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Driving in British Columbia

Posted on 2014/11/21 by Guy Posted in road trip .
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We have a two hour wait for the ferry back to the mainland. This gives us a chance to reflect on the last 19 days in Beautiful BC. 

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Dump Stations
I make extensive use of sanidumps website to find places to flush my RV. In BC, most small towns have free dump stations that are easy to locate.  Look for a blue information sign that looks like a trailer having a dump.  Not all of them have free potable water, but free dump is nice.  However, in the larger municipalities like Vancouver and Victoria, they are harder to find.  Therefore, plan your stops On the road from Jasper to Prince Rupert, every town had a free dump station.  There are also several free ones in the campgrounds, but those tend to close seasonally.

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Drinking Water
We do not drink even the potable water from dump stations.  We prefer to drink exclusively bottled water during our travels.  Minor changes in local water can cause digestive problems.  There is nothing worse than being sick on holidays in an RV.  As for filling our holding tank, I carry a small squirt bottle of bleach.  A few drops g into each fill, regardless of the source.  This is the water we use fro washing only.  You might think bottled water is expensive, but you can get a gallon for $1 to $1.6.  If you save a few bottles, you will also be able to find reverse osmosis or UV dispensers in some supermarkets where you can get a gallon for. 60 to. 99 cents.  We use about one gallon a day for drinking and cooking, and the extra cost is worth the peace of mind.

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Speed Limits
The speed limits are the highest I have seen in Canada. 4-lane control access highways have 120K speed limits, even those going up and down those mountain roads.  If you are exploring, and you should, you will travel some tricky mountain passes. There are many sharp turns at 80, 60,40,and even 30K. Those are not suggestions, especially when driving a high vehicle like an RV.

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Traffic Signals
Many 4-lane roads with limits of 80K or more will have traffic signals at major intersections instead of overpasses. Most of those have flashing lights a few hundred metres back to warn of changing signals.  BC does not seem to use flashing green for priority turns.  Instead, those are used to mark minor intersections.  They are similar to our flashing amber and flashing red.  So the flashing green reminds you that crossing traffic has a full stop sign. It is not telling you that itr is safe to turn left in front of oncoming traffic.  Periodically (on demand I presume), those lights will turn red to allo minor road traffic to pass.

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Road Information
Because BC roads cross mountains, weather conditions can change abruptly with changing altitude. Follow @DriveBC to get twitter feeds of changing road conditions.  BC also has several highway cams in strategic locations.  We made extensive use of the network from Prince George to Prince Rupert to see how much snow was on the steep inclines.  Twitter feeds will usually include a link to the website where you can check the webcams.

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Wildlife
Wildlife is everywhere.  They tend to cross or even stay on the road.  We have seen Bighorn sheep, elk, peacocks, and several deer, especially in urban areas.  Beware of rubberneckers (like us) who stop to take pictures.

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Today, we are taking the ferry from Victoria to Vancouver nearing the end of the Canada portion of our trip. Tomorrow we will cross into Washington State and hug the coast down to California, getting a bit warmer every day.

Guy

Tags: british columbia, canada, road trip, travel .
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