We slept until 9:00am, that was a treat and a testament to how quiet our location is. As a treat, we headed to Tim Horton’s for breakfast and a coffee where we made plans for the day.
Today has been set aside for reprovisioning before we head to Galiano Island for a week of downtime and complete relaxation.
We decided to drive to White Rock as we’d not been before. The seaside of the town is very busy (Sunday morning) with folks going to their favorite cafes for breakfast. Parking was too tight even for a campervan and so we pressed on to Crescent Beach. What a nice little community tucked away on the shore just North of White Rock.
We found a parking area at Blackie Spit park and went for a walk. It was cool and breezy and threatening to rain, but it felt good to walk about and breath that sea air.
From Crescent Beach we headed to Tsawwassen where we visited the Tsawwassen Mills shopping center for the afternoon before enjoying an early dinner followed by a nap in the van.
In the early evening we relocated to the Walmart parking lot where we joined several other campers who had chosen this as there overnight spot ahead of catching a BC Ferry this next morning. We stocked up on groceries for the week and settled down for the night. Hopefully a quiet one.
Knowing we only have about 20km to drive for our stay tonight, we got to sleep-in and take our time getting ready today. The campground here is very picturesque; however, the neighbors didn’t seem to have volume control of their voices and so that spoiled the site a little. We spent last evening at in the van (it was raining) watching Netflix and therefore didn’t have to listen to their entire conversation.
We left at about 11:30 and went into town to get our last fill-up of fuel in the US before heading to the border crossing. A quick stop at the duty-free shop and onto Canada customs. 3 minutes later and we were wished well on the remainder of our trip. This was by far the quietest and easiest border crossing we’ve ever experienced.
We drive into Abbotsford looking for a place to have lunch and settled on the Field House Brewing Co. on West Railway St. We each enjoyed one of their beers as well as a plate of bruschetta and an order of chicken tacos. Yummy, we highly recommend.
Acre upon acre of raspberry bushes growing adjacent to the Abbotsford airport.
That night we were staying at Campbell’s Gold Honey Farm and Meadery just outside of Aldergrove. They have a wonderful shop where they sell their wares and also locally made crafts. A quiet and secure location where we slept exceedingly well.
After two relaxing and enjoyable days visiting Barb’s parents, it’s time to head out. We spent the morning preparing for the longer road trip we would have that afternoon and at about 11:00am pulled out of their driveway. Thanks again Jack & Mary.
Our route took us to Sarnia, ON where we would cross into the US and drive South towards Detroit and then onto Dayton, OH before turning West on I-70 towards Indianapolis, IN.
The driving today was how everyone hopes it might always be when they travel, uneventful. The border crossing was very quiet and the process was quick. Detroit through to Toledo, the traffic was moderate and the roads not as rough as we’d expected. We stopped for gas shortly after Toledo and met up with Dean, Cathy & J-P who we were joining for our weekend in Indy.
After turning West onto the I-70 is where the weather changed. The warm and grey conditions became warm and wet with a few heavy rain downpours along the route. Luckily the heaviest of the rain was gone when we pulled into our overnight destination, the Walmart in New Castle, IN.
We’d chosen this particular Walmart as it’s about an hour away from Indy and therefore would be a good point from which to drive tomorrow into the Indy campground. It also allowed us to stock up on groceries.
After the re-provisioning was complete, we all enjoyed a drink and an hour or so of conversation catching up with each other before heading off to sleep. Good night to all.
A sunny and cool start accompanied me on a 5km walk about the town of Exeter today. The Victoria Day weekend over, the town returns to its normal routines and the streets are quiet as I walk while enjoying the flowerbeds so carefully prepared in the recents days.
Peaceful solitude
We also spent some time planting tomatoes and hosta’s with Barb’s mom to help kick off the growing season.
Tomorrow we leave Ontario and cross into the US heading South in the direction of Indianapolis. Stay tuned!
A cool morning greeted us today, so cool that the furnace was fired up in the campervan. My early morning walk was enjoyable as it was sunny, but the wind off of Lake Huron reminded us that it was till May and to not forget that the weather in these parts can be fickle.
It looks chilly…. Brrr.
The morning flittered by and before long it was time for more farewells as we prepared to hit the road once again. Kath & Al, thanks for having us, your warmth and generous hospitality were once again very much welcomed and enjoyed. All the best.
The drive to Exeter is only about 40 minutes and it hardly felt like we had begun when, we had arrived! The next two nights will be spent camping in the laneway at Barb’s parents home. We’d spend the first evening catching up on family happenings with the help of Barb’s Aunt Pauline who stopped by and joined us for dinner.
All for today. Life in the van is going well and we’re becoming accustomed living within the smaller space….. stay tuned.
