Home Sweet Home

We are finally home!!! Phew what a ride. Literally!! That was quite a memorable trip. Our family won't soon forget it.

We were all so happy to see our house again. Tonight we'll all probably sleep like logs after being away from our beds for the last month. In fact Lorne is already in bed. Hopefully he doesn't wake up at 4 a.m. wanting to party.

My Dad has taken great care of the place which made being away that much easier. Too bad we can't say the same for our rental property in Waubaushene. But then...that's a whole other blog now isn't it???

I'll try and post a return trip Itinerary for those folks following along just for ideas about where to stay while making the same sort of trip. For now I'm just glad to be home.

Thanks to Greg, Tara and the kids for hosting us during our stay in Kelowna, thanks to Gayla and Doug for their hospitality, thanks to my Mom and Mike for enduring it all with us and thanks to you guys for following along.

Day 26 - Massey, Ontario

We stayed at the Massey Ontario Chutes Provincial Park again last night. It was the first actual campsite we stayed at on the journey out West so it was pretty fitting that it was our last stop on the way back.

We stopped in at Burky's Snack Bar for ice cream and they had the hugest servings I've seen in a long long time.

The weather was amazing and we had a nice BBQ followed by a walk through the campsite.

Today we're headin to Waubaushene to Mike's Mom's place and we'll stay for a few days before heading for home.

We had an amazing time. I'll post some more pictures once I get back. Now comes the fun task of sorting through them all trying to remember where they all took place!!!

Day 25 - Wawa, Ontario

Last night we stayed at the Wawa Campground and RV Park again. It was rainy and foggy all day long. Mike took Sofie fishing down at the campsite dock but didn’t even get one bite. Other than that it was a pretty quiet day. We were going to stay longer at this site if it was nice because it is a pretty spot but we decided to push on to Massey and see if we can get some better weather.

Day 24 - Terrace Bay, Ontario

Last night we stayed in Terrace Bay, Ontario. We stayed at the Agausabon Falls Campground. It was a really foggy drive on the Trans Canada today. Here is a picture that shows our visibility…or lack thereof.


The campground had a really cute little park for the kids (probably my favourite so far). Here are some cute pictures of them playing in the rain.



This morning we woke up late because we’re only driving to Wawa today so we had the time to laze around.

Before we left we visited the Aguasabon River Gorge which was located right next to the campground. It was a really beautiful spot tucked away so that you wouldn’t otherwise have known was there.

Day 23 - Dryden, Ontario

We stayed at the Aaron Provincial Park again last night. We drove from Oak Lake Manitoba to Dryden, ON.

Last night was the last night that we stayed with my Mom and Step-dad Mike. They’re going to take highway 11 at Nipigon and go and see my Uncle Paul who lives in Latchford, ON. We have to go back to our rental property in Waubaushene, ON and get it ready for a new tenant (who has yet to be found). We like the Sault St. Marie route (even though it takes longer) so we’re going to go back to some of the campgrounds we’ve already visited on the way back.

Hopefully we all get back home safely. We had a great time with my Mom and Step-dad. I know the kids won’t soon forget it.

Day 22 - Oak Lake, Manitoba

Yesterday we drove from Gull Lake Saskatchewan to Oak Lake Manitoba. It was a long drive. We also lost another hour when we had to change our clocks again. We’re looking forward to getting our schedules back to normal.

We stayed at a place called Aspen Grove Campground. It was just off the Trans Canada Highway.

It was a nice campground with a lot of trees considering we’re still in the prairies. The owners of the campground seemed to go to great pains to rid the park of mosquitoes. Hidden in the trees of each campsite was a sawed off 2 litre pop bottle filled with citronella and at the swimming pool there were hundreds of fireflies. It seemed like they trucked them in for the sole purpose of eating mosquitoes. I’d say they’re doing a good job too because I didn’t get one bite and I haven’t heard Sofie complain about them which means she probably didn’t either.


Today we’re trying to make it back to Ontario (probably Kenora). Seems pretty cloudy out now so hopefully we can make it there without getting rained on.

Day 21 - Gull Lake, Saskatchewan

Today we drove from Canmore, Alberta to Gull Lake Saskatchewan. It was a long drive considering we had to change the clocks ahead one hour in Alberta.

