Captain’s Log
It might be a bumpy road and a crazy world, but WeirbackOnTrack!
June 25, 2026 - Day 25 - Moving Day! Today we’re heading to the furthest north spot of Vancouver Island, Port Hardy. Mother nature is moving in, and it looks like it’s going to be a wet drive. Rain is expected for the next two days. Before leaving Campbell River, we surprised William with a visit to the city aquarium. Very small aquarium with a cool catch, habilitate and release non-profit aquarium. There they had one of the most active Pacific Giant Octopuses we’ve ever seen. It was super cool to see. The drive did turn wet and it was coming down as we arrived at the new RV park. Got the camper back off the truck and we started putting the place together again when Jamie spotted some water in the bathroom. Fortunately, it’s a wet bathroom but unfortunately it means our home/basecamp has a leak in it. So, here’s me on the roof of the camper, in a poncho, in the rain with an umbrella and a can of roof sealant, trying to put a piece of bubble gum on a leaking dam. I disassembled the skylight in the bathroom and found that it’s seeping under the top cover and into the bathroom. Wet wood in a camper, can ruin a camper FOREVER. I was able to patch it with some silicone and the little bit of sealant i put on the roof, but this is going to need a better fix once the weather gets better. I hope this town has a hardware store. Need to fix it to get BackOnTrack.
June 24, 2026 - Day 24 - Dear butt, I’m sorry about this but it’s once again time for another bike ride. I promise that there are not going to be any intense up hills or downhills or bumpy roads (ok, there’s probably some bumps in the roads). If you can manage this 20ish mile or so bike ride, I promise to treat you to some ice cream! Sincerely apologetic, me. Back to the bikes we went as we rode around Campbell River. We found out that we crossed the 50th parallel and are one degree closer to the top of the continent. We had ice cream and I ate it and did not apply it to my rear. Tomorrow is another moving day so today the camper went back on the truck and we’re geared up to get BackOnTrack!
June 23, 2026 - Day 23 - Today we did a little bit of off roading on our wat to the small fishing village of Tahsis. Similar road as yesterday except as we got out of Gold River, the road turned to dirt which made the old triangle roads look like smooth sailing. Had to keep the truck to about 30 miles per hour for about an hour. Roads we’re going to have to get used to if we’re going all the way to the northern part of the continent. We saw our very first bear of the trip! Jamie was a bit hesitant to take a picture with the window down because it appeared to be a young bear and they don’t usually stray too far from their mother. Luckily, we’re in the truck today and I don’t have to rely on my trusty Leatherman today. I get to add spelunker to my resume as we explored the Upana Caves. Had lunch at Uptown Cappuccino in Gold River where I highly recommend the grilled cheese and a chocolate shake! We got to Tahsis and had a great dinner at the Margaritaville themed Westview Marina. On our way back to Campbell River we saw the same bear in the same place and still no mom but we decided it would be best not to adopt it (to my chagrin). Once back at camp we got to see the cruise ships sailing past including the Disney Magic! Another great day!
