studiowest.ca

The amazing beauty of nature and the lessons and peace it can bring never cease to amaze me as we travel through the north. With our home on our back, everywhere we stop we feel right at home and with four wheel drive and our Northern Lite that can be just about anywhere we want to be.

Time Northern Lite kicked in for some gas money or something as I keep raving about our rig, but we do love the freedom it provides. Especially now as we find a whole new group who are trying out the RV lifestyle and are pre-booking just about every campsite possible, some even show up. With the mobility of the truck camper we can get spots a lot of units cannot get to or cannot fit into as we travel. To me retirement is not living by the clock or schedule to have to be somewhere at a certain time, been there done that…no more.

Besides the truck and camper another must for me is my trusty old 2013 model OMD Olympus digital camera, with one lens. A great little light travel camera. Gone are the days of big bulky cameras, dozens of lenses and filters and gadgets, I’m too old to carry all that stuff which is seldom used. Little is more as I can have my camera with me all the time, the best images I have witnessed is when I do not have my camera with me. The camera helps me focus and see the amazing beauty in nature I would otherwise walk right by and not even stop for a moment.

One of the main reasons for this blog is to be able to share those images with others who can appreciate them. They are far from National Geographic quality images and appear much more beautiful to my eye, but I have captured that moment in time as is. They also allow me months after while trying to catch up on my blog the chance to enjoy them and the memories all over again…bonus.

Hope you enjoy these as much as I did photographing them.

If you have made it this far you are probably one who can enjoy the amazing beauty of nature, we just have to take time to notice. As a wanna be photographer I love the light.

In order to spend more time and keep current with this blog I will be posting little or nothing on Facebook or Instagram in the near future. If you like the content please subscribe or sign up for email notices of new postings. Also I would appreciate if you share it with those who are like-minded and may enjoy some feeble writing and images from our travels.

Coming up in my next posts a feature on my camp kitchen, Narrow Hills Provincial Park, my solo trip north to discover not so common lakes and rough trails as well as our final fall camping trip. It appears our trip to Arizona is now off so some winter camping and travelling is in the works. A good chance to give my DC to DC charger a work out. (see post DC to DC charger install).

Hope to see you all down the road. Look for the NL and the western hat….Gerry and Charlotte

One of the cons of a truck camper is storage and on our Northern Lite outside storage is limited. In a four season camper the fewer openings to the outside the better, so one has to compromise outside accessible storage for insulation, one of the pro’s.

We have two RV set ups for traveling. One is when we plan on doing a lot of lake camping and staying in one spot for some time, we take our small 4×8 trailer with our 17 foot Grumman canoe as a tow behind. Or when we are planning a trip that requires extra fuel, water and supplies in areas that don’t offer any services.

The second mode we call our “Free and Easy” way of travel with nothing in tow. This is when we do more travelling and less camping. Our back seat is taken up with our 16 foot Sea Eagle kayak, tools, my camp kitchen, portable 100 watt solar panel, camera equipment and anything else we can fit in. This is our preferred way to travel even while camping as we can pretty much go anywhere our truck can get to and be at home. We also can park just about anywhere to overnight. Mileage is much better as well less carbon tax. This limits what we can take like extra fuel.

In the photos I have been posting on our blog I have had a lot of inquiries about the rear storage box. This has been one of my better ideas, that actually works great, some don’t. I started with a hitch carrier from Princess Auto. Due to the design of my back step on the Northern Lite I had to add a drop receiver under the standard hitch as shown in the photo. This will be different depending on your truck and camper, but in my case hides the storage under my back step.

I then built a box to fit inside the carrier 4 feet long 19 inches deep and 14 inches high out of 3/8 inch plywood all in one piece no openings. I then cut the lid at an angle so I could pull it off to the back. Inside I then put a liner 1/2 inch higher than the opening to create a seal when the lid was slid back on. This keeps out 95% of the moisture and dust. I bolted the box to the storage carrier and it works great. The photos will perhaps show it better than I can explain it.

I can now carry my levelling blocks on the outside of the box, inside I carry a small 10 lb. propane tank, a small propane fire pit, two 10 litre gas cans, a splitting axe, two outdoor mats, water hoses, grill and anything else that fits. We always travel with way too much stuff and think we are travelling simple. For me the extra fuel and propane is almost a must where we travel…the rest well. Over the years we have found the simpler the better and less stuff to worry about makes for a more enjoyable time. Hence the truck camper, home in the back of a pick up truck.

Hope this helps those who were inquiring and give others some ideas. Some day I would like to get one of those fancy checker plate well sealed boxes and figure a way to put it on a slide out track so I could get at things from the top easier, but for now this works and that quick prototype I built has been in service for at least five years. Just never got around to building one out of better material.

In my next post the last of our northern travels to Meadow Lake Provincial Park and more photographs. I hate playing catch up on posting so will attempt to post regularly as we go. January 2022 has seen no travel yet but the road is calling, we will either be in Quartzite Arizona in February for a truck camper rally we are registered for or going to our plan B of more winter camping in Canada.

This post pretty much was for our truck camper family, for the rest of you with a different RV than a truck camper…well you just don’t know what your missing out on.

