Day 4- Parking the big rig at Chesterman Beach

Day 4- Parking the big rig at Chesterman Beach

Today we went surfing at Chesterman Beach. When I pulled into the parking lot I could not believe the amount of cars in the parking lot. They were tightly packed sardines in too small of a can! My heart started to race…my hands started to sweat. I had to get a hold of myself. After some meditative breathing and my husband guiding me into the parking spot I parked our big rig in a very crowded parking lot and discovered a new adrenaline rush. One that is created by a nauseauting anxiety that is overcome with a surging joy that washes relief throughout my whole body. My new rush is created by parking successfully....no dings and no wasted time.

After getting our wetsuits on, I might add that this took way longer than my parking, we waddled down to the beach looking like a family of penguins. Our day was so magical sharing our special passion in one of our favourite places with our children. The kids had a blast catching little waves in the white water on their boogie boards. They took turns riding with my husband on his long board he would would yell stand up, stand up. To my surprise my four year old did exactly that and appeared to be surfing! Later I found out that she had perched her butt on my husband's head to help balance her while she stood up. I guess you have to start somewhere. It was one of our best days together building incredible memories one that will last our lifetime.

We soon got hungry and headed back to the motorhome for lunch. Ahh the luxury of travelling with all your stuff definitely has benefits! When we got to our campsite there was a truck parked directly in the drive way ahead of our site which inhibited me from backing in. My husband got out and asked our neighbour if he could move his truck. As our neighbour moved his truck he gave me the look over. I know what was intended behind his look. He was thinking a blonde woman driving any vehicle equals disaster let alone a 31' motorhome! At this point my stomach normally would knot but because I was still on a high from my earlier parking success and feeling very confident my stomach did not drop to my feet. However, it appeared that my confidence was not alleviating my neighbours worry. He guided me from the front of the rig and my husband guided me from behind. I found that having two people directing me made parking even easier!!!

Day 3- Bella Pacifica Campground-Tofino

Day 3:
The Bella Pacifica campground is located in Tofino right on Mackenzie Beach in Tofino with beautiful campsites that overlook the ocean. Unfortunately ours is not one of them but between the trees and campers in front of us we have a slight ocean view. After breakfast we all headed down to the beach, my husband and I were unsure of how the children would react to the surf as they had never been in waves. Walking hand in hand with my husband along the beach I watched our children run ahead of us pulling behind them a long piece of kelp, like a very long snake, shouting “go kelpy, go kelpy, go kelpy”.

I stopped to take a picture of a piece of seaweed and when I looked up my children were running into the ocean with all of their clothes on. So much for being fearful of the waves!

Since the waves did not faze the children, we decided to rent wetsuits to spare their clothes and to preserve their warmth in the frigid Pacific Ocean. I drove to the surf shop and when I got there I was faced with a parking dilemma…their lot is very small. I didn’t have much time to act because of the traffic behind me so I said decided to park on the side of the road just abit up the road from the surf shop. Since the shoulder of the road is a bike lane, I tried my best to squeeze snugly beside the bushes so cyclists would still be able to pass by our motorhome.

Just as I was walking away from the motorhome a biker rode up to me and said “is that your motorhome?” I replied “yes”. He said “ you do realize that you are right in the middle of the bike lane” I told him that I had pulled over as much as I could and the cyclist pathway still could be used. I explained to him that I just no alternative for parking because the surf shop has a very tiny parking lot and I was a new RV driver.

He kind of rolled his eyes and then rode away. I was feeling agitated and annoyed that he had scolded me. However, I was in a prickly situation since there was no other nearby parking alternatives. After 15 minutes of picking up the children’s wetsuits and booties we headed back toward the RV. As we approached the motorhome my stomach started to do cartwheels and because of the biker’s stern comments I started to feel to anxious to drive. So, my husband ended up driving back to the campground which is only 4 km away.

Day 2-Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park

Day 2

After breakfast we explored Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park Campground and discovered a playground, nature house and fantastic hiking trails. We accessed the beach right from the campground and the children happily scoured the beach in search of treasured rocks and shiny clam shells. Anxious to get back on the road we headed for the Port Alberni Highway.