June 22, 2026 - Day 22 - We are three weeks into this trip already! There are times when it feels like it’s going so fast and then other times that it has felt like an eternity since we left, but it’s nice to be BackOnTrack! Today we drove out to Buttle Lake (haha Butt) and did a little bit of hiking in Strathcona Provincial Park. The park is a 250,000 hectare (about 1000 mi²) area of protected land with forests, rivers, ocean, and greenland for exploring. The further west you go, you get into small villages like Gold River and Tahsis, which are spots we are visiting on tomorrow’s drive and some off-road action. Our day started out with the Elk Falls Suspension Bridge and then we stopped for lunch at Lupin Falls. After that we checked out another trail that was highly recommended on iOverlander called the Karst Creek Trail. We decided to ignore the “closed” sign mainly because it wasn’t a CLOSED sign but more a sign that read that a bridge had been washed out and to proceed with caution. So, we proceeded. It should have been a clue that finding the trailhead was hard, but we proceeded. And we were probably the first humans to have been on this trail for a long time. It was overgrown and it became our priority to keep the child between the adults so when a bear tries to take us out … I get to be the appetizer, Jamie the entree and William the dessert, because we aren’t carrying bear spray, a bear bell or a bear horn. I have a Leatherman and a bear is built with at least four “Leathermen” on each paw. Never bring a knife to a paw fight! And I’ve already sliced my hand with my own knife trying to show off! We did manage to find the trail, finished it, gave it three thumbs WAY down and moved on to Lower Myra Falls, which definitely made up for the bad hike. WeirbackOnTrack
June 21, 2026 - Day 21 - Today is Father’s Day. I received a couple cards from the wife and child as we packed up camp and headed to our next destination. Our drive today took us to Campbell River which is halfway up the western side of Vancouver Island. It’s a port city with enough population to have a Walmart and a Home Depot. Once we got to the RV park, we put the legs down on the camper, removed the bike rack and got the braces under the camper. We were able to ask at the front desk and found a local fish market that closed just as we got there (Yes, we are those kinds of customers). We bought the last five salmon steaks and came back to camp and grilled them up on the Blackstone. Delish! Tomorrow we are heading into Strathcona Provincial Park to check out some waterfalls and some forest trails.
June 20, 2026 - Day 20 - More driving today as we head north into Tofino. On Sunday we are packing up the camp and heading to our next location over on the east side of the island to Campbell River. We had originally planned to bike this way again but it was literally 20+ miles one way and with the hills we had to battle in and out of Ucluelet, we decided driving would be better. But to be honest, this direction had a lot fewer hills that we would have had to tackle. The west side of Vancouver Island has some of the most spectacular beaches. Some of them are forest surrounded beach areas and some are your typical public beaches where all the people seem to hang out. I think as a family, we are leaning more toward liking the forest beaches over the public. More seclusion, more beauty. We stopped for lunch at TacoFino and as promised, these were the BEST fish tacos, according to my family members that they’ve ever eaten. I had a fish burrito that was the size of a Chipotle burrito and it was beyond compare! Getting back to camp, it was time to pack up and get the camper back on the truck. I’ve got a time lapse video up on Insta and Facebook. Only took eight adjustments to get the truck into position. I’m getting better each time. We’ll be unloading again in Campbell River and see if I can improve.
June 19, 2026 - Day 19 - Jumped our butts on the bikes again and rode into Ucluelet today for some amazing, forested beach walking and sightseeing. Looking like the bikes will need some tuning up in the not-too-distant future. I have a bent fender; William’s front wheel has a squeak to it and Jamie’s bike doesn’t seem to want to coast very well. I think we did about 20 miles of riding and my rear end seems to have adjusted to the fact that this is the life now. We hiked the lighthouse loop and saw some of the largest snails I’ve ever seen in my life at Little Beach. Tomorrow, we get to head to the north end of this little area to the town of Tofino. We’ve heard that there are some exceptional fish tacos up there. We’ll keep you posted as we stay OnTrack!
June 18, 2026 - Day 18 - Today was sightseeing day in the area of Ucluelet and surrounding towns. Tomorrow will be the bike trip into Ucluelet, but for today we went back through the mountain passes to check out the forests and the lakes, rivers and tadpoles. Yup, we saw tadpoles today in some tidepools along the river. Hiking was a short trip compared to our more recent hikes, so that was a welcome rest for my feet. We drove a good two hours or so back toward where we came from yesterday and visited the MacMillan Provincial Park and Cathedral Grove. The park is home to some 800+-year-old Douglas Firs, featuring a tree that is 9-meters-wide! For the Star Wars fans, this park was used for Episode VI as the backdrop for the forest moon of Endor. But we didn’t see Wicket or any of the other Ewoks, so don’t ask. *Edit - the movie had actually never been filmed in Canada and the moon of Endor is actually the redwood forests of California, but the towering trees and ancient old growth in this area have been compared to the moon of Endor. So again, no Ewoks as they would have been about 1000 miles south of us in California. On the drive back, we shot the drive with the 360-camera so hopefully I’ll have a video up on Insta and or YouTube soon. We also found a local candy shop, so we absolutely needed to get our chocolate fix on. Now WeirbackOnTrack!
