TRAVEL DAY
From: Stamp River Provincial Park, Port Alberni, British Columbia.
To: Strathcona Provincial Park, Buttle Lake Campground, west of Campbell River.
Day 272 – It was 57 degrees this morning when we got up, cloudy and humid. Maybe we’ll have a signal at our new campground; that would be nice, but doubtful. Strathcona Provincial Park is located in a large remote mountainous area. But we can certainly hope for a better connection there.
We departed Stamp River Provincial Park at 9:15 a.m. In Port Alberni we stopped at Canadian Tire to dump our tanks. We didn’t have to wait in line for a change; no one else was there yet. Gasoline prices still dropping slowly, we filled up the RV. By the time we got to Cathedral Grove a traffic build-up was already starting in the race for a parking place. We continued east on Route 4, then headed north on Highway 19 towards the city of Campbell River.
It was very cloudy. This was new territory for us. And for a change of pace, it was a freeway-like road with several lanes going each way. Traffic was fairly light. Scenery was nice. We traveled through several towns and there were more vehicles the closer we got to Campbell River, a major city.
At Campbell River we turned west on Route 28 and soon reached Elk River Provincial Park. We stopped there and filled our fresh water tank in preparation for our next campground where there were again no hook-ups. Back on the 28, the road was paved but winding and hilly as we climbed in the hills. The scenery was beautiful and we passed by several large lakes surrounded by snow-topped mountains. Unfortunately, there were few turnouts and we couldn’t get pictures through the trees as we passed by.
We arrived at Buttle Lake Campground in Strathcona Provincial Park at 1 p.m. It was 64 degrees and still very cloudy. We drove through the campground and found our campsite, #54. We had a tight fit. The site was smallish. And we had to back in – we prefer to park, front in for more privacy. Rob could just fit the tent right next to the RV; the Honda tow car had to be parked as close to the RV as we could get it to keep it off the campground road. (When you make reservations in advance and you’ve never seen the campground before, you take what you can get. But it’s now summer and campgrounds are full, so we’re lucky to have a site at all.) We had lunch, the girls went to their napping spots, and we set up camp. Soon after arriving we checked to see if we had a signal. Nothing at all. Zero activity. Worse than before, not even sporadic. Sigh.
People continued to arrive to fill the campsite openings left by the weekend visitors. We will have situations like this until the end of August, full campgrounds, lots of children, dogs, stories about our neighbors. There’s a young couple behind us who pulled in late afternoon when we were sitting in the screened tent. They had a tiny trailer and two small, very active little boys. They were trying to set up camp, she was trying to get dinner going, (and they forgot the salt – it was a BIG deal). The boys were too young to be anywhere alone – had to be watched constantly. They were good with the kids, the boys were cute but full of questions and constantly demanding answers. And the parents were trying very hard to care for them and set things up and make dinner. We are glad to be older.