Today Sofie's fish Sue Sue almost met with a very untimely death. I'm sure most people are wondering why we'd bring the fish on a trip like this but this fish has a lot of travelling under his "belt" already so we thought why not? Anyway all the bumps on the road in the mountains put a crack in his travelling bowl and as a result all his water leaked out. I have no idea how long he was without water but when I went into the trailer at break time I noticed he was lying on his side in the bowl without water. I didn't see the crack at first so I filled it up with water and he popped back to life. Only then to have his water leak back out. Ahhh!!! I quickly grabbed one of our tupperwear bowls and tossed him in there with some more water. He's still alive and well. So if anyone out there is looking for a sturdy kind of fish I highly recommend a Siamese Fighting Fish (betta). Clearly they can take a licking and keep on ticking!!!

We stayed at the Gull Lake Campground which was a place where Mike and I had tented about 11 years ago when we drove across. It was a lot busier this time. When Mike and I were here before we were the only campers and then one guy showed up just around bedtime.

When we got there this time the park was just starting to fill up. The lady running the place was surprised at how many people had showed up. She said every time she went back to her house (which was just beyond the park) someone else would show up. She said if that’s all she has to do to keep the park full she’d gladly go back and forth.

I also noticed how much the trees had grown since we were last there. We felt a little bit on display the first time around since the park is basically in the middle of the town. Now you wouldn’t really even notice.

Everyone was very friendly and we all liked the campground a lot.

Day 20 - Leaving West Bank to Canmore Alberta

Today we said good-bye to my brother Greg and his family and left West Bank, BC to continue our journey back to Ontario.

It was sad to say good-bye because we never know for sure when we’ll see them next. Especially with the kids because you know they’ll look a lot different the next time.

I was really looking forward to the drive back through Rogers Pass and Banff National Park but everything was so cloudy or smokey the pictures were pointless. In some parts you wouldn’t even have known there were humungous mountains just beyond.

In Revelstoke we saw some of the helicopters dropping water in the trees trying to stave off the fires.

Lillouet BC was on fire and as a result the wind carried a lot of smoke to the hills in West Bank. The sky the last few days in West Bank was obscured and landscape picture taking was pretty much pointless. There were still fires going on in parts of West Bank but I think they were pretty much under control.

We were ridiculously spoiled with hot sunny weather our whole entire stay in West Bank. Some days the weather was +40!!! The day we left it had cooled off considerably and they were calling for rain in the forecast and cooler temperatures for this week.

When we got to Canmore and I hopped out of the truck to help Mike direct the trailer into our campsite I just about froze! It was raining in Canmore Alberta and the temperature was only 9 degrees!!! Quite a shock to the system when you’re used to sun and +35 as the average temperature.

Hopefully we can drive into some warmer temperatures this week.

West Bank Yacht Club

Last night we went out for dinner at the West Bank Yacht Club where Gayla and Doug are members.

Gayla surprised the kids with a visit from Santa who apparently has a vacation home here for the summer. Sofie's eyes were like saucers staring at him.

We had a great steak dinner and drinks on the patio. Somehow Gayla convinced us to dance by using Sofie and Tayla as bribe material. The little girls had a blast dancing with everyone and anyone. I'm feeling the effects today of the night out but it was worth it.
Greg and Tara

Sofie dancing with one of the yacht club members

Greg, Lorne, Mike

Mission Hill Winery

Although I never went into the winery itself we took the kids on a tour outside around the grounds. It is so beautiful there. Amazing views. There is an outdoor theater where they put on summer plays/shows. The kids enjoyed rolling down the grassy hills and I got some great pictures.
This is the outdoor theater and the hill the kids like to roll down.

This bell rings every hour and can be heard from Greg and Tara's house.



Mackenzie, Lorne, Tayla, Dane and Sofie (Dane would be the one with the bell for a head - camera shy)

Penticton, BC

For some insane reason I have no pictures of the day we spent at Okanagan Lake at the beach. It was a crazy hot day and we all baked in the sun. I mean BAKED. I am still hurting days later. I have pictures of the drive there but none of the actual beach. I'm thinking the only reason for that is that I spent almost all of the time in the water.

The little white spec in the picture is a lone sailboat.
This picture was taken on the way back and we were waiting on the highway in a construction zone. The people in the sailboat were probably looking up at us thinking "suckers".

Doug and Gayla's

Gayla is my sister-in-law Tara's mom and Doug is her Step-Father. They live on Mission Hill which is about 2 minutes from Greg and Tara's.