June 17, 2026 - Day 17 - Moving Day. Today we travelled out of Victoria and are about a third of the way up the west coast of Vancouver Island, near a town called Ucluelet. Overall drive took about 4 hours thanks to a small side quest to rescue the soap box that we lost two days ago. For the full story of that, you’ll want to check out my Facebook page (scott.weirback). To summarize the tale, just know that I’m a friggin superhero! Got ourselves situated at Surf Junction RV Park and we’re looking forward to a few nice days here. Took the camper off the truck as soon as we got here because tomorrow, we’re driving back up the road we came in on to check out some trails and get some nice pictures of the mountains. Until then, I can safely say WeirbackOnTrack!
June 16, 2026 - Day 16 - Camper still off the truck, we opted to leave the bikes at base camp and drove out to a trail that led to the peak of Mt.Finlayson, or as the locals have nicknamed it, ‘Mount Hillimanjaro’. We took the north peak trail which was 4.2km long. As we got out of the truck, I glanced at the first aid kit (which probably jinxed the whole thing) and thought, nah, we haven’t needed Band-Aids for any of these hikes as of yet. Until this time. About 1km into the walk, Mr. “I don’t pick up my fee”, William, took a bad step and went crashing to the ground beneath him. He had been carrying a rock, ‘Rocky’ and it sliced his thumb open pretty well. We thought the hike was over. William thought the worst, “MY THUMB IS BROKEN!!!!” Fortunately, Mommy was able to calm the injured boy down and Daddy, being the hero, walked (and sometimes jogged) back to the truck to grab Band-Aids, alcohol swabs, and the finger splint. By the time I got back, things had calmed down and we were able to complete the hike. Also got to see Victoria’s Niagara Falls and the best of all, we got to have ice cream bars. For the evening, Jamie and William headed off to do laundry while the Captain tackled the task of getting the camper back on the truck. After an hour and a half, I almost got it on there perfectly. I’m about an inch to the driver side but mostly satisfied. Laundry is done, we’re just about all packed up and tomorrow, we ship off to our next destination! It still feels like a vacation and trying to figure out when this will start to feel like the norm. For now, WeirbackOnTrack!
June 15, 2026 - Day 15 - Thankfully, my butt got a rest in the truck today. Taking the camper off the truck is never the problem but as I was taking it off, I did almost ruin everything by not disconnecting the bike rack which would have then pulled the camper over and been a huge mess. Luckily, I caught it just in time. Everything off, we loaded into the truck and headed out. The one thing I did forget to remove from the truck was our outside bar of soap which fit nicely on the sidewall step for the truck bed. Well, it’s now somewhere on the Canada 1 highway and if you find that, I’ll autograph that too! Today we went up through Sooke and out to Port Renfrew. A quiet beach town out on the southwest coast of the island. We did a hiking loop around the area and got to see many awesome sights and more jellyfish in the wild! Without the camper, the truck is very stiff, and you can feel each and every bump straight into your bike seat bruises. We had our first interaction with what we are calling “triangle roads”. In this area, when they want to indicate a bumpy road ahead, they will put out a sign with three triangles on it, indicating that there are bumps ahead. There were a lot of bumps. We hit up Costco for dinner, and I’m obsessed with the fact that the stores up here offer poutine! Delish!
