Camping along the East Coast of Canada with my A128S

[ko777]

Day 5: (yesterday)

I'm falling behind posting my activities, I have to keep this up before I forget so that I have something to remember after my journey.

The weather was great for biking and my Aframe neighbor is an avid biker in his late 50s. We went around our area for a couple hours and I got to know my new friend's journey in life. Since he was older than me he had more interesting stories to tell, plus he is a world traveller too, I listened more than tell my side. Part of my journey plans is to meet interesting people and it is actually happening and loving it.

Here are my new biking neighbor

My traveler friend tells me that to him the lakes look the same everywhere he goes and he had stop taking pictures. Interesting because I see his point, this picture looks like what I took in Quebec Province...lol

But the beach you could tell the difference, apparently this is man made

My campground layout, I always take a pic of the map so I have a reference without taking the hard copy with me

My neighbor invited me to their site and it was there last night, I stayed until we burned all the fire woods they had

They were interested in my screen room and the two bubble windows my model have. I also showed the small mods I did with using the drill on the tongue post, magic mesh and BlueCam app I was using to level my rig. The precision guide technique that I use to hitch my rig will surely benefit him, he backs up blindly and I see several dents on his bumper...lol

[rockin'ray]

Glad to hear you are enjoying your trip so far. I saw your comment about getting a Telus iPhone, I think you will be happy with the service you get out here on the east coast with it versus the Rogers service. How soon before you arrive in Nova Scotia? I think you will enjoy yourself very much here. If you have any questions about things you might want to check out while here, let me kow and I will see what I can do to give you some information.

[ko777]

August 13 at Whycocomagh Provincial Park and August 17 at Laurie Provincial Park. I did not reserve the sites, should I? I'm thinking of reserving the 17th because it is a weekend.

[ko777]

Day 6: cloudy and rain, first bad day for me

My Aframe neighbor broke camp and are getting ready to hitch their trailer. I took my drill to give them a hand. As I approach them, I saw several major things they were doing wrong;
- using the stabilizer bar to lift the trailer, their front lifter is broken and he was thinking that it was ok to use the SB instead. He had only one of the SB lifting the front trailer and I could see it bending. Wow he was lucky to not damage the trailer. Now he knows its purpose to stabilized only
- The cable of the electric brakes is tied to the propane tank. Apparently he does not know what it is for. I had to give him a quick info of what is the purpose of the cable
- Wrapping the chain on top of the tongue so it won't drag. I showed him how to cross the chain to shorten it and the purpose of the chain.
- He was about to take off and I reminded him the chokes of tires are still there...lol
- Last and a major one, his TV is bottoming out and I could see the front raised is too much, it is a Mazda CX-5 SUV, 4 cyl. I suggested to move both tanks at the back of their A122

He got the trailer via Kijiji and the previous owner did not explain any of these stuff to him.

They left with a better hookup then when they came in. I figure they will get home ok but I speculate their TV will have major issues later on.

Wow he made feel like I know my stuff well....

Wish him luck!

[ko777]

My first problem, misplace the 30A adaptor to normal plug. The trailer seems to be able to hide stuff from me and it bugs me I can't find things when I want it lol. I went shopping for the adaptor in the city, Home Depot, Home Improvement, Wall-Mart, Jayco RV dealer and finally another RV dealer that had it. This time I got two and place one in my car's glove compartment.

Even with rain pouring I decided to tour downtown with my bike. Put on a rain coat, parked my car in Sobeys grocery store and went to the store to wait for the rain to slow down. After close to an hour, the pouring rain turned to showers and stop eventually, here are pics I took on my tour

Nice to have free parking

Map of the bike path to downtown






These were taken around Fredericton downtown


Power plant on my way back to my campground

I got lazy so I got a cooked chicken in the grocery store before heading back

Rice cooker and all the chicken I could eat, yummy

Ok last night here and heading to Prince Edward Island tomorrow

From the Navigon GPS app in my iPhone 5

PEI here I go....

