We awoke to somewhat, overcast and smoky skies, but at least it wasn’t that cold. We packed up the car and headed to Timmie’s for breakfast, grabbed some gas and pointed the car towards home. We took the highway through Agassiz and along the north shore of the Fraser. Mum still had one place left on her ‘must-do’ list…a visit to Old Navy. I did a quick Google search and found one in Park Royale in North Vancouver – only a block off our route.

We made good time along the north shore and arrive at the mall just as it was opening. I took the first sign mentioning parking and grabbed a spot by the escalator. While we were walking, I pulled up the mall on my Point Inside app and found that we were on the wrong side of Marine Drive. We headed in the approximate direction, but still had to ask someone for directions. We finally found it and both Mum and I were able to find a few items. As we were leaving the store, I looked at my watch and realized that we better get a move on as it was less than an hour from the ferry sailing time.

We were able to make good time on the Upper Level Highway and checked in with plenty of time to spare. The weather; however, had turned to a windy, rainy conglomeration of yuckiness by this point, but not enough to cancel the ferries, luckily.

Our sailing was fairly uneventful. Mum stayed in the car while I went up on the covered sun deck and chatted with a interesting guy from Austin that was living in Vancouver now. Before I knew it, they were announcing our arrival at Departure Bay and I headed back down to the car.

We disembarked and headed to Timmie’s to meet up with my Dad and my sister, M. M was already there with my fur nephews and we chatted for a bit while we waited for my Dad in the rain. He arrived about 10 minutes later and we offloaded Mum’s stuff into his car and M and I both grabbed some veggies from him.

After grabbing a coffee, we headed our separate ways. It’s always hard at the end of a trip. I am glad to be home, but I miss being on the adventure with my mum. In ten days, we traveled over 3,200 kilometres, visited a dozen or so Food Network restaurants and dealt with temperatures between 1°C and 33°C, from sea level to over 2,000m. This is the eighth year in a row that Mum and I have gone on a road trip together – I can’t wait until our adventure next year…

This morning we awoke to a beautiful, yet cool, day. After having breakfast at the hotel, I moved the car closer to our room and started packing everything back into the car. We grabbed some gas and a coffee and were on our way. The drive between Salmon Arm and Kamloops was fairly uneventful, and before we knew it, we were through Kamloops (without getting lost) and heading towards Cache Creek.This was the first time that I have driven this direction along the Thompson River since we came out in 1982. The only other time I have driven this road was when K and I went to Edmonton almost a decade ago. I will have to admit that I was quite glad that I wasn’t taking the Coq again.

The traffic was remarkedly light, which allowed us to have a leisurely drive – something I enjoyed after traveling the Trans-Canada east of Kamloops. We stopped a couple of times to stretch our legs and take some pictures (that weren’t through the windshield).

In Cache Creek, the road turns south and heads down the Thompson Canyon. There has been a major fire near Ashcroft, just south of Cache Creek, that has been burning since July 6th and has burned almost 193,000 hectares (475,000 acres). Although we could see some areas that were burned, the full extent of the Elephant Hill fire can’t easily be seen from the highway. There was also very little smoke in the area, which surprised us.

We pulled over about ten minutes outside of Lytton and took a couple of pictures of the Thompson River which is narrower and has whitewater rapids by this point. We ended up talking to a couple from Calgary who were heading to the Island to visit family on Denman Island. They had stopped to get a picture of kayakers that were about to shoot a set of rapids and we decided to stay and watch. After about ten minutes, we determined that they weren’t going to ride the rapids for a while so we continued on our way. We found a pull-off close to Lytton and pulled over to have a picnic lunch in the car. By this time, the temperature was in the mid-20’s and I was glad that I had worn my shorts.

After lunch, we continued down the highway into the Fraser Canyon. I had hoped to get a picture of the confluence of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers but it wasn’t easily visible from the highway and I had missed the turn-off into the village of Lytton. Oh well, there’s always next time.

