We primarily went on this organized caravan because
we have never done one before and we thought it might be fun. This has proven
to be true and we enjoyed the people and places very much. We have been traveling steadily in a
motorhome for over 9 years and have become accustomed to doing things our way. In order to get the benefits from a caravan, we
had to adjust some of our mindsets. The
hardest of these was abandoning the idea that were going to do what we want when we want. This was okay, as the planned trip covered
most of the major things that would have been on our list anyways and it was
nice to be driven around sometimes with a local guide. The other major advantage was getting to know
31 fellow RVers pretty well over the course of 50 days together.
The one drawback came in the transition from one
location to another. With the caravan planning
the travel day in detail and everyone to travel on the same route in a loose
line behind the leader meant you really could not leave the route. You can "sign out" and do you own
thing, or just take a detour. We did
sign out often, but there seemed to be some resistance to that in practice. In any case, since we now always sight see as we
go because we have a small motorhome and
can go nearly everywhere we could with a car, we regularly detoured from the
assigned path.
The driving distance from the Lunenburg area to the
campground for our visit to Halifax was short and we had all day to get there,
so we decided to explore the nearby coastline to visit a hopefully less
touristy town. This lead us to the town
of Mahone Bay, which happens to be at the head of Mahone Bay. It turned out to be a beautiful setting and
clearly with little bit of a tourist bent, but still a quiet place to enjoy a
stroll through town. We enjoyed our stay
and did not get the urge to visit a single gift shop.
10 comments:
I really don't think we could do a caravan. The urge to do our own thing would just overtake us. But I know there are some folks who really enjoy them.
I must have missed the blog where you said you were going in a caravan. We have never did that. I can see where it might put a dent into your "independent" way of traveling. No matter, you two have seen some gorgeous country. And now have made some friends forever.
I had the same problem with 'wandering' off the given course when I went on my one caravan to Alaska. Considering everything, though, I'm still glad I did that caravan.
Often thought about a caravan. Friends just got back from one to Alaska, will ask them about it. We plan on going back up there "someday". But don't think we'd caravan. There never was a problem with finding a campsite.
Beautiful pictures.
We've thought about caravans but weren't too sure we'd want someone else to tell us when to go, where to go and when. Sounds like you found the perfect solution by sightseeing on your own a bit.
I'm sure you enjoyed the caravan more because you dared to strike out on your own when you felt like it. I have never been to Newfoundland, but hope I get there some day. It looks like a beautiful and serene place.
Love your header picture and those beautiful pictures of the darling town. So glad you checked out to see it. Sorry check out seems to be offered but then frowned on. I appreciate your candid appraisal of the caravan experience.
You now have seen more of the Maritimes than we ever did. But you missed Campobello....haha!
Chuck, just love Lunenburg and Mahone Bay, especially that yellow church you photographed--I think we took about a hundred pictures of it when we were there last year! All of that area is just so gorgeous--did you make it to Peggy's Cove? That's a really pretty little fishing village.
Enjoyed reading your perspective on caravanning. Which company did you go with? We went with Fantasy RV Tours on our Alaska trip--our first time doing a caravan. We did the Atlantic maritime provinces last year on our own, but were concerned about Alaska that we may have trouble finding campground space and fuel stations. As it turned out, I think it's probably easier to do Alaska on your own than we had feared, but we were still glad we did this caravan. For the first time this year Fantasy offered a 62 day tour called Alaska Your Way, which, unlike most other tours, didn't include all o the side trips in the up front cost. Rather, we would stay a few days in different places, and they provided us with a separate booklet listing options of other activities and the contact information so we could book on our own. We really loved this approach, as it meant we only had to pay for those activities we wanted to do and not those we didn't. No trip is perfect, but this one turned out very well. The other big advantage was in having an experience tailgunner, who had an RV full of tools and spare parts, and who could take care of lots of problems people had with their rigs. That was definitely a big plus, along with the knowledge that all the other caravaners were looking out for each other. We all had CB's so we could call someone if we saw them stopped on the road to check to make sure everything was okay. The company also provided us with a detailed daily trip log, with mile marker checkpoints, places to see, etc., but also where there were fuel stations that could accommodate big rig turnarounds, etc. That said, one thing is for sure, based on our contact with some other caravans along the way--the real key to a successful caravan depends very much on the quality of the wagonmaster and tailgunner. The staff we had were just over the top and very helpful. Plus we made a lot of new friends with whom we're already planning to get together down the road.
Dunno if I could do a Caravan, I have a problem with taking orders... ;c)
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