Living conditions you can expect when you are staying on a farm

Here it is folks. a few shots of the farm that I was working on. The pay is good but the living conditions suck. Note the shower on the picture of the trailer and porta-potti, it's the large white PVC pipe contraption.

Some Back Country Pictures

Kelowna on Fire

Exciting last couple of days. A forest fire started on Terrace Mountain and within a couple of hours the fire was over 18000 acres. Good thing we were a couple of miles away but as some of you may know, forest fires can spread rapidly. So, remember when you are in the back country please make sure you extinguish your camp fire and make sure your cigarettes are not just thrown out. Some idiot started this fire due to carelessness and has put over 2500 people out of their homes.

Still Picking Cherries

Great way to earn a little cash while you are on the road. I'm in Kelowna British Columbia at the moment and I have managed to make $1000 for 3 days of work. We generally keep our expenses down to a minimum, around $15 / day (I am a smoker and tobacco is quite expensive here). I have bacon and eggs for breakfast, a couple of sandwiches for lunch and for dinner we decided to have sirloin steak that only costs $3 with potatoes and broccoli. The farmer allows us to stay on the farm for free and provides a shower and toilette facilities. We have some workers from Quebec, Brazil, Columbia, India and an American Indian named Cliff. All around we are having a great time sharing stories of our travels, working hard and sharing great camping and travel locations. Unfortunatly we are limited with internet connections since we are 60 miles away from the nearest internet connection. I will be picking cherries till the end of August and then apples will start for the months of September and October, after which I will be heading for Arizona where the winters are warm and sunny.

Product of the Day

Coleman Hot Water on Demand™
Just picked up one of these babies today
Five seconds is about all it takes for Coleman’s new Hot Water on Demand™ Portable Water Heater to convert cold water to warm water for washing hands, cleaning utensils, taking a shower or performing other campsite chores

• Water is heated by propane at 30,000 BTU’s
• Select temperatures up to 70°C (160° F)
• Operates on a rechargeable 6-volt battery

Still out there

Sorry I haven't been able to update the blog. I have been in the back country of British Columbia and up in these mountains, there is no internet. I managed to find a little side work picking cherries on a farm. It pays up to $300/day and it is a nice way to make your traveling cheaper. When I get back to a more suitable internet connection I will have plenty of pictures and stories to tell, so see you in a week.

Product of the Day

The North Face

ROADRUNNER 23 BX

Ideal for backpacking or camping, this base camp tent comfortably sleeps two adults during three-season use. Updated for the spring with an all-mesh canopy and two brow poles to dramatically increase the interior head space, while providing spacious vestibule room; this tent offers ample elbow room for two explorers on the go.

Features

• Abundant livable space for two with brow poles and an all-mesh canopy
• DAC Press-Fit™ poles
• Lightweight, easy-to-use clip pitch system
• Comprehensive color-coded pitch system includes poles, canopy and fly
• Innovative gear attic included
• Two large vestibules and full-zip doors

• Easy-to-use Ball Cap clips on brow pole ends
• Fully taped bathtub floor
• Convenient overhead pockets stow headlamps and fragile items
• Abundant gear loops
• Style Number: ADXM
• *Gift box not available for this item

• Sizes One Size
  
• Capacity 2
  
• Fabric canopy: 70D 190T nylon ripstop
  
• Fabric floor: 70D 190T nylon taffeta with 5000 mm PU coating
  
• Fabric fly: 75D 190T polyester ripstop with 1500 mm PU coating
  
• Floor Area 34 ft² (3.1 m²)
  
• Poles number: 4 diameter: 9.0 mm
  
• Stuffed Size 23"
  x 7"
  (58 cm x 18 cm)
  
• Vestibule Area 18.5 ft² (1.7 m²)
  
• Weight trail weight: 5 lbs 11 oz (2.56 kg) total weight: 6 lbs 8 oz (2.84 kg)
  

Travel Route on the First Leg of our Trip

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Map of the Okanagan Valley

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Product of the day

MSR WhisperLite Internationale Stove

An excellent stove for frequent users, expeditions, and mountaineers. The WhisperLite Internationale™ will use clean-burning white gas when it’s available. When it’s not, this stove can run on kerosene, or even on jet fuel, thanks to the special burner jet and larger fuel tube. This stove features a Shaker Jet, which cleans most blockages by simply inverting the burner and shaking it before lighting the stove. The separate fuel tank allows the burner to be safely and completely enclosed with the wrap-around windscreen (included) for effective operation in breezes. An included tool allows complete disassembly of the stove for full field-maintainability.
Made in USA

Going to the Okanagan on Monday

Monday we will be starting the the next leg of our journey. Amanda and I will be leaving for the interior of British Columbia, the Okanagan Valley. If you have ever been to the Sonora Desert of Western USA, you would recognize this area with it's rolling hills, mesas, sage brush and cattle ranches. The Okanagan Valley is one of the warmest regions in all of Canada. The Okanagan is comprised of the major centres of Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon and Osoyoos. During the summer months, visitors are offered countless sandy beaches, hot sun, and a variety of outdoor and water activities. Okanagan Lake provides the valley not only with excellent swimming but is also a spectacular backdrop to the golf courses and wineries and popular ski resorts located in the rolling hills of the valley. The Okanagan is considered a premiere wine valley and a tour of the local wineries is a must for anyone visiting the region.

Mud bogging to get to Campbell Lake, Mount Woodside BC

Made a quick trip to Campbell Lake with Amanda, my spouse. We frequent this lake because it's a short 20 km trip via Mt. Woodside FSR (forestry service road) from our weekend getaway place. There are many view points along the way and some are very popular for hang gliding and paragliding. The first 10 km is steep on the up side and rough on the downside, 4x4 is needed. It's a small lake with a nice flat area to pitch a tent and plenty of firewood available. The lake is usually stocked with rainbow / cut throat trout and has been known for trout as big as 40 cm (13 in). The site is a unmaintained forestry service recreation site with no water or toilette facilities and is free of charge. In the fall there is limited hunting for white tail deer with a very healthy stock, a word of caution though, there are bears and cougars in the area and because of the late spring in British Columbia we are experiencing many sightings and attacks (bear spray recommended).

Camping in Arizona

Some pics from our Arizona trip
Senators Wash, AZ

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Located just outside Yuma, AZ, it's a great place to relax in the winter sun, swim, boating, desert hiking and mountain biking. Average temperature hovers around 20 to 25 degrees celsius (70 to 80 degrees fahrenheit) during the winter months. Cost is $75 usd per year with a maximum stay of 2 weeks. If that's too rich for your blood you can stay just outside the recreation area on BLM (bureau of land management) Lands for free.

The MSR Water Filter
a must have when in the backcountry. A .2 micron ceramic filter that filters out most bacteria and virii

These pictures were taken at Clear Creek Hot Springs near Harrison Hot Springs, BC Canada. We had the whole place to ourselves for one week. Awesome

Traveling and Camping on the Cheap

Just a small blog about traveling on the cheap including photographs
That's me on my new quad, great way to get around if you can't walk