The Fraser Canyon is much hillier and the road is curvier that it is in the Thompson Canyon, and I found myself wondering why the speed limit was still 100 km/h. I kept my speed between 80 and 90 km/h, pulling over to let people pass when needed. This was also about the time that we started to notice some smoke hanging in the area. There were no fires that we could see, other than a small wisp of smoke on the other side of the Fraser River. It turns out that it was a new fire that started today but is not considered to be a fire of any significance. The only thing that we were able to deduce is that the smoke was from the other fires that are burning in BC and the smoke has gotten trapped in the canyon. We have had a couple of weeks of smoky weather on the Island caused by the fires, so it was our best, educated guess.

We continued down the highway through Boston Bar, Spuzzum and Yale until we reached the outskirts of Hope. Since we had planned an early morning departure from Hope, we decided to visit Farm House Cheeses in Agassiz today. Mum and I both grabbed some more cheese, petted the goats, and headed back to Hope just in time for check-in.

While Mum rested in the room, I set out to explore downtown Hope. I love Hope as it has a beautiful park filled with Sitka Spruce and also wood carvings scattered throughout the downtown core. There were also signs all over town commemorating the 35th anniversary of Rambo First Blood – I didn’t get the reasoning behind it, until I found out that the movie had been filmed in and around Hope. I also stopped into a souvenir shop to pick up a couple of last-minute gifts. After talking to the person working in the store, I was given a recommendation for dinner. We had planned on going to Home Restaurant, but after losing our good parking spot last night, I was leery of driving anywhere and it was just a bit too far to walk. She recommended 293 Wallace, which was kitty-corner from her store.

When I got back to the motel, we pulled up the menu to see if there was anything that tickled our fancy. We were quite shocked at the prices but were able to find something small for each of us on their lunch menu that they supposedly served all day.

Mum and I decided to have a short walk around the park before going to eat so we could work up an appetite. It was a beautiful evening and the temperature was still quite warm which made for a wonderful stroll. We arrived at the restaurant and were able to get a table, even though we didn’t have reservations. When we took a look at the menu, we noticed that neither of the things we had wanted was on the list. We queried the waitress about the difference between the online menu and the one we were given and were told that lunch was no longer available all day and regardless, the item that Mum wanted was no longer available. After much hemming and hawing, I decided on the chicken bites and Mum chose the pork loin. When I ordered my chicken, I was told the sauce that I wanted was also no longer available – needless to say, I was getting frustrated at this point. We had already ordered our drinks so it was too late to get up and leave. I changed the sauce that I wanted and chalked it up to experience.

When our meal eventually came, we quite enjoyed it, although Mum found her vegetables to be very under-cooked. We decided to save the veggies for a snack tomorrow, and put them in a Ziploc bag. There just wasn’t enough for us to ask for a doggie bag. Due to our disappointment about the difference in menus and lack of sauce that I wanted, the manager gave us a free dessert. We chose a deconstructed lemon cheesecake with raspberry sauce. It also, was quite good, but still way overpriced for a small town.

We walked back to the motel and Mum did her cryptics while I spent almost an hour talking to hubby on the phone. Today was our 17th anniversary and for the second year in a row, we were separated by a body of water. I am definitely looking forward to seeing him tomorrow when I get home.

I want to thank you for sharing our adventure and I will talk to you tomorrow.

I am leaving you with a collage of the pictures I took along the way today.

L

Today we awoke to frozen condensation on the back window of the car. Needless to say, we were not impressed with the cold temperature. After a quick bite to eat at the hotel, we grabbed a much-needed coffee at Timmies and headed west. As we were leaving town there was a sign warning of smoke in the area. We had seen the sign when we came through Golden last weekend, however, due to the rain, we hadn’t seen any smoke.

Today was a beautiful sunny day so we definitely noticed the smoke when we neared Glacier National Park. We also noticed how much construction they were doing on the Trans Canada – we weren’t affected when we had headed east as it was a weekend. Luckily, we were only stopped once and it was for only a few minutes.

