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Vernon to Banff RV Trip

Vernon to Banff RV Trip

This is the first part of our five month journey in Canada and the USA from Vernon to Banff RV trip.

Time flying by

Today it has been 37 days since we left England and it is a glorious sunny day in Lethbridge, Alberta. I have been a bit slow in writing blogs due to a lack of good wi-fi. I am writing this blog in two parts with the first up to our first stay in Banff. Since leaving the Okanagan two weeks ago we have travelled to Golden, Banff, Jasper and via Calgary to Lethbridge. A fantastic two weeks in the Rockies with incredible scenery wonderful sunshine, wolves, bears and some unexpected snowfalls which all made for great adventures. I also had a problem with having the wrong US visa which I will not bore you with but is now resolved.

Canyon Hot Springs

We started the trip travelling towards Golden stopping for the night at Canyon Hot Springs campground where we had a lovely soak in their hot pools. I also had my first Canadian campground shower where it was three dollars for a six-minute shower! Happily when we reached Golden in a municipal or not privately owned campground they give you six minutes for one dollar. After the hot spring stop we travelled over Rogers pass to Golden.

Rogers Pass

To get to Golden you travel over Rogers Pass which the train and the Trans-Canada Highway go through. Rogers Pass first opened in 1886 when the first trans-continental passenger train left from Montreal and reached Vancouver 9 days later. Nowadays with the road and the information centre it is a nice spot to stop and take silly pictures as well as watch the 1950s bear movie about how to hike in the woods and why you should not feed bears. The centre also has a few stuffed animals.

Golden

I enjoyed our two days in Golden where we stayed at the Golden Municipal Campground and RV park. To get into town it was a short stroll along the river and across the Kicking Horse River Pedestrian bridge, which is the longest free-standing wooden covered pedestrian bridge in Canada. Over the two days there we visited the Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre. It cost $12 each and you can learn a lot about wolves. Hard to believe that Alberta still has bounties on wolves.

We also visited the Kicking River Resort and saw Boo the grizzly and some wonderful panoramic views of the mountains. Boo lives in a 20-acre enclosure where he has plenty of room to play, forage and enjoy dips in his pond. Boo is 11 years old and weighs around 275 kilograms. The cost of visiting Boo and the gondola ride is $ 45.95 in summer. It drops $10 dollars if you go after 2pm. If you decide to walk to Boo’s enclosure without buying a ticket you are sent back to buy a ticket for entry at the bottom of the hill. For more information you can go to the website: www.kickinghorseresort.com

In between visits to see wildlife we watched the trains go pass across the river, went for walks along the river and enjoyed a few beers at the local log cabin pub. All in all Golden was a wonderful spot to visit.

Banff

We drove from Golden to Field and through Lake Louise to reach Banff in the late afternoon. Tunnel Mountain Village 1 Campground in Banff was our stop for the night. It is a lovely campground and not too far from Banff. There is even a bus that comes regularly to take campers to town. We did not stay long and the next day drove to Jasper via the icefield Parkway.

Have you ever been to this part of Canada?

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Golden, Banff & Jasper

‘Determination is the wake-up call to the human will.’ – Anthony Robbins

Well, we’ve had summer, autumn and winter weather all in one week. We started out with wine tastings in summer heat with my brother and sister-in-law to end the week in snow in Banff! I thought I would be chasing summer and I’ve ended up in a snow storm at the end of our first month in Canada.

Wine Tasting

Wine Tasting

This week saw us start our journey east. Our first night was spent in Canyon Hot Springs

Bit of a down pour!

Bit of a down pour!

where we enjoyed the pool in the cool autumnal rain. Next day, we were off again to Golden for a few days which took us over Rogers Pass.

Rogers Pass

Rogers Pass

We got summer back for another day as we settled in for a few days at a nice municipal camp ground near a river and the CN railway lines – great train spotting!

Our second day in Golden sent us off to one of only two wolf sanctuaries

Northern Lights Wildlife

Northern Lights Wildlife

which taught me a lot I didn’t know about these beautiful creatures and their struggle to survive in Canada.

Our final day in Golden, we headed over to the Kicking Horse Ski Resort

Kicking Horse Ski Resort

Kicking Horse Ski Resort

which meant we met Boo – the Grizzly in this bear sanctuary and rode the gondola in the warm sunshine – almost got burnt it was so warm.

