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Saturday, August 25, 2018

It didn't take long to remember why we don't use RV parks

Woke up Friday morning to a few drops of rain on the roof. We decided to get up and drive down the hill we were parked on and into the town of Invermere about 25 kms (15 miles) away. Good thing we did, because on the way it actually rained fairly steadily for about 45 minutes, so we didn't have to deal with the wet gravel road.

Found the visitors info place in Invermere and they had a good size parking lot and fast free wifi. Had breakfast there and then went to stock up on some groceries because our daughter Lindsey and her family were scheduled to arrive yesterday evening.

We received a message from her that they were on the plane in Victoria, and flying to Kelowna from there. Then, they had a car rental booked and would do the fairly long 474 km (294 mile) drive from Kelowna to Fairmont Hot Springs Resort where they would stay with us in the motorhome.

We expected them to arrive around 8:00pm.

With grocery shopping complete, we made our way to Fairmont Hot Springs Resort.

I had been here as a 14 year old kid in 1976. My father's family was originally from British Columbia and he had 3 brothers and a sister out here, along with their offspring and they were having a family reunion here.

Now, my father is gone, and there is only one brother and the sister still alive. However, I still have 14 cousins, and all but one are here in British Columbia.

We checked in, and with taxes it was $105.50 CAD for two nights for a 30 amp site. Not as bad as I thought, because I got 10% off with my Good Sam membership card that was included when I bought their RV breakdown assistance package.

We got parked up in the site that I had reserved months ago. But I based my choice by looking at the map and the site was at the end of a row so we would only have a neighbor on one side, and it was right beside the playground. Great for the grandkids. But unfortunately the benefits of my choice ended there.

The map hadn't shown the big trash bin right beside us. And the site was narrow. The picnic table was located right at the back of us, right beside the neighbors sewer hose. Nice! And, the hookups were located opposite where they should be and our electric cord wasn't long enough to plug in. Not that we needed to, but it would have been nice to use the services if we're paying for them.

In the meantime, we heard from Lindsey. There was a big accident on the Trans Canada Highway and they closed the road. No detours available, and it wasn't scheduled to re-open until midnight! They got a hotel room in Sicamous and will now arrive here sometime this morning. We done a lot of traveling, and sometimes things don't go according to plan when you travel. You just have to make the best of it and roll with the punches.

We went for a walk around the RV Park, and it didn't take us long to remember why we don't camp in RV parks. It used to be that it was the cost that turned us off, but in all honesty if we had to park in RV Parks, we would quit RV'ing. Even if they were free. It's just not our style.

It's a nice enough park though. Lots of trees.

But not enough space between sites. If we put our awning out, it would almost touch the neighbors. And, they are smokers. We could smell their cigarette smoke despite the forest fire smoke.

There are 235 sites here, and they are building more.

We found my cousin Debbie's site, and sat and chatted with them for a while. Their site was a little further away from the hot pools, but quite a lot nicer. I decided to go back to the office and see if they had any openings nearby. Fortunately, they did! We moved up to their area to a much nicer site in the middle of a 7 site dead end row.

That's a bit better. The site on one side of us is currently empty.

View out our side window.

We went back over and sat with Debbie and John and their kids and grandkids, and my cousin Calvin and his wife Brenda showed up as well. 

Sitting around the propane campfire.

And apparently that's all who are coming. So, not much of a family reunion, although those who are here will enjoy seeing each other. All of Debbie's family are here, and Calvin and Brenda, and us and Lindsey and her family when they show up.

A little disappointing that the turnout wasn't better, but I guess there just isn't enough interest now that there are only two surviving of the original five siblings, and neither of them are here either.

On the bright side, we are off to enjoy the hot springs!

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Zionor Swim Goggles are on deal of the day.

And in Canada...




20 comments:

  1. Hope you don't get too much rain today and tomorrow although it is badly needed!

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  2. Have fun! Wish things would have turned out differently for us, I was COMING this year! Sigh...then God laughed! lol Hi to Lindsey and crew! Will catch you all next time...

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    1. We wish things would have worked out for you as well. We did have a fun time and it was great to see those that did show up but boy the time sure flew by fast!

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  3. Happy family reunion! Interesting to be pulling a fifth wheel with a semi...