Your signing up or subscribing for my ramblings and photographs I thank you this retirement thing would get real bad if I had no reason to ramble and take photographs. Charlotte appreciates it as well it keeps me busy and out of her hair. So please sign up for notifications on new posts. Questions and comments are welcomed. I also post notices on Instagram under my name gerrypopplewell, no creativity there in coming up with a catchy name but it gets the job done.

Charlotte and I look forward to meeting you as we travel down the road.

Otter Rapids back to La Ronge we took our time exploring any and all the new roads we could get down with our truck camper. A little plug for our truck camper group, there were very few roads we could not travel, height was our only problem on some of the forest trails. We discovered some beautiful smaller lakes and interesting terrain in the Canadian shield.

Some of the lakes in northern Saskatchewan we visited were just recovering and re-growing from forest fires in past years. Since we have visited this area some of it was decimated by summer fires and we were glad we made the trip when we did. We spent a lot of time hiking and enjoying the natural beauty of the forest, photos I did not lose and will share with you.

La Ronge Nut Point campground was home for several days as there we’re very few campers and it was quiet. I love float planes. They are just part of the north I love so spent a lot of time watching the Transwest airplanes leave and arrive. Transwest Air is now under a different name which I cannot seem to remember. I think I have mentioned it before but a visit to the Trading Post is a must to pick up some locally grown wild rice one of our favourites. We have only found it elsewhere in northern Manitoba.

The rain settled in so we decided to start heading towards home with a stop at Prince Albert National Park and camp at the Narrows Campground. Along the way we stopped at the beautiful Montreal River Rest area for lunch and the rain was gone.

Arriving in Prince Albert National park the weather was beautiful so we decided to stay a few days and enjoy the many friends we have met at the Narrows, most of whom are regulars who spend the entire summer there. With no services such as power and sketchy cell coverage the campground is usually not packed and quiet.

When travelling light as we call it without our small canoe trailer, we pack our Sea Eagle FS 420 16 foot kayak. It’s a very well built tough inflatable and very stable in larger rougher waters. This is usually packed behind the drivers seat of our truck and with an 12v electric pump we can be in the water in minutes. A couple of days ended up being closer to a week as we travelled to the other lakes in the park and put in to check out the shore lines and wild life (animal type) there is no shortage of the other in the park.

As always PA National Park does not disappoint anyone with a camera and I took many images so will select some to share. Well the weather changed on us again and we decided once again to start heading home this time we would take some different side roads we had not travelled before… well we did not make it home once again, but that is for another post as I have gone on and on long enough.

Just a note on the DC to DC charger, well worth the time and investment especially in our truck camper as we have to drive it for sightseeing so we may as well top up the batteries and it will do that in a very short drive. So far so good. We’ll see how it handles our camping this winter. Winter camping is the reason we bought it, as well as being able to camp in shaded areas and not having to depend only on solar.

Enjoy the images. All images as taken good or bad, I do not photoshop or enhance any photograph in any way so you get them as taken. It’s unfortunate we have come to a time that you cannot believe an image for what it is and that bothers me.

Please subscribe and if you like share with a friend and thanks to you all who are with us all the time it gives me a reason to keep shooting images. Next post a short camper mod some are interested in and then why we never made it home!

Look for the Northern Light on the white Ford and the western hat….hope to see ya all down the road….

Gerry and Charlotte

Charlotte and I are wishing all a very Merry Christmas and may we all find love, happiness and health in the New Year. To all our RV family we wish safe travels and new experiences around every bend and may the wind be always in your back.
Hope to see you all down the road in 2022…..

In July we travelled to Meeting Lake to visit with friends and while there decided to take a short road trip and visit The Crooked Bush. It’s an amazing sight and one of only two unexplainable botanical growths in the world. Enjoy our photographs of the area but it is really one must see for themselves, you will not be disappointed . I have included the information from Tourism Saskatchewan write up on the area we visited. In our travels all over Saskatchewan it’s amazing the hidden gems once you get off the Trans Canada Highway and travel some less known roads. This one has been in our backyard and we finally got to check it out this summer.

The Crooked Bush, located in the Rural Municipality of Douglas near Hafford and Speers, is called a botanical mystery by the Friends of the Crooked Bush and was declared one of the ’54 Wonders of Canada’ by CBC’s ‘Morningside’ show. This trail tours a small cluster of aspen trees that are atypical as they do not grow towards the sky; instead, the branches twist and turn in horizontal and downward directions, giving the grove an eerie and, yet, mesmerizing appearance.

Scientists believe that the tree growth is a result of a genetic mutation, but they are unsure what caused the mutation. Meanwhile, local legend attributes the strange shaping to everything from a UFO landing to a lightning strike that affected the area’s soil. The legend also claims that people who enter the area experience dizziness and that, despite the lack of a fence, cattle will not travel through the trees. The peculiarity of the trees, which were first identified in the 1940s by local residents, is further increased by the fact that the trees grow less than 10 m away from other aspens that do not feature this mutation.

The trees are 15 – 20 ft. tall and are around 70 years old. Normal aspen trees usually reach this height after 15 years. What is truly intriguing is the fact that the trees are growing at a normal rate, their branches are just growing in every direction other than straight up. Although the trail is rather short, it features a wooden boardwalk and is a must-see destination for people of all ages and abilities.

