The morning came really early with the alarm waking us up at 6AM so that we could get to the ferry terminal for our trip the Vancouver Island. No coffee or breakfast! Although we didn’t have any reservations we didn’t have to wait too long before we could get onto the ferry.
The weather was fantastic and provided beautiful colours for photographing the water and the islands we passed on the way.
Our dear friends and former neighbours moved out to North Sannich about 2 years ago so we visited them at the new house. It was a long overdue reunion and it was also great to see them and their two dogs again. We drove to Sidney and walked around the market with fruit, vegetables, clothing, jewelry and entertainment.
Dinner was at Pier Bistro across from the fish market.
After a great sleep we drove through rocky mountain areas that gradually became desert-like. After quite some time we arrived at the top of a hill overlooking a large lake and the town of Osoyoos. It was extremely hot and dry and walking through the town exhausted us somewhat. We visited a small gallery with air-conditioning and had a great conversation with a couple that were exhibiting artists there. Lunch was at Smitty’s and consisted of waffles with local peaches. Yummy!
This area is known for its wines so we stopped at one of the vineyards and picked up two bottles of red wine.
The town of Hedley is a pretty neat place. Hedley is a former gold mining town that mined $47,000,000 in gold between 1904 and 1955 when it closed after the orebody was exhausted. At today’s gold prices, those 2,417,405 oz of gold mined would be worth $4.7 billion dollars!
The town has a variety of interesting sights, including deluxe outhouses from competitions over the years, colourfully painted houses as well as some more historical buildings.
Hwy 3 in this area has a number of steeper hills with some sharp turns. One beer truck didn’t quite make it….
We stayed at the Sunshine Valley RV Resort & Cabins where we were warned that there was cougar in the area. We went for a swim in their outdoor, indoor, and hot tubs. It felt really luxurious which was good since it cost $87 for the night!
We had a deluxe breakfast outside on the picnic table at our campsite today with scrambled eggs, bagels and cream cheese, apples and coffee or tea.
Creston is a vine and fruit growing region in a valley between the mountains. We had passed a number of fruit stands on our way in yesterday and today we bought some cherries, apricots and blueberries at a fruit farm close to our campground.
Next up was Nelson, BC. A friend of Martin’s had suggested we visit there and we found a slightly 1960s hippie culture town. Lots of grey beards with ponytails and pot shops.
Ruth was inspired to check out the flower power dresses outside one of the shops.
A mural in the city showed the outdoor mountain culture.
After having a long lunch at Tandoori Indian Grill in town, we set off in search of an alpaca farm. Alas, this was not to be, as the alpacas seem to have left their farm.
Driving through the mountain passes for hours is pretty strenuous on the vehicle, the drivers, and the people behind us who were stuck with us slowpokes. Our van did a really good job in trailer mode which uses the engine to slow down and thus spares the brakes from burning up on the downhills.
Christina Lake is beautiful and gave us a little bit of rest.
Tonight we are in Boundary Creek Provincial Park which is just off the highway and beside a small creek which is very soothing, unless a truck happens to be driving by.
After a busy morning getting our van cleaned, filled and dumped we did a last walk through the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort with its beautiful scenery.
The pool area was already nicely occupied and reminded us of our swim yesterday.
We headed south again, this time taking a slightly different route so that we could visit the town of Kimberley. We’re glad we did! First up was lunch at The Shed, a BBQ joint with brisket, pulled pork, cornbread and beans. We had a fabulous lunch for around $40.
After some browsing through the shops in town we briefly visited the visitors centre where we learned that the last tour of the day of Kimberley’s Underground Mining Railway was leaving in about 30 minutes. Fortunately for us, it was just around the corner. It was a real highlight of our trip so far and one of the best mine tours we’ve ever done.
The 2 hour tour starts at the station and gradually winds itself up the side of a hill where we got to see quite a number of deer.
Bill, an old miner, gave us so much insight into how mining is done and lots of new terms. Muck is the correct term for the ore that is being removed. We got demonstrations on how some of the equipment was used – boy is it noisy.
