Day 29 – Flying home

Vancouver, B.C.

Today's my birthday! It was good to wake up in a comfortable bed - I'm not getting any younger. As a gift, I got a DVD copy of RV with Robin Williams, which seems fitting. In return, I've promised to shave...

Caught the SkyTrain out to the airport and now we’ve got some time to kill before the flight home to Toronto. So here are the links to the four stories that I’ve written so far for the Toronto Star that have not been part of this blog.

Cleaning out the tanks, and other RV challenges

What’s a 28-foot RV like to drive?

Is an RV really a moving hotel room?

The high cost of fuel for the journey

Come back next week and I’ll post the final story – the one that sums everything up and which works out all the expenses from start to finish.

And come back the following week and I’ll post the link to Lorraine Sommerfeld’s upcoming story, in which she travels around the Gaspe and north shore of Quebec in an RV with the GoRVing people.

This whole trip, and keeping this blog about it, has been fun. My special thanks go out to those who wrote in to offer advice and support – your helpful suggestions were all gratefully appreciated!

- Mark R.

 

Day 28 – Handing back the RV

Vancouver, B.C.

7,181 km

It took an hour to get out here and a half-hour to go through all the paperwork, which was fairly simple. We were careful to give back the vehicle in pretty much the condition we took it, as well as leaving behind some towels and a few tools we didn’t need.

Farrah, who inspected it, asked if there had been any problems with it. I didn’t bother mentioning the TV that wouldn’t work without a remote, but I did tell her that the sewer pipe connection had taken to leaking again. She made me sweep out the interior before approving it for the refund of my $750, which seemed a bit cheap, since they’ll surely be cleaning it for the next people anyway, and there was very little dust and sand on the floor.

I filled in a questionnaire asking about my opinion of the final return process, and I ticked off that everything was excellent. But the last box, for overall impression, I only ticked off “Good.” Nobody ever asked me if we’d had a nice vacation, or a good time.

I met a British family who were collecting an RV for a three-week trip through the Rockies. The CanaDream guy was leading them out for a pre-drive explanation of the vehicle, just as we had had in Toronto. I pulled the son aside – “make sure the guy shows you how the TV works, if you want to watch it,” I told him. “Make him turn it on and demonstrate it.” He looked appreciative.

If the businesslike demeanour of the return process seemed a bit of a downer – and I don’t blame them, they were very busy at the start of a long weekend – then it was made up for by the complimentary shuttle ride out to the airport for myself and a German family by Peter, the shuttle driver. He was hilarious with us in both languages as we fought the long-weekend traffic, and he dropped me off at the SkyTrain station for an easy ride back into the city.

So – that’s that, then.

- Mark R.

 

Day 28 – Saying goodbye to RV life

Vancouver, B.C.

7,154 km

We packed up everything early and caught the 11 am ferry from Victoria to Vancouver. This is a more scenic ride than the North Vancouver to Nanaimo ferry because it threads through the Gulf islands. For some of the trip, we could see seals ahead of us in the water, and birds flew alongside the ship.

Once back on land, we headed straight to our hotel downtown. We have unlimited kilometres with this rental – if we had the standard 160 km/day or optional 250 km/day, we would have gone directly to the RV yard, since we’d have overshot that limit and every kilometer would be costing us. But we wanted to get rid of all our bags and not have to lug them across the city on a train or in a pair of cabs.

I parked the RV right outside the hotel and the uniformed valet moved it out of the way while we checked in. “Don’t worry,” he told me. “I drive a lot of vehicles.” But not that many that are 28 foot, I’ll bet. I couldn’t get to my camera in time – it would have been a great photo!

- Mark R.

 

Day 27 – Mile Zero

Victoria, B.C

7,020 km 

We’ve been on the Trans-Canada for some long stretches on this trip, from Sudbury through to Winnipeg and from Banff through past Golden, so it seemed fitting that we seek out the beginning of the road.

It’s very beautiful here, with the snow-capped mountains of Washington’s Olympia peninsula across the straight, and the waves thumping against the rocks of the beach below this point.

We left from here to wander around downtown for a while. I had to pay for two parking spaces on the street on the next block over from the Legislature, but we found that Old Town Victoria on a warm day is a great place to come for a soda float.

These are melancholy days now. We spent the morning tidying the RV, ready to return it tomorrow, and tonight we’ll be eating as much food from the fridge as we can find. Guess that means I have to finish off the beer, too.

- Mark R.

 

Day 27 – Giving back

Victoria, B.C.

7,013 km 

Big day today: After more than 3,300 km, almost half-way through this journey, we passed on the bicycles that the boys bought at a garage sale at Swift Current, Sask.

We drove into Victoria this afternoon and found a Salvation Army thrift store (on Hillside, if you want to look for them!), and handed them over with great ceremony to Alex, seen in the photo here.

We told him how we’d carried them with us all this way, and how the yellow bike has a new tire and a new chain. “That’s so wonderful,” said his colleague Terri, who took them into the back. “We often have requests from kids for bicycles who just don’t have one and have no way of getting one, especially at this time of year.”