This area is considered a natural treasure. It is located on private land. Please do not climb the trees, break branches, litter or leave the boardwalk. This will help ensure that the area remains intact for years to come.

Thanks for checking us out. I am so happy to be able to share our images and great travel locations with you. Perhaps we can entice you to check out these areas for yourselves. Please subscribe it’s free or sign up for email notifications of our new posts as we get them up. Always running a little behind on posts but after trying to catch up on a whole summer….if I am going to do this they must and will be more regular. All we need is internet and we tend to choose areas that are not internet or cell friendly so sometimes we will be running behind on posting.

As always your comments and questions are appreciated on the Crooked Bush, our travels or the Truck Camper our home on wheels. Thanks and hope to see you down the road….look for the Northern Light and the western hat we would love to meet you…Gerry  and Charlotte

One of the big problems we found with our electrical supply was the lack of power camping during the winter months. When the temperatures are dropping to minus 15 Celsius and lower the furnace runs a lot. Our Northern Lite is what they call a true four-season camper but let’s face it no camper is insulated to our Northern Saskatchewan winters.

So you ask why bother in that weather. Well we cannot resist as the north is just too beautiful in winter and just needs to be photographed and shared with all those who will not put themselves through that. Snowshoeing and skiing also being another reason. During the summer my two 6 volt 100 amp/hr. flooded batteries with the 100 watt solar panel on the roof is more than adequate for our power needs. However we love those well treed private spots with lots of shade, throw in two or three days of little to no sunshine and we need the generator. I hate listening to generators and especially mine, we camp to get rid of the noise and listen to the wind and birds, not a generator grinding away.

Having read posts on RV sites written by someone who knows more about the electrical side of RVing, I ran across this DC to DC charger system that many recommended. This is my solution! I got to get one of these, so I ran down to my local RV dealerships wanting to purchase one and get it installed. Well after three dealerships I was told they never heard of a DC to DC charger and I did not need one as my batteries charged from the truck while driving. Yes a slow charge and if I drove 10 hours a day that may work, not acceptable for me. After I spent $25 worth of gas and two days running around trying to purchase locally (support local) and getting nowhere, I turn to on line direct to Renogy.  Yes, four days later I have my 40 amp Renogy battery charger delivered and ready for install. If memory serves me right it was approximately $165.

Next problem I had to solve was where to mount the charger as they recommended close to the camper batteries as possible. Finally I decided to mount it under the closet panel in the rear closet of our 2017 9.6 Northern Lite.  The big shock came when I discovered the cost of 4 gauge wire recommended to be run from my truck battery to a fuse then back to the charger, then from the charger to the batteries. My truck is a 2013 Ford F350 Super Duty with crew cab and eight foot box.  That’s 20 some feet to the back of the truck only and still had to get to my charger and batteries times two for positive and negative wires. After pricing the cable individually by the foot I was shocked, copper is expensive. I then discovered at my local Princess Auto store 4 gauge booster cables 20 feet long for less money. I now have several booster clamps in the shop less wire. These worked perfectly to run side by side from the battery down my truck frame just reaching the back, these were about $36 each pair. Locally I could not find the connectors to connect the camper to the truck (Orion Motor Tech wire connector, 2-4 gauge x 2) these worked well.  Also needed the Renogy, 60 amp fuse x 2  ($13 each) as well as two spare fuses which I found on Amazon. Also needed is a way to turn on the power to the charger from either the camper batteries or the truck battery, I chose to wire it to my existing truck switches and run it to the charger in the back. This required about 30 feet of 10 gauge wire and a wire connector from camper to the truck.

This part is specific to our 9.6 NL camper. Next I did not want to drill holes in the camper so I ran the wiring up through the battery compartment using the bottom vent to enter the battery compartment, under the batteries as they sit on slats up through into the area under the closet to the charger. From the charger to a fuse then back to the battery compartment to the batteries. I connected the camper with the Orion wire connector attached to the camper under the battery compartment to the truck connector at the rear of the box along with the 12v wire to start the charger. This allows for a quick disconnect for unloading a truck camper and not necessary for other applications. The connectors would probably not be needed on a van, class A or C. I would only recommend this system for someone who moves their home with them when they drive from place to place, if you are disconnected from the source it will not benefit you unless you want to sit and run your vehicle.

I am not going to try and get into the technical end of the system as I do not understand everything, so do your own research there is lot of help on line as well as Renogy  themselves. My truck alternator was large enough to handle the 40 amp charger but some applications may require a larger alternator.

So far we have only used the system in late fall while running the furnace, which we keep at 21 Celsius, our water pump and a few LED lights. Our days are shorter here and less sunlight at a very low angle for our rooftop solar panel. Now when we use our camper to get supplies or just to explore an area I am pumping full charge into my two 6 volt in the camper. In a 30 km drive I can bring my batteries from 12 to full charge. This would have never happened before. I never run my batteries below 11.5 so if I am close, even Idling for 15 to 20 minutes, has topped them back up to around 12.5 to 12.7. I like having the switch in the cab to turn the charger on if I need it and not have to have it on when not necessary. Being as the switches are tied to the ignition when the key is off I am not draining the truck battery to power the charger and house batteries, something to watch for.