[ko777]

Day 7: Woke up too early 5 am and cannot go back to sleep so I came with an idea on how to find a random place I have been before on the road and wanting to go back there on the way home. I have to document this process before I forget:

Requirements:
- iPhone 5 with data plan and GPS
- Build in Camera app that geotags the pictures
- Build on Photos app that organizes the pictures in Places and indicates pictures that where taken on the map
- Free app ExifWizard to read the geotag info of the pictures and uses Maps app to get GPS address
- Build in Maps app
- Paid GPS app Navigon
- Paid PDF PROvider app for local document of post


Steps to find a place you visited before:
I gassed up somewhere in Quebec with a huge parking lot for trucks. I asked the attendant if I could rest for a couple hours but her English was poor, she directed to me to the manager and he said ok. I took several pictures in that area for geotag info.

Photos app showing pins of pictures taken

Selected the general area where I gassed up and rested

Select a picture taken at the place

Use ExifWizard to get geotag info

Select Maps App button on the top right corner

Maps app showing the GPS address

Enter the GPS address to Navigon app and it will direct you to the spot

Use this app to convert this post to PDF local file for future reference

This will help me trace my way back to interesting places I have been before.

Happy GEO tagging places!

[ko777]

Day 8: (yesterday) New Brunswick to PEI

Another bad day yesterday, it was raining the whole day. When the screen room is wet, it weighs a ton. I just dump all the wet stuff to the front storage, how convenient.

I almost lost the panel cover of the hot water. Someone got my attention, he was doing the wave and pointing back to my trailer but I cannot see the problem, the rain, water spray and going close to 110 kph in TCH did not help. Next exit was close by and I took it. Wow the panel was just hanging and when I try to move it, it fell...I was lucky to save it. I fixed it by using a long twist tie from the white water hose I got from Wall-Mart the other day.

Unbelievable not even a scratch flapping at 110 kph speed, this fix survived a 2 hour drive.

I was wondering why my TV rpm was higher going up hill and the mileage was lower, I forgot to dump the water from the tank. I have to use my checklist and not rely on memory when breaking camp.

You know I depend on the GPS app to guide me to all my destination, so far it gets me there but last night it got me here with the shortest distance by using unpaved roads. My TT was covered with red mud, what PEI have plenty of.

Off roading and the path are too narrow, I can't make a 3 point turn or U turn with a TT in tow lol, so I moved on. The pic is blurry because the camera was focusing on the wet windshield, I will set the app to prevent this next time, I'm using Carcorder app to record my driving trip, 94 GB of video so far.

I got to the private RV site in one piece with my red TT covered with mud. I was about to wash the mud away and just my luck, the site electric came off for several hours. No power means no water pressure. Oh we'll I set up with the dirty TT.
http://www.baysidervcampground.com/our_rates.htm
My site have 2 way service, 15A power

Did anyone try using our rig's AC on a 15A? It is not hot here but I'm curious if I have the option to use my AC. How about the heat pump, will it work on a 15A?

[ko777]

May bad, the previous post should be Day 7: (yesterday)

Day 8: (today) Relax and enjoy the beautiful weather in PEI

I decided just to relax at my campsite. I took advantage of the sun to dry all my wet stuff from yesterday's rain.

This is the first time I stayed in a private park. For me this place is for convenience, everything you need is close by even your neighbor. I prefer provincial and national park if I want to hang out at the site most of the time. I'm planning for the next 2 days to do several hours of day trips around the island and finish my tour on Monday evening with a nice dinner at this place http://www.lobstersuppers.com/menu.php



Pictures of the private park


My mini mod on the top of frame for bungee cords to hook up tarps. A bit windy so I supported the tarp with several nylon strings.

Nice forecast coming...

Happy Camping!

[thehamguy1]

Are you about a third of the way through your trip now? Keep the updates coming, Marc, and above all, keep having fun!

[ko777]

Originally Posted by thehamguy1

Are you about a third of the way through your trip now? Keep the updates coming, Marc, and above all, keep having fun!

Yes, 13 more nights. I'm enjoying my trip and I think I'm going all the way to the end. I was telling my friends before I left that I always have the option to cut my trip short since I did not book my sites in advance and I'm alone.

I like all the surprises I'm experiencing in my trip so far. Feeling of not being in control of what to do next and where to go that is unique to the place is actually fun not stressful, maybe because I just have to deal with myself lol, I am learning to take it easy and not to expect too much of anything.

BTW I found my 30A adaptor to normal plug in my car, no wonder I cannot find it in my trailer, now I have 3...lol

Do you know if a 15A power is enough for the heat pump? I use the furnace last night to prevent blowing up a fuse.