We stopped at the Rogers Pass Info Centre, hoping to grab some souvenirs, only to find out that the centre no longer had a gift shop and the lodge next door, which also had a gift shop, was closed due to renovations. I asked the person at the info booth about where the fires were, as we had seen quite a bit of smoke. She told us that there were two fairly insignificant fires on either side of the park but fire crews were just waiting for the snow to put them out. With the temperatures that they are getting, I doubt they will have to wait too long for snow. We took a couple of pictures and hurriedly jumped back in the car as it was only 3°C. We stopped a couple of minutes down the road at the actual “pass” and I took another couple of pictures before we again continued west.

We arrived in Salmon Arm just after noon and found a great parking spot a block from our desired restaurant and walked to the Shuswap Pie Company which was featured on You Gotta Eat Here. There was a short lineup but before long we placed our order and grabbed a table by the window so we could people-watch while we waited. Mum got the Spinach & Asiago Quiche with a cup of Spicy Thai Soup and I got a Cuban with a cup of the soup. We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch and we pleased at our timing as a huge line formed, not long after we arrived.

After lunch, we went to a nursery as Mum was on the hunt for some Prairie Lily bulbs. It turns out that this is the wrong time of year to find that kind of bulb, so we headed to the nearby Grass Roots Dairies to get some gouda cheese. As my readers might remember, cheese is one thing we strive to stock up on when we go away. Mum and I each grabbed three different kinds of gouda and I also grabbed a small jar of pepper jelly.

By the time we were done there, it was almost time to check in, so we headed to the hotel. It was also quite a bit warmer, with the temperatures in the low 20’s, so I was glad to be able to change into shorts. We were able to park right outside of our room so I decided to empty the car and arrange everything. Normally I am doing this for customs purposes, but this time it was just for ease of transferring when I meet up with Dad in Nanaimo on Sunday.

We spent a couple of hours in the hotel organizing and watching Food Network before we decided to go for a walk on the wharf to see what kind of shorebirds were around. Mum and I had stopped here on our Cross Canada trip in 2010 and I had been able to get a picture of a Western Grebe and Osprey. Tonight we saw a Great Blue Heron, dozens of killdeer, various ducks including a Northern Shoveler, and pelicans. The pelicans were unfortunately in the distance, out of camera range. All of the bird pictures were taken with my camera and not my phone, so I am unable to share them with you at the moment.

The walk gave us quite an appetite and we headed to Setter’s Pub for dinner – a recommendation from one of Mum’s friends. We had forgotten that a pub might be busy on a Friday night – actually we forgot it was Friday – so we had a half-decent wait for our food but at least we were able to get a seat and have a drink while we waited. Mum had the clam chowder and a Caesar salad and I had deep fried pickles and Cajun wings. They make their cajun sauce in-house and it was delicious. It was quite spicy, but there was more flavour than heat.

When we arrived back at the hotel, we found the parking lot full, so I had to park in an adjoining lot. Hopefully, I will be able to park closer in the morning so I don’t have to lug everything too far back to the car.

I am posting my pictures from our drive at the end of the blog again tonight. Hopefully, you enjoy and I want to thank you for sharing our adventure with us.

L

We awoke to the sound of rain but after the near freezing temperatures last night, we were happy it wasn’t snow. We had a quick bite to eat at the hotel while we waited for rush hour to settle down. We left the hotel just before 10 and our first stop was an oil change. Luckily there was a Jiffy Lube on our way and we were able to get it done quickly and were on our way before we knew it.

For most of the drive to Banff we experienced rain, drizzle and the occasional clear patch. It was definitely not conducive to stopping and taking pictures of the mountains. We were both slightly bummed that we weren’t able to see how impressive the mountains are, rising up from the prairies. We have driven this route before so we had to settle for living vicariously through our memories.

By the time we arrived in Banff, the rain had stopped but it was still quite overcast and the mountains were shrouded in low-lying clouds. We drove around for a few minutes looking for parking and I was able to snag a great spot not too far from our intended destination. I was quite impressed with my ability to parallel park as it definitely isn’t one of my strong suits.