June 14, 2026 - Day 14 - For some of you, do you remember back in the late 80s and early 90s, riding your BMX (Huffy) or your mountain bikes until the streetlights came on and then you knew you had to go home? I recall riding my bike for hours and hours and days upon days in a row … and my ass didn’t hurt at all. Today, we took our bikes on a 20-mile loop around Victoria, and I’m having a hard time sitting at the table right now typing this post. Was it that the seats back then were made better or have I lost my callus from back in those days. It felt like the seat support rod was giving me a colonoscopy, and I should know, I’m apparently at that age where I had to get one. Abnormal heat wave blowing through Victoria at the moment and it was a warm and humid 82 today. Had to unzip the convertible pants and go for the cargo shorts look. But with all the complaints about my bum, the child seemed to be the one complaining the most. I think he’s at that between age where he can still complain, but now, we no longer care. Suck it up kid! Back when I was your age, we made bike ramps out of cinder blocks and plywood and helmets had not been invented yet. We survived the entire ride so we could get to another Beaver Tails location and get our dessert/dinner on! Yes, our new goal is to visit each and every Beaver Tail location in Canada. Bring it on! Tomorrow will be my first time taking the camper off the truck in a campsite. Taking it off will be the easy job, it’s getting the camper back on that might provide the challenge! Jamie and William have been instructed to watch and not to interact. We’re probably going to want to film this one …
June 13, 2026 - Day 13 - William seems to be coming down with a slight cold. Our intent was to bike to Butchart Gardens, but we’ve opted for taking the bus. It was a good thing too because it was mostly uphill and I’m not sure I have my old biker calves like I used to. Hills and me are not friends! The Butchart Gardens are a hot spot in Victoria and considered one of the must-see places if you’re ever on the island. My dad was big on gardens back when I was growing up and we had all kinds of flower beds and rose bushes that would destroy my perfectly good soccer balls ALL THE TIME! You’d think I was no good at soccer with how often I lost my ball into those bushes. But for all the flowers my dad planted, he had nothing on this place. Their summertime flowers were in bloom, and everything was looking spectacular. I took the good camera with me for this one and will get a gallery up soon.
June 12, 2026 - Day 12 - Had an early start this morning but with the help of the entire team, we were able to get the camper ready for departure and we were on our way by 6:15AM. Today was the first trial of the camper getting his sea legs. We drove to Tsawwassen for a ferry ride from Vancouver over to Vancouver Island and now we are established at the Fort Victoria RV Park. Getting on and off the ferry was a lot easier than I had expected. I’ve seen horror stories of truck campers getting on to ferries and not fitting under a pylon or a section of the boat and shaving off the entire top half of the camper. Luckily, that was not us as we were sandwiched between a big rig and a car hauler (both much bigger than we were). New territory for the Weirbacks so we are excited to see downtown Victoria and do some exploring in places we’ve never been. Hamburger Helper tonight for dinner and we’ll see if it still “makes a great meal”!
June 10, 2026 - Day 10 - Weather cleared up and we took the bikes off the rack for the first time and took a ride over to Stanley Park. Had to cross Lions Gate Bridge first which turned out to be harder than I wanted it to be. And I can already feel the seat digging into my tailbone. Our first stop over the bridge was to the Vancouver Aquarium to hang with some otters and a new movie star octopus from the movie ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’. It was a little too shy to come out for autographs. After many hours at the aquarium, we took the sea wall loop around the park and down to Canada Place, which is our usual stomping grounds when we’ve stayed in Vancouver in years past. They’ve got it all decked out for FIFA and Vancouver was voted the #1 Host City for the 2026 games. Lots of riding back to the camper and I think I’m gonna sit on a bag of ice for a few before turning in. Need to get my rear BackOnTrack!
June 9, 2026 - Day 9 - Rain falling sporadically throughout the day and coming down right now as I type this. Today, we went into downtown Vancouver to check out one of Jamie and William’s favorite spots, Science World. Jamie had been dying to retest her reflexes on the quick hands game. She beat her previous record of 3.96 and completed the test in 3.95 seconds! She’s amazing, as usual. Tomorrow we’re planning on some bike riding if the weather holds out and hopefully some videos coming soon.
June 8, 2026 - Day 8 - Three days of driving has taken a toll. About 1750 miles behind us so far on the trip. With the white lines being 40 feet apart on the highway, I’ve watched around 231,000 lines go by. I dream of white lines now. Today we got to test out our winter jackets and our ponchos earlier than we expected. We headed up to Capilano Suspension Bridge and then took a bus up to see Grouse Mountain. At the top of the mountain, the rain started along with the numbing of my hands and fingers. We should have snagged our gloves, but for the walk to the suspension bridge, we were sweating in our coats. Hard to dress for this June weather!