[ko777]

Day 9: Having dinner at the Lobster Claw Restaurant

This is actually my first time out having dinner at a restaurant since the start of my trip

Lobster Claw Restaurant
3830 Portage Rd, Winsloe, PE C1E 1Z3
http://goo.gl/maps/RXL0P

[Pooneil]

Originally Posted by ko777

Did anyone try using our rig's AC on a 15A?

I have a 15 amp circuit close enough to my camper that it just needs the camper power cord and a dogbone adapter. So I just gave it a try.

The AC ran but it made unkind noises when the compressor started, like a TV shifted to 2nd too early with a heavy trailer behind it. The 121.2 line voltage dropped to 119.2 volts. So in my sample of 1 plug with 2 AC units (including my old Niagara years ago) it can work. But don't put any other loads on it and watch the voltage.

[ko777]

I guess I need to put the fridge on propane. How about the heat pump? I assume it should be ok if the AC works.

Thanks for testing...

[Pooneil]

Originally Posted by ko777

How about the heat pump? .

It was 95 out. The the heat was pumping out of everywhere without any help.

[rlocicero]

In 2010, we took 6 weeks to visit all of the Maritime Provences except Newfoundland ( hurricane season). Best trip that we ever took. PEI was a red mess with the rain and GPS sucks there. In Nova Scotia, Cabot trail was great as was Halifax.

[ko777]

Lol...Red mess, only when it is wet...

I like it here in PEI for relaxing and taking it easy. The city life I'm used to is practically wiped out here, ok maybe 3 weeks here will be enough for me.

Here are some pics I took from yesterday:

Maybe I should start collecting pics of lic plate of different places I travel


I did the usual thing, find a big parking place close to downtown, the Wall-Mart here close for business, my GPS thinks it is still here

I was tempted to watch the play but not my thing

Tour bus, I did mine on a bike and within an hour I saw the whole downtown







That's downtown!






It was a beautiful day at the red beach!


I was curious how deep the red mess goes and it goes all the way down...lol

Now we know we're the red mess comes from lol!

My last full day here and off to Nova Scotia tomorrow...

[ko777]

Day 10: Last day in PEI and it is a beautiful day


Thank you for this forecast!


My A128S has been very very good to me...

I kidda lost interest traveling more than hour to see more beautiful sites and beaches in PEI today. I am going to take it easy here at my site and relax have lots of ice smoothies. Oh yes the ice maker is doing its job, it made bags of ice to keep my cooler cold for the water bottles, pop, condiments and other goodies cold. While my fridge keeps the temperature at back bottom to -5c. My perfect setup for food and drinks.

I got a new Sony camera RX100 M2 for this trip. I could control the camera's view finder via wifi using my iPhone 5, this will make it easy to take shots when it is in a tripod or stand. It does not have GPS feature so I have to take an iPhone shot to include in the file album so I could reference the picture location.

Also getting this gadget I'm using right now, the iPhone 5, is my constant companion. I update this thread anytime I'm relaxing. It's my navigator and I take hundreds of pictures in any situation I am in. Plus I record some of the conversation of myself sound and video, plus people here.

I have logged lots of video of my trip which I could revisit during the winter months...lol

Ok time to make smoothies....

[Rugged Brown]

What part of Nova Scotia do you plan to visit? I'm not far away in Bridgewater, near Lunenburg, which should be on everyone's to do list. Check out Grave's island or Rissers Provincial Parks. Great campgrounds, but also very popular and may be difficult to get a site without booking ahead.

[ko777]

Originally Posted by Rugged Brown

What part of Nova Scotia do you plan to visit? I'm not far away in Bridgewater, near Lunenburg, which should be on everyone's to do list. Check out Grave's island or Rissers Provincial Parks. Great campgrounds, but also very popular and may be difficult to get a site without booking ahead.

August 13 at Whycocomagh Provincial Park and August 17 at Laurie Provincial Park. I'm going to take a day trip to Sydney/Lunenburg area and hang out there till late. Is there place there I could park my car and I'll take my bike to tour the area. Are there bike paths at Sydney?

What is a better route?

[caper]

I think you mean Sydney/Louisburg area. Lunenburg is on the main land of NS. I do not know of any bike trails in Sydney but is you goolge bike trails for Sydney are there is one that is about 10 mile. It is part of the trans Canada trail.