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Old 09-29-2020, 08:59 PM   #1
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South Texas to Central British Columbia... now

I am looking to travel to Canada to visit my aging father. Canada requires a 2 week quarantine so I estimate I will need 3 weeks in country. Leaving at the end of October (10/16) as work demands won't let me leave sooner. The trip (according to Google) is 2200 miles which is about 3 long, 12+ hour days.

I figure leave mid-Oct, 4 maybe 5 days driving up, spend 3 weeks, then return early to mid November.

My questions and concerns:
1) Driving a Class A - do I need to be concerned about potential freezing of the water pipes and tanks while driving should I experience freezing temps in high passes?
2) what might be the best (lowest elevations) route to take? (San Antonio to Kelowna BC)

Any words of wisdom from this great pool of experienced RVers would be great.

Thanks!
Bill
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Old 09-29-2020, 09:46 PM   #2
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Have you read the requirements for 'essential' travel during coronavirus? I think I'd call before planning the trip.

https://www.ezbordercrossing.com/cor...travel-issues/
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Old 09-29-2020, 10:02 PM   #3
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Bill I'm assuming you maybe have Canadian Citizenship if your father is living here in Canada? If that is correct great if not, you really should check and get some form of authorisation in writing that you are good when you hit the border to cross into Canada = essential travel definitions are vague and a lot is at the discretion of the admissions officer at the border crossing itself. Now assuming that is all good for you crossing over the border into Canada ........

We often travel in shoulder seasons (APR/NOV) that verge on sometimes leaving our coach winterised until we hit warmer climates. What we have done is leave it winterised and just carry water in containers on board we will be using for dishes, strip washing our persons and adding an extra large dose of antifreeze into the black and grey tanks. We've never had a problem doing it that way over many years and we mainly dry camp not hooked up.

Now, if you check the overall weather forecasts of the route you will be taking nearer the time, and they are not set to drop too extensively, you might find just running your heating within the coach and maybe a light bulb or a directed vent into your bays where pipework is present will suffice (especially overnights!). This would only be if you were running water from your tank or city hookups through your coach of course. If you leave it dry/winterised then the grey and black tanks with extra antifreeze in should suffice and is likely doable for you for only 3 to 4 nights in each direction.

Now ....... come into Alberta Jan to Early April and that would be a whole different ball game
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Old 09-29-2020, 10:14 PM   #4
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Another thing to look into is where to stay if you plan to be at a RV park.

With the border closed, there are pretty well fully packed RV parks everywhere in Southern BC at this time.

Be sure to have a place to stay IF you can get across the border.

By mid November you can expect to hit freezing weather in any of the mountain passes.

Ely Nevada is looking at near freezing weather now. So pick your route to stay at lower elevations.

Happy Glamping.
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Old 09-30-2020, 06:23 AM   #5
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Thank you all for your concerns... 'calling' anyone to check on border crossing seems to be impossible - no official phone numbers are published that I can find. And yes - I am an ex-pat Canadian with citizenship. Reading (and rereading) the requirements for essential travel SEEMS to fit me.

I have a place to camp - my brother has a large property with full hookups for me and the coach.

I am leaning towards not going in the coach at this point. There are other (less appealing) options for 'quarantining' in Canada - I am still a new Class A driver (the coach is old and well experienced - it's me I worry about). I am not sure I want to be herding this beast over high elevation passes with snow potential...

From looking at Google maps with the terrain feature turned on - it seems that Colorado has relatively level roads - except at 4500' and higher. At that elevation - snow is always a possibility even on level roads.

Bill
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Old 09-30-2020, 06:33 AM   #6
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Bill, I think NOT taking the rv might be a wise decision as an 'experienced' rv may have an issue along the way and with NO 'rest days' will make for unpleasant options...


On our 6 week trip last year, will schedule in 'gap days' to rest both us and the rv's with the idea of leaving some days in case of an issue... good luck !
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Old 09-30-2020, 10:45 AM   #7
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Non essential only applies to vehicle crossing, fly in no problem.
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Old 10-01-2020, 07:41 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnBoyToo View Post
Bill, I think NOT taking the rv might be a wise decision as an 'experienced' rv may have an issue along the way and with NO 'rest days' will make for unpleasant options...


On our 6 week trip last year, will schedule in 'gap days' to rest both us and the rv's with the idea of leaving some days in case of an issue... good luck !
Decision is made... we are not going to go. My family is encouraging me to wait until spring as the quarantine requirement may be over. Besides - traveling in the winter will apparently stress my elderly father - and that's not what I want.

Thanks again for the great input. I really appreciate it.

Bill
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