Boo - Grizzly Bear

Boo – Grizzly Bear

Beautiful place to visit and lots to see and do.

We then drove to Banff and that day we saw a moose, mountain Big Horn Sheep, Blue Jay, fat chipmunk, Boo – the grizzly, deer and squirrel.

John and I didn’t stay long in Banff; we took a few days to drive up to Jasper and plunged back into summer weather and stellar views of lakes,

Drive to Jasper

Drive to Jasper

mountains and valleys to tent our first night just outside of Jasper. I can now add Elk to the list of animals seen.

Elk - Jasper

Elk – Jasper

Our only full day took us into autumn and a hike into one of the canyons around Jasper. That evening: rain, log cabin motel, stellar meal and hot spring – again!

Miette Hot Springs

Miette Hot Springs

Then, today, we woke to snow

Jasper snow

Jasper snow

and drove through snow

Banff snow

Banff snow storm

back to Banff to curl up cosy in Mom and Dad’s RV again.

M & D's RV

Mom and Dad’s RV in snow!

Tomorrow more new adventures!

What’s your weather like this week?

Love Debx

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The Okanagan take 2

‘Remind yourself that it’s okay not to be perfect.’

This has been a great week in the Okanagan at my parents place.  It’s been lovely to stay in one place for awhile and do a bunch of blogging, reading, and admininstrative type things.  I’ve done my first vblog (video blog).

The nip of Autumn is in the air, but we’ve managed to still get a few days of summer warm weather.  My brother arranged a boat trip on Okanagan Lake for the family – where we kept our eyes open for any spot-tings of Ogopogo – our Canadian version of the Lochness Monster.  I can highly recommend hiring a boat on the lake and enjoying it’s summer fun.  We even jumped in for a lovely swim.

Swimming in Okanagan Lake

Swimming in Okanagan Lake

We’ve had a few family gatherings – movies, lunch and dinners.  I managed to meet big brother at work and have lunch – just the 2 of us.  We discussed plans for our family cruise excursions in December – looking forward to it!  Managed a lunch at the Cherry Pit Restaurant with Mom – good food at a good local restaurant.  We’ve got the whole clan together twice, once, at my brother’s and then at my parents, which is always nice.  We’ve even managed to have a few camp fires – as we are in a semi-arid desert, most of the summer, you can’t have outdoor fires, but the fire ban has been lifted with the cooling of the weather.

Coloured Fire

Coloured Fire

Today, we are off to do a bit of wine touring – one of my favourite past times.  The Okanagan is a fruit belt in B.C., so they eventually started to figure out how to grow wine grapes and we are now the ‘Nappy Valley of the North’ with many of the wines winning international awards, but due to the small boutiqueness of it, most of the wines are sold in B.C. or Canada.  So you really have to come and visit to get the full flavour of what this region of my home province has to offer.  What is your favourite type of wine?  For me, it’s new world wines – both red and white.

Much Love Debx

Added info:

We, also, made it out to see the Elvis Impersonator – Adam Fitzpatrick at an free outdoor concert.  He sounds just like the King of rock n’ roll and has a great sense of humour on stage.  Check him out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLBisS40_E

and, if you like the area, we have a piece of land For Sale – check it out:  (My Dad made the sign!)

Lot For Sale

Lot For Sale

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Lake Okanagan in Canada

I thought it might be nice to describe our location at the moment. We are on the Westside of Lake Okanagan and around 45km to downtown Kelowna and the same to Vernon. The spot we are at has views of the lake to Vernon and parts of Kelowna can also be seen as well as Fintry Point. The road used to be the most dangerous in British Columbia but thanks to a few improvements it’s now the sixth most dangerous. Saying that in the week we have been here someone has driven off the road and a motorcyclist was knocked off their bike yesterday.

I love coming back to Debbie’s folks place and the friendly community surrounding them. We are only a few minutes walk down to the lake and a jetty where you can jump off and swim. We can also borrow kayaks and just go for a paddle. There also is plenty of wildlife with lots of red deer and the occasional bear. My favourite wildlife are the different types of hummingbird which are so memorising to watch.

The last week we have been doing a lot around the Okanagan. Went and did a walk at Bear Creek, tubing in Penticton, a boat cruise on Lake Okanagan and we visited Kelowna a few times including to see a free Elvis Impersonator show which was fun and outside. We also walked around Kelowna and today we are off to visit some wineries.