June 7, 2026 - Day 7 - We’re finally north of the border and our long days of driving are behind us for the time being. Hopefully the next few weeks will have a lot less driving and a lot more adventuring! We have safely arrived in Vancouver, BC, Canada and someone forgot to turn on the heater. We left Phoenix a week ago and it was over 100 degrees. Today in Vancouver, it was closer to 60. Burrrrrr. You’d think we weren’t locals walking around with sweatshirts on. This apparently must be their flip-flop and tank top weather!
June 6, 2026 - Day 6 - Staying at the Pilot for the night in Weed, CA was actually alright. I had no issues sleeping but that was probably due to the 10 hours of driving and the drama of the lost fridge vent. Today was a shorter, about 8 hour drive to Olympia, WA. Got some spectacular views of Mount Shasta and we ran into our first batch of rain on the trip. For those of you from AZ, that is water that falls from the sky and causes the ground to get wet. Like an outdoor shower. Decided not to park at a local truck stop tonight and made a reservation at an Olympia RV Park for a $55/night stay. Tossed the ball around and got to use the Blackstone for the first time ever. I lost a game of Phase 10 as usual and now it’s time for sleep! Tomorrow we cross the border into Canada and WeirbackOnTrack!
June 5, 2026 - Day 5 - This feels like the official first day of the trip. Everything prior to this day has been routine and a felt more like a normal visit to the father-in-law’s house, which we do often enough. Last night after hours of laundry (seriously, two loads took almost 4 hours wash/dry), as the Captain, I made the decision that we would get up at 6am and be on the road by 7am. Our destination, Weed, California. Well, as I got in bed, I reset the alarm for 6:30 and we slowly got ourselves out of bed and packed up, made sure everything was tied down, locked up and put away. I even managed to notice, what I thought was the vent covering the fridge as being unlocked and I was thankful we did not lose it on the drive from home to Santa Ynez, so I “locked” it. We fueled up and were on the road by 7:45am .. Ok, 8:15 after stopping at the store to get a pool noodle. Not for swim but to put between the bike hitch and the camper steps because that is what was causing the hole in the cover. Problem solved. First stop was breakfast and there’s no better stop on the way north in California than Pismo Beach for the Old West Cinnamon Roll! Jamie, being a true hater of cinnamon, loves these rolls. We managed to only buy 9 rolls for the three of us! Watching our figures. Four maple bacons and six classics with frosting! Yum. On the walk back to the rig, I was admiring its awesomeness until I noticed something slightly out of place. A hole if you will, like a piece missing … from the side. Well, remember how fortunate I was to notice the vent cover for the fridge being unlocked and thankful it didn’t fall off on the way from Arizona, well it turned out it was locked and I had unlocked it … If you were fortunate enough to find it somewhere between Santa Ynez and Pismo, along the 101, please keep it as a gift from me to you. I’m happy to autograph it if you’d like, just let me know. So dumb old me unlocked it and let it fly off and now had a new problem to solve. How can I order a new part and have it shipped to a location somewhere on our trip? Perhaps Weed, CA? Well, we were unable to make that happen, but we were fortunate enough to find an RV World store in Pismo that had the part! I’m guessing that I’m not the first person to have left the vent door unlocked. All fixed and we only lost about an hour trying to resolve the issue. We made it up to Weed, CA by 9:00 this evening and are now “camped” out at a Pilot gas station until early morning. Can’t believe I’ve been driving all day and we’re still in California! Tomorrow we’ll shoot across Oregon and get to Olympia, Washington, I hope! Time to crash for the night and hopefully the only crashing we have in the plans!
