October 27, 2012 | Tips from Travellers >
Prince Rupert, Car / Truck / Motorcycle
In July 2012, we went camping in North Carolina and South Carolina. It was one of the hottest vacations we'd ever done. If you are familiar with tent camping, you know that tents don't breathe, and although we did camp on the coast, the breezes never made it as far as our campgrounds. The ocean temperatures must have been in the high 30s (C).
Our habit is to discuss/plan/decide on the next year's summer vacation on our way home from the current one. We've planned our vacations to the Grand Canyon, Gaspe, Alaska, Newfoundland, the coast or Washington/Oregon, North Dakota etc this way. We have many trips on our bucket list.
We thought of a cruise up the inside passage, and decided it was time to see some of BC. While looking for an inexpensive trip on a cruiseline, I "tripped" across the offer from BC Ferries. For a reasonable price, we could start in Vancouver, travel the inside passage and drive back down from Prince Rupert. Being true campers/drivers of long distances to get where we want to be and see, this appealed to us.
I contacted BC Ferries, but found out I can't book a 2013 trip until January - when the new rates are published. So, I've left my name/email etc. with their promise to contact me as soon as I can book the trip.
Since then, I've sent for and received the BC Trip Planner package and I've purchased a current Frommer's Guide on BC, I've got my hiliters out, pinned up my map and planned our route. Because it doesn't cost a dime to reserve a rental car, I've booked the car. This past week, I've booked our flights on West Jet (I don't figure the price will go down between now and Aug 2, but it's a gamble, for sure). I'm paying for the flight with my TD Visa points, so again, I'm not yet out of any cash.