Orientation Sept. 9th

[Ellentob]

Anyone picking up their trailer on and around the 9th of Sept? We will be picking up our new 19 that morning. We have our reservation at The Riverview B&B. After the handover in Sumas, WA, we plan on a couple of days at Deception Pass State Park to test out the systems. Anyone going to be there then? Any opinions on the park?

We also have West Bay Village Camp Ground in Victoria on the itinerary. Anyone know if that's a good stop?

Harris & Ellen Tobias

[gbaglo]

I'll be staying at West Bay in a couple weeks. It is described in reviews as an RV parking lot, but it's only five minutes to downtown. My sister-in-law checked it out and confirmed it is wall-to-wall RVs.
I'm resigned to staying there because it so close to attractions.

[Ellentob]

We read that it was like most commercial campgrounds--packed in. Still it's nice to be able to walk into town and explore without having to drive half an hour. We seldom use private campgrounds but this one looked like a good choice.

[kstock11]

Originally Posted by Ellentob

Anyone picking up their trailer on and around the 9th of Sept? We will be picking up our new 19 that morning. We have our reservation at The Riverview B&B. After the handover in Sumas, WA, we plan on a couple of days at Deception Pass State Park to test out the systems. Anyone going to be there then? Any opinions on the park?

We also have West Bay Village Camp Ground in Victoria on the itinerary. Anyone know if that's a good stop?

Harris & Ellen Tobias

My wife and I spent our first 2 nights in our 19 on May 2 & 3 at Deception pass. It was a nice park close enough to town to get provisions and the sites were nicely spaced out. We were able to pull off our first ever back into a site. Conditions were muddy, but we had to wait until we got to Oregon 8 days later before we saw sunny days!

[SpokanEscape]

It was our first stop after picking up our trailer - in April it was muddy with a hundred years of pine needles mixed in with the mud. We learned how to level a trailer our very first night and were wishing we had a piece of wood to block the jack. Luckily it was close enough to CW to run and buy a jack pad. A serene quiet campground!

[WHATARIDE]

HI,
Yes, we will be there at ETI Sept 9th 11a for orientation.Have not decided on where to stay afterwards ,considering Bayview State campground per forum recommendation.Will need to decide this w/e.Are you driving out from VA?

[Ellentob]

Originally Posted by WHATARIDE

HI,
Yes, we will be there at ETI Sept 9th 11a for orientation.Have not decided on where to stay afterwards ,considering Bayview State campground per forum recommendation.Will need to decide this w/e.Are you driving out from VA?

Yes we are driving out to Chilliwack in our Honda Ridgeline. We are leaving this Sunday, very excited. Our orientation is right before yours (9am). Hope to see you there. Where are you staying in Chilliwack? Maybe we can meet the day before.

[cpaharley2008]

WhataRide and Ellentob,
On your trek out west be careful with altitude sickness. Depending on your route, if you start to feel funny, stay hydrated, very important at higher elevations.

[J Mac]

Water not beer!

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by Ellentob

We also have West Bay Village Camp Ground in Victoria on the itinerary. Anyone know if that's a good stop?

Harris & Ellen Tobias

Don't know about West Bay Village Camp ground but there is a BC Provincial camp ground, Goldstream, about 16 km (10 miles) north of Victoria that would be a very nice place to camp. See link below for Camp details on BC Parks web site.

Goldstream Provincial Park - BC Parks

I don't think they have any hook ups if that is a requirement. But they do have showers.

If you have bikes with you, there is a great trail that you can access not too far from the park at Luxton. It is called the Galloping Goose. It is an old railway grade that travels through some incredible country. Sooke would be a great ride from the Luxton area.

Galloping Goose trail Vancouver Island

If you plan to spend more time on Vancouver Island there are a couple more great BC Parks camp grounds past Sooke on Highway 14. They are French Beach and China Beach. They are located along the coast and have great access to beaches that are all along the Juan de Fuca Strait or Salish Sea, coastline between Washington State and BC. Incredible area to visit. You can probably get to the details of those cap grounds from the BC Parks link above.

Have a great time with your new trailer whatever you do or wherever you go.

