THE ROAD TO THE PARK

Here we are!!!

Yikes!

Well, with all the getting to the Park and getting things going we've been only a bit busy.

With the park open and the first long weekend behind us we feel like we can now settle into a regular schedule. 

But I still have to show you our trip up from Chilliwack to Kentucky Alleyne Provincial Park a few weeks ago. Sorry I don't have time to show you on a map - but rather than going the quick - but steep - route straight to the park we took the longer but more scenic route through Lytton and Spences Bridge and then over to Merritt.

We got a late start on Monday - probably wasn't until about 3:00 pm when we began our trek east. Probably a good thing - it was a quiet ride. Here's our turn to go north.

Lots of tunnels on the way up. 

And a coyote! Nice of him to look back and pose for us! 

We swung down into Lytton recalling all of our weekly trips here while we worked at Skihist and Goldpan Provincial Parks for two summers. We also needed gas - there is one at the highway but we know that the cheaper price is at the Native gas station on the other side of town. Worth the detour.

We pulled off a Skihist for old time sake - it was before May 1 so the park wasn't open yet. 

It was also about 5:00 pm so the four of us just took a short walk.

We continued along the #1 - a beautiful drive along the Thompson River. 

Always fun driving under the train - too bad Cassia had fallen a sleep by this point.

At Spences Bridge we head east. It is one of our favourite spots - too bad the town is too small to live in. 

One of our favourite points along the drive from Spences Bridge to Merritt. 

Since we knew we couldn't make it up to our Park - plus go shopping - we pulled off for the night at a recreation site just west of Merritt. 

Nice little campground by the river.

The next day after stopping in Merritt for groceries we continued to the park. Much different terrain now - right?!

We are going UP! There is a huge elevation gain in the half hour drive from Merritt to the Park - about a 1,500 ft. 

Which is why we can still see snow! Yikes!

Now a right off the highway….

The little community of Aspen Grove.

A few minutes later we turn onto the road leading to the park. We are 6 ams in which is nice for keeping the park quiet.

It is spring isn't it?! More like late winter up here at 3,400 ft.

Because we didn't have a key for our compound we chose a site to camp at until our boss came.

We arrived on Tuesday and had great - read HOT - temps until Friday. We spent a lot of time at the lake. 

And hiking the 4km trail around Kentucky Lake.

Cassia and Derek had fun getting themselves stuck. This isn't sand - it's ground up marine life - more like quick sand. 

And then this happened. Yup - spring in Canada! We got into the compound on Friday and woke to this on Sunday morning. Ouch!

It didn't stop us from getting out however, and it was melted by the afternoon.

Instead of a cake for the three of us we settled on strawberry cupcakes for my 44th Birthday on May 10th. A big weekend for me with my birthday on Saturday and Mother's Day on Sunday.

Prior to the park opening - while we were busy getting it cleaned up - we had a few visitors.

This guy set himself up right by our compound - the more Rufus barked the closer he came. 

A bit nerve racking since Derek was off in the park cleaning. He eventually moved on though.

I'll put more photos up over the summer - this was just a quick run through our first few weeks of May. The park opened last week and started off with a bang with the long weekend. By Friday afternoon all 58 sites were full.

Among the campers was this couple - Sue and Doug - and their dog Tucker. New great friends. You can find them over at BIGDAWG AND FREEWAY. Sue and Doug have been camping at K-A for years - we were happy that they joined us for the weekend - we had a great time visiting with them! Thanks again you two for the water and more than delicious pumpkin loaf Sue!

We'll that's it for me for now!

Although it's nice to have wifi and electricity at the library it is hard to get a post up with all the other errands we have to do in town with only coming in once a week. 

Next time I'll post some more pictures of the park and surrounding area….

And Cassia's Birthday which is just around the corner now. She turns five (five??????!!!!!!) on May 28th. 

Teresa

OUR SUMMER JOB

So, now with all things winter behind us I can get to telling you all about our summer plans. 