It has the most spectacular views on the hill. We were invited out for a BBQ our second night here. The food was delicious.

Here are some pictures of the views and the fun we had. This is Doug and Gayla's house.

This is the view from their yard.


This is Doug and Gayla.

This is my niece Tayla and I.

Sofie, Lorne and Tayla

Mike, Bre, Tayla

My Mom,my brother Greg and Mike B

Itinerary from Ottawa to Kelowna BC

Okay for those of you who are reading this blog simply to get ideas on where to stay in your RV across Canada here you go:

We had a bit of a detour to Dorset starting out but if you're leaving from Ottawa directly you could just drive straight to Massey, Ontario.

Day 1 Dorset
Day 2 Massey, ON - stayed at Chutes Provincial Park (follow the signs off Highway 17)
Day 3 Wawa, ON - stayed at the Wawa RV Resort and Campground (off Highway 17)
Day 4 Nipigon, ON - stayed at the Stillwater Tent and Trailer Park (off Highway 17)
Day 5 Dryden, ON - stayed at the Aaron Provincial Park (off Highway 17)
Day 6 Winnipeg, Manitoba - stayed at The Travellor's RV Resort (take Murdock Road off the Trans Canada Highway #1)
Day 7 Moose Jaw Saskatchewan - we stayed at the Prairie Oasis Resort and Campground
Day 8 Brooks Alberta - we stayed at the Tillebrook Provincial Park
Day 9 Golden BC - we stayed at the Whispering Spruce Campground and RV Park
Day 10 - arrived in Kelowna BC (staying with family)

West Bank BC

Just to let everyone know we made it here safe and sound. We got here on Saturday around lunch time and we've been on the go ever since.

The blog has definitely taken hit since arriving but I will update more as soon as I can.

Golden and Rogers Pass BC

When I was 21 I hopped in a car with my best friend Brigitte and moved out West. We drove out in April so it's fair to say we didn't get the full effect of the greenery that I was treated to on this ride out.

If it's something you can arrange at some point in your life the trip from East to West (by car/truck/van etc...) is well worth it. If you can find a way... do it.

After a jaw dropping trip through Canmore and Banff we made it to Golden BC where we camped for the night. Honestly the sheer mass and size of the mountains would blow your head right off. Seriously. I still can't get over just how big and beautiful Canada really is. We're really lucky to live here. I am sure about that.


We stayed at the Whispering Spruce Campground in Golden (just off the Trans Canada Highway). When we got there we were treated with 7 mountain goats (bigger than deer) hanging around outside the trees right beside our campsite. Sofie took a bunch of pictures of them and could be found for the 1st hour talking to them like old friends. I heard her come around the side of the truck and say "hi guys" in a slow southern drawl kind of way. I thought it was cute but I was also thinking "don't make eye contact" because they are pretty huge and they outnumbered us.




Mike and I had stayed at the Whispering Spruce on one of our trips across Canada so it was really cool to go back there and stay with our kids (and of course my mom and stepdad ;D).

It was also our first taste of mosquito free camping. There were very few bugs so we really liked hanging around outside the trailer (especially since it was crazy hot). The kids have an outrageous amount of mosquito bites my guess would be somewhere around 50+ each.

We have been on a streak of amazing weather which I hesitate to comment about for fear that I break it but I just can't help mentioning it since we couldn't have asked for better weather.

Tomorrow we'll be in West Bank and we're insanely excited to finally get there. Here are some pictures of our drive through Roger's Pass. I'll probably do another post about Rogers Pass because if memory serves me well I recall the drive towards Ontario through the pass is better (from a photo point of view).

Alberta continued...

Okay in fairness to Alberta it really does deserve 2 postings.

The first half of the Province is the flat area as shown in the Brooks Alberta post. The second half or 3/4 of the Province is made up of some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen.

To get there you first have to get through Calgary where you can see the Olympic Park from the highway.
Here is the 3 Sisters in Canmore and others in Banff and Lake Louise. These are all visable from the Trans Canada highway but if you have the time then venturing further into these places is worth your while.

Brooks, Alberta

Yesterday we drove to Brooks Alberta. It was about a 500 km drive from Moose Jaw. It was a shorter day but we wanted to have a few short days in Alberta and BC so we could see Banff, Lake Louise, Canmore, Rogers Pass etc… it will be some of the best photo opportunities a person can ever get. I’ve made the drive many times before now but I always regretted not getting more pictures so now’s my chance.

