Arriving in Osoyoos. Early 🤬

We went for an hour country drive about and checked out the Kettle River Provincial Park. We've always enjoyed our stay there plus the biking along the KVR bike path.  There were many first come choices available but no power. I know... we are sissies. But those nights are damn cold!

This view is the Rock Creek valley. We had one last fire at Rock Creek. You can't tell from this pic, but it is raining. Hard! When it started dripping through the umbrella we were forced indoors.

We contacted Nk'Mip Resort in Osoyoos and the site we have reserved for Friday was available now! So off we go on Wednesday morning! A 45 minute drive And a beautiful view coming down the hill to Osoyoos.

Unfortunately check in is at 1:00 p.m. FIRM!! The site we are assigned is empty and they would not let us to set up at 11:00 when we arrived. Yes, I may have said s*** a couple times!! So we are currently sitting in a pull-off outside the campground for a couple hours until we can go set up in our campspot. I guess I'll change the bed while I wait. S***!!

Rock Creek it is..

Rock Creek, BC

Kettle River RV Park

Site #29 - $60 (x2) p/w/s

Well we are set up in Rock Creek. We headed to Midway as was our original plan but our usual sites on the River showed "Reserved". We spent quite a bit of time maneuvering in to one of the other available sites. Ron was putting the chocks under the tires when he noticed there was no power in this particular site. Damn. We had planned to stay for two or three nights plus rain and cooler temps were forecasted, so that was not an option for us.

Therefore it was back in the truck and down the road 11 km to the Kettle River RV Park where we had stayed back in 2016 when we had truck transmission trouble.

This wasn't our choice spot and the spitting rain put a damper on the situation. However we will make do for a couple nights. It is your typical side by side trailer park with not much of a privacy or camping feel. We will check out the Kettle River Provincial Park tomorrow. 

A sense of privacy is created with our umbrella and some roasted marshmallows put a smile on our face!

Camping Creston

Erickson, BC

Mountain Park Resort

Site #10: $50 (x2) p/w

We made the 1 1/2 hr trip to Erickson/Creston yesterday. We have stayed here a couple times. It is rather too close to the highway noise but the rushing Goat River below helps block out that sound and the nights are quiet.  Grandson Andrew and Lauren live up the road so hopefully we will get a chance to visit.   

We have a great view from our site. A couple from Manitoba bought this place a few years ago and their parents and kids moved here with them to help manage. They are very friendly hard working people!

There is a cool little Cantina spot next to our site. It looks like they may serve drinks and snacks from there during the busy season. They also have a TV available so a couple of people were catching the Edmonton vs Vegas game last night. Can you spot Ronald?

We opted for a propane fire last night. Sometimes it is just nice to avoid the smoke and sparks!! 

We need to adjust to the time change that happened when we passed through Yahk yesterday. I did manage to sleep in a bit this morning which helps. Unfortunately today is cloudy with rain on and off. We should have saved our grocery shopping for today. It was busy in town with a bustling market taking place.

We will move along to another of our old stomping grounds at Midway tomorrow.  It sounds like our friend Steve, the retired teacher from Australia, still manages the place! 

And today is Mother's Day. A first without mine 😢  

I will finish off my post with this camping beauty....

Update: Andrew and Lauren will drop by after lunch so it will be good to catch up with them. 

more from Kimberley

Ron managed to go for a few short hikes. Unfortunately my hip continues to bother me and walking is difficult.

There is a lot of pretty around this campground with the St Mary River running through. There is a beautiful and busy golf course down from us. Purcell Golf.

We did a quick driving tour of Kimberly. It's a hustling little town with lots of activity. It's a bit too busy for me and it's not even tourist season yet! 

Mostly our days are quiet and spent reading and enjoying the campfires. I took care of some of the necessities such as hand washing our underwear. You can tell how many days we have been on the road by the number of gotch that are hanging on the clothes rack. Lol. 

The campground is pretty quiet. A few one nighters have come and gone and there are some "Seasonals" in this loop. Ron is always striking up conversations. It appears everyone is formerly from the prairies or they have family there. 😉 It may get busier this weekend, but we will move on tomorrow.

Kimberley... the town that is

Kimberley, BC

Riverside Campground

Site #65: $67 (x3) p/w/s/wifi

We left Sparwood at 10:00 a.m. in the sunshine. Our last two days were relaxing and uneventful. We picked up a couple things at the grocery store. Shanon ever concerned about tires thought the front truck tire was a little low.. and yes... 45 psi.....  Grrrr... !! We had to drive around looking for "free air" because Ronnie refused to pay $2. for it! We are now topped up and hopefully there is no leak??

There was still snow in Fernie area. 

But it was a nice 145 km drive to Kimberley. We arrived just in time for lunch.  Looking back on my blog, we are set up in the same site we were in 11 years ago!

This is where there is a tenting site on the level down below us and where one young couple had the area to themselves. Or at least I'm sure they thought they did. The young fellow stripped naked and proceeded to enjoy a solar bag shower that he had hanging in the trees.  He forgot to look up! 🤣🤣

It's a pricey campsite but it comes with a great view.  We are here for 3 nights.