There are sites out there that have the technical information, all I know is for the investment and trouble to install this charger we have a lot more options and it will also work on all kinds of batteries, so when I can afford to upgrade to lithium it’s going to work even better. So far 100% happy with Renogy and the system and would not hesitate to recommend it. Hope the photos explain it better.

Your comments and questions are more than welcome if the questions are not too tough or techy.

Next Post Saskatchewan’s “Crooked Bush”

Hope to see you down the road…Gerry

Chapter 1:

If I’m not mistaken in my last post I said see you next week….well folks that was sometime in May,  it’s been quite a week and already it’s December. When you’re having fun time just goes flying by and we had a very enjoyable summer of travel. Our little cabin was mostly deserted from early May to late October so we are starting to question why we even have it as the road calls and we find we must go. We know there will be time in our lives to sit and look out the same window but until that time comes… why not see this beautiful country.

Our travels took us right across northern Saskatchewan from Otter Rapids north of La Ronge and west to Meadow Lake with lots of stops in between.  Starting very early this spring we missed most of the forest fires and not until later on in our trip did we have to deal with smoke and it was never really bad. The worse smoke we experienced was when we returned to our cabin near Saskatoon briefly. As of this year we have travelled nearly every highway in the province from the far north to the U.S. border. The Grasslands around Mankota, Big Muddy area, The Great Sandhills in the Sceptre area, the Crooked Bush near Hafford and all through the north of the province. And we have not seen all the diversity this province offers even yet.

Leaving  Pike Lake we headed north.  That was our only plan at the time and as usual we stopped to visit my cousin June, owner of Northside Antiques at Northside, north of Prince Albert.  We try and keep our visit short as when I start looking around at all the unique antique pieces she has it is a good thing we are in a truck camper with no room for the gems I could purchase. Heck I either used or know what those gems were for…yep I am officially an antique by years. Stop in next time, you will be totally surprised what treasures that building holds.

Next stop we overnighted at Prince Albert National Park.  We love that park, then on to lunch at a beautiful little highway rest stop on the Montreal River. Plan A was to head from there across country to the Narrow Hills Provincial Park and the smaller lakes there but it was raining and the weather forecast was not in our favour so we continued to La Ronge where we spent several days enjoying that community. Always a highlight in La Ronge is a visit to the Trading Post where they sell the best wild rice you can get in this province which is harvested locally. We paid cash but they do take furs there as well but we were right out of squirrel pelts so cash it was.

While in La Ronge we managed to get ourselves with our truck camper mixed up in a parade downtown. We noticed flashing lights coming towards us and were able to get into a parking lot as a very large parade came marching down the street. The Parade full of orange shirts was in remembrance of residential schools and “Every Child Matters”. It was a beautiful sight as La Ronge and northern communities are largely First Nations people, featuring drumming, RCMP in full uniform and the entire community taking part in Orange.

I made a HUGE mistake however and lost close to 300 images of our travels from La Ronge to the Otter Rapids and Devils Lake. We visited many small and beautiful lakes and campgrounds on our way there and more on the way back photographing all the way. Well I thought I had transferred all my images to my hard drive and then formatted my camera disk just to find out, for some reason, the images did not transfer. I was devastated at my loss and had I known then what I know now is that if I would have switched to one of the several spare disks I carry, those images probably could have been recovered by someone smarter than myself on these things….I learn the HARD way.

We decided on plan B and that was to head for Missinipe Provincial Park, which according to the Provincial booking website had campsites available. Pulling into Missinipe our wonderful Sask Parks booking system was again wrong and all sites were full.

Now we were a long way up the road so plan C was put into play and we headed for Otter Rapids not sure what we would find there. Just on the east side of the bridge crossing the rapids were two small campgrounds one on each side of the road. There was a group camped there so we decided to head further to Devils Lake and check out that campground. When we got there it was also occupied and the sounds of sirens greeted us. The conservation officers were busy chasing a bear out of some ladies campsite. We decided to head back to Otter Rapids as it was beautiful and we had never stayed there. When in the far north or anywhere secluded I always make it a point to know who I’m sharing the campground with and if not comfortable with the neighbours we leave. We can do that, our home is on wheels. As it turned out they were a great group of young kayaker’s crazy enough to be doing the rapids. It was for this reason they travelled from southern Saskatchewan.

Well there was one level spot left and we took it just above the rapids, beautiful but very noisy. Note unless you love the sound of pounding water all night take the campground across the road to the north it’s much more peaceful. Also the washroom, a pit toilet, is very busy most of the night for locals travelling the road, after you realize what the traffic is about all is good.

We enjoyed our stay there but had to move on. Charlotte thought we had enough of the rough dusty road so would not join me heading further up the road for miles to its end. A trip for another day I think probably on my own. We headed back stopping at many beautiful lakes along the way, lakes that are out of the way and we will return to if we get the chance. I love float planes so we stopped at Osprey Wings Ltd. at Missinipe on the way back and spent the morning there photographing planes coming and going. The owner of the family-owned air charter Gary Thompson was very accommodating when I asked if I could just hang and take photos, we had a great visit. Also an artist Gary gave Charlotte a choice of a couple of his prints, one of which is in our camper. A great outfit, remember them when chartering a northern flight. Many stops later we made it back to Nut Point Provincial Campground in La Ronge.