Lunch for today was The Bear Street Tavern, which was featured on You Gotta Eat Here. Although it was right at lunch time, we were able to be seated right away. Mum had the Turkey, Bacon & Brie sandwich with Mexican Vegetable Soup and I had a half Caesar Salad with a cup of the same soup. The Caesar was topped with smoked bison instead of bacon bits and, although I am a staunch believer in bacon bits on a Caesar, I was pleasantly surprised.

After lunch, we walked around downtown briefly and stopped in a couple souvenir shops before getting back on the road. Since the weather was still quite dreary, we opted against taking the Bow Valley Parkway and just stayed on the Trans Canada. I also had to make do with getting my pictures through the windshield as we weren’t able to stop along the highway.

We arrived in Golden just in time to check in and decided to relax in the room for a while before we headed downtown to explore. We visited a couple of souvenir shops and also took a walk across the Kicking Horse River on a pedestrian walkway. I, of course, decided that I had to put my feet in the water to see if it was as cold as Sunwapta Lake. I made my way down to the water, rolled up my jeans and walked in enough to have the water up to my ankles. The glacial silt was quite slippery, as it had been at the Athabasca Glacier, but there was much more of it here and my feet got coated in mud. I carried my shoes in my hand as I carefully walked along the gravel path back to the bridge and back across the river to the car. Luckily Mum had some kleenex and I was able to get most of the mud off my feet before getting into my somewhat clean car.

We had hoped to grab a coffee in one of the coffee shops but they were all closed by that time so we headed back to the hotel for a dinner of leftovers. Mum decided to have a bath while I called hubby. By just after 9, Mum was ready for bed and I started doing my blog.

I decided to group all of my scenery pictures together at the bottom of my blog tonight for ease of viewing. Tomorrow we are heading to Salmon Arm and will finally be back in Pacific Time. Thank you for sharing our adventure and I will talk to you tomorrow.

L

This morning we awoke to a rainy, miserable morning. After eating some of our leftovers for breakfast we headed to grab our Timmie’s coffee. We had hoped to stop at the Fossil Shop for possible souvenirs but they didn’t open until 11 am.

We headed out of town towards Calgary. The rain was steady during most of the drive but lessened slightly as we arrived in Calgary. Our first stop was IKEA…the first visit for both of us. Luckily my car helped curb our spending because a lot of the things that I wanted to buy wouldn’t fit. We then visited Michaels and Mum got a few things that she needed and I grabbed a new scrapbook for our trip. The other restaurant scrapbook is over 100 pages and definitely past the point of overflowing.

By the time we were done shopping it was time to head to the hotel. After dealing with several construction zones, we finally made it to our hotel. While Mum chilled in the room and watched some TV, I headed to MEC to return a bag I had bought in Victoria and exchanged it for a bigger bag…in red of course. It was about a kilometre from the hotel but I think I made better time by walking, as parking isn’t the easiest to find downtown. As I was walking back to the hotel, I noticed that they have traffic signals just for bicycles, which were really cute looking. I also got a picture of The Calgary Tower.

When I got back to the hotel we watched some TV and chatted for a bit before researching where to have dinner. We had several Food Network restaurants to choose from in Calgary but we decided on Naina’s Kitchen. Its claim to fame is stuffed burgers, crazy poutine and gourmet grilled cheese. That definitely piqued our interest.

Despite the construction around the restaurant, we were able to find parking without too much difficulty that was only a block away. We grabbed a table and took a look at the menu. I knew instantly that I wanted the dill pickle poutine and some kind of stuffed burger and Mum wanted one of their grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. I ended up stuffing my burger with mozzarella, blue cheese, Granny Smith apple, bacon, tomato and sauteed and caramelized onions and Mum had a Buffalo chicken grilled cheese sandwich. The poutine was very dilly but to die for and my burger, as weird as it sounds, was also delicious. Mum thoroughly enjoyed her sandwich but wasn’t as impressed with the tomato soup. Our waitress, Jenni, was great and we discovered that she was from Port Hardy originally – talk about a small world.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and Mum did her cryptic crosswords while I watched some television. Tomorrow we are heading to Golden with a possible stop in Banff.

Thank you for reading and sharing our adventure.

Talk to you soon.

L