport based destinations...the country...that's where having an RV excels!
The trip has been primarily on Canada's Trans Canada Highway, Route 1 except for choosing to drive on Hwy. 3 through BC in order to avoid the Coquihalla and also to visit friends in Kimberley. The fires forced us to alter our plans for Windermere and instead we continued on the Crowsnest Highway to Hwy 22, the Cowboy Highway into Calgary.
After Calgary we went on the TransCanada again to the Southern part of Saskatchewan and drove a lot of long empty stretches of Hwy. 18 across the very south of the province until we couldn't stand it any longer and had to come back to the TransCanada outside Brandon. Our highways are under constant repair with many closures for bridges, new asphalt and widening. We've encountered flagman and escort vehicles so many times it's really a tribute to Canada's infrastructure improvement program. There have been so many times we've passed convoys of schoolbuses being deployed for the upcoming school year.
Entering Ontario one realizes there are the "have" and the "have not" provinces. Suddenly road signage, highway maintenance, and provincial parks all got pretty sophisticated. Reminders of not to drive tired, check your tires and when to expect gas were frequent. The vast shoreline of Lake Superior was our first lengthy stretch of 500+ km. days for 3 consecutive days. This area of Canada is the home of Cree, Ojibwa and other First Nation's tribes whose names are complicated and foreign to me. But magical to imagine this land when we were not here and vast stretches of the resource rich Canadian shield were home to nomadic tribes who used the animals and fish for their sustenance.
I left on the trip trusting Tom's judgement about RV parks. He had travelled extensively in N. America and recommended private campgrounds over the provincial parks as his experiences were largely good in the US. I've not shared his viewpoint on this. I've found the privately owned RV parks to be widely disparate in their state of repair and charm...mostly non existent on the charm scale. The owners have been at times extremely nice and efficient and obviously working hard to create a nice environment for the crowds of RV travellers using them...but they are in locations which lack any merit on their own. The parks on the other hand, may lack electricity or piped in water to each campsite but they are the reason I'm taking this trip, to see nature's beauty whenever I can. So we are changing tactics a bit.
The price of campsites mostly includes everything and ranges between a low of $30/night, a barebones dirty campsite, with old-fashioned shower buildings outside Brandon to $58/night in Lake Superior Park, a large gem of geography on the shores of Lake Superior.
The range of travel vehicles is also of interest. Very few people still travel in tents, it mostly seems to be the domain of young couples or new immigrants. Families and seniors travel in style with the range of travel trailers to 5th wheels and motorhomes being vast. I think that we feel that small travel trailers are gaining in popularity in Canada, and that is what we have mostly seen on the roads. From as small as the Boler to modernized sleek versions of Rpods and Airstreams, we are travelling with a group of likeminded people.
One of my reservations about the trip was the reality of sitting long hours and not eating well. Both are partly true. The amount of time sitting is so much more than my normal that interestingly, long unexperienced knee pain has resurfaced when I do get a chance to walk. However, my butt is pretty happy on my thick padded cushion. Let's hope my body adjusts.
The food part is also not ideal. It's hard to eat really well with getting up, getting ready to go almost instantly and then not being sure of what the cooking situation will be later in the day. I think it'll improve, but I'm not sure. We've been enjoying visiting friends and family and eating out a lot..I feel confident the routine will soon change.
But in the meantime, we are enjoying the local products of Amy and Patrick's Sideroad Farm.
Very interesting blog so far except I could not get the last few lines....this is the last line I got...."unexperienced knee pain has resurfaced when I do get a chance to walk. However, my butt is pretty"
ReplyDeleteWell....not sure why that’s your version. Pretty funny is all I’d say
ReplyDelete