For those who have not been north of La Ronge you start getting into the rock of the Precambrian  or Canadian Shield  where the trees get shorter and country gets a lot more rocky and rough. The road is good I would say for most RVs however you must realize it is the only road to service the north and the mines and communities. Huge trucks that are loaded have the right of way and some of the roads get a little rough and narrow with a few pull overs so be warned.

I’m going to break our travels into sections as there are a lot of images so the few we did salvage from our phones and Charlotte’s camera we hope you enjoy. We now have a reason to return to the north.

We have more images of La Ronge, PA National Park, Kimball Lake in the Meadow Lake Provincial Park and the “Crooked Bush”.

As always I appreciate those of you who I can share my images with. It gives me a reason to continue and a lot to catch up on. It’s free to subscribe and be notified when I finally get posting and no information is shared.  We appreciate each and every subscriber and hope we can add to a little bit of your online entertainment. I have some mini posts on Instagram at gerrypopplewell.  I final figured out how to answer questions or enjoy your feedback in the websites comments section. Please feel free to comment with ideas or questions would love to hear from you and perhaps learn from your travels as well.

For our RV friends I am pulling together my photos and information on the installation of a DC to DC charger, one of the better upgrades to our truck camper complete with approximate cost.

Until next time stay safe, healthy and take time to enjoy the beauty around us every day and that includes our friends. More images to come from the north stay tuned.

The road is calling and I must go…..see you down the road

Gerry and Charlotte

The weather for the week ending May looked excellent so Charlotte and I loaded the “Igloo” and headed north to the Narrows in Prince Albert National Park. Of all the campgrounds in the National Park this one has the least services including sketchy cell service. Washrooms with cold water are the only luxury, but the secluded campsites for some make it worthwhile. The marina has boat launching and a few amenities but with covid even that has been reduced. Boat and canoe/kayak rentals are available as well. While we had young children, we found Beaver Glen near the main beach, playground, shopping and ice cream stores made that site our go to as it was much easier to keep them occupied and maintain some sanity. The Narrows is a quieter place for those not requiring services to entertain themselves or children so it is now our go to place for over 35 years, at least once a month for days or months.

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Playground of the NOFS, an elite  group formed by summer resident Johnny consists mainly of, to put it nicely, experienced campers and regulars to the Narrows for many years. (See previous article on the NOFS.) For those of us who appreciate the beauty and quiet of these campsites we guard the privilege of being there and keeping it as pristine as possible. We are proud to be members of this group and this trip allowed us to reconnect with many camping friends and met a few more.

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It was hard to get anywhere in the campground as visiting was breaking out all over and appeared contagious as we  shared our locked up experiences of last year. It was great to see Donna and Jim, Jan and Norm, Denise and Ernest, marina Jim and of course Mr. Narrows our leader John. As we were early in the season some regulars were not up yet and I know I missed some. We also met a fine young lady Cara and her daughter. Cara just recently took early retirement and left her sticks and bricks dwelling for the free life living in her neat little Class C camper. She plans on travelling where the weather is good and where ever the road leads her, doing what many of us nomads dream of full time. We hope to see them again down the road perhaps in Arizona this winter or on the coast.

We also met Kathy (I think I got that right) and Blaine who, like us, spend a great deal of their year in their Northern Lite Truck camper and Ford F350 6.2 gas. We had much in common and had a chance to compare many notes, upgrades and problem areas but both agreed we were totally happy with our choices of travel and living accommodations and would not change a thing. Both of us have had every RV imaginable except a Class A rig. We like the truck camper as we park anywhere a vehicle can and with 4×4 go where we feel like when we want to, our only restriction sometimes is height but nothing is perfect.

A great week, warm weather not too windy, lots of canoeing, hiking, visiting and photography all in the company of experienced campers and RVers. Generator rules were followed with minimum of use, no garbage and food left around to attract bears who live there and the quiet as campfires died around 9 pm at most sites.

Unfortunately one of the regulars, Morton the Fox was not present this year, we noticed signs everywhere with his photo asking us not to feed the wild life. I hope the park did not have to put him down or relocate him because some fool camper fed him and may have been bitten. When around us they become fairly unafraid of humans (we are thought to be the intelligent ones) and they feed them, but wild is wild and if they feel threatened they will defend themselves. Please do not feed wild life or leave you junk food around so wild animals and birds can get into it, they are no different than us and are always looking for a free easy meal. God gave them a natural diet on which to survive and they do not do well on our processed junk food. Want to kill a wild animal feed it what you eat, so please use your head and allow our wild life to be wild life.

I do this site mainly to share the beauty of nature and light that God has given us to enjoy if we stop to see it as well as interesting places to see. I try my best to capture this beauty in a photograph without retouching any of them but quite frankly nothing beats seeing it in real time. I even took the time to use my Hasselblad medium format film camera and a light meter used by my father to try and capture the moment and will have to share those results later, as the film is out for processing…yep have to wait for it and hope I remembered what photography is all about, light and timing and setting the camera manually to capture what I see. Hopefully you will enjoy some of the images and subscribe.  It’s free and your address is not shared, but it’s what keeps me wanting to do this. You can feel good that you have kept a senior off the streets and out in nature taking photographs.

