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Fifth wheel trip to British Columbia

After supper yesterday, the missus took the girls shopping. I stayed behind to relax. That didn't last long as I decided to make an adjustment to the tongue on the fifth wheel dropping it down a hole. This will give me more clearance between the box rails and fifth wheel. We'll see how it handles tomorrow.

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Awesome to follow along on your trip. You are sneaking up on the Rockies. Getting close. Looking forward to pics.
 
Doc said:
Awesome to follow along on your trip. You are sneaking up on the Rockies. Getting close. Looking forward to pics.
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We won't actually be driving in the rockies with the trailer as our destination is in a low valley closeish to the rockies. We'll have to take a drive one day to see them apparently.

Meanwhile drumheller is amazing. The scenery is just wow. We checked out an old coal mine that closed in 1984 after being open over 100 years and supplying coal around the world.
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watch where you step. There's cactus everywhere.

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Some of the old mining equipment. It said right on the plaque that some of that equipment on display was responsible for many injuries and deaths.

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The old electrical supply shop in the same condition as when the mine closed.

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After a shift, the miners would shower and leave their dirty work clothes hanging from the ceiling on a chain and pulley.

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The largest dinosaur on earth (apparently)

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Ahh got it. With one more time change i was guessing you were crazy enough to cross them with your fifth wheel and you were headed to the Vancouver side.

I can imagine they would be very tough with a fifth wheel camper behind ya.
 
Doc said:
Ahh got it. With one more time change i was guessing you were crazy enough to cross them with your fifth wheel and you were headed to the Vancouver side.

I can imagine they would be very tough with a fifth wheel camper behind ya.
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Yah, we're heading to northeast bc just before the northern rockies start. It's actually part of the Alaska hwy. So I want to drive that for a bit without the trailer. We'll be heading up about an hour past Dawson creek where the Alaska hwy starts. In Dawson creek, you can branch off and drive to tumbler Ridge at the foothills of the rockies. We'll have to take a drive.
 
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Meanwhile, we went to the royal Tyrrell museum. This area is the largest deposit of dinosaur fossils found in the world and is recognized as a world heritage site. Paleontologists from around the world keep coming here every spring and are making new discoveries annually as erosion occurs. Here's a small sample of the displays.


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The lovely missus and I had no real plans for this trip. We had a destination out of coincidence that she has an aunt she hadn't seen in years and wanted to see once more. And BC seemed like a good destination for an rv trip. We only booked campgrounds and set out an actual travel itinerary a few weeks ago. She had a couple places she wanted to see. All along, I was just going by the Ole saying "shut up and drive" Don't ask questions. Traveling with 3 women across the country in a fifth wheel travel trailer is a big test of patience in itself. 🤣 Anyho...I was only adamant that if I'm going to British Columbia, I'm going to see the rockies come hell or high water.

Our destination is in a low valley and actually still part of the prairies despite being in BC. An hour before our destination is Dawson creek where the Alaska hwy starts. Our destination is actually part of the hwy. But after doing some research on the map, we will be near Tumbler Ridge where we can see the mountains and be part of it. We will be I. Fort st John British Columbia 3 nights. I made the executive decision that we will be taking a drive one day about an hour and half drive away. Here's some quick Google images. See what it actually looks like when we get there.
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Total side note. I've been checking the marketplace classifieds for anything interesting out here. Check this out. Want to own history?

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I'm tired.🥱 First off, we made it to our campsite for tonight in whitecourt alberta. It was about a 6hr drive in total but we broke it up by stopping at Rocky mountain house national park to check out a some old fur trading forts and go for a 3km hike through the woods. We left drumheller and climbed out of the gorge on a 9% grade. The truck did fine climbing but later had a couple of ignition coil burps just to remind me that it's still a ford and can make my life miserable. Started chattering and missing on a hill. I pulled over, plugged in my code scanner and reset it and kept going. Was fine all day after that. Northern alberta was mostly flat prairies with a huge gorge carved in the middle. As we drove on, the terrain became more rolling hills and the prairies turned back into wilderness like I'm used to at home.

Here's the north Saskatchewan river. It was flowing fast. Crystal clear water. Actually the air was very crisp and fresh if that makes sense. We could actually see the mountains in the distance as we were only 150km from Jasper national park. But we still had 3 hrs driving and didn't want to detour 3hrs.
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We went for a 3km hike and checked out some old fur trading forts.

Off in the distance was a natural gas plant built in the 70s. As they were building it, they uncovered a bunch of native burials. They relocated the bodies to this nearby cemetery next to the location of one of the 1800s fur trading forts.


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They would travel down the north Saskatchewan river on boats similar to this.

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As far as campsites go...this one is nice. Grassed. Fire pit. Open. Quiet. No bugs. No kids screaming. $52 per night full hook up. Koa the last 2 nights....smaller sites. No grass. No fire pit. Screaming kids till 11pm. $100 a night. I thought about leaving it hooked up tonight but decided to unpin as I was too high on the front now that I dropped the hitch. BTW. That was the right call. Strong winds today. Barely a wiggle. Handled much better. 👌

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Observations on the campground in northern alberta? This is in the heart of the Canadian oil fields. There's been oil pump Jack's littered throughout the fields from here to Saskatchewan. Half of the campers in the park are actually oil field workers staying in their campers for the summer as it's way cheaper than rent up here.
 
