Our daughter’s favourite camping: Penticton. We spent one summer vacation with her and the grandkids there, only a few hours from home. The place is great; our trailer is only a few steps from the water.

One afternoon we needed some suppli es from Canadian Tire but I made it only to the parking lot and had to ask my questions again. You have to know I also work for a trucking magazine, so I’m interested in everything that makes noise and moves; but I’m also a big RV fan and here everything just came together: a big rig and a fifth wheel.I knocked on their door and asked permission to take pictures and have an interview with them, if possible. The owner was very friendly and invited me to have a seat with his family.

“Where did you come from? I’ve see you have an Ontario plate,” I said.

“We left Toronto six weeks ago, and right now we are on the way home from Alaska. We will be home in about 9-10 days. I take the kids every year for a nice vacation,” the dad said

“I have to ask you: do you have anything to do with trucking? You don’t look like a trucker but maybe you own a trucking business?”

He smiled and said, “No, I had nothing to do with trucking; now I do because I own a Big Rig. The reason is very simple: we have a big family so need the big trailer. I used to pull it with a Chevy pick-up but that combination is not really good in the Canadian Rockies.”

“But how did you end up with the Kenworth tractor?”

“By accident. I saw it at a dealership. It was a demo truck with only 35K on it; just couldn’t resist.”

“Did the truck need any modification?”

“Nothing. I just drove it home, hooked up to the trailer and it was good to go. It has 450 horses. I’m flying uphill with the fifth wheel, don’t have to worry about downhill, the engine brake can handle it with ease.”

“Do you travel a lot?”

“Yes. I came to Canada 25 years ago from Jamaica. Canada is so big and beautiful I would like to show my children as much as possible. It doesn’t mean though that we travel only here. Last year the whole family visited China, the year before we were in Russia, but we also have seen a big part of the US all the way down to Florida. When we came back from the Chinese trip, the kids had to go back to school; guess what they learned on the first day?

About the Terracotta Warriors. My kids were very proud and told the class they had just seen those two weeks ago. I just hope they will never forget what we see on our trips; this year we have my brother-in-law and his family with us; seven of us travel together.”

“How was Alaska? I’ve not been there yet.”

“For me it’s hard to find the right words. Hard to describe the beauty of nature there. Can’t remember how many bears we saw on that trip. We spent many nights in the forest; for a big city guy like me the silence of nature is incredible.”

“Tell me something about the RV trailer too.”

“It’s 12 metres long and has been modified a bit because of the size of the family. Bigger tanks, 120 gallon each so we are independent for days.”

“I noticed the generator and the barbeque mounted on the tractor.”

“Yes, it’s a very convenient and practical solution. On this trip we didn’t use the generator much, mostly for AC and charging the batteries only for a few hours.”

“How is it at the truck scales?”

“They are always looking at the truck first, but then they see the fifth wheel behind it and everything is OK. It’s registered as an RV anyway.”

“How is the relationship with those who drive trucks like yours for a living?”

“Almost every one of them has had a few good words over the CB; some of them just can’t believe what they see especially when we pass them climbing up the hill.”

Before I said Good Night to this very nice family the kids started cleaning the windshield, it’s their job getting it ready for the next day. I wished them a safe trip home and thanked them for the family photo in front of the truck.

by Janos Balogh