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Hope we see you down the road.  Look for studiowest.ca and the igloo.  Would like to meet you – until then love one another, be kind to each other and respect our natural resources and wild animals.

Next week I will share our photos from our trip in northern Saskatchewan.

As always you can reach me at gerry@studiowest.ca

It appears there has been a lifestyle change since 2020, people who could never be bothered to spend a lot of time outdoors have suddenly discovered fresh air. As with anything that becomes flavour of the month, we tend to overdose on whatever it is and take things to the extremes. So we left for the north before the rush.

This is evident in the sales of anything outdoors from running shoes to expensive RV’s and cars. Money has not been the problem since 2020, the supply of outdoor toys has been and the shortage of green spaces. I keep saying the streets in Saskatoon were designed for a small city not the one it has grown into which creates traffic congestion. This goes also for everything outdoors these days as we go berserk in our efforts to amuse ourselves since our usual venues have been limited.

Try and book a tee time, or go for a quiet hike or bike ride thinking you will get some personal space, or book a camping site in one of our parks. This has been great for those marketing all these outdoor adventures and its great people are getting outdoors. One big problem you were somewhere else in previous years before and our courses, parks and trails were not designed for this kind of traffic. Our parks were not fully utilized, now it’s impossible to book a weekend unless you got the credit card out and spent your day on the internet booking every weekend possible.

 I feel sorry for anyone buying a new RV these days as they are flying off the line as fast as they can produce them, pride of quality gone as people are willing to pay anything without question. People who have just bought an expensive home on wheels and have not realized they would have to share with bugs, animals and people’s garbage left at sites. The skies are not always sunny as on YouTube. They now discover when you flush that is not the end of the story, and one hour showers are not going to happen at all let alone every day. And internet is a luxury not guaranteed with the price of admission. We are all guilty in the rush to satisfy.  We grab for the first flavour that is offered and get a double or triple scoop having never tried it before. Yep if you want an RV or an expensive set of golf clubs or one of the new electric bikes…just wait until what we will call normal returns, whenever that may be, and the market place will be flooded at 10 cents on the dollar.

It’s becoming frustrating for people who have always enjoyed spending time travelling around our beautiful country in their RV’s and yes that is us. How can you travel across the country when you have no place to stay the night as weekends are booked solid in most parks this summer. Heck even Walmart has started banning overnight stays as some have totally abused that privilege leaving garbage and living on the lot.

Those of us who have been RVing  for years may have to put up with this and get creative as we know we can and just wait it out until, like chewing gum, after awhile it’s not so tasty anymore and expensive RV’s will rot in backyards and storage facilities as this too will happen. Our parks, campgrounds, golf courses were not built to accommodate this sudden rush of traffic so for a time we will have to manage the ant hill living lifestyle, which admittedly some love.

Living with nature can teach us a lot and can provide a place of relaxation and beauty and a lot of people have discovered and enjoyed. As more and more people head outdoors, even early in the season we found garbage and human waste everywhere. What is it with people who have to litter and destroy the beauty around them by leaving their garbage.  It’s a danger to wildlife, pets and humans.  Why??? I will not refer to you as swines as that would be an insult to that breed, you are simply put, pigs in the simplest terms. Before long we are going to lose the privilege of camping, hiking and biking in some areas as they have to be shut down to protect the environment and ourselves from ourselves. Take your garbage out with you and leave no trace of being there….Please.

Admittedly in our travels on Saskatchewan highways and parks we have noticed either a lack of or no way to dispose of waste or re-cycle containers in the parks and at rest stops. Manitoba and B.C. do an excellent job of this but for some reason Saskatchewan pales in comparison. This however is no excuse to just drop it where ever. For that reason I will not be sharing those hidden gem camp spots that are out of the way and quiet that we have discovered on our own. This is at the request of others that go there and the fact that the next time we return we do not want it to be the new go to place and full of garbage. If you find these spots on your own the effort is worth it and you will probably respect it as we do. We will try and inform you on the regular spots and our experience at them as we see it you will have to experience them on your own.

I will share some images of our trip as we spent the first night “moochdocking” at our very good friends’ place at Meeting Lake, Saskatchewan out front of their cabin. Meeting Lake is one of the few lakes that the water is rising every year with no real explanation. Now the beach area is gone and cabins on the lake are surrounded by dirt berms. After a good visit we left and plans changed while on the road and we were headed for Big River. What seemed like an eternity on some of the worst back roads we have ever been on we arrived at the resort community of Big River where we found a really nice regional park to stay at right on Cowan Lake. The community has two very nice regional parks and a couple of private ones that appear to be seasonal spots only. As we, along with one other RV, were the only ones there, we found the spot quite quiet and relaxing.

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The next morning we headed north again in spotty rain, found a road used a lot for logging trucks and a sign that said Sled Lake. We decided to give the road a try as it had rained and check out Sled Lake. At first the road was fairly good but did deteriorate and get a lot narrower but we made it and found one of the prettiest little lake communities we have ever seen.  No luck, nothing was for sale or we would have never come home. The community consisted of perhaps 30 residences and an outfitters camp, the whole community was well groomed and a pride of home ownership showed everywhere we looked. They have closed the campground there, possibly they did not want the distractions or forementioned problems so we could not stay overnight.

