Blogs from Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, Canada, North America

Well, here we go again, off on another adventure. This will be a camping road trip, starting in Pitt Meadows and heading south through Washington, Oregon, California and points in the southwest USA as yet unnamed. Wherever the good weather, good hiking, good rocks and good photography take us. Visiting family along the way. It took a while getting organized this time, mostly because the vehicle we thought we rented was not what we expected. It was a brand new truck camper, but the camper didn't have one cupboard. Not one for storing clothes, not one for storing non-refrigerated food, and not one for storing anything. Plus no bathroom sink. It was totally stripped down inside to nothing but space. We (well mostly me - Kayla) decided we could not live like that for 7 weeks. ... read more

This is a short blog to let our subscribers know that Kayla has started editing the 4,000 photos she took on the Africa Overland trip in September/October 2010. There are about 50 photos up now in a set called Africa 2010 - Tanzania. Here is the link: Kayla's Photo Stream.... read more

Time is marching on and we leave in a few weeks, so it's time to get out the lists and start packing. Our usual method is to buy any gear needed well in advance, then start laying it all out. We start with everything but the kitchen sink and throw things out once we see there is no room. We've allowed one small backpack each and one soft-sided duffle. No formed suitcases or anything on wheels for us because the duffles have to be stuffed in a variety of places, not least of which is a locker on the overland truck that will be home for most of 47 days. Never mind the even smaller places we will have for 1-2 day excursions into the Serengeti, on Zanzibar and in the Okavango Delta. We are taking ... read more

We've just received final confirmation that the safari we booked to Botswana is a go, so now it's real. Yesterday, we went for the first round of vaccinations. Polio-diptheria-tetanus booster, typhoid, Hep A & B (Twinrix), Malaria, Anti-diarrhea/e-coli/cholera, and who knows what all else. We were surprised that we didn't need yellow fever or dengue fever treatment. But I guess that's because we are traveling in dry areas of Africa and not the jungle this time. Back to the travel medical clinic in a month for the Twinrix booster. Meanwhile, before leaving on this exotic trip, there are family travels to take care of. We travel to Michigan later in July to move my mother from Michigan to North Carolina so she can be near to the rest of the family. And Richard's daughter is getting ... read more

This is a collection of random thoughts and tidbits collected along the way. Thanks to the Friesen Family for doing this on their recent cross-Canada trip. What a great idea! Here goes ... Water from the tap in a truck camper never tastes good. How did Lewis & Clark travel through Montana to get to the Columbia? Don't walk around while filming a video. Plant your feet and don't move. Swivel while panning. Better yet, forget video filming without a tripod. Montana really is big sky country. So is Wyoming. Buffalo eat all day. Cleaning the truck camper is a 5-minute job. Wish houses would get clean that fast. WIFI networks are unreliable. Where we’ve been so far, there aren’t enough places to recycle things. ... read more