FRIDAY, AUGUST 1

FRIDAY,  AUGUST 1:

     Took our time leaving this campground, as we can’t check in until 1:00 at the new place.  Enjoyed eating our breakfast outside. 


                                                             

 

This was a very nice place to stay, even though we essentially just used it as a place to sleep at night.  Folks actually use this place as a refuge from urban Vancouver – in effect, doing the opposite of what we did.  And of course, if you live in Vancouver, I can see why.  Squamish and environs is a beautiful area.  I mentioned the Sea to Sky Hwy as being very scenic, and so is Squamish itself, nestled in between the mountains and Howe Sound.  It’s a big mountain biking area. We went into the Town Centre once, and it’s very charming.  If we had wanted to spend less time in Vancouver itself, or if we could have stayed at Eagle Vista this weekend, we probably would have explored more of this immediate area.  Forty-five minutes up the road is Whistler, where a lot of the 2010 winter Olympics took place.

 

                                                     

                                            A yurt for rent (cross between a tent and a cabin):

   

     So we drove south on the highway for the last time.  After yet another wrong turn debacle in getting to our new RV park, we arrived.  Bill (and I) had been dreading getting into our site here, as they are all very narrow and all back-in’s.  The reviews I’d read had even said things like if you and your neighbor both had slides, they were an inch or two of each other.  That’s one of the reasons we opted for the campground in Squamish, despite the drive in and back each day.  Plus the cost – this is $20 more a nite.  But if we wanted to stay the extra couple of days, we had no choice – this was the ONLY place around which had vacancies for this weekend.  And, at this point it was too late to decide to leave Vancouver and go to Victoria – all of the ferries had been fully booked for quite a while.  (As we were driving down here past the exit for the ferry terminal, we saw the line of vehicles on the hwy stretch for at least half-a-mile . . . and that’s just to exit the highway to get in line at the terminal.) 

     As I said, we were anticipating a very challenging time getting the RV backed in.  But a welcome surprise this time (as opposed to the string of Unwelcome surprises we’d had a couple of days back).  Bill actually had very little trouble, with the aid of the guy next door giving him a few hints.  And once we got backed in, was easy-peasy to get set up – totally level concrete pads.   

     Shortly after we got set up, Bill drove into Vancouver (we’re right at the north end of the Lions Gate Bridge here – very easy access to it) to get the bike he saw yesterday. (So 2 of the 3 issues we encountered a couple of days ago have now been resolved.  Guess which one is going to be ignored??)   I couldn’t face driving in downtown traffic again, so I relaxed and napped here.  The RV park really isn’t bad at all, contrary to what we’d been anticipating based on some reviews.  Yes, the sites are small, and if you have a big rig like ours, you need to make every foot count, including how to park your vehicle.  But there is some hedging between rows, so that helps.  And another complaint was the city traffic noise, especially from the bridge, which is barely noticeable to us.  And if you had noisy neighbors, that would be really bad.  But, thankfully, we don’t.   We wouldn’t want to stay here for an extended period of time, for 3 nights it’s perfectly fine.  

                                                                 

     We did have room for our Bar-b-que grill, so we grilled ribs for dinner.  First time since we’ve been in Vancouver that we’ve cooked a real meal.  Tasted very good to us. 

     Our other next door neighbors approached Bill as he was outside grilling.  They’re from Holland and have been touring western Canada for about 3 weeks.  They’re leaving tomorrow and offered their left-over groceries to us.  What a nice, friendly gesture!  I met them later – a very, very nice family (2 teenaged girls).  This was their first visit to North America, and they really enjoyed it – said everyone was very welcoming to them, and much more relaxed than back home.

     This is the first day since we left Jasper which wasn’t brilliantly sunny.  Was cloudy for most of the day, and even looked like it could rain at times.  A good day for travelling.  (Photos with bright blue sky were taken the next morning.)