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We respected their wishes and from there we moved on to the Cowan Dam site recreation area where we found many people fishing and camping there. It is a really nice spot to camp or fish, but was very crowded and the fish flies were incredible so we moved on.

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Not far from Meadow Lake we decided to head there as our granddaughter is finishing her pharmacist training there for a couple of months. However she had left for home taking an extended weekend but we checked out the Lions Park campground in Meadow Lake. A nice little spot right outside the community and there was some pre-season preparations happening and it was not our cup of tea so we headed to Meadow Lake Provincial Park north of the community. The park covers approximately 1600 square kms and features over 20 lakes and several campgrounds, some hike in tenting only. This is an excellent northern park for those tenting and not wanting to be surrounded by RVs. The lakes are beautiful and clear with many hiking trails around them. We had spent time there one fall out of season and it was very colourful if you catch the leaves at the right time. We headed to Waterhen Lake, one of the largest lakes.  We had been there before, but upon arriving found the campground just about full of people who were fishing and the spots were limited. We decided to take a chance the Greig Lake campground was open at this time and discovered a beautiful campground surrounding the lake and very sparse. We could pick just about any site we wanted. The sites are all very well kept and provide a lot of treed in privacy I don’t think there was a bad spot in the campground. We are not beach people but for those that are the beaches are great at several of the lakes. We spent the night there hiking and exploring the surrounding area and would recommend this campground but imagine in prime time it could be very busy. And if you don’t mind busy this is a go to spot.

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We left the park early the next day and travelled through the park to the community of Goodsoil where we took Hwy. 26 south to Loon Lake. This section of 26 is really not advisable if you love your RV or in anything less than a 4×4, we have traveled similar logging trails. From Loon Lake we took Hwy. 699 and visited Steele Narrows National Historical Site of Canada. This is the site of the Northwest Resistance which began in the spring of 1885. During that time, several battles were fought between the Indigenous people and the North West Mounted Police (NWMP). The battle of Loon Lake took place at Steele Narrows on June 3^rd, 1885. This concluded the Northwest Resistance and was the last battle to be fought on Canadian soil. There we met a young native family who were there teaching their young ones the history of the area which was so good to see. Regardless of how they felt about the history at least they were sharing it, now in our society we try and hide our past rather than learning from it.

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There are campgrounds there I think that are provincial as I did not take notes, that were very nice but for tents or smaller units under that 30 ft. overall length for sure. We then headed to Makwa Lake Provincial Park 60 kms west of Loon Lake. This provincial park is made up of expansive forest connecting five lakes, it features three campgrounds and multiple sandy beaches. Again many beautiful hiking trails in the area with wheel chair access to the beaches and service centers. We have never stayed there but may be a consideration in off season. I think it would be beautiful and great lakes to canoe. A great start to beat the rush and approximately 1200 kms later we were happy to have experienced more of our province and perhaps some go to again areas.

Now to find those really off the pavement and off the grid areas for some more adventure, photographs and great canoeing we hope to someday meet as we go down the road.  As usual if you like what you see please subscribe and like. I am open to questions and nice comments only at gerry@studiowest.ca

As my new friend Jeffie Bear would say “be kind, love one another, love ya all”, see you soon.

This covid thing has changed a bit of our RV Nomad travelling plans in our camper but has also given time for reflection. Just being able to head down the road and wherever I stop is home that is travelling to me. We have everything needed and are completely self-contained, if we do not like our surroundings or weather we simply leave to a better location.

We have been fortunate to be able to spend a great deal of time on the road and living in our truck camper. We have been able to do this on a very limited retirement income as a result of downsizing to a small cabin on a small lake. The purge of items was tough, I had rooms and sheds full of stuff I needed. We had intended on going full time in our RV so the purge was massive at first. The more we got rid of the better it felt, so much less to care for, much of which we never used. To keep the larger home, two car garage and countless storage sheds, four different deck levels, one acre lot on the lake, docks, lawn and garden equipment and that was just the tip of the iceberg. Inside we had to furnish all the rooms so we did not look like we could not afford furniture. I had sheds too full with quads, snowmobiles, pontoon boat, canoes and kayaks, yep we had it all and more. Oh yes I almost forgot a very expensive RV sitting in the driveway. Having it all meant 8-10 hours of both of us working to pay the taxes and to keep all the stuff, and all that stuff sat because we did not have time….billable hours were important. The more we had the more it looked like we were successful, actually we felt quite different, we were slaves to our lifestyle. We did not go into debt to finance toys,  that would have been even more stress, but just maintaining and looking after what we had kept us behind the computers working.

The road was calling, fish needed to be caught and rivers paddled and different backyards for hiking when we chose. We decided that what we really loved was time, time for ourselves and friends. Time is something we all take for granted, time to stop and enjoy what we have. Well we did not even have time to enjoy our canoe, a passion we both enjoy.  It sat next to the pontoon boat with the brand new motor we used when we had time and next to the two kayaks we used when we had time, notice how often the word time came up.

