The adventure has begun!
It has been a busy 7 days but we have already learned a lot, both positive and negative. Let’s get the negative out of the way: Jasper is burning :(. We are not sure what that means for our trip there but we are keeping an eye out for the wildfires. I was able to find a fire map of Canada so we can keep track of what is happening and not accidentally drive into a wildfire. We are looking for adventure but not quite that level of excitement.
On the positive side: Our pre-organization seems to be working out. I was amazed at how much fit into our little space. We may need to name our camper the Tardis. Also – when we pulled into our campground it did not look like a tornado happened inside.
Having never done this before we spent some time watching YouTube videos of other people who have done this a lot more than we have with some clever ideas of our own. We thought we would share just in case some of you decided to follow us into our insanity (see pictures for some photo-proof). To sum up: Bungee cords, bins (make sure you measure ahead of time) and hooks will be the answer to a lot of problems. Another important thing we learned on our weekend trial runs was that organization can quickly turn to chaos if you do not put things away right away in the same place you took them from. It is a habit we have to learn but will save us some strife in the future. The morning sink dance (we only have one sink) between making coffee and teeth brushing is certainly going to take practice and patience. We do not want this turning into a reality show.
Another thing we did for fun was to set up a Google photo album which we shared with family and friends so we can upload pictures along the way and they can follow our adventures. We also shared a Spotify list so that our friends could torture us (I mean entertain us) with music to listen to while on the road. They certainly delivered and we now have 26.5 hours of music and a ton of variety. Jonathan created a rule where we are allowed 3 skips each a day. Use them wisely or potentially suffer.
Enough about all that! Lets talk about adventure! Onto Niagra!! The trip took a total of 9+ hours and the fuel mileage was definitely a surprise. We had been averaging about 15 miles a gallon but the extra weight and additional speed turned that into a whopping 11 miles to the gallon. We were able to pass by a few gas stations but the 430+ mile trip took 2.5 tanks (21 gallon tanks) of gas. I was able to figure out that we can map gas stations on our google maps as long as we have connection. More and more we are figuring out that thinking ahead is going to be a major task.
One of our goals to get off the beaten path as much as possible. So instead of having lunch at a highway rest stop we looked for local lunch places along the way and got to spend time in Amsterdam, NY. It is a little industrial town between Albany and Schenectady NY. We found a little local place (our favorite kind) called Shorty’s on a little side street. The food was good and the service friendly and great. After that we took a walk around town to stretch our legs and stumbled into a surprising historical walking area with some pretty views (see pictures). We have almost never been disappointed with taking side trips. Little towns have so much to offer.
We have now arrived at our campground. Beautiful it may not be but 6 miles from the Falls with full hookups can’t be beat. Today we are off to see the Falls and head out to Niagra-on-the-lake for dinner with friends. Our first foray into Canada on this trip. Stay tuned as we start to get this trip rolling!
Organization Gallery:
Amsterdam NY Gallery:
Niagra Campground Photo:
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Episode 3: From Parking Lot to Paradise →