As I drove through Parksville I vaguely heard a "thud...thud...thud "but thought nothing of it, as I was still becoming accustomed to the sounds of the motorhome. Then my husband sweetly said “honey why don’t you try and stay in your lane and I replied “ I am”. Then he said “oh, can you see the yellow line in your left side mirror and the white line in your right side mirror”. I looked into my left side mirror and could see the yellow line but on my right side mirror I could only see the shoulder of the road. I said to him “weird I can’t see the white line, I think I have been driving too far to the right…driving on the shoulder”. Then my husband calmly replied “yes you have been driving too far to the right. Back in the construction zone didn’t you hear the flag person yelling “Hey, hey, hey” as you run over the pylons? I couldn’t believe I had run over pylons and hadn’t even noticed! Thank goodness pylons are malleable and don’t cause damage!

After a while I started to relax and I started to reach the speed limit and keep steady. We had planned to stop at Cathedral Grove Provincial Park for lunch but as I approached the parking area I could not find a parking spot that suited my driving skill set. This is when I had discovered an essential RVing necessity…flexibility. We changed lunch plans to “let’s find another picturestique spot along the way”. However, this plan did not pan out either as the highway pullouts approached far too quickly for me to pullover.

When we arrived in Port Alberni I found our beautiful pristine lunch spot, a huge parking lot with lots of empty parking stalls. Cathedral Grove it was not, but at least I could park my big rig. It was ironic that our stops were being dictated on parking availability. However, I convinced myself that it made perfect sense to stop for lunch in a parking lot because we could buy some groceries at the same time…killing two birds with one stone! I now had learned another RVing lesson that rest stops are dependent on space not on the view!

After lunch the drive from Port Alberni to Tofino was intense, as I white knuckled the steering wheel and concentrated on the narrow road with suicide corners. Finally after listening to my children’s chorus of “how much longer?” infused with my husband’s punk rock music we arrived at Bella Pacifica Campground in Tofino.

When I pulled into our campground I knew that I had to face my worst fear backing into our campsite with what I thought to be the seasoned RVers watching in nearby campsites. I told my husband that I was unsure on how to back into this seemingly narrow campsite. He replied “ you need to come up with a game plan”. That was why I was asking him, I had none! I said “ well, I think I should pull forward on an angle”. He agreed that this was a good idea. Getting behind the motorhome to guide me in, he hand signalled, left, forward, backward, right and straight. Afterwards, I was amazed at how easy it was to back in an RV with aid of a helper!

Our camping adventure begins!

Day 1:
I am a thirty year old professional woman who has very little experience driving large vehicles. No actually I have experience, when I was a teenager I drove my family’s campervan in a ditch and almost off a cliff due to my poor perception of corners.

So now, my family and I are going to rent an RV for a week long vacation. We have always camped in a tent so RVing was definitely going to be a new experience for us! As part of the authentic experience I wanted to drive the motorhome to comprehend the joys and perhaps challenges that can occur. As I drove to pick up our RV I couldn’t shake the little feeling of doubt that fluttered around in my stomach!

As I strode confidently towards the doors of Fraserway RV with family in tow, I tried not to let my nerves show. Somehow I managed to calmly complete the necessary paperwork and then we were led to a beautiful shiny luxurious 29’ motorhome that came stocked with everything: TV, DVD player, shower, microwave, air conditioner… it was unbelievable. The RV rental representative gave us an orientation of the vehicle and a binder for future reference, which I knew would be my bible for the rest of the trip.

After packing our gear into the motorhome we were off. As I pulled out of the RV dealership fear started to escalate in my throat restricting my breathing as we were being swallowed into the thick rush hour. I quickly realized that there was no other option but to learn to drive a big huge rig where rear view mirrors and shoulder checks do not exist and the side mirrors are my only tools for seeing! As the stove rattled away I held my breath merging onto the congested bridge praying to myself that we would get to the ferry unscathed. After a few dodgy lane changes we arrived safely at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal.

When the cashier told us that we could board an earlier ferry a round of YAHOOS bellowed out of the RV, which was then followed with even a louder YAHOO amplified by my husband when we received a 30% discount for travelling during mid week. As I drove onto the ferry my heart raced when the controller directed me to the far lane forcing me to park between the wall and another motorhome.

I drove off the ferry without too much difficulty and arrived at Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park campground in Parksville. At the beginning of my journey I had told myself that the ultimate driving test would be parking in our campsite but somehow I faltered at this point. The sheer darkness and huge surrounding trees caused me to lose my bravery. I ended up chickening out and asked my husband to back into our campsite. There is always tomorrow!