It was getting later in the day. We just finished at the beach and took a little bit of a longer ride back to the RV. The hills were a little steeper which caused Acacia some issue and as expected she had some things to say about it. We had a full day of friends and it was expected that she had gotten tired. We made it back though and the discussions turned to showers and that is where things went downhill, emotionally. 

Somehow Braeden got in his head that he no longer liked the shower in the RV. He was not having a shower. The girls had quickly used the outside shower, however he was determined to not have a shower so he acted rashly by quickly messing up the shower with shampoo and toilet paper. This, of course, received a repramand which further escalated the emotions and caused him to decide that he was done with RVing and wanted to be back at home. However, after some alone time on his bunk he was able to bring himself in touch with reality again and ask for forgiveness for his attitude. 

I tell this story, not as a way to point out his actions or this particular event, but more to highlight a struggle we all go through when we leave our “zone”. There is a subconcious level of emotion that is dealing with the fact that life has now changed. That things ARE different and that you have to find a new norm. These are the things that rise to the surface and become apparent in small ways. 

One of those things is how we deal with tension. At home, we know how it would go. There is almost an expected result to rash actions. Yes, rash actions happen, yes we deal with them in the same way. Somehow these actions seem different when you are in a new enviroment. 

“How is this ever going to work?” we ask. The truth is that we deal with the exact same things no matter where we are. We don’t suddenly become different people because we are in an RV. If anything our true nature surfaces a bit more. Add to this the fact that we are in a new enviroment and we are not sure on how to handle it. In our story Braeden began to troop from one end of the camper to the other to “get away from everyone”, but did not know where that place was. In the end it was his bunk, but it took him some time to figure it out. It was new, it was different and in reality this was not an experience that he has had before. 

So what are we learning from this? 

I suppose we are learning to grow. We are, hopefully, teaching our children to deal with situations that are outside of the norm. 

As I write this I can hear another mother at the next campsite over going through a similar struggle. This is family in an RV, this is new and different and at times a struggle. But in the end I know that our family will be all the stronger for it. 

Well, one of the first things we discovered as we voyaged is that there was a leak in our plumbing.

Looks like the connections had just wiggled loose over time and when the pressure was increased it would leak. The plan was to fix that, which we will, however even more concerning to me, having an electrical background, was that underneath all the pumbing and the dripping was an indoor electrical box which had the main connections for the camper. 

With this concern in mind I set to work to first replace this indoor box with a waterproof one so that even if the pipes burst in the future the electrical would be safe. 

Check out my plan 🙂 Have you changed anything electrically on your camper? What was it and how did it go? 

Such a beautiful spot to stop for a rest…. #unexpected #havetogoback 

 After our stop in Kelowna we were traveling down to Castlegar down hwy 33. Other than these prairie folk still adjusting to driving on the edge of a cliff it was a beautiful drive. As we travel we are always looking for spots a couple hours down the road as “relief valves”. These spots where we can get out of the vehicle, explore a bit and let the kids blow off some steam outside of the vehicle. 

Scanning the road ahead on Google maps and spotted the Kettle River Recreation Area on our root we decided this was as good as any place to spot. Honestly, we knew nothing about the location other then it was a green spot on the map. We were pleasantly surprised. 

When we turned off the highway the area had suffered from a wildfire, perhaps the year or two before, but was beginning to recover. As we drove down the winding path we discovered the original beauty of the area in the lower area where the fire did not touch. With large majestic pine all around we pulled into the main parking area. The kids were immediately excited about the playground but we knew there was an old train bridge around from the pictures and wanted to check it out. 

Parking down closer to the river in a lower parking lot we all jumped out and made our way down towards the river. We remember there were a couple wasp nests along the way, they didn’t bother us, just more of a note. Once on the river, we could see the old train bridge which had since been converted to a footbridge on the Trans Canada Trail. As we looked down the river we could see people floating down the lazy river on their tubes. 

On the opposite side of the river, there was a bike trail which we began to hike down. Wow, we wished we had our bikes along as it looked like a lot of fun with little jumps along the way. On the side of the cliff, there were old mines that had been closed off but you could still look through the grates as smell the wonderful smell of abandoned mines. 

Our only thought after all this was that we didn’t have enough time here and need to come back again in the future. What is your place where you did not have enough time and plan to go back again in the future? Leave us a note in the comments below. 