Oh, apologies for those looking for photos of our travels… I will be adding some as we get a few more so check back on earlier posts as I catch up on this task.
Today would be a short drive across the arable farmlands of Southern Ontario.
After finally attaching the skid wheel to the trailer hitch of the campervan, we were ready to set off at about Noon. Mother nature had other ideas. Looking at the sky the thunder storm watch had turned to a warning and the clouds had been building quickly. The colours of the clouds told us that we should sit and wait for an hour or so before heading out. This was clearly the right call, as moments later the winds came up whipping trees about and the rain was driving sideways at a good 60km/h or more.
Lunch completed and our farewells said, we were off towards Tavistock, Stratford & then onto Goderich. Our decision to wait out the storm took only a few minutes to be proven as a good one. We passed many large tree branches that had been snapped from Maple trees lining the roads and blown into fields on the other side of the highway. Some were 6″ of so in diameter & would have severely damaged any vehicles should they have been in the way. Entire trees were uprooted neared Tavistock; however, as we drove on the dame soon subsided and we head left the path of the storm. (We would find out later in the weekend from news reports that the same storm had reeked havoc in and around Ottawa. Our thoughts are with those that were injured or have suffered property damage.)
In Goderich we were staying with Barb’s sister for a couple of nights and this first evening they took us into Goderich and to “The Old Saltie” Fish & Chip shack down near the harbour. It only sells fish & chips and only as takeout. Barb & I agreed that the food was fantastic!
After a short drive around town to see some long forgotten sites, we arrived back at the campervan to settle in for the night.
9:15am and we’re pulling out of our laneway on the first leg of the trip. Destination today is Woodstock, ON to visit my brother and family. After a quick stop in Kemptville to fill up with gas ($2.046/l) we’re off down Hwy 416.
Time to go!
The van is driving very well on Hwy 401 and the first several hours pass without incident. Before we know it, we’re coming into the GTA where we stop for gas and lunch. Gas price in Ajax is $1.962/l which we think of As a bargain ?!?!
Toronto traffic is heavy as it’s the Friday before the long weekend and folks are heading home and to their cottages. Although slow, we make it through and traffic lightens a little for the remainder of the drive to Woodstock. We arrive at about 3:30pm.
The evening is spent catching up with my brother while enjoying some pizza and drinks. Sleep came close to midnight. The end of an enjoyable first day with hopefully many mor e to come.
Ok, so it’s time to check out actually camping in our campervan. We’ve had the van since last November but immediately put it away for the Winter. As such we have had several months to stock the van with all of the supplies and amenities we believe are needed. Time for a shakedown trip to discover what we have forgotten.
To that end we have booked a 3-night stay at Smugglers Cove RV Resort near Picton in Prince Edward County, Ontario. Our friends Dave & Liz will be accompanying us as our experienced guides and mentors.
The drive to PEC went very well with no issues of items shifting and after topping off our fuel we crossed PEC for the South-East corner of the county and locate the campground.
We’ve chosen fully serviced sites close to the beach in order that we have good views across the bay. As you can see in the picture below, this proved to be a good choice come time for the sunset. What a view!
Probably due to it being early-May, the campground is very quiet and there are lots of open sites. Our sites are not really level and so we had a chance to practice leveling the van on the wooden blocks I had cut just for this purpose. The water and electrical hookups were a little away from the van and so we also needed to use the extra hoses and electrical cords we carry just to make the connections. Again, proof of our preparedness.
The first couple of days pass quietly as we settle into camp life. Camping in a van really is very different from the tent camping we both enjoyed some years ago. We used our Blackstone griddle to cook our meals and found it to be as versatile as we had hoped.
On Monday we rode our bikes to Point Traverse (20km each way) and explored the old lighthouse that can be found there. The ride proved the longevity of the batteries on the e-bikes as although we used the batteries quite often during the ride, there was still plenty of charge left at the end proving that we could have gone further (if our bodies would have let us – Numb butts and sore shoulders.) 😊
Monday night delivered another wonderful sunset.
We had set aside Tuesday to drive our vans about the county and explore a few wineries. Below you can see that Waupoos Estates Winery was open and we purchased a couple of nice bottles to enjoy another time. We also located near Waupoos Bay a small store (shed) from which homemade tarts and pies were sold. The butter tarts were absolutely delicious!
Our last evening at the campground was again spent relaxing and reflecting on how things have gone with the camping experience. In general we’ve been happy with the time we’ve had to prepare the van for travel such as this and we feel confident ahead of our 2022 cross-continent trip that we will be OK and not completely out of our depth. I guess we’ll find out in just a few weeks! Stay tuned.
A big shoutout to our friends Dave & Liz for putting up with us ‘newbies’ on this trip. Their tips, tricks and words of wisdom will surely come in handy on the weeks and months ahead.