It kind of feels like home with the deer wandering around our yard!

Another day in Sparwood

It hit minus temps during the night so our little electric heater got a good workout! And there was snow or ice crystals on the truck this morning. Speaking of heaters, this was an awesome buy for our RV! This little fella heats up the bathroom quite nicely pre shower!! Love it!!

The noisy Earth moving equipment seems to be finished their work in this park. There are a few electricians in the sites but they aren't too loud!  We opted to stay for a couple more nights.

It was interesting to see all the painted rocks left in many of the campsites here. The children have been busy! I added a few of my own.

After lunch we drove to Elkford. That town lives up to its name. Elk were milling about in the fields, the ditches and even in people's yards! 

We drove up a mountain to one of the coal mines. 

Judging from all the parking lots full of cars and buses, these mines employ a lot of people!

We arrived home to the sweet smell of homemade bread! Camping is tough! 🤔😂 I love my breadmaker(s)!

I don't think I have mentioned that we are actually on our way to Kelowna for granddaughter Remy's wedding. It's not until the end of May, but we are taking our time. Ron's brothers were teasing that "the old guy" just can't drive more than 200 km a day, and they are partially right...lol.. I believe our first stretch was only 140 km! 😂 So yes, it does take us a little time to get where we are going! Also, we haven't quite figured where our next stop will be!

Sparwood, BC

Sparwood, BC

Mountain Shadows Campground

Site #14: $47.25 (x3) p/w/s/wifi (& free wood!)

We awoke to a wet and cool (8C) temp. Luckily we already had our carpet rolled up and packed away. The rain let up long enough to hook up the trailer and by 9:30 we were off.

It was rough highway driving south to Fort MacLeod but we enjoyed the "new to us" country side. There were many beautiful acreages, farms, feedlots and dairies. 

We left the rain behind us and arrived at the Sparwood campground in time for lunch. We have stayed here a few times on our trips to BC. It's along the highway so there is some traffic noise, but the back row in amongst the pines is perfect.

There is some construction and maintenance taking place so we will see what tomorrow brings. Two nights might be more than enough. 

Once again we will enjoy the free firewood! Oh.. And decent free wifi, yay!

Sunshine and Lazy Days

This place is growing on us and we opted to stay for a 4th night. Good choice. Friday was 24C, Saturday 26C! Awesome weather. We were joined by a couple more camping units. The golf course was much busier and a few people came to fish for Trout in the pond. 

We discovered a nice little "walking" trail encircling the park so we did some pedaling. I suspect bikes are not welcome during the busy season? Unfortunately my hip has been bothering me and walking has been a bit of a challenge this week. I hope it passes!!?? At least I can bike! ..Reminders of my bad knee days. 😢

We had a visit from one of the seasonal campers who is parked behind us. On "Geriatric Road" according to the posted road sign!! ... lol. He lives 30 min away but spends the week here golfing and goes home on weekends to do laundry. We have a cute 3 or 4 year old down from us who we've found quite entertaining. The mom wears a Mennonite head scarf and I suspect her husband who is gone all day works at one of the neighboring farms. Enchant was the site of the 1917 founding of the Evangelical Free Church of Canada. We've seen a few long dresses in the area. 

We did do a quick drive through the Hamlet. It has a Post Office, library, a community store and a fairly large school. There is even an Indian Restaurant which when googled appears to be a "hidden gem"!! Apparently this community has 2 little league teams which is pretty amazing for a population of 260-ish! 

Tomorrow we move on. Probably to Sparwood area.

First Night and Hello May!

Night #1 went well. My sleep score tells me an 87%! The fresh air, the quiet plus I think I was exhausted from all the packing!

A little more about this campground. It's a great facility on the outskirts of the small Hamlet of Enchant, AB. Population about 260! It's about 1 hr NW of Taber and not far from Vauxhall, the potato capital of the West.  Apparently there are some huge feedlots in the vicinity. Within the Park there are a number of really nice ball fields, a golf course, lots of horseshoe pits, a swimming pond, multiple little groups of playground equipment for the kids, an old railway museum, an ice cream shop plus a Hall for weddings or other get-togethers. I suspect it's very busy in the summertime!

There are some Seasonal campsites but the other sites are rather close together and currently not real private with no leaves on the trees yet. It is not a problem for us with only a couple other campers. 

This is one of our neighbors all stretched out and relaxed! Looks a lot like us! So cheers...and A happy May 1st! 🍻

Camping Season 2025

Enchant Municipal Park

Site #30: $25 (x4) p only

It's Wednesday, April 30 and SURPRISE. We are camping. We decided to check out a new to us campground about 140km from the Hat. With a name like Enchant, how could you go wrong? 

Well I wouldn't say we were totally enchanted, but it is an okay spot to spend a couple of nights. It feels good to be out of the city and chopping wood once again!

I did enjoy a video chat with Ron's bros while he drove us here. Modern technology is awesome and it's great to be in touch and hear about Richard and Janice's European adventures. Paris, Slovenia, Croatia and now Venice are much more enchanting than our current locale! 😂 

We are settled and paid for a couple nights, did a quick bike tour and are looking forward to a evening fire!