Friday, September 25, 2015
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B01
SPECIAL SECTION
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Fraser Cove RV Camp, Lillooet Fra
Klahanie Campground and RV Park Naramata Bench Courtesy Destination BC
Mission Hill Estate Winery entrance
View of Seton Lake
Sea to Sky gondola bridge
Alison Lake near Princeton
Visit the RV tour gallery at DrivewayCanada.ca
The Hatch Wines in West Kelowna
An awesome road trip through beautiful British Columbia the hood, power was never a problem. It’s hard to imagine a better way to experience Once docked by the side of Howe Sound, I got the Beautiful British Columbia than to tour its highways first real opportunity to survey the accommodation: and byways in a fully-equipped recreation vehicle. a comfy double bed, fully equipped kitchen, dining Recently, yours truly took a six-day, 1,200-kilometre, table that folds to offer another bed, road trip in an RV through some of the biffy with shower and yet another most spectacular scenery this province bed above the cab, bringing sleeping has to offer, thanks to the generosity room for five. of the promoters of the Snowbird RV The start of Day Two found Show starting September 24th, and the us enjoying the spectacular views help of Destination BC and regional from, the top of the new Sea to Sky tourist associations. Gondola. Time to head north through My job puts me behind the wheel of Squamish, Whistler and 100-kilomevehicles of all sizes and power, but I tre mountainous stretch that would must admit to suffering some anxiety A six-day, hone my skills – the Duffey Lake about safely steering the seven-metre Road from just beyond Pemberton to long, almost 3.5-metre tall Adventur- 1,200-kilometre, the gorgeous head of Seton Lake and er 23RB RV over some challenging road trip in an RV terrain. Perhaps the best preparation through some of the on to Lillooet. It provides awesome scenery between steep inclines, tight were the times I have driven large rentswitchbacks and narrow one-lane al trucks during my children’s frequent most spectacular scenery this province bridges. The auto transmission’s moves! tow mode smoothed out the climbs, First stop was a short hour’s drive has to offer. descents and need for hard braking. from Fraserway RV’s rental centre on Keith Morgan A stiff shot of single-malt whisky at Annacis Island to Klahanie Campthe Pemberton Distillery prepared ground and RV Park at the stunning my drive partner for the breathtaking and scary Shannon Falls, along Highway 99. Enough time views deep, down into the valley below. By the time to get an introduction to the vehicle’s size and we reached the 38-degree heat of the Fraser Cove manoeuvrability. With a Ford V10 gas engine under
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WIN! ENTER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO
Campground, by the river at Lillooet, I was ready for a chilled Riesling from the nearby Fort Berens winery. The air conditioning worked over time as we tucked into a warm salad – well, it was by the time it was served! Respect for fellow campers, prompted a click of the AC off switch after lights out. Day Three: Lillooet to Vernon features open highway and the chance to open up the throttle. It’s easy to push the needle to 100 klicks but frankly the higher speed take away from the visual delights displayed on both sides of the road. And as I slowed I put myself in the driver’s seat of the car behind, pulling to the side every time I spotted three cars in my mirror. The Cedar Falls Campground is a picturesque and tranquil woodland spot by Silver Star Mountain. The howling coyotes were a nice reminder that this is wilderness. A further reminder holding your iPhone in outstretched hand to get a signal from the camp Wi-Fi! We also had mobile Wi-Fi aboard, which worked well on the road. Day Four was a slow drive through the Okanagan Valley to Kaleden, taking in The Hatch Wines and Mission Hill Estate Winery in West Kelowna and enjoying a barrel tasting at Van Westen Vineyards in Naramata. The skies darkened with a mix of rain-filled clouds and smoke drifting up the valley from the wildfires
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Kamloops Vernon z z Salmon Arm Whistler z z Kelowna Squamish z z Penticton Hope Princeton z z z z z Lillooet
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around Oliver. A gale howled as we settled for the night at the Camp-Along Tent and Trailer Resort. Day Five: Time to empty the discreetly named black water tank. Donned the plastic gloves and got on with it. It all went smoothly, so to speak. Keremeos opened the door to the Similkameen Valley and tempted us with the last of the summer fruit. It soon gave way to more rugged terrain leading to the generously equipped Princeton Municipal Campground. Day Six would see us climb and journey homebound along the Hope-Princeton Highway, past rushing streams that made mockery of the extended drought most of the province was enduring. Fresh corn welcomed us home from both sides of the Fraser Valley. Go to drivewaybc.ca for more about our stops along the way and a gallery of pictures. keith.morgan@drivewaybc.ca
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