The more we unloaded the lighter the load and the more time…which brings up another word Free. Free of stress and hours of work to support our commercial habit of owning stuff just to own it. We thought this stuff was to make life better….Our kids did not even want the stuff we collected when we started to purge. I would hate to think how much I added to our landfills over the years with the packaging of the stuff. Some of which even lasted a year when the warranty ran out. Don’t get me going on packaging, landfills are contributing to climate change, but no we tax gas and just keep purchasing more junk wrapped in layers of plastic. Junk we do not need.

I gotta shorten up this story, to make it short we sold out on the stick and bricks thing when a small cabin came up for sale overlooking the lake. Yes we bought it and spent two years replacing everything in the cabin and out. Bonus we paid cash, the lot is small, the cabin is only 800 sq. feet so taxes are low and we can afford it without having to work. It took those two years to sell our other place and when that sold we no longer needed to work. Anyway it was time they did not need marketing consultants that were aged as myself, I did not know all the different names and lingo the new generation of marketers came up with for “look after your customers.” Yes I was in the business of making people want what they did not need but had to have.

Without the larger home we used very little of, and living simply without all the stuff, we could follow our dream of travel and canoeing with time to spare. It was never my intention to die the richest man in the graveyard,  that never made sense to me at all.

The more time we spend in our RV the more we realize just how little we really need, to look after our basics such as shelter, food and water. Due to space we have only the essential daily cooking and kitchen accessories, but the essential only, no room for gadgets. With our canoe only or inflatable Sea Eagle we had no more gas to haul, no motor to maintain and launch fees to pay. Not for everyone, but to us it means freedom. We can launch the boats from anywhere easily and quickly, no mess, no fuss just keeping it simple. We could quietly paddle the shorelines and rivers for some interesting animals and great photographic images. We could fish and always catch just enough for supper, no more fish finder, we caught just as many fish in our tin canoe without all the gadgets, hard to believe.

RV lifestyle is becoming more popular with more people going full time even in Canada,  estimates are close to a million. Some consider them homeless and drop outs from society. I see them as successful for several reasons, words like financial freedom, freedom of time, freedom to move, freedom from waste, less stress come to mind. Having the courage to step out of the mainstream to enjoy a simpler life, one they chose to live that was out of what many consider normal.  RVing has taught us how to conserve water, resources and to live comfortable with the minimum of stuff. This has made us better stewards of our planet as it even carries over into our cabin lifestyle. We have a lot of respect for those who choose the nomad lifestyle over living up to society’s expectations. Is being successful a huge mortgage, taxes and payments and toys you do not have the time to enjoy?  Unfortunately we judge people by what they have and usually the bigger and more expensive the better. When in actual fact they may be slaves to their possessions. It’s the only kind of slavery that is allowed these days, good for the economy. When a person steps out of a shiny new pick up or BMW with worn out torn up jeans we consider him trendy, those same jeans on a person getting out of an old pickup not so shiny makes him look less trendy and more needy even if his truck is bought and paid for. Success is being able to wear jeans someone has already worn out and you just paid $175 bucks for. Heck I used to be embarrassed to go to school with iron on patches on my jeans, boy mom could have saved a lot of time patching if she was around now with three boys. However we would have not been wearing designer jeans, Army and Navy fashion outlet was first stop.

Everyone wants different things from life, however sometimes the marketers get us hooked on the “good stuff” we can’t live without and without realizing it we are hooked and slaves to our habits. Spending lots of time in our RV or our little cabin we are able to kick the habit, usually because we do not have room, and when it comes right down to it, just did not need it. My grandfather once told me if I could separate my wants from my needs I would be a lot happier. Well I once was young and those words just ran straight through my head, never even stopped. Now I realize after purchasing it all at top prices and practically giving it away on kijji just how smart he was and how much those words meant.

Now I see being successful is having the time to enjoy what we have. Time to enjoy the beauty of this country if that being in the U.S., Canada or abroad, time to pursue dreams and goals. We have traded for a modest lifestyle, one we can afford to enjoy time and freedom of stress even though it’s not corporate Canada’s plan. When life here is through the size of my house and properties, my toys and make of vehicle will not factor in. The time spent enjoying people and places, freedom to move, less stress and just being content inside my soul to be able to enjoy God’s gift of nature and the beauty surrounding us. It’s hard to see beauty outside when there is turmoil and strife inside. Remember the bigger the fire you build the more wood you need to keep it going.

Thanks for the RV lifestyle we really have discovered a simpler way of life where you discover how little you really need to live BIG!  It’s just too bad it has taken me so long to learn these lessons and concentrate on the inner peace and quality of life. I was told a rose cannot be opened from the outside it opens from inside. Just a few thoughts that have allowed us to retire, travel just about every highway in Saskatchewan, travel some in B.C. and discover the beauty of Northern Manitoba. Let’s get this covid thing out of the way, more roads are waiting and our backyard is becoming familiar.

Yes we must hit the road soon so those of you who subscribe don’t have to endure these ramblings and we can share some of the beauties of this country and people along the way. Thanks for reading, keep it simple and we hope to see you down the road. If you can put up with this please subscribe it make us feel good….cheers Gerry and Charlotte…that is if she posts this.

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