Although managing campgrounds is something we want to get away from - we knew this year we would in order to get ourselves in a position to relocate and settle down in the fall. 

We did have BIG dreams last November, you may recall, of heading up to the Yukon. We sent out a ton of letters with our resumes but didn't have much luck. In the end we figured that it was too far anyway. We could have secured a Park Manager job then at Muncho Lake way up in BC, just as we could have last spring, but in the end the distance, no cabin, no electricity, bugs and three hour drive (one way!) to get groceries scared us off.

So, we narrowed our focus. In the new year we sent out our info to all the Contractors operating BC Parks in the lower half of British Columbia. In February we heard back from the fellow who took over the bundle from our previous boss, who in turn offered us a park.

THE SAME PARK WE STARTED WITH!

And the same park that in the fall of 2006, led us to look at each other and swear that we would never ever manage a park again!

Gulp!

Eight years later and three more years of park managing wiser - we decided to go for it. Mainly due to the fact that we didn't have any other options but also realizing that it wasn't such a bad gig after all.

We took ourselves way to seriously with ENFORCING rules to the letter the first time around.

Although the park doesn't open until May 15, tomorrow we are heading to:

Kentucky-Alleyne Provincial Park - click on the name to get all of the info. Since we don't have any of our own pictures I've had to borrow these ones.

Source

A 58 site, fairly rustic campground in the forest, set on two lakes - Kentucky & Alleyne Lakes. Pretty - right? They sure are and very popular with the fishing crowd. You can see an arial of the area on Google here.

I got this picture from Family Outdoor Adventures - actually, the blogger gives a pretty good description of Kentucky Alleyne.

Source

If you are looking for us - that is where we'll be this summer (unless you are a serial killer of course!) Starting May 8th for 147 days straight. That's right - when we work we work. Seven days a week for five months. No commute - no Mondays.

Last year we managed a park in east central Alberta. It was ok but not really our place (Too cool and wet for starters), on the other hand the campers were nice and they were very clean. For the two summers before that we managed Skihist and Gold Pan Provincial Parks.  If you would like to know what this type of job entails I wrote A Day in the Life of a Park Facility Operator back in September 2012 and I wrote my first post about being a PFO at BCP in 2011.

And the bad news?

Well, here's the thing. Unlike the last three summers - there is no cabin. There is no electricity. There is no internet.

No kitchen, no plumbing, no showers.

A bar sized fridge in our van.

At 3,400 feet = cold in the early part of the season.

We'll be camping in Hraefn for  f i v e   m o r  e   m o n t h s. (Drag that out as you read it as I'm doing).

Is that crazy or what?!

Boy, won't we be happy to move into a house (the house yet to be determined) next fall.

That is why we didn't leave the USA without investing in a tent - a very large tent, and a queen sized blow up mattress. It's going to be tent city in the K-A compound. Don't worry, I'll take a few pictures for you once it is all set up.

Of course you probably just caught the one part that will affect you - if you are a regular reader of course - no internet.

Yes, after pretty much stating last year that we would not go another summer without internet we are back to a summer without internet. Sigh. Back to a few posts a month I guess.

Fingers crossed that this will be our 5th, and final, year managing a campground.

Because no, we are not traveling next winter and yes, we are going to finally settle down - get a house and real jobs in the fall. Maybe. (I say maybe because although we are sure - you are not. You don't believe me - so guess we'll all have to wait and see - right?!)


Leaving here tomorrow, after totally overstaying our welcome with family (actually the strata rules), we were planning on taking a week to tour around before heading to the park.

Strike that.

After a month here in the lower mainland (read b u s y) we are headed straight there for the peace and quiet of the forest.

First chance we get, I'll post some pictures of our ride to the park and what it is like there now - certainly not like the pictures above at this time of year! We'll just be happy to see most of the snow melted!