Sometimes the best locations are not the biggest wows but the biggest smiles…   #familytime 

It was the mother’s idea on Mothers Day to travel down to Skene’s Crossing in Manitoba and spend the afternoon at the creek. It was a great time to play in the water, enjoy some sunshine and enjoy a campfire in the midst of our very dry spring. 

Just off the beaten path, a special place is found… #discovery 

In 2017 on our trip through BC we stopped to visit some friends and family in Lake Country and were introduced to a fantastic little spot called Kangaroo Creek Farm. If we had simply driven through Lake Country we would not have even known it was there. But below the highways, down a couple streets in town and you come across the gates which lead to the most fantastic petting zoo we have ever been at. 

To be fair we only have a couple ag fairs and Gopherville that has since closed down to compare it to. Richard had one big travel vacation growing up and stopped at a small town with his family that had a petting zoo. Even though it was pretty poor (to be honest it most likely wasn’t as bad as we made it sound) it provided years of good memories recalling only being able to see the eyes of the animals, they were to pet, in the back of their cages. Thankfully Kangaroo Creek Farm is nothing like that. On a side note that small town was also where Carma grew up. It was many years later that we met and discovered this crazy fact that Gopherville was in her hometown. 

Walking down the hill into the farm you see a barn to the right and a path to the left. We had our friends and were guided straight left and then right into the main kangaroo pen. In the pen there was a lot of kangaroos that were tame enough that you could walk up to pet. You could tell that they were used to this activity and some would even come to you for a little scratch. There was also a nesting ostrich in the pen, although it wasn’t on our “wish to pet” list. 

One of the favorite parts though was in the barnyard as there was a whole variety of animals. With your expected goats and chickens to the more unexpected patagonian cavies. Acacia spent the next 1/2 hour feeding corn to the goats who never seemed to lose their appetites. 

In another enclosure, we found a mother sugar glider, who had just had a baby only days before. We were able to hold the mother, and the baby was resting in a pouch around the neck of one of the staff members.  They told us that normally the sugar gliders are pretty active and jump from person to person…but this mother was still in recovery mode, which any mother can relate to 😉 

As the kids explored the animals in this pen, the Moms secured a place in line to wait to hold the Joey’s. 

The line was a little long but it was well worth the wait as we got to hold the baby joeys tucked in nicely with their blankets. The kids were thrilled and even Braeden had a smile holding his little buddy. 

If you have kids and love animals this is a great place to stop and visit. What is your favorite petting zoo or simply animal place that you love to visit? 

This was a lot of fun to finally head out… #almostthere 

Finally we got to get on the road an bring the RV, which has been at Carma’s parent’s house, back home. We also got to try out some new camera gear which, despite some hiccups, worked out very well. It’s always a learning process but we are glad that you are here to join us on this journey. Make sure to leave a comment below. 

Need a great place to stop, ask a friend… #highlyrecommended 

Johnston Canyon was on our list from near the beginning of our planning in 2017. One of our friends had highly recommended it as a family friendly location. 

Our trip plan was to leave Aidrie in the morning, drive out to Johnston Canyon, go for a hike and then travel onto Kelowna that night (We went all the way to Kelowna that night ). 

Well, we started off the trip splendidly by missing our turn to go West around Calgary and proceeded to head East for the next 10 minutes. It didn’t help that it was pouring rain. However, we pushed on the fearless adventurers we are and stopped at Canmore for a quick grocery stop.

By 10 am we were at Johnston Canyon. The first parking lot was already full, but there was lots of room in the second one further back up the road. In the parking lot, amongst the pines, I had to eye up the motorhomes that were parked there and had to think to myself, “that would be nice”. One step further on the road to our RV :).

We had packed all our own food so we never stopped in the restaurant there, but there are good washrooms by the first parking lot. When you walk from the second parking lot you walk under the bridge next to the river. Park in the second parking lot just so you can do that. You can then push on to the lower falls. 

The walk is beautiful, although freaked out initially by the walkway bolted to the cliff you cannot help but enjoy the beauty of Johnston Canyon. As we walked Acacia insisted on being in the lead. This was a normal thing that she still does at times. However, when your leading on an angle, and not used to be on an angle you tend to stray towards the edge. So I would try and walk just close enough to be between her and the edge, but not quite in the lead. it didn’t always work as she would cry out, “DADDY, I’M THE LEADER!”, but we all came back home safe. 

