Hi Everyone, Well here it is already the middle of April and the crush of the rush at RV part stores, tech shops, and mechanical garages is on. I have noticed a significant increase in RV’er traffic in all of these shops as everyone begins to get their rigs in shape for the upcoming season. I know I already have my rig in at the RV tech Shop getting a new awning installed. I have had to leave it with them for three weeks in order to get the work done when they had the time to do it. Next will be a new propane tank which I expect to also take about three weeks to get installed. Then it will be all about my own maintenance and upgrades that I will install on the RV, and I have a list that will take me most of May to accomplish.
As it stands right now there are only 36 days until the May long weekend and the official start of the camping season. If you have not started getting your rig ready you might want to consider looking at it starting this weekend. Already it might be impossible to get your rig in to a tech or mechanic and have it back before the May long weekend but there is always a chance.
April has been a big month for us in terms of reserving campsites in BC. Let me tell you it has been nerve racking and very competitive. For several locations we barely got in, and as we somehow managed to reserve our sites the small amount of open sites got taken as we finished our reservation. Getting into Rathtrevor beach was very stressful. Up until the time we had to book there were no open spots available in the campground, luckily the day we had to book 8 sites came available and one of them was on our radar screens so with a bit of luck and an early start to a Saturday morning I was able to get a site reserved that we liked so that Lorraine and I could have our sunset wedding on the beach at Rathtrevor.
Unfortunately I was unable to secure a spot at Haynes point in Osoyoos BC. The ever popular campground was fully booked with only three spots becoming available on my booking day. When I attempted to book one of those spots my browser froze and by the time it unfroze the three open spots were gone. Sala vie and off I went to plan B. Plan B was booking in at Bear Creek Provincial Park and Campground, located in the Okanagan across the lake from Kelowna. This was also another very popular campground and I got in by the skin of my teeth. As I tried to book a site my first attempt failed and by the time I picked another spot I was down to only two available. It was nerve racking to say the least as the other campgrounds in the Okanagan were also full or had only a few poor sites available.
Never the less We have managed to book three quarters of our Wedding and Honeymoon trip into BC and now only have two more spots to reserve. Here’s hoping I have as much luck booking the last quarter as I have had on the first three quarters of the trip. It only goes to show that my words of encouragement about planning and being aware of when you need to book and being on line early is very true! If you have not been playing the booking game as we have then your options will be very limited. Of course there is always first come first serve sites but remember these are always in limited supply.
This year our first camping trip of the season will be on June 4th to June 9th at Medicine lake Alberta. This is a favorite spot for us and again because of planning we got our favorite spot on the lake. Unfortunately Lorraine is working the May long and this is the first available week that we both had to start our season. After this trip we will be busy tripping out every two weeks until July 28th when we start the big trip to the West coast and beyond.
As we start the back half of April the excitement is building and my itch to get working on my RV is only getting worse. May will be here soon enough I guess, and then I will be finished site booking, my rig will have two new Items added to it, and then my own work on the rig can begin. May will be a busy month and of course our countdown to our start of the season will begin. As we go through our preparations for the start of our season we wish all of you the best of luck with your own preparations and bookings. We hope everyone will get there perfect camping experience in 2019.
Happy Trails
The Glampurs.