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Post by Brenticon on Oct 18, 2014 19:17:56 GMT -8
Ok, I know I'm not as "smart" as some of the other guys on here. Well, at least not smart enuff to save my posts, but I did want to share on Camper Jam. Camper Jam has been on my "hit" list for the past couple of years, and HTR and myself were lucky enuff to attend it this year. It is a gathering of the Traveling Type II's of Alberta, where every year, for the past five, I believe, have found a nice spot, and put a call out to the buses of Alberta. Well, I found them while googling and youtubing, and said, "Thats what I wanna do." When I did a cross Canada tour, (which I should do a post on, one day), I stumbled on this huge gathering just outside of Ottawa. It was called BusFusion. Definately worth a google. Anyways, after talkin about it for months and trying to get others to join us, it was basically Rob and me, settin off on one of our crazy adventures. Probably our craziest. We decided we were goin to leave a week early, take in Volksfest, then sneak away before it got crazy on the ferries. That was a great idea  _ ....  ....  |
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Post by Brenticon on Nov 5, 2014 14:54:11 GMT -8
SO, I figured I would continue wit this thread story .... So, we took off early to beat the rush for the ferry. It was a good idea, as we had a little wait. A great way to start a road trip, hangin with a bunch of friends, and being around so many Volkswagens was cool. We planned n traveling as far as Manning Park, on Hwy 3, the Hope - Princeton hwy. A crazy and long drive thru Surrey, Cloverdale, and onto the freeway sucked, and it was sure nice once we hit the outskirts of the Fraser Valley. First stop, Bridal Falls. Had a lil pit stop, got gas, and ventured on. I thought for sure we'd be in the park long before night fall, and plenty of time to eat, but, I was mistaken. We barely had time to set up camp before it started to get dark, but theres always enuff time to eat!  ....  ....  |
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Post by Brenticon on Nov 5, 2014 15:02:00 GMT -8
The next leg of the journey was to get to Kelowna. Off to Princeton, thru Keromeos, where something was burning down on main street. A lil stop for a road side snack in Summerland, and then into Ktown. We both have people we wanted to visit with, and decided we'd split up for a few days, do our visiting, and then continue on to Alberta. Holy Crap Though. It was like 40 degrees there, way too hot for us island people. A couple days was enuff and decided it was better to head for the mountains where it might be cooler for camping ....  ....  |
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Post by PICTUP on Nov 5, 2014 15:24:28 GMT -8
I have done the Hope-Princeton many times as part of my misspent youth was in Oliver and my parents continued to live there until 2004, at which time they moved to the Island where I was already situated. Was your reason for not going up the Coquihalla the loooooong hills and lack of fuel stations? If your destination was Kelowna, one would think it might have been a shorter trip, or not? I never have done the "Coq" in a Bus so I profess to ignorance on the subject. Then again, driving is part of the fun of a Bus road trip and there is sure a lot more to see on Hwy 3 with speed limits being a bit more reasonable.  Did the rain in Summerland make it feel a little un-Okanagan-ish even considering the heat? |
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Post by Brenticon on Nov 5, 2014 15:29:48 GMT -8
So off we went .... Headin to the Rockies. We were suppose to meet up with another guy, who was heading to CamperJam from Cranbrook. Everything was going great. A pit stop in Sicamous, then off to Revelstoke. It was a good ride, traffic was good, temps were coming down a bit. I guess anything was better than 40*c. Just outside of Revelstoke we got stuck behind a Albertan motorhome. I swear he was allergic to corners, because everytime there was the slightest curve, this guy slowed to 50kmh. When we got the the passing lanes, there was quite a number of cars behind, so I decided to let them pass first, then I would atttempt. Upon my attempt, my bus coughed, then farted, and basically had no power, as i had to let the motorhome pass, and I pulled in behind him, coasting till I found a safe spot to pull over. Rob actually had to push me the last 50 feet. There we were, stuck on the side of the hwy. Checkin this, checkin that. It was hot, it was cramped, and it was time to call a tow truck, after an hour of trying stuff. We pulled into Revelstoke around 5, the first shop couldnt help us, by the time we got to the second shop, noone was there, so we were dropped and set up camp. Called Richard in Golden, foned Russ to ask for help, the headed into Revelstoke for dinner. Once we were fed, and had a lil knowledge of what to do, it was back to camp, and try and get this bus running  ....  ....  |
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Post by Brenticon on Nov 5, 2014 15:33:23 GMT -8
Hey Don ... yea, we picked hwy 3 just because it was more scenic, and possibilities of camping. The Coq's great, but ya, a long, long hill, fast speeds, and really, not a lot to see. I really enjoy the meandering of the Hope-Princeton hwy.
The rain was a welcome treat, as the temps were really high ....