Tomorrow we embark on the road trip and our first stop in a few days will be Jasper.

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The Okanagan Take 1

‘Changes in our lives are like soft waves nudging the shoreline.  Accept each one as an opportunity to go with the flow and experience life from a new perspective.’

Week 2 in Canada means moving to one of the longer stops on our tour of North America – Killiney Beach, my parents cabin is located here and has 180 degree views of Okanagan Lake – a wine and fruit region and is about 5 hours from Vancouver.  It’s a semi-arid desert region (yes, Canada does have deserts), so the days are hot and the nights cool.  It’s a very popular holiday destination for many Vancouverites and Albertans.

So our journey started by leaving Cultus Lake going to Harrison Hot Springs,

Sasquatch

I found the Sasquatch!

where you’ll find the famous Sasquatch

and a lovely hot spring pool, then driving Highway 7 to Squamish to a have a stellar dinner at a local eatery on the river

Water Shed Cafe

Water Shed Cafe – Squamish

and our first night in a tent.

The next day, we were off to Britannia mine,

Britannia Mines

Britannia Mines

which is a mining museum for copper, which has vastly improved since my childhood experiences.

Then it was off to the famous Whistler Village

Whstler Welcome Totem

Whistler Village Welcome Totem

of recent Winter Olympics fame.  A great place to spend some time anytime of year, but we just had an afternoons taster with plans to make a more extended visit when we come back – someday.  We saw 3 beautiful waterfalls

and then did the long drive through beautiful hills, forests and valleys to my parents place, but, only made it to Merritt due to landslides on our original route through Kamloops – some place we will, also, need to do ‘next time.’  Still we’ve arrived here and are soaking up the beauty and star filled skies – plus a tubing trip between the lakes.  Great place to be!

Do you have a favourite natural beauty country you have been to, if so, where?

Debx

Forgot to mention in the original letter about our walk around Bear Creek, which is a good little walk and the name holds true, so do bring your bear aware knowledge when walking this trail.  It only takes about an hour.  We didn’t see a bear, but we did see some bear skat (pooh).

Bear Creek

Bear Creek

Also, we didn’t do it this trip, but I can highly recommend going to Fintry and it’s historic house, it’s interesting and a beautiful park with a walk up to a waterfall.

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Two weeks in Canada

After my first post about my lost luggage (still lost) and our few days in Vancouver we are now near Kelowna getting ready for the long road trip through Canada and the USA.

IMG_2391

We spent another few days in Vancouver and went for a cycle ride around Stanley Park which takes an hour and you can hire bikes near the entrance. Afterwards we went to Granville Island where I sampled a few beers from the Granville Brewery which were not that stellar. We then visited the lovely Kari and Oren for a delicious dinner and catching up on stories of mine and Kari’s days at Holland House Youth Hostel see my past blog on the hostel.

After Vancouver we went to Cultus Lake for several days at a campground where there was lots of entertainment including a talent contest and Luau. We also went up Teapot hill and lazed around reading books and eating the occasional ice cream.

After Cultus Lake we took a road trip using Debbie’s folks car to drive first to Harrison Hot Springs where we enjoyed a soak in the hot pool and I searched and found Sasquatch.

From Harrison Hot Springs we drove down Highway 7 via Mission down to Vancouver and up to Squamish for the night which took a leisurely three and a half hours. We found a campground, set up the tent and had a lovely dinner at the Watershed Restaurant. From the restaurant beside the the river there is a wonderful view of the Granite cliff called the Chief. If you camp at the Wonderland campground be aware that the train goes by at 2 am and has the whistle on to warn people up to get off the tracks! Great campsite with good Wi-Fi, it cost us to camp $40. Dinner at the Watershed Restaurant was $50 and worth it for the views.

The next day we drove to Whistler after Debbie visited a mining museum while I waited. We only had a whistle-stop at Whistler and due to a mud slide had to detour to Merritt for the night at a cheap motel called All Seasons which was beside the main road and beside a lumber mill. Clean motel, comfy beds for $75. We used the motel as we arrived late and were both very tired after visiting three waterfalls between Squamish and Whistler.

We are now near Kelowna at my wife’s parents place on the Westside of Lake Okanagan with views down to Kelowna and Vernon. Lots to do before the big road trip and slowly getting ready for our upcoming adventure

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1st Week in Canada

‘Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark.’

