Getting Ready for Cross Canada Trip

[Rparry]

I am preparing for my trip across Canada starting sometime in the second week of June.
I will have a Roof Top Tent for accommodation and a 12 volt fridge, EcoFlow PowerStation.
I plan to do most of my cooking electrically as I will be travelling during the Fire Season for
most of the trip. The 400 watt plug is just not enough so the PowerStation will make things
much easier.

I was trying to post the photos individually so I could say what each was, but I seam to have
missed that lesson. So I will explain them here. The first three images are the rack I built to be
able to get this on the truck by myself.

The first image shows the rack with the ramps I made. The piece on the rack itself has two purposes,
It protects the rack while sliding the tent onto the Bed Rack, and it raises it to be even with the hold
down attachment points.

The second image shows a close up of this piece.

The third shows the ramps in place using the slope of my driveway to reduce the angle. I used paste
wax on the boards to reduce friction and it worked quite well. The one thing I learned was that I should
install the RTT before I install the two level bed loading as I had to get into the bed to lift the tent over the
rear bar and up on the rack.

The other images are of the RTT on the truck in travel mode and opened up. Have not driven it yet on
the road, that will happen today or tomorrow.

BP

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[Glen Baker LLC]

I am preparing for my trip across Canada starting sometime in the second week of June.
I will have a Roof Top Tent for accommodation and a 12 volt fridge, EcoFlow PowerStation.
I plan to do most of my cooking electrically as I will be travelling during the Fire Season for
most of the trip. The 400 watt plug is just not enough so the PowerStation will make things
much easier.

I was trying to post the photos individually so I could say what each was, but I seam to have
missed that lesson. So I will explain them here. The first three images are the rack I built to be
able to get this on the truck by myself.

The first image shows the rack with the ramps I made. The piece on the rack itself has two purposes,
It protects the rack while sliding the tent onto the Bed Rack, and it raises it to be even with the hold
down attachment points.

The second image shows a close up of this piece.

The third shows the ramps in place using the slope of my driveway to reduce the angle. I used paste
wax on the boards to reduce friction and it worked quite well. The one thing I learned was that I should
install the RTT before I install the two level bed loading as I had to get into the bed to lift the tent over the
rear bar and up on the rack.

The other images are of the RTT on the truck in travel mode and opened up. Have not driven it yet on
the road, that will happen today or tomorrow.

BP

Safe travels Bob.
GB

P.S. Already looks like you live in Paradise. I'm guessing you have very little light pollution.

 

[MaverickNoticer]

Looks exciting. Have an amazing trip!
Report back how you like the Roof top tent!
Does it have a hard base/floor?
I hope it is not too cold while you are travelling.

Any goals and plans for the journey?
I always like to find small local restaurants and try regional foods when I go road tripping.

 

[Maverick123]

Awesome! What's your itinerary, I might eventually do this same trip but in the opposite direction ...

PS: what's the white dome, do you have an observatory in your backyard?

 

[Rparry]

I will try to answer your questions, and apologize for the double images posted. Not sure how that happened.

- Yes the dome is for my telescope. I have reasonably dark skies but my observing zone is mostly to the East and North as there are high trees to the south of the house, and the house to the west.

- The RTT is a Darche model, they are an Australian company sold here in Vancouver. I got a deal that could not be beat. Most of these RTT come from a couple of factories in China and are very similar if not identical with wildly varying prices.

- Yes there is a hard aluminum floor with 2" of foam for a bed. A common complaint of RTT is that the mattress is not very comfortable. From scrambling around inside, it seems fine. Only a few nights in the tent will tell for sure. Except for the beginning of the trip I do not think cold will be a big problem. June on the coast of BC can be cool and wet. After that it gets hot.

- Meeting people and enjoying small local cafes and businesses is going to be a big part of the trip.
Seeing my country from coast to coast is going to be wonderful .