The boys had been asking to ship the bikes home, but they felt much better when they realized how much their donation would be appreciated.

- Mark R.

 

Day 26 – Winding down

Victoria, B.C.

6,986 km

Seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time on this journey filled me with excitement but at the same time made me feel a bit low as I knew our trip was nearing the end.  Tofino is the most beautiful place with a real relaxed holiday feel.  The beaches and landscape are beautiful.  My son and I went whale watching (something that I have always wanted to do) and witnessed a pair of grey whales feeding, a pair of nesting bald eagles, sea lions and harbour seals and a very chilled sea otter floating along on its back.  Both Angus and I felt this was the highlight of this trip. 

We have seen many amazing things along the way since starting out in Toronto.  The drive from Jasper to Banff must rate as the most beautiful stretch of highway in the world and I am sure we will remember if for a very long time.  The majority of people we met along the way, both tourists and locals, have been incredibly friendly, making this trip even more unforgettable. 

We have arrived at a nice RV site on the outskirts of Victoria today and will be staying for two nights.  We will be packing up our cases tomorrow morning in preparation for our return home and then visiting Victoria in the afternoon.  Angus and I fly to Manchester on Saturday and I am sure we will be looking back at our photos for some time to come.

- Jayne Richardson

 

 

Day 26 – Twists and turns

Nanaimo, B.C.

6,865 km

Hwy. 4 was no less winding coming back east as it was heading west. I’ve shot a video – once I get a high-speed connection, I’ll download it here.

- Mark R.

Day 26 – Prints of Whales

Tofino, B.C.

6,670 km

I feel vindicated!  My 14-year-old son thought seeing whales at Clayoquot Sound would be boring.  I got the feeling he was humouring me by boarding the Whale Centre boat yesterday, both of us dressed in oversized red flotation suits.  He got to sit beside his older cousin in the first row of the boat while his mother and aunt sat behind. 

The boat took off into deeper waters, flying through the air, landing with a loud thud after each huge swell of ocean water.  A very nice German lady sitting beside me said we were “James Bonding” and the boys were thrilled.

After getting a peek at two bald eagles and their chick, we headed out to sea to look for whales.  Both teens were clearly thrilled as their heads swung side to side, grabbing whatever glimpse they could of two huge grey whales.  The captain of the boat then led us to another reef where giant, smelly lion seals lounged about, resting after three months of mating and stuffing their faces.

After two hours on the waves, we made out way back to Tofino, again “James Bonding” all the way.  Lots of laughter and not a lot of eye-rolling now.

Whale watching will certainly become a fond memory for us both.

Sometimes it pays off to persevere!

- Wendy Somerville

 

Day 25 – Parking woes

Still in Tofino  

6,663 km

Remember what I was saying in the previous entry, about how I would prefer to have a trailer over a self-contained motorhome? You can double that sentiment today.

We’d booked Tristan a surfing lesson at the beach, which meant that first we had to drive him into town to register and collect his wet suit. Then we had to go a few kilometres south to the beach (Hot Rumour: Lady Gaga’s bought a place there on South Chesterman Beach, just a few houses down from Sarah McLaughlin’s place!) with the procession of surfers, to hang out and watch him. Everyone else drove down in their cars; we drove down in our home, dishes clattering in the sink, laundry thrown in the shower stall. Then we had to find a place in the parking lot to park.

We were gone too long to leave the other boys at the campground pool, but it was annoying to have to take almost everything with us. Then, I had to drive off and find a suitable backdrop for this weekend’s Wheels section photo shoot, which was needed today. Again, dishes clattering…

After the surfing, we all drove back into town so that everyone else could go whale-watching while I stay back and catch up on some business with the laptop. I dropped them at the store to suit up in their survival gear for the boat, and then drove off to find a place to park the RV.

It took eight circuits around the town – almost half-an-hour – to find a parking space for this 28-foot RV. It’s no wonder people tow cars behind their motorhomes.

- Mark R.

Day 24 – A day without driving (almost)

Tofino, B.C.

6,606 km

Took a day off yesterday to walk on the beach and visit our friend here, who is just a 20-minute walk away. If we don’t need to drive, we prefer not to, because we have to take the entire motorhome. Now I know why people tow small cars behind their buses or, better, tow huge trailers with pickup trucks.

Before this trip, I’d always thought that a fully self-contained motorhome was the way to go, if only for the comfort of the passengers. Now I’ve changed my mind completely. I’d much prefer to tow a trailer so that I have the comfort of the pickup truck, not to mention the versatility of having that pickup available as my vehicle year-round while the trailer stays parked.

We drove over to our friend’s last night for a bonfire on the beach in front of his rented house. When we got back to the campsite at 10.45 pm, all was dark and somebody had parked their motorhome just a few metres in front of the spot where I had to back in perpendicular to the roadway. We weren’t sure we were going to make it in, but with two spotters at the rear and a lot of twisting and turning, we finally made it without waking too many people.

We staying an extra day here in Tofino so that we can go whale-watching, then down to Victoria tomorrow.

- Mark R.