Once we made it to the lower falls there was a small lineup to get through the tunnel into viewing where it actually spilled over. It was very cool to look at. 

Once we were done and back out we were feeling pretty good and pushed onto the upper falls. At first, we were unsure about hiking that far. Our kids are not exactly long range nomads. They did well though. And we enjoyed it despite having to have Acacia piggyback sections of it. 

The upper falls is a much higher drop and well worth the extra effort to go see. We didn’t make it past as the trail continues on, but maybe this coming summer we can take on the rest of the trail. 

What happens when a thought gives birth to dream… #rv

This was really the beginning of this whole adventure. And it is only looking back that we see it as the beginning at the time it really wasn’t that epic, it’s not like we had dwarfs banging on our door or anything (Confused, it’s a Hobbit reference? Click here).

After spending all morning at Drumheller it was only a couple more hours from the HooDoos to our hotel in Airdrie. Getting there early we had some time to kill and noticed the Western RV Country lot next door and decided that we should go check it out. Our goal was to spend the next hour exploring the RV’s, checking out the different features and basically letting the kids roam a bit so we didn’t have to spend the next 6 hours in the hotel pool. The reality is that all of the RV’s were locked and we needed a salesperson to show us around. Hmm, not what I was hoping for but something to do none the less. 

After tracking down our salesperson, sorry I forgot your name but you were nice:), we were treated to free ice cream and arcades as she tracked down some keys for us. At this point, we didn’t have a truck. So anything that didn’t have an engine was out, motorhome it is. We also have three children so having space to fit them cuts out all the retirement classics out there. However, there were some units we could look at so, excellent let’s do it. 

Don’t ask me model numbers, I only remember that we looked at three class C’s. The Class C models seemed to work best for us as they had the extra bunk space above the driver seat. We definitely knew our kids each needed their own bed, as there had already been fights and schedules made as to who had to share with who on our current road trip. Anyways, it was at this time that we began to fall in love with the idea of RVing. 

Our kids were pumped, they had the papers signed and were heading out the doors with the keys. However, we still had a trip to finish, conversations to have and needed time to allow this small seed of traveling and working on the road to grow.

This was it, our destination, our original trip location. #hmmmmweeeeee

We arrived in Drumheller a little earlier than expected. So, feeling adventurous, we took up the advice of a friend and headed over to find the HooDoos. We have been to Drumheller before but only to the museum. We had never explored much around the valley. So it was only 40 degrees Celsius out, let us find some rocks to climb on! All I can say is what a wonderful place. Really anything, where all of us can safely climb around on rocks, is ten stars in our books ;). 

The one issue was that it was hot when we started our descent into the valley. By the time we arrived at the HooDoos it was really cooking, especially for climbing around on rocks, but it was well worth it. Climbing all the way up the valley wall you can see all across the valley. 

I don’t know about you but comment below, how do you manage the tension of allowing your children to explore and have fun and see new things vs not dying. Since we had never explored this place we had no idea if a certain trail fell down 20 feet off a cliff or into a cave with some bear. Thus we had the constant tension of having fun but slow down 🙂 We all had a blast and wish we could have stayed there longer but the heat was getting a bit much. 

The guy selling ice cream in the parking lot was killing it. Luckily we had packed our plugin cooler with some cold beverages and ate lunch in the shelter in the parking lot…still hot. 

If you have never been there the parking lot was decent, however, we were road tripping. Many of the places we went and parked I would have a hard time getting into with our now 45 foot vehicle. 

After lunch, we headed over to the Royal Tyrrell Museum. 

It’s interesting how you can hype something up in your head so much only to leave you vastly disappointed. I have to say, the museum was great, but if you take the amount we paid and divide it by the minutes it took our children to push everyone out of the way as they made their mad dash to the dinosaurs, it was our most expensive per minute activity on the whole trip. The large dinosaurs are the highlight and as expected they are kept in a large room at the end of the tour. Before there are rooms filled with various other interesting artifacts, well for some. For our children, we were like ten-year-olds walking their oversized dogs on a windy day. There was no slowing them down. 

20 minutes later we exited the museum and enjoyed the park outside. 

It was also during this time that the kids found out that there were cactuses on the hillsides. Dear Lord help us. Suddenly everyone had to have their own cactus and don’t steal my cactus lol. 

We love Drumheller and if you have never been there put it on your list. Go check it out and see this great little town and all it has to offer.