http-equiv='refresh'/> Tin TeePee/Log Cabin: Never, Ever

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Never, Ever

IMG_0401 Websites and other user’s RV park reviews can sure be deceiving!  We left Coeur d Alene yesterday morning after dumping our tanks at the sheriff’s office?? and headed north to the Canadian border at Kingsgate.  We waited in line longer for the road construction than at the actual crossing.  The female border agent in the gatehouse asked Michael, “What do you have in the rig?”  OK—do you want the really long list or the short version???  Michael replied, “a little of everything.”  She then smiled and began to ask us the usual questions—“any firearms, nope, any alcohol, yes, 5 bottles of wine (which is one over what we should have had but she didn’t bat an eye), any tobacco, nope and we were on our way.

We drove through some spectacular scenery, lakes, huge mountains.  Michael and I always say British Columbia has the biggest mountains!  The tallest peak we could see, probably Mount Fisher, has fresh snow on its top!

On to Skookumchuck and a great big yuk!  We missed the turn off for the campground where we had reserved three nights, drove up the road a bit, unhooked the jeep and I drove back to check out the RV park.  The two sites the owner wanted to stick us in would have barely held a 30 foot RV much less a 40 foot RV.  The park was a scrambled mis-mash of sites here and there along with cabins occupied by guys I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley!  Tight, narrow little roads and turns.  Talk about misrepresentation—the photos on the park website made it look really good!  And the reviews were good! 

When I told the owner we just couldn’t stay there she became VERY belligerent!  And for those who know me you know I don’t tolerate belligerent very well but you would have been proud of me.  I remained very calm and quiet while she got red in the face and yelled at me.  Told me she was charging me for all three night and a five night cancelation fee.  Nope, not happening!  We finally agreed on my paying ONE night and I was out of there.

OK, now it is 5pm on a Friday night holiday weekend—now what???  The provincial park just up the road was packed so off we went.  Each RV park I stopped in with the jeep was full—OK, where are the Wal Marts—not in this part of BC for sure!  How far are we from John and Brenda??  Finally we came to Dry Gulch Provincial Park and got lucky—after 7pm now!  A guy with a loaded truck and travel trailer was trying very hard to get backed into a difficult spot, we took the spot across from him but is was uphill and very unlevel.  Got in the jeep and drove around the loops, found a perfect spot, large, fairly level and just what we were looking for.  OK, we made it, deep breath, glass of wine to celebrate and dinner.

Michael and I are morning people, if we sleep until 7am we feel as if we have slept in.  This morning when Michael got up to turn on the coffee to perc—he said, “you won’t believe this but it is 8:30am!!”

We are off on new adventures today, taking a 4X4 road out to the Bugaboo Glacier. 

Now as for the title of this blog, I made myself a promise—“never, ever make RV park reservations!”  If there is space when we get there fine, if not, we will punt like we did yesterday.  We do have a 3 month reservation in Florida for this winter but there is no cancelation policy at that RV park and as the RV Dreams folks Linda and Howard have stayed there (and they are picky) we feel fairly safe. 

13 comments:

  1. You are more than welcome to come here!!!!!!!! It is beautiful in the Shuswap, we have a place for you!!!!

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  2. Glad you got across the border o.k. If the RV Park in Skookumchuck is the same one I'm thinking of I don't blame you for leaving.

    We also made a reservation there are few years ago but for whatever reason didn't make a deposit. When we arrived, we just drove right on by for the same reasons you gave.

    Glad you found a better park.

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  3. Wow,,,I'm afraid if I had been through all that, I would have had a LOT MORE than a glass of wine!!
    I might even have cracked open the bottle of Makers Mark ya all gave me!!:-)
    Yep we never make reservations..but I've learned to never say never!!LOL

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  4. Aren't you going to tell us where not to go? I expect the ads to lie, but I trust reviews - too bad they didn't tell the story.

    Roxanne

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  5. We are about 3 hours away from you right now. Dry Gulch is a great campground though and you were pretty lucky to get in there on this weekend. You will find most of the sites in National Park campgrounds a little small. I remember thinking they were huge when I was a kid but then we had, for those times, a huge 18 foot trailer. Have fun and by the way Bec is in the delivery room as I write this so we should have a new grandson soon.

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  6. Yep, I hear you on that 'no reservations' thing alright and if I slept in to 8:30 I would have to immediately declare myself as officially dead!!

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  7. If things are this bad on your first day in Canada perhaps you should consider returning immediately to the USA. The campground operator was within her right to charge the full cancellation fee for a long weekend. Your attitude gives all the good American travelers a black eye.

    Peter

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  8. RV park reviews are certainly not perfect. We do use them to pick places. Most of the time, we do not make reservations just because of the situation you ran into.

    Glad you landed in an acceptable place. Our only exception for reservations is in winter FL. If you do not plan ahead, you will end up in a place nobody else wants:(

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  9. Well since no one else has said anything...Here's David...After 4 great days at a resort..last night till 1 A.M. Here they come!!! Barking Kids!! Screaming dogs..no leashes..cept one..but no human attached..Dog poo all over..We are out of there.I called Dedee @ Eagles Hot Lake Resort, asked if they were packed? Nope!! So probably 100 miles out of the way we now sit in a very quiet park with a Good Sam price and fast internet..also the hot pool!!!
    We feel like you, so lucky to work out on a holiday weekend.
    Enjoy!
    Upriverdavid

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  10. I don't like to be locked into a reservation but will make one if I have been there before or seriously want to stay in one certain area. Mostly we just wing it and it works just fine. Glad you found a great spot and hope you have a lovely weekend.

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  11. Howdy J&M,
    TOUGH GAL!!! Evidently lying about your campgrounds is a common thing.
    I read where a couple 'workcamped'
    for 3 months, got 'hot-checks' and the operator tried to make them pay for their time there!!! He called the cops even, but the cop agreed with the WCs and told them where to file on him!!! Sorry y'all had a bad start, but it'll get better!!
    Get a good rest cause it's a looong ways to Flo-ri-da...
    I wish we had gotten one of those 'old' Foretravels..We have friends
    that have owned them and they are REGAL!!

    Smooth roads & balmy breezes!!

    Joyce & butterbean

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  12. making reservations on a long weekend is usually a good idea..too bad yours didn't turn out as advertised!!..glad you found a place to park!!!

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  13. What is the name of the CG? I tried to look on www.rvparkreviews.com and while they list Skookumchuck, when I click on it, no CG's come up.

    It would also be nice if you added a review to RVparkreview.com so others will know about the place.

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