We made it to fort St John BC. The drive from whitecourt was nice. About 5hrs. It started off as flat prairies which slowly turned to rolling hills and trees. When we hit Dawson creek BC, the start of the Alaska hwy, the hills got bigger and steeper but weren't noticeable until a sign said warning 12% downhill grade for 5.8km to the peace river then back up the other side. The ford handled it fine. We're here 3 nights
 
We're set up for 3 nights here.

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Some observations after driving halfway across Canada this week. Fuel prices back home were averaging around 1.35 per liter. The cheapest I saw across the country was 1.22 on an Indian reservation but most was around 1.32.
 
NorthernRedneck said:
We're set up for 3 nights here.

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Some observations after driving halfway across Canada this week. Fuel prices back home were averaging around 1.35 per liter. The cheapest I saw across the country was 1.22 on an Indian reservation but most was around 1.32.
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We are at $2.97 a gallon here which I think equates to $0.79 American per liter. Or $1.08 Per Liter

20% higher???


Geez....!
 
Sitting in a campground south of edmonton alberta waiting on 3 women to get ready to head to the west edmonton mall aka one of the biggest malls in America. Please 🙏 for me. 😪 I've been dreading it the whole trip.

Yesterday's drive was loooong. We left shortly after 8am mountain time from fort st john heading to edmonton alberta. I booked a simple campground for 2 nights just south of the city. We visited with family in the city last night. My back is killing me after the drive yesterday. To the point where I am using my arm canes to walk and we're renting a scooter for me at the mall.
 
Been at the mall 2 hrs. So far it's 2 hrs of my life I'll never get back. But the girls are happy. I'm just cruising around on a rental scooter. Personally I could care less if I ever stepped into another mall.
 
Meh.....it's a mall. I didn't see a single store in the entire mall that was a case of....I just have to go to west edmonton mall. Sure there's gimmicks. There's a full sized ice rink. A water park (for $70 per person...no thanks), and an amusement park....sorry but I go to a mall to shop. Not listen to screaming kids. And what's up with all the Chinese and east Indian zombies walking around staring at their fn phones bumping into people. Like why must you be on a video call while walking through a store? People are just ignorant of everyone else around them 🙄. Honestly, I can say that I have been to west edmonton mall. Check that non existant item off my bucket list. It's a mall. Bunch of overpriced stores. Loud techno music playing everywhere with Asian tourists staring at their cell phones bumping into me while I try to navigate the crowd on a mobility scooter. No thanks. There's a day of my life wasted.
 
Are we there yet? Stopped in loydminister on the Saskatchewan border. It's been nothing but trees and prairies since edmonton this morning with a few rolling hills. From here, the trees and hills disappear. I think there's maybe 3 corners in the next 100km. 🥱
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Yup. Sums it up pretty much. We pulled in to our campsite just outside of Saskatoon Saskatchewan at 4pm. By 4:15, we were checked in. Level in the site. Awning out. Table set up and grill on for supper. Of course the mandatory 🍺 🍻.

I left the truck hooked up and only dropped the back jacks as we're on the road again tomorrow. Which was going to be a very long driving day originally as we had planned on Winnipeg Manitoba tomorrow night. Instead I made the executive decision last week after a similar length day to split up the drive tomorrow and get home a day later. Tomorrow's drive is to roblin Manitoba. About the halfway point to Winnipeg. It was a dot on the map with a campsite.
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I've been kinda keeping an eye on how much gas it's costing along with campsites vs flying somewhere for the same time and renting a car hotel restaurants etc just for comparison. We've been averaging between 4-500km per day. Hauling the fifth wheel is roughly one tank every 450km. So I figured a full tank of fuel a day which has been costing around $130. Plus $50 on average per night. And whatever groceries we buy along the way. Figure $250 per day for 15 days including groceries. For four adults. That's $3750. I'll have to see what an all inclusive trip somewhere for four adults would be including car rental for comparison.
 
NorthernRedneck said:
For four adults. That's $3750. I'll have to see what an all inclusive trip somewhere for four adults would be including car rental for comparison.
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The Mrs. and I do a lot of traveling and sometimes our son comes along.
I will say that it's a lot more than $250/day. A car + hotel is probably $300/day then you have to add food and airfare.
For us, airfare is close to free as the Mrs. has enough airline credits to pay for the tickets.
For food, we normally eat breakfast for free at the hotel then have a grocery store bought lunch and dinner at a restaurant. We don't eat at high end restaurants so I'd say around $40/person/day.
Except for food, the son has no real expenses.
 
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We made it to roblin Manitoba today. After driving halfway across Canada in 2 weeks, I can safely award Saskatchewan with the roughest roads in Canada. After leaving Loydminister this morning heading east on the transcanada hwy, I had to shake my head. What a patched up mess for over 100km. Two lanes and rough as hell from the patches upon patches which have patches over those. Tomorrow is on to Winnipeg. The weather was crap today. Strong winds and rain along with a lightning storm. The truck handled it fine. We stopped for lunch at a park along the road. Leftover fajitas. I left it pinned up and only dropped the back jacks again. Not even level tonight but we're on the road again first light.
 
I'm guessing you haven't drove on too many of manitobas highways, hands down the worst. Not sure which route you're taking from Roblin but you're about to find some rough ones.
 
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