June 4, 2026 - Day 4 - Day 4 was a short hop to Jalama Beach for the “World Famous” Jalama Burger. They are truly delicious. If you get the opportunity to travel to the elbow of California, and you get your fill of Solvang and rocket launches obscured by June Gloom, head on over to Jalama for a yummy burger. The afternoon was spent doing laundry in a machine that you would have thought was remaking your clothing with how long a normal cycle took (close to 90 minutes for a normal load). Tomorrow begins the northbound leg of the trip and two days of what will be our longest driving days. Hopefully it goes off without a hitch! Well, hopefully the hitch stays on…
June 3, 2026 - Day 3 - WeirbackOnTrack went west to Lompoc (Lohm-poke) to try and catch the SpaceX rocket launch but got fogged out of any view. Took a short hike to a local waterfall and cruised the city streets of Solvang, CA. Solvang and the Central Coast will likely have its own section in the ‘…On Target’ section so I won’t spoil all the details. Launch, lunch and laughter! That’s what getting BackOnTrack is all about. Photos, targeted post and some videos should be adding to the website tomorrow! It’s laundry day before leg #2 of the trip. Map update tomorrow!
June 2, 2026 - Day 2 - Day 2 turned into repair day 1. Since it’s our first official trip, it was time to see what works and what didn’t work when it came to travel. Really only three issues to tackle from our first 500+ miles. 1. - The pantry - due to the sling shotting of all of our items out of the pantry from cruising into In-N-Out Burger, we discovered that the pantry doors do not stay closed with just the OEM hinges. I was able to hit the hardware store and get some magnetic cabinet latches and hopefully problem solved.; 2. Command hooks are great for at home but not exactly the best choice in an RV bumping down the road. Found some super glue that will hopefully do the trick.; 3. The bike cover got shredded from bumping up against the steps for the back porch. Fixed it with old faithful duct tape. We’ll see how long that lasts. Spent the day unwinding and working on editing a few videos that I will hopefully post soon. Still feels like a vacation at this point and not our day-to-day routine. We’ll get there! Tomorrow starts with a bang! Stay tuned.
June 1, 2026 - Day 1 - Officially launched and WeirbackOnTrack! Left the house about 7 minutes after our planned launch window. Truck and family all loaded up, and we didn’t even forget to close the garage … there’s an app for that. Managed to make it to Jaime’s dad’s house without any issues. Ok, a couple issues to tackle before we head north. The bike cover already has a hole in it; we lost a couple command hooks in the camper (apparently, they can’t handle the constant vibrations) and we managed to take one turn a little too rough and the pantry opened up and dumped all the contents. Luckily no broken glass. We managed to stop and see a couple dinosaurs in Cabazon and as a special treat for Jamie and William, swung by Dr. Pimple Popper’s office in Upland before hitting our first destination in Santa Ynez, California. Overall, a good start on the trip. It’s still an awkward dance getting ready for bed, but we managed to get everyone all tucked in! We’ve got a few days here in town so hopefully we’ll have some good content coming soon!
May 31, 2026 - T-minus 20ish hours
We’re now in hurry up and wait mode. We’ve got some final packing to do and some left over cleaning to do. Showers, laundry, sleep and then hit the road. William living his best life up there playing video games and I’m waiting for the signal to load up, lock up and lock in.
May 30, 2026 - T-minus 2 days
Fridge is working and staying cold in the 100-degree Phoenix weather. We loaded up the freezer and fridge. We’ve stowed away our clothes, and the truck is 90% packed up. Looking like we’re going to be go for launch on Monday! William has narrowed down his stuffie choices! Just about to be back on track!
May 29, 2026 - T-minus 3 Days
Made the mistake of plugging in the RV to the house and running the air conditioner on the unit and almost burnt the house down twice. Night before last, I plugged in the RV next to the house in hopes of getting the fridge to cool down. Well, due to the slant of the driveway, the fridge did not run, nor get cold overnight … but it did manage to melt the outlet that the camper was plugged into. Smart me decided, well, we’ll level the RV into the driveway, and I’ll plug into the outlet at the front door. Go shopping and when we get back, the A/C is off, and the inverter is trying to restart with no juice going to it. Melted a second outlet and managed to melt the GFCI plug in the garage. Thanks to my neighbor and electrician, Sparky Joe, we got the house working again and decided that the A/C will remain off until we hit the road.
May 26, 2026 - T-minus 6 Days
Getting closer to hitting the road. The camper is not fully packed, the camper is currently off the truck, and the bike rack is uninstalled. Had to take the house plants up to their babysitters while we’re gone. We’re about as far away from “ready” as I’d like to be at this point!