Mike B has never seen this part of the country so today will be a pretty exciting one for him. We can’t wait to see the reaction the kids have when they see the mountains.

Here's a picture of the world’s largest tepee in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

Driving through Alberta thus far has been fairly boring unless you like staring at empty fields. The only thing that breaks it up is the odd bail of hay, cows or oil pumper. You do see a lot of grain elevators and silos à la Corner Gas throughout Saskatchewan and Alberta.
This is a typical view you’ll have out your window from the Trans Canada Highway. We were a little worried about what the campsite would be like but luckily one of the only patch of trees we could see happened to be at the Provincial Park we stayed in.

Last night we stayed at the Tillebrooke Provincial Park just outside Brooks. I know everyone complains in the summertime about mosquito bites and I’ve made mention of them already in this blog but honestly the mosquitoes here are on steroids. It actually pinches like a needle every time they bite. They’re fast too. My Mom and Mike B stopped somewhere along the drive yesterday to eat their pre-packed lunch, sat down at the table ready to eat and instead gotten eaten alive in a matter of seconds. They ran back to the car for cover. Then they saw an older couple go and do the exact same thing

Mike O and I played cards in the trailer last night while everyone else slept rather than sit by the fire (like we’ve done most other nights) because they really were that bad.

We all got a lesson in how to have a shower in 3 minutes since the Provincial Park charged a loonie for a 3 minute shower. My mom met some poor woman outside the shower who was standing there all upset in her underwear with soap in her hair. The water shuts off after a minute or so to conserve water. You have to push the button if you want the water to start again. There is a sign there but since her English wasn’t very good my Mom had to show her what to do. The joys of csmping!!

We all seem to be falling into a pretty decent rountine when it comes to preparing meals and getting packed up again each morning. By the time this is all done we'll be pros.

Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Last night we stayed in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. We were actually planning on staying in Regina but all of the campsites were full so we decided to go ahead to Moose Jaw. It was a long long haul but worth it since it just brings us that much closer.

We stayed at the Prairie Oasis RV Resort and Campground just off Highway 1. It was definitely the kind of place you wouldn’t stay for weeks on end. It was mostly designed as a stop over site. They are beside a big water slide and pool with a sauna etc… it was a pretty cool place. Mike B was the only one to take advantage of the pool mainly because by the time we arrived there it was 6 pm and since we’ve already lost two hours due to Provincial time changes the kids were starved and ready for bed. By the time dinner was finished Lorne fell asleep in my moms arms and was out for the night.

Driving through Manitoba and Saskatchewan you see a lot of bright yellow fields which we've discovered are crops for making canola oil. There are also purple fields we are told are crops of flax.


It was really hot in Moose Jaw but we’re told it was the nicest day of the summer so far. We are literally following the good weather out West.


I’m sure many of you have heard about the fires in Kelowna and are wondering if we’re still going that far. My brother and Tara live in West Bank so they haven’t been affected. We were thinking we might have to leave our trailer for them to stay in once we got there. Tara said that wouldn’t be necessary but that when she arrived at work one day she found her boss in the parking lot sitting outside his trailer with his family sipping coffee in their pajamas! It’s obviously a reality for some people there but as luck would have it my brother and his family have been spared.

Day 6 - Winnipeg Manitoba

Yesterday we finally finished the drive through Ontario and stayed at the Traveller’s RV Resort in Winnipeg Manitoba. It was the largest RV stop we’ve stayed at to date. It had 264 sites. It was also located next to a waterslide and Tinkertown for the kids. It also had a mini putt and the nicest park we‘ve seen so far. I love seeing the Trans Canada Highway #1 sign heading West because I know we're getting that much closer!


Lorne is still a little young for a trip like this in that most activities are for slightly older kids and we have to keep a really close watch on him at all times since most RV parks are a series of roads and thruways. Not to mention the fire pit at night.

It’s a bit weird at night because it doesn’t get dark till at least 10 p.m. so the kids have been up pretty late. Plus once you factor in the time change their schedules are pretty much shot. They don’t seem too phased by it though.

We all enjoyed hearing the trains pass through but if you’re not into that kind of thing you might want to rethink staying there.



We had another fish dinner last night thanks to Chef Mike O. He’s been making us breakfast everyday too which is pretty nice. From eggs and sausage to pancakes with strawberries. Mike B (my Step-Father) has been having what he calls his tailgate breakfast.