- My route is to start on Vancouver Island at Port Renfrew, then travel up the Island see what there is to see and taking the Ferry to Prince Rupert. From there take Highway 37 and loop up to the Alaska Highway for a bit then back down into BC. Then the northern route across Alberta and Saskatchewan down to Ontario, then the north route to Ottawa where my brother is. From there into Quebec, the Maritimes, PEI, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia then off to Newfoundland. I will come back the southern route on my way back. Various family members plan to meet up along the way.

- I am planning to leave by the second week of June and be back for what we call "Birthday Week"
There are 5 birthdays in 3 days starting Sept. 15, My birthday and my daughters, Sept 16 the Mother in Law, Sept 17, number 2 son and number 1 Grand Daughter. The Grand Daughter will be 10, so she gets all the attention. This will be my 74th so I have had a lot of birthdays.

 

[Maverick123]

This sounds like an amazing trip! Some folks in their 70s sit around and watch TV and do nothing all day instead of doing fun stuff like this. You're an inspiration.

For the bed comfort, I have some Klymit Static V inflatable sleeping pads that roll up into the size of a 1 liter jar, and they're great for improving comfort of a thin mattress. You can even sleep on them on hard ground without bottoming out

 

[icegradner]

Safe travels Bob.
GB

P.S. Already looks like you live in Paradise. I'm guessing you have very little light pollution.

I live in the same region as the OP, and yes most of the year pollution isn't a problem due the jet stream and constant cold fronts coming through off the Pacific. During the long hot days of summer, when we get outflow conditions, it does start to build up and the air quality warnings come in. Particularly so during the wildfire season (June-September).

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

I live in the same region as the OP, and yes most of the year pollution isn't a problem due the jet stream and constant cold fronts coming through off the Pacific. During the long hot days of summer, when we get outflow conditions, it does start to build up and the air quality warnings come in. Particularly so during the wildfire season (June-September).

How prevalent is the Aurora Borealis/ Northern Lights in BC?

 

[icegradner]

How prevalent is the Aurora Borealis/ Northern Lights in BC?

In the south, not very often, usually only during extremely high solar activity periods. In the north, more so, but you really need to get into Alaska and the Norther Canadian territories to see it reliably.

 

[Rparry]

My skies are at their best in autumn and are a good Bortle 4. More commonly they are a Bortle 5, but can, especially during fire seasons of late get to a Bortle 6 or worse.

 

[Rparry]

some Northern Lights from my house on Oct 10 last year. I have some better ones later in the night but seem not to know where they are at this point

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

some Northern Lights from my house on Oct 10 last year. I have some better ones later in the night but seem not to know where they are at this point

Very nice.
Maybe one of these days I'll see them.
I hate to travel all the way to Canada or Alaska only to be overcast and cloudy the whole time. Northern lights would be about the only thing I want to go up there for.

 

[Maverick123]

Northern lights were visible as far south as Washington DC last summer ...

For your trip, try to hit the Bruce Peninsula if you reserve way ahead you can take a short hike to the Grotto it's beautiful that whole area is great including Manitoulin Island, Sauble Beach on Lake Huron etc. Sandbanks is incredible but it's extremely tough to get a site, maybe go for day access and boondock nearby ...

Then into Quebec try to hit Baie St Paul and see the Manior Richelieu ... and SEPAQ Hautes Gorges (Quebec provincial campground) is awesome with some insane hikes if you're into that, or bus and boat tours if you're not

 

[The Real Maverick]

Very nice.
Maybe one of these days I'll see them.
I hate to travel all the way to Canada or Alaska only to be overcast and cloudy the whole time. Northern lights would be about the only thing I want to go up there for.

True story.
I was in Alaska not too long ago.
Auroras were hoped for but not expected. (You can get about 2-3 days notice sometimes following space weather.com)

Got dark at 10pm.
I sat outside until 11:30pm. Nice starfields but no color.
Went to bed.

Next morning about 8am (full daylight) the innkeeper says "did you see those amazing auroras this morning!?"

She came in to start baking bread or something at 4:30 AM.



I. Did. Not.

 

[The Real Maverick]

P.S. I drove through Chilliwack that trip.

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