Teresa

OUR WINTER - LOOKING BACK

I'm glad that I have this chance to write a post looking back on our winter trip - 2013/14. Last year I missed out because we didn't have wifi at Jubilee Regional Park and by the time we went into Lloydminster for wifi I didn't really want to sit at the Home Depot doing the research. We did have a good year though - our 3 1/2 months in Mexico was much fun.

I did do a post the year before however which you can find here at Thoughts on our 2011/2012 USA Tour. 

And this year? Well, here it is. 

What a trip. I think I say that every year. Looking back always leaves me breathless - going over the pictures all in one go.

It wasn't our best winter south. Of the five I would put it fourth - only one winter worse then this one. A whole other story!

If you are late to the party - we weren't even sure we wanted to travel south this past winter. It was 50/50. Unfortunately we couldn't find a place to rent quickly (and the prices scared us off) in Castlegar so we decided to hit the road.

But it wasn't trouble free. The combination of missing the Appalachian colours, the cool and unpredictable weather and our mechanical issues meant that we weren't loving being on the road.

On the other hand, there were many bright lights that kept us from totally loosing our way. And the breweries? Well, they became islands in a stormy sea for us. Places to drop anchor and relax for an evening. With their friendly atmosphere and welcoming nature we felt like Norm at almost every craft brew we entered.

In the end, the Wood Clan made the most of it and are thankful for another safe trip seeing such beautiful sights and meeting wonderful people - we made some good friends this trip as we always do - internet friends included of course!

How the trip started out - hmmmm - hopefully Rufus can endure Cassia this trip! At least we were traveling in style with our newly renovated van.

We are particular fans of our silhouette shots - we have them from one end of the USA to the other. This was early on in the trip at the beginning of our trek through Yellowstone.

And we finally made it to Old Faithful.

We found the best pizza ever in Dubois Wyoming. 

I have to say that Cassia is up for almost anything - these pools were COLD. Guess most kids are like that …..

Happy to be back in Idaho Springs, Colorado which we had stopped in and discovered in the spring on our way home. Here we are on our way to Tommyknockers. 

Jumping ahead to Rolla Missouri and the Public Brewing House where Derek spent the afternoon learning how to home brew. Here we met a great couple that we still keep in contact with - Daniel and Jennifer - avid home brewers.

On the blog we show you a lot of pictures of the places we visit but actually we spend quite a bit of time in the van. We have been known to have a kitchen dance party or two.

Who cannot forget the five weeks we spent visiting with our friends in Hendersonville, North Carolina in addition to housesitting. Thanks again to Curt and Debbie for providing us with a respite - and the comforts of home - for a while.

It was all good until the weather started going this way….

We did stick around long enough for Cassia to be totally traumatized by meeting Santa. She still talks about the fact that on the trip she wasn't a fan of meeting Yogi Bear or Santa.

We began our trip down the Natchez Trace the way it should be started….

Our 444 mile trip down the Natchez Trace was cool but quiet. We stayed overnight at two of the free campgrounds having them to ourselves. 

We pulled off for Christmas Eve spending it in Tupelo, Mississippi. 

Following a great visit - as always with Pastor Jerry and his wife Barbara in New Braunfels, we were headed to Mexico. Sadly, we decided at South Padre Island that it probably wasn't the best plan and so continued west through Texas.

The Gage Hotel in Marathon was a highlight which just goes to show that something good can come out of a bad - we ended up staying the night because after our tour of the town we came back to a flat tire.

And who can forget our one week of boondocking in theTerlingua/Study Butte area. This is my favourite picture of the entire trip.

And my second favourite picture - mainly because it represents how much we enjoyed our boat ride at 

Elephant Butte State Park. A big thanks again to Shane who offered us a free ride and once again showing that there are some great people out there.

We were happy to return White Sands National Monument. Derek and I had been back in 2006 but it was nice to visit with Cassia. Kids + sand = a good thing.

Looks like our craft beer drinking was rubbing off on Rufus - what a booze hound.

A winter south wouldn't be the same without our annual stop at the Shell Gas Station just outside of Gila Bend.

And a stop at the Lowe's in Buckeye for Cassia to visit her Desert Cassia bush.

