June 27, We finally got on the road! Most of you know it has been a long time coming! I was almost resenting that dang garage! But she does look pretty all done, right? Pretty is overrated now that I had to do all the work. However, it was my idea to do the brick. Sorry Adam!
Before I begin documenting this trip, some back story many of you will already know, the idea for this trip came back when the kids were 2/4 and they are now 8/10.
We felt that this trip was attainable once we had the funds and a place to store all of our stuff a year. So selling our house and building a garage at the 70’s home were key components to making this trip happen. The selling part, surprisingly, was the easiest part. I guess timing really is everything( and a little prayer thrown in for good measure💛).
Then came the garage. Oh man was I out to lunch when it came to guessing how much it would cost and the effort involved. Why oh why did I choose brick?!?! I won’t bore you with the details of this tedious process, but we had to delay the start of the trip by 1.5 weeks. Adam and I worked 10-12 hour days for 3 weeks to finish the scratch coat, stick the brick and grout 80% of the building. However, the most important part, we did get our building permit closed out and were happy to leave.
So, now onto the trip portion. Time to pack. We had 5 hours Sunday, 5 hours Monday night and left Tuesday morning. Funny how we only got 10 hours to plan a camping trip for 3 months to Alaska when this idea had actually been in the works for years. We were so busy finishing the garage, dealing with a miserable neighbour and being homeless for 2 months that all I could do was daily triage. So no real planning went into this trip. None!
FIRST: VANCOUVER ISLAND
PARKSVILLE
Once the tent was set up we got out our Coleman propane stove to cook some pasta. This is when we realized that we had no can opener and no real cooking utensils. We knew that there would have to be some things we were missing. So far only minor things that we will attempt to get at a thrift store in a couple of days.
JUNE 30 (Day earlier than I antcipated) VICTORIA
With my scheduling error at Rathtrevor, we were lucky to have Adams cousins graciously take us in a day earlier than expected. Thank goodness for family!
4 days with the Culleton family. Love Cousin visits. Video games, basketball, biking riding and visits to the beach.
Royal bay beach- 4 orcas swimming across the bay on July 2. Very cool to see!
Cumberland is a GREAT biking community. For a town of under five thousand people, the biking facilities and amenities were amazing! Well done.
You can also feel the previous vibe that this town was a mining community and fell on hard times.
Kids ripped up the trails, BMX track, pump track and jumps!
I realize I am more cut out for smooth, KVR like trails and that my kids are in WAY better shape than I am. No shame in using the power on my bike when the kids do not have
We hit the bike shop and to Wyatt's surprise most tires were $120-$140. However, he did find one on sale from $80 instead of $120. He bought the new tire, but his face dropped when we got home and he realized it was only one tire. "I was sure there would be two!" Sorry buddy. That boy better get a good job when he is older if he's going to be able to afford the life he wants. Ha Ha. I guess it's best to learn that now.
Talking about money, I know some people like to be close lipped sometimes on finances, but Adam and I are pretty open book. We like to learn, budget and plan with our money from other people's advice and/or share our experiences. So when talking about this trip 6 years ago I thought we could do our trip for about $5,000 a month- total of $60,000 for the year. Now, 6 years later and our budget is $10,000 a month. I am not sure we will be able to keep on budget! Doesn’t that sound CRAZY?! Homeless life for $10,000 a month. You probably are like "how is that possible?" Food and gas are at an all time high! And if you want to pay for any excursions you are at the mercy of the market.
We went from Cumberland to Port Hardy where we stayed at an airbnb ($800 for 3 nights), ocean fishing ($1200 for a half day) and groceries and gas ($250). $2250 gone, almost a quarter of our monthly budget in 3 days. Mind blown, however; all the costs, separately don’t seem bad, but adding things together adds up.
We will talley all our expenses and we will see if we can do this trip for $130,000 + $50,000 (Motorhome & fixing expenses for the southern part of this trip into the USA/MEXICO) = 13 months. Wish us luck!
Side note: All trails, Trail forks, Geocaching apps have been great. They allow you to download the offline map and then you can GPS where you are. Many areas going North, have no cell service, but have awesome trails and treasures to find.
PORT HARDY
When in Port Hardy we did get time to go to the Huson Lake Caves. Wow, what a interesting place to see. Cool, clear pools to swim in and cool down. They are beautiful. We met a local guy from Courtney who showed us a trail to get down another area. We used ropes, and rock foot holds to climb. I felt like it was a bit dangerous especially for me, but the kids had no fear. Thank you Ceilidh (Scottish version of Kaleigh) for helping my family have the full cave experience.
Well we are officially done with Vancouver Island and on to the BC Ferries tomorrow to Bella Coola. We had planned to stay 10 more days on the Island initially. Tofino, Cape Scott and a few others needed to be skipped as we left 8 days late initally, pIus I did not realize specific ferries only run a few times a week( Port Hardy to Bella Coola being one of them). So off to Bella Coola we go.
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