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Old 04-19-2012, 11:45 AM   #1
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Best timing for cross country camping?

Hello all,
my husband and I are currently planning our first RV trip across Canada.

Since we are at the very beginning of our planning, I'd appreciate if you could already help us with a few basic questions:
1. Currently we plan to travel from Halifax to Vancouver from August till October this year.
Question: Do you think this timing is wise? Our would it be too could for most of the trip already? Which leads to question No 2:

2. For the a.m. timing - is a "regular" (rented) RV good enough or would we have to check on special winter editions?

Thanks a lot!
Kerstin
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Old 04-20-2012, 07:58 AM   #2
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Hi Kerstin
Your timing will be a the extreme end of camping in Canada. You would be fine in the Vancouver area in Oct. Expect frosty nights in the East and central Canada to start by about mid to early September. Most RV you rent have propane heaters so you are OK with that. A few of the RV parks will start to shut down near the end of September except in the BC area where then milder winters allow them to stay open year around. Do not try and use any internet plans from the USA in Canada as they will be very expensive to use here. If you really need to have full time internet, then that could be another whole topic.
Good luck with your trip and please fell free to ask questions. This is a great bunch of followers on this forum who I am sure are happy to help.
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Old 04-20-2012, 06:32 PM   #3
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Thanks a lot for your feedback! That doesn't sound too bad.
So if we'd plan our route in a way that we'd be in BC at the beginning of October, would we be fine? Or would Alberta/Rockies in September already be a challenge?

Thanks for the advise on internet plans!
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Old 04-21-2012, 03:43 PM   #4
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You will probably be into some snow in the mountains at rogers pass near Golden, BC. That is highway #1, the main highway you will probably be following. Its a short section, but watch the weather, it can get nasty sometimes. The rest of BC will be cooler weather, but no snow once you are into the lower mainland area.
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Old 04-21-2012, 05:39 PM   #5
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If you are going across at that time.. You might consider returning via .. say.. Texas (Keep a passport handy incase you need to drop a few hundred miles south of the border)

One more suggestion.. If you have a trip planned that per the schedule should take 2 months,, Try to squeeze it into a 3 month time slot.. that way.. Distractions won't put you off schedule.
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Old 04-23-2012, 12:16 PM   #6
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Thanks a lot for the advice.

The current plan is 3 month Canada (Aug-Oct), then 3 month US* (Nov-Jan), maybe 3 more month in Canada (Feb-Apr 2013). But the second portion in Canada seems not realistic to me. That would be February and would that be camping season at all in Canada?

*3 month is max in US - otherwise we need to get a visa. As long as we stay 90 days or less, we do not need one.

For the US portion after Canada (that would be November then), I guess it's more realistic to fly down to e.g. Los Angeles/"somewhere south" rather than touring through rainy/icy WA and OR, what do you think?
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Old 04-24-2012, 08:21 AM   #7
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If you are concerned about weather in Sept. go through Edmonton [ lot of festivals in September] then through Jasper on the Yellowhead [#5 hiway]. This route is a much flatter route through the Rockies and the road is excellent just came through yesterday. We do this route several times a year in Sept, Oct, and Nov.This route is beautiful in fall , Hiway #1 through the Rogers pass has many steep hills and often is shut down for rock slides, accidents etc. There are several campgrounds open on the Edmonton route. Irvins in Valemont, KOA in Clearwater, Do you have any specific destinations in mind? We can give you more detail and some suggestions for you trip for the Saskatchewan to Vancouver leg. We have homes in Edmonton and Sunshine Coast in B.C. so we do this trip just about every month of the year either in our class A or by car. Send me an email and we can give you fuel stops POI's as well. When you go through Saskatchewan at that time, plan to go through the Qu' Appelle valley, it is the central flyway for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds going south for the winter, a sight to see. There is some interesting historic sites as well.
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Old 04-27-2012, 04:52 PM   #8
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Hi Matchayan,
that sounds great! Thanks a lot!
I certainly will come back to you and send you an Email!

Thanks!
Kerstin
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Old 04-29-2012, 09:59 AM   #9
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Hi Kerstin
I looked at the rest of your trip plan. The US is not a problem for November to January. We left Vancouver on Jan 18/12 went thru WA an OR and it was ok you just watch the weather and go thru the mountain passes when there is god weather in early Nov it will be fine. If you are not going out to the BC coast you can go south from Osooyoos down to Arizona then to Texas and across to Florida then up East Coast. The problem in January anywhere along the Canadian border is cold snowy weather in Jan along the east coast. Are you from Canada and are you renting your RV?
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Old 04-30-2012, 01:57 PM   #10
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Thanks a lot! That gives me hope...

We are from Germany and would like to rent the RV from the Halifax/Canada area for a cross-country trip.
If you have any advice/recommendations on Canadian and/or US RV rental companies I'd love to hear about it! So far we are checking only the major players (cruiseamerica etc) but maybe there are some alternatives.
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Old 04-30-2012, 09:23 PM   #11
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Hi Kersten
You could check out Canadream.com and Cruisecanada.com. These are national companies so they have offices all across Canada. I think if I was doing this trip I would rent a motorhome one way Halifax to Vancouver with a Canadian company, then another one way Vancouver to California or Texas with a American company then fly back from there home, thru Halifax if need be. Flights in the USA are cheap compared to Canada.
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Old 04-30-2012, 10:41 PM   #12
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Willkommen .
Fraserway RV Rental is another one of the better RV Rental companies.
They have offices around the country.
Have fun and enjoy your trip.

TW
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Old 05-04-2012, 08:16 AM   #13
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When you go to Vancouver a good place to stay is Capilano RV Park it is close to downtown.
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Old 05-08-2012, 11:30 PM   #14
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You have most of the good information here already so this is mostly a repeat.

When you get to the Alberta-BC border you are going to encounter a wall of mountains that travels all the way north and south in front of you. The weather in September is generally good but watch the weather reports closely. Snow can happen at that time of year and it can happen quickly. Most campgrounds are either closing by the end of the month or severely reducing operations. It will be wet in the Vancouver area in October so be prepared for that. I just read another post in here somewhere about another European couple who are buying a motorhome in the Eastern US and travelling west and will be looking to sell at the conclusion of their trip. This may of interest to you in the second leg of your journey. Might be cheaper than renting. If I can find it, I will post it here.


Here it is:
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f61/newbi...ly-123197.html
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