To experience the serenity and vastness that is Canada’s north, readers are invited to join Barb and Dave Rees in Boo the Menopausal Van on their third Canadian adventure.
The latest in a trilogy of books about crossing Canada by recreational vehicle, RV Canada’s Far North On a Dream, will be launched Tuesday, April 5 at Breakwater Books and Coffee.
Barb first started documenting trips with husband Dave, when they worked their way across Canada in 2003, selling at farmers’ markets. “With only $300 on hand,” said Barb, “we loaded an old motorhome with brandied blackberry sauce, driftwood and my first book Lessons From the Potholes of Life, determined to prove that money should not stand in the way of making dreams come true.”
This three-and-a-half month trip resulted in the book RV Canada On A Dime And A Dream, which they took back across Canada to Newfoundland in 2007. By then they’d traded in the motorhome for a 1992 Ford van with a bad attitude. “I named her Boo the Menopausal Van because she hated being pushed, hated the heat and threw tantrums,” said Barb. Boo towed a 27-foot trailer. RV Canada With Boo The Menopausal Van came out of that trip.
In 2009 they made a book tour with Boo to the land of the midnight sun. Their goal? To stand in the Arctic Ocean at Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada’s most northern mainland community. On July 11 they achieved their goal. And so, the third book in the series was written.
RV Canada’s North is more than a travel story, it is brimming with Canadian factoids, tips on how to travel on a tight budget, find sani-dumps or places to boondock. “Whether readers are RVers, arm-chair travellers, or those who want to be inspired, there is something for everyone,” Barb said.
After the book launch, Barb and Dave will present a show Grizzlies and Gravel Roads North of 60, drawing audience members along on their travels to cross the Arctic Circle on the Dempster Highway, experience a Tlingit celebration in Teslin, take the Mackenzie River tour to Tuktoyaktuk and shoot Dawson City sunset pictures at midnight.
This summer the Reeses will take the book on tour back up north before heading for northern Manitoba and a train trip into Churchill. Standing in Hudson’s Bay, they will hold their traditional water pouring ceremony as they have done from coast to coast to coast. But wait? Is there another book about to be written?
The book launch and show will start at 7 pm. To learn more about Barb and Dave’s adventures with Boo, readers can visit Barb's website.
