Early in September 2014 we began thinking about selling our house in Waterloo and living / travelling full-time in our RV for an undetermined period of time. While camping at Arrowhead PP mid September we met a Stratford couple who had just recently made a similar decision. As I recall they were planning to head to Florida for the winter, although they were a bit concerned about the cost of maintaining adequate health care while out of Canada. Since neither of us has any great desire to spend winters in the Southern USA, we began to look at other alternatives.
As varied as summer camping plans might be from one person to the next, plans for the winter segment of the year are equally varied. Having participated in the MacGregor Point PP on-site winter camping program for the past five years, we have no aversion to spending the Winter months in a cool climate, preferably within the borders of Canada. After looking at the map and researching the Internet we eventually focused on the West coast, specifically Vancouver Island. We soon located Living Forest Oceanside Campground and RV, a full-service, 4 seasons RV park just outside of Nanaimo with affordable rates for the winter season. Shortly thereafter we reserved site #45 for the Winter of 2015 - 2016 (see photo and web link below ).
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| Site #45 (Summer Photo) |
We hope to have the house sold no later than May 31, 2015 and will depart from Waterloo mid to late September with a target date of October 1 for arrival at the RV Park. Depending upon the route chosen to get through the Rockies, one can encounter heavy snow when travelling in October. Temperatures at the RV Park are traditionally above the freezing mark for most of the winter although night time temperatures can be a few degrees below the freezing point. At this moment the temperature at Nanaimo is +4 degrees C while in Waterloo it is -9 degrees C. Typically Nanaimo is about 10 degrees warmer than Waterloo but as temperatures drop, the differential becomes wider. We will remain hooked up to both sewer and water for the winter but will require a bit of insulating wrap and electrical heating cable to prevent the external lines from freezing. Unfortunately they do receive quite a bit of rain during the winter. It is too soon to determine just how many winters we will ultimately spend on Vancouver Island.
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| Aerial View of the RV Park |
It will be difficult to leave our "church family" at WMB Church in Waterloo. However, there appear to be a lot of churches in Nanaimo including at least one Mennonite Brethren church, so there should be plenty of opportunity to get involved in the local Christian community.
The trip to Vancouver Island is in excess of 4,000 km one way so we hope to be making a few stops along the way. Since living / travelling full-time in our RV will become a new "phase" of our life, it would seem logical to start a new Blog for the years to come. We believe that we can link the two blogs so that anyone looking at the "old" blog will be pointed to the "new" blog and vice-versa.
Between the date we move out of our house and the date we leave for Vancouver Island, we expect to be using Laurel Creek Conservation Area as a home base. Of course we hope to be making some trips to our favourite Ontario campgrounds during the summer months so watch for future blog updates.
Anyone wishing to be kept abreast of further developments may wish to sign on as a "follower" of this blog site. Depending upon your preferences, this may enable you to receive "text" or "email" notifications on a timely basis.
Have a Happy New Year 2015
Judy and Peter Weber
