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Greetings to any and all who are still following our annual roadie experiences! This year’s activities actually began in early May with a shakedown trip to Kitty Coleman Provincial Park near Comox, BC. This spot is one of our favourites on Vancouver Island with panoramic views of Georgia Strait and wonderful camp hosts. That 3 day excursion happened on a very warm sunny weekend and all Escape 5.0 functions worked well. The morning sun was enough to add solar energy to our rooftop panel each day.

But now, the time has come to head out on the road for a more extended trip – once again, this year, towards Ft. McMurray, Alberta. This time, the goal includes a visit not only to our granddaughter, Rebecca but to be there before, or near to the birthdate of our new, and first, great granddaughter – “Lizzie”! (Sandy‘s assigned duties to the Nanaimo Quilters’ Guild ended after the Show on Sunday May 31, so we were ready to depart on the 10:15 ferry from Duke Point on Monday, June 1.)

Our first stop was to the Aldergrove farm where Sandy’s cousins run the “Locality Brewing” business at McInnes Farm. We were provided with two nights’ accommodation there. That time gave us a chance to celebrate our younger granddaughter’s birthday with her, her husband, and father, and brother. We had two relaxing days there in warm, sunny weather.

Poster for upcoming event at Locality Brewing

Celebrating grand daughter, Hannah’s birthday

On Wednesday, June 3, we hitched up and headed towards Blue River on Highway 5 north of Kamloops, BC. That highway 5 north of Barriére, is one of my favourites as the traffic is light, the road is relatively smooth, and passing lanes are appropriately frequent. The Blue River RV site where we stayed last year, was good, and we stayed warm and dry during the steady nighttime rains. 

On Thursday morning June 4 the rain held off while we readied for departure, but then we travelled in and out of showers for most of the way to Jasper, AB. At the registration desk, since I couldn’t recall my licence plate number, Sandy left to see it, but was gone a bit longer that I expected. When she returned she was in some pain from a fall onto the pavement that had caused some bruising on her hip, elbow, and hand. Later, back at the trailer, I took a divot out of my head on the corner of a cupboard that I had left open despite repeated warnings from my partner. So, from being unscathed, we are now scathed!!

Our assigned site was amongst a large number of tenting sites. After we settled in, we unhitched and drove into Jasper for some groceries and fuel. We had supper, and a bit of a walk. As we were unloading our “anti-gravity” chairs to enjoy the evening, the strong winds blew the truck door shut onto first one of Sandy’s legs, and then a couple of minutes later – the other leg! (A truly battered wife today!) We discovered that our nearby tenters were all teens from a large group that are probably connected to a school. Later they could be heard cheering loudly for some activity that they were involved in as we sat inside to stay warm from the chilly wind that made outside time rather unpleasant.

Friday, June 5

We rode our e-bikes uphill to the base of the gondola, and poked around the site for a while. The view out over the valley and Jasper was beautiful.

The ride downhill was much more pleasant, if not a strain on the hand-brakes. We rode the loop around to our site and put the bikes away since the weather was becoming quite chilly with the potential for rain. And it did!

Saturday, June 6

The temperature in the trailer when Sandy got up was 7º C. We were underway by 10:00 and headed for Ft. Saskatchewan and the Ft. Lions RV campground. The only issues on the road, were the condition of Hwy 16 (needing repavement) and a fatal accident as we neared Stoney Plains that re-routed us to one of the county roads to the north.

Our site #2 at Ft. Lion Campground was open for us, and we settled in after shopping for a few groceries at the local Co-op.

Sunday, June 7

We took our time getting going as the day was cool and decided to forego a bike ride because of intermittent showers, and an afternoon coffee-get-together with our daughter’s friend who lives in Ft. Saskatchewan. After a great visit and rather large cinnamon rolls and a drink each, we were too full for a regular supper, so we settled for a boiled egg, and then went for a 2.5 km walk.

Monday, June 8

We were able to get underway by 9:30 am towards our destination – Ft. McMurray. We had been warned of many potholes on the highway, but mostly they were visible and avoidable. By 2:00 pm it was raining quite hard and the trucks on the road were kicking up a lot of water. We arrived about 3:00 and found the Centennial RV Campground on the way into the Fort. We managed to get settled in the pouring rain and howling wind, and discovered that the right-side (passenger side) windows had leaked some water. We mopped up and are now awaiting pick-up to go to dinner with our daughter, and granddaughter.