We made quick work of the space between Buckeye and the California coast. It was unanimous that Carpinteria was our favourite coastal town. Beach + playground + craft brew = priceless.

One of my favourite days was the one we spent exploring at at Pigeon Point Light Station SHP.

We certainly made some serious progress on our craft brew sticker collection - right?! So, what is your guess on how many craft breweries we visited this trip? Yup - I counted them - I'll let you know below.

And finally - after five months we were once again crossing the border.

Here are the numbers:

By the way - I only keep tabs on the amount of milage we make and how much we spend on gas. Oh - and how much we spend on overnights. I try to keep a tally of the rest but it never works out - this year I gave up trying. 

total miles driven: 11,121 miles (17,897km!!) from Lloydminister Alberta to our most southern point in the USA - South Padre Island - and back to Chilliwack BC.

total gas cost: $3,681 (ouch!) that is a whopping 86 gas stations visits. Since we have to pay cash at gas stations in the USA that was a lot of trips into the gas stations for me (except for Oregon of course). If you like those kinds of stats that is an average of 33¢ per mile. I think last year was 30¢ - so that's what we get for pulling the trailer this year. This year I didn't keep track of the price of gas - the lowest was probably the $2.99 in Missouri and the highest in California at almost $4.00 per gallon. I'd say the average was probably around $3.50 per gallon. Still better than the cost at home right now which is $1.39 per litre = $5.56 per gallon!

total propane cost: $110 pretty good - right?! Considering that is for running the fridge, stove and furnace for five months - and it was a cold winter!

total overnight cost: $246 also pretty good considering we were gone for 152 nights and that number represents paying for 16 nights which is an average of $15 per night. Thanks again to Home Depot, Lowe's and the various craft breweries where we spent most of our nights.

and a drum roll please…….

total craft breweries visited: 44 that was fun! And hey - not that costly because even though it looked like we drank a lot we didn't - really. Usually one flight and a pint. I'd say that we got out of most breweries with a tab under $20. 

Those are the numbers: 

The highlights for us I think were: 

+ Kansas and Missouri - we had never been to these two states and from what we saw they are very nice places with lovely people - we certainly enjoyed the lower prices of most every thing in Missouri. We found the cheapest gas there at $2.99 per gallon.

+ The Natchez Trace - although cool it was a nice way to spend Christmas.

+ South Padre Island - I was last there back in 1994 so it was nice to return - it hasn't changed much. It was misty but it was our first trip to the beach since Mexico.

+ Terlingua/Study Butte - what can I say -  we LOVE that area!

+ El Paso and Gordon Lightfoot - definitely one of the best parts of our winter. I'm glad that after driving through El Paso on the interstate for several years we made the trip downtown. Not once - but twice - to see Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot at The Plaza with the tickets we won on Facebook.

+ New Mexico - we had been to New Mexico a few times here and there - it was nice to spend two weeks getting a really good look. Albuquerque and Taos were highlights - Santa Fe was not. Some great craft beer in New Mexico with Taos Mesa and Sierra Blanca as our favourites - although really - it's best not to have to choose. 

+ The California and Oregon Coast - well, it started out with good weather. Looking back I could have done without the #1 Highway experience but at least now we can say we did it. Highlights were definitely Carpinteria and Morro Bay. If we had had more time I think that Cambria would have also been a fav.

+ The Redwoods - those are some BIG trees - totally worth all the talk about this area.

+ The Columbia River Gorge - for a place that started out as a place to kill some time we truly came to appreciate all that this area has to offer - even during a cool and wet spring.

And the low points:

- all of our mechanical issues - sheesh - about $1,500 worth - batteries, alternator, voltage regulator, fuel filter and two tires. It got so we spent most of our time holding our breaths wondering what would go wrong next.

- and those places we had high expectations for that fell flat. I'll be nice and not mention any names.

That's looking back - next post I'll tell you about what is ahead. 

Sorry Cj - one more night! 

Teresa