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Post by Brenticon on Nov 5, 2014 15:44:09 GMT -8
Well, we pulled fuel injection apart, fuel pumps, fuel lines, spark plugs, coils, distributors, you name it. Finally, we swapped out my distrib with Robs, and walla, the silly thing fired right up. Woohoo, we were back on the road. Called Richard to let him know, and we were off by 10 am to Golden for the next leg of the journey. We thought we might try and make CamperJam a day early. A quick stop in Golden to meet our new traveling friend, set my timing and we were off. Omg, I must say, this is probably the prettiest part of BC to drive thru. I luv cruisin thru the Rockies. Next stop, Canmore!  .....  .....,  ps: Rob is pointing at another blue hightop that had pulled in as we were chatting ..
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Post by Brenticon on Nov 5, 2014 15:49:10 GMT -8
Some random shots along the Trans Canada, headin to Canmore  ....  ....  |
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Post by tony on Nov 5, 2014 15:53:07 GMT -8
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Post by Brenticon on Nov 5, 2014 16:06:46 GMT -8
Then we ummmmm, ahhhhhh, headed out to the BIG city of Calgary. This was hilarious. We put all our faith in Richard knowing his way around town, as he wanted to stop and buy a event tent. We needed groceries, so we followed, and omg, what a gong show. Between him not knowing what way to go, and wanting to race the big Alberta dodge trucks, it was hilarious. We almost got turned around, found Walmart, bought the tent, but there wasnt any food there. We ended up stoppi outside of Calgary, bought food and gas, then headed towards CamperJam. It was gettin late, and we we quite a ways away, so we found a campsite. Thats a whole other story.  ....  ....  ps: we lost Rob along the way, one cause Richard drives fast, and two, he kept gettin us lost, lol. |
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Post by Brenticon on Nov 5, 2014 16:15:51 GMT -8
So, Rob found a farmers field to crash in, we camped at some hwy pull out campsite, and in the am, we were on the fianl leg to arrive at CamperJam. Rob got a head start, and we got lost again. It was an awesome drive, and a beauty of a day to do it. We were south of Drummhellar, out in some farmers fiel, on an edge of a coolie. Tough spot to find, but well worth the adventure ...  ....  ....  ....................................................................................................................................... more to come |
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Post by PICTUP on Nov 5, 2014 18:37:59 GMT -8
I bet Richard loves his license plate…Nein Nein Nein Richard's Volkswagen!  Looks like a fun time. Complete with gravel roads, your favourite Brent!   |
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Post by Brenticon on Nov 10, 2014 8:43:45 GMT -8
CamperJam was fun, but the journey was definately the highlight of the trip. We took an excursion into Drumhellar one day, jus to go for a cruise and see what the area had to offer. While drivin into town we spied some people on teh side of the road examining something. As we got closer we realized it was a huge snake that had been run over and killed. I heard this yell, "PULL OVER, PULL OVER!!!!", and I'm like why? "I wanna cut off it's tail" .... I said thats not gonna happen, after all it was a father and his two sons having a science fair by the side of the road, and I didnt want to freak them out by havin HighTopRob race out of a green hippy bus from BC, and cut the serpents tail off .... by the way, it looked like a 4-5 foot rattlesnake. We drove passed the hoodoos, a tourist stop, and planned on stoppin' on the way back, a lil VW shop, out in the middle of no where and jus the rollin hills of Ab on a sunny day. Gawd I love road trips ...  ....  ....  |
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Post by Brenticon on Nov 10, 2014 9:09:17 GMT -8
It was a hot sunny Saturday, and we were all loungin around, when we heard rumours of a tornado in the area. Then, off in the distance, there it was. A ominous cloud and storm, rollin across the landscape. Thank god it wasnt close to us .... or so we thought. I was standin up on out picnic table takin pics and some smart assed Albertan chick walks by and says, "Dont worry, it'll only rain for a bit and it will be over, unlike what you guys get on the coast". Little did she know, and oh, how I wanted to go see what she had to say after we wer hit. Basicallt everyone, except us, lost their tents, or awnings. 130 kmh winds, rain, hail, and gawd only knows what else, for a good 10-15 minutes. There was devastation everwhere. It was wild. I forgot to mention, Goldberg was attacked earlier that day, and was recouperating in the bus. People were out side tryin to save stuff, then bam, everyone ran for shelter. It was crazy. It basically tore my front wheel cover to shreds, from the strong wind and hail.  ....  Loaded a couple vids to youtube, hope they work for ya ... crazy crazy hail storm |
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Post by Brenticon on Nov 10, 2014 9:26:21 GMT -8
Over all, a great trip ... fun times, great stories, and quite the journey .... cant wait till next year .... ...............................Who's In ? ....................................  ....  ....  |
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