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    1. Even though there wasn't a lot of family members that showed up the ones that did had a great time.

      We have seen 5th wheels pulled by semi's before not a totally uncommon sight. We figure that it might be his work truck or that he was a trucker and just prefers the big truck. They are welcome to it, it is certainly not something we would want.

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  4. Yep and the fifth wheel has a triple axle; wonder how much the fifth wheel weighs in order to need a semi!!

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    1. Yes, the fifth wheel was definitely a triple axle and we have seen pickup trucks pulling fifth wheels like this before so I don't think it is necessarily a weight issue. We thought perhaps he is a trucker and this is his work vehicle or he was a trucker and just prefers to pull with a big rig. He can have, I am sure he enjoys it but it definitely isn't for us! :-)

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  5. I can't persuade my Signficant Other to boondock, but we much prefer public campgrounds (national, state, and municipal) to private ones. They are almost always nicer locations and generally have much more room. Also fewer services and amenities, but we generally don't need those either.

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    1. Not everyone is comfortable with boondocking and we get that and it's a good thing that everyone isn't or we would have a harder time finding spots. We do agree with you though that public campgrounds are generally much nicer and more about nature than private ones. They are also usually spaced out much more. It is very, very rare that we EVER stay in a private campground, this time however it just made sense seeing it was somewhere that had extra amenities and also rooms and cabins for family members that didn't have RV's. It served it purpose!

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  6. We pretty much gave up on family renunions. No parents, aunts or uncles, and all the siblings are grandparents and some great-grandparents so they all have their own thing. For us it is a $2000 expense for a four-day weekend with airfare, hotels and meals. The price of getting old and living in a foreign country :)

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    1. It seems that is what is happening here as well because not very many showed up but the ones that did had a good time and we really enjoyed seeing them again, as well as meeting some of the new family members.

      Yep, the money can add up quickly these days, but it is worth it to get together with family members that maybe you haven't seen for a very long time.

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  7. If you enjoy more rustic camping but not too far from civilization check out Yard Creek about 15 minutes east of Sicamous, BC. Beautiful provincial campground!

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    1. We always prefer rustic and often the further away from civilization the better, that is why we love boondocking so much. :-)

      Thank for the suggestion but we are headed towards Sicamous.

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  8. We rather park at Walmart or arest stop than stay at RV Park! I'm almost tempted to give up RV'ing rather than stay in a commercial RV Park.

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    1. We only park at Walmart stores or similar type parking lots or rest stops as a last resort but we would pick that over a commercial RV Park if we had too that is why Kevin said if we had to stay in a campgrounds like this all the time we would give up RVing. We would much prefer to find somewhere in boonies or even a little ways away from the road with pretty scenery and be all by ourselves. However, we had a reason for going to the park and we enjoyed ourselves, especially after we moved up into a corner where we were almost by ourselves. And everyone else at the reunion enjoyed themselves. At least the park was nice and clean! :-)

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  9. RV parks can be annoying, but they come in handy when you need power in the blazing heat of summer. In my family, reunions are nearly a thing of the past. Many are to old to travel and others just do not have any real interest. Now they are kids and grandkids for us, which is fine.

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    1. Even in the blazing heat we would still sooner boondock. We managed down in the Yucatan last winter in the heat without the AC, in fact we can't remember the last time we used it. If we really needed electricity though we would find a State or Provincial Park somewhere first. This time we made the except because of the family reunion and we were happy to be near them and had a great time, especially after parking up in the corner almost by ourselves. It was a nice RV Resort, very clean and in a pretty setting, it just isn't our style.

      Yes, I think they may be a thing of the past with this family too but for those that did show up, we had a wonderful time and that is all that matters. It was really nice to have Lindsey, Justin and the grandchildren show up. We definitely had a good time with them. :-)

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  10. Too bad about the reunion numbers but at least you can enjoy time with those that showed up. Hope Lindsay and family arrive soon . Looks like a lot better sire so enjoy. We hate the RV campground as well too crowded.

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    1. Yes, it was a shame that more couldn't have come but sometimes life gets in the way. Luckily for us we are will be near a few more of his relatives so we are hoping to drop by and say hello to a few of them.

      Lindsey and the family arrived and then yesterday they left again! It was a very short visit but luckily we will see them again at the end of next month.

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