Wow, my first week in Canada has been great!  We arrived on Monday with one less suitcase – John’s has been lost by the airline and still no signs of it showing up.  Still we settled in to Steveston – a lovely, little fishing village in the south part of Richmond (a burb of Vancouver), with friends.

John O

John O

I had discovered there was a cannery museum,

Gulf of Georgia Cannery

Gulf of Georgia Cannery

which was a huge part of our B.C. history, which I knew little of.  But not only did I learn about the cannery, there’s, also, a free outdoor museum of the workers who worked in the canneries (there were 72 canneries in its heyday, now there are only 2 left in B.C., still in operation).  It was worth taking the time to go through it and the guides are very friendly and helpful.

After Steveston, we headed into Vancouver ‘proper’ to catch up with more friends

Oren, Kari and me!

Oren, Kari and me!

and hit some favourite sites in the city.  John and I, always, hire bikes and then cycle round Stanley Park – which only takes an hour and you get to take in some of the best views of the city.

Stanley Park & Lions Gate Bridge

Stanley Park Sea wall cycle ride, under Lions Gate Bridge

Then we headed over to Granville Island Market and had a nice lunch, as well as, taking in the sights and sounds of this lively and ever changing market place in the city centre.  Vancouver is still one of my favourite cities!

Then we started our journey east heading towards Cultus Lake to meet with my parents to begin our journey across the Northern States to hit the Mari-times of Canada by Fall/Autumn.  We celebrated my Dad’s birthday and are off for a walk up ‘Teapot Hill‘ today- very nice!

See ya soon.  (Some extra photos are below)

Debbie

Teapot Hill, Cultus Lake:

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BA loses my luggage and a week in Vancouver

BA  loses my luggage and a week in Vancouver

The week started well as prior to our departure we spent a pleasant  few days in Pevensey Bay with the delightful raconteur Ken. We even managed to win a round at the local pub quiz. The Castle is a four hundred year old pub. We also did some lovely walks along the coast to Eastbourne and  had a lovely farewell barbecue with friends.

Canada sans luggage

We had a comfortable 9 hours and 25 minute flight from Heathrow on British Airways to Vancouver. The only glitch was that my luggage did not arrive with me and after three days is still missing in action. (I finally got the suitcase 3 months later in London, Ontariro). BA gave me a £35 pound credit card to cover initial costs and from the counter clerks body language I suspected I never would see my suitcase again. Happily our two other suitcases made it. Unhappily the one that was lost is mine with all my clothes, toiletries, shoes and other articles. We leave tomorrow for the interior of British Columbia so not holding out much hope of my luggage getting to me before then.

Steveston

The first two nights we stayed with the lovely John and Pam in their condo in Steveston. The town is only a 15 minute drive from the airport as well as a fishing town it also does whale watching. Steveston was once the biggest cannery town in the world exporting sockeye salmon. After a hearty breakfast in Steveston we decided to educate ourselves about the town’s history and visited the oldest cannery in the area, the Gulf of Georgia Cannery. It was an interesting museum and highly recommended. It cost $7.80 each and included an excellent half hour guided tour. The Chinese and Japanese were heavily involved in work at the cannery which was not particularly a fun place to work with 16 hour days gutting sockeye salmon and canning them. The museum has recreated a cannery line and takes you through how it worked. We also did an extended tour of the later processing of Pacific herring for agricultural and other products. Apparently, unlike the Atlantic herring the Pacific herring tastes awful so there was no market for buying them to eat.

Interestingly, we visited the town on the first day of the salmon season where fishermen were selling sockeye salmon for the grand sum of $20 each. A bargain judging by the number of people buying them. After wandering around the town we visited the Britannica Museum which consisted of the barracks where the Chinese and Japanese used to live and shipyards. We were lucky enough to get another guided tour around the Chinese barracks and hear about how hard the conditions were and the reasons they came to Canada to work and send money home. The museum is free to visit.

We then went out for a lovely sushi dinner with John and Pam and afterwards played a game of cribbage at their place where they soundly defeated us.

Next stop

The next day we moved into central Vancouver staying with the lovely Elska and Patrick in their house near the Vancouver City Hall. They have a beautiful 1911 house. The day was a bit of a washout with rain so aside from venturing out to buy some toiletries the day was spent chatting and napping. Today we are heading off into town to Stanley Park and Granville Island.

IMG_2327

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