How we got started RVing

Last year after our daughter Sarah, husband Martin and two grandchildren (Isabelle aged 7) and Madeleine (aged 5) moved to Ottawa (in January) we were going to drive across the country in the summer to see them.  After talking to friends we decided that it would be much more enjoyable to do it in an RV (Recreational Vehicle). We managed to find a 2008 26 foot Class C motorhome, in virtually new condition and set off on July 30^th for what ended up being a 59 day trip covering 12,500 KM.

We found we liked the nomadic, gypsy life in the RV. (There is a similarity to coastal cruising in a boat where you only decide late in the day where you are going to anchor.)  We travelled through 20 different US states and Canadian Provinces. Of course the main highlight was visiting the grandchildren, taking them camping for five days in the RV, helping them progress in riding their bicycles and visiting Sarah and Martin and all his family in Ottawa and Montreal.

Otherwise we enjoyed  where possible staying in Federal, State or Municipal parks but then every few days in a KOA (Campgrounds of America) or similar RV park where we would get WiFi Internet access and do the laundry.

Some  highlights included – The Rogers Pass through the Rockies; the IceFields Parkway (between Banff and Jasper); Drumheller, Alberta (Fantastic Dinosaur Museum and research facility), the Fort Peck Dam (a vast flood control project on the Missouri River what was built as part of “the New Deal” between 1933 and 1944 – a great museum there); the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, the Sault Ste.Marie locks (completed in 1895); a visit to the Canadian Museum of Civilization which will soon be named the Canadian Museum of History (son in law Martin is now Executive Chef there); The Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal;  and Hyde Park  (a National Historic Site and site of the Franklin Roosevelt Presidential Library) on the Hudson River (where Franklin Roosevelt was born, where he rehabilitated from his polio and where he retreated to during his presidency.)

 We found an RV park in New Jersey within the sight of the Statue of Liberty and a ten minute ferry ride from Manhattan Island.  For me a visit to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum was a big highlight. As well as doing a bus tour of New York City and I was able to visit the Cathedral of St John the Divine on 110^th street (it is the largest Cathedral (Episcopalian aka Anglican), or Basilica (Catholic) in North America).  On the way back we visited Fort Niagara (in the US) and then Niagara-on-the Lake (across the Niagara river in Canada) where we saw the play “French without Tears” by Terrence Rattigan. Following this we saw the Niagara Falls from the Canadian shore – spectacular but too much entertainment for the masses there.

We then went back into the US and on the way home we visited the Forest River RV manufacturing plant in Elkhart Indiana. It is in Amish country and it was fascinating to see the “Anabaptist” Amish people in their horse drawn buggies. We found close by the RV/Motorhome “Hall of Fame” – we were really getting into the lifestyle!

The next highlights were the Badlands National Park in South Dakota then the Mount Rushmore National Historic site where many Americans visit as a sort of pilgrimage. Cody in Wyoming with its shoot out each day at 6pm (for tourists) and the Buffalo Bill Historic Center enabled one to understand the history of the “wild west”.  The Historic Center is well worth a visit, privately operated but exhibits to the highest museum standards.

The final highlight was Yellowstone National Park where we spent three nights and were lucky to see not only the “Old faithful” Geyser which blows every 90 mins or so but also the twice as tall Beehive Geyser which blows only about once a day.  Even with three days we did not see all the sights of the  Park (founded in 1872) but of particular note were the colorful hot springs, large herds of Buffalo and three herds of Elk.