[dbailey]

I stayed at West Bay this past summer for 5 nights. It's a nice city RV park. A bit pricey by campground standards, but pretty typical for serviced RV parks.

The sites aren't large, but the view is wonderful. You'll get herons all over the place, and I watched a family of river otters playing and hunting in the little bay right beside the park.

I recommend you spring for the sites with the better view. When I was there the park was full, so if you didn't have a water-side site there were only a couple of public areas where you could get to the water.

The picture is from a little ways along the walk towards Victoria, looking back at the park.

There is a little harbour taxi you can take over to Victoria proper, but it doesn't start running until mid-morning, and the last return is something like 8pm. So not very useful if you like to get out early or stay out late. The walk from West Bay to down town is about 5km one way.

[gbaglo]

It all depends what you like to do and what your needs are.
As for West Bay, I'd rather be anyplace else, but I need to be close to downtown. I get to sit at the trailer with the beagle while my wife welcomes her sister after a three-day charity bicycle ride and next day they attend the Viking show at the Royal BC Museum.
If you are spending your days and nights enjoying the brew pubs and restaurants and sights and experiences of downtown Victoria, then being able to take a 5 minute harbour ferry back to your trailer is a bonus.
Wish I could visit the brew pubs, but I'll be baby-sitting a beagle.

Just booked the ferry today one way. Two adults, over height vehicle ( the trailer ), 34' total length ( tow and 17' trailer ), plus $15 reservation fee comes to $191.80.

If I had a choice, I'd be heading for the interior of BC where the provincial parks also have trees.

If you use BC Ferry to go to Victoria, you might want to make a reservation.
This is the web site: http://www.bcferries.com/bcftravelcentre

[dbailey]

I was staying in the RV park while my wife was staying at the Empress for a conference. Yeah, I'd rather be in a provincial campground than at West Bay, but I'd rather be at West Bay than in a downtown hotel with a bunch of conference attendees .

(I could have stayed with my wife, but it was actually no more expensive to stay at West Bay than to find a place to park truck and trailer near the Empress -- everything I found was about $20 per day per vehicle, and they counted truck and trailer as 2 vehicles)

After the conference we headed to Pacific Rim... That's a much nicer campground.

[dbailey]

btw, Victoria is a very dog-friendly town. You can take your beagle all over with you, including on the water taxis. Many establishments provide water bowls for dogs, and most seem to welcome them. Though I'd guess you'd be out of luck at a brew pub or any other eating establishment.

[gbaglo]

Wife Googled "dog friendly brew pubs". Not sure what she found, but it doesn't matter since the beagle is only good to walk a half block or so, and I'm not carrying her. I have enough trouble walking myself.

[Cypherian]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Wife Googled "dog friendly brew pubs". Not sure what she found, but it doesn't matter since the beagle is only good to walk a half block or so, and I'm not carrying her. I have enough trouble walking myself.

There is always this option gbaglo Sicuro Pet Carriers For Eldery People | Tuvie :-D :-D looks sturdy enough to use as a walker B-) .....,just kidding :-D

Cypher

[WHATARIDE]

Hello folks,
We have arrived in Bellingham and will be at ETI tomorrow 9th.I hope we have an opportunity to meet before you head off with your new RV …YAY.We have decided to stay at Bayview State Park fir 2-3 nights.Best wishes to you.
Ann

[Rossue]

Check out everybodys.com; a great little country store a few minutes south of Sumas in Van Zandt. Cheese out of this world...favorite was coriander goat.

[tash]

Originally Posted by WHATARIDE

Hello folks,
We have arrived in Bellingham and will be at ETI tomorrow 9th.I hope we have an opportunity to meet before you head off with your new RV …YAY.We have decided to stay at Bayview State Park fir 2-3 nights.Best wishes to you.
Ann

We stayed at Bay View SP our first night with the Escape! Really liked it....encountered some super friendly people and the park had nice facilities. Wish we could have stayed longer, but had to get on the road to make the trek home!

[WHATARIDE]

It was a pleasant campground and the folks were ,as you said ,friendly.Getting to know our
Escape and will head out to Yellowstone today.Would recommend Bayview b/c it's close to all you need and a great breakfast place in Burlington "BILLYS".