After leaving the mining tour we were looking for a place to spend the night when we saw a new wildfire that had just started today so we thought it best to put a bit of distance between us and it.
We’re in Creston, BC, a small town with lots of fruit trees and vineyards. The local Husky gas station also sold propane and had a couple of large bays with pressure washers so we gave the van a well deserved hosing down.
The morning began with a visit to the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre which tells the story of the massive slide that happened in the early morning hours of April 29th, 1903 and is Canada’s deadliest rock slide, killing more than 90 people. A total of approximately 110 million metric tonnes of rock came off Turtle Mountain and buried the valley below to a depth of up to 45 meters (150 feet).
The mountain is still unstable and another slide will likely happen in the future. It is good that we didn’t know that last night as we soundly slept in a nearby campground. The Alberta Geological Service has a variety of sensors on the mountain and can detect minute changes in the rock movement.
Our next stop was to sample cinnamon buns at a cafe that had been recommended to us by the visitor centre in Lethbridge, but, alas, we were disappointed. They certainly didn’t live up to the ones we’ve enjoyed in the Yukon.
Sparwood is another town along Hwy 3 and it features the largest tandem axle truck in the world – capable of carrying 350 tonnes of stuff. Only one was ever built and here it is. Be the envy of the neighbourhood with a 3300HP, 16 cylinder engine, although you won’t win any races with its top speed of 48km/h.
Our final destination for today was the Fairmont Hot Springs in BC where we relaxed in the pools.
Coming home gave us the feeling as though we are living between two worlds. Before we enter back into our everyday life with all its responsibilities we look back on six weeks of excitement and adventure. We’re happy we wrote the blog so that we don’t forget all the things we saw and experienced.
What worked well:
Roadtrek 190 Popular: We love our Roadtrek! It is small enough to go virtually anywhere and has everything you need – kitchen, bathroom, fridge, furnace, air conditioning, etc.
InReach Explorer+ Satellite Communicator: We bought one of these units to be able to communicate with friends and in case of emergency in areas where there is no cellular service. It worked like a charm and has the ability now to request weather reports as well.
Public Mobile: We were travelling through areas where our cellular provider (Freedom Mobile) doesn’t have their own network so instead of paying roaming charges we chose to get a Public Mobile pay-as-you-go subscription with 6GB of data for the 6 weeks we were on the road. Public Mobile uses the TELUS network which covers western Canada very well.
Freedom Mobile’s Unlimited US Roaming. We’ve been Freedom Mobile customers for a number of years now and their price just can’t be beat. For $15 a month we had unlimited voice calling, texting and 1GB of data for the days we were in Alaska. This allowed us to keep in touch and look up things on the road.
Good Sam Membership: This RV club membership cost $25 a year and give you 10% discount at member campsites. It definitely paid for itself.
Garmin GPS: We love our Garmin nuvi 2689LMT GPS system.
Allstays Camp and RV App: We use this app on our iPads all the time to look for campgrounds. It shows the location of campgrounds and gives information about their rating, facilities and distance from your current location.
Visitor Centres: These are always a source of great information and have invaluable knowledge of local conditions and opportunities.
Here’s a map of the entire trip. This is an image grab from Google Earth as it wasn’t possible to use the entire GPS track on a live map.
The morning started out with a swim, whirlpool and sauna at the Prince George Aquatic Center. We were refreshed and felt fit for our drive to Jasper. Despite the rain we made it in good time and didn’t see any evidence of the forest fires burning in BC.
On our way to Jasper we saw our first Elk feeding by the side of the road. It is close to mating season and the signs said to stay away from the animals as they may charge. Remember, these animals have big horns. Nonetheless, a number of tourists felt the need to take selfies with the Elk or otherwise get within 5 feet of them. Hopefully everyone made it back in the car safely.
In Jasper we stayed at the Fairmount which has log cabins right beside the lake. Ruth had received a teaching award four years ago and one part of the gifts were certificates for a stay at a Fairmount hotel. Since we hadn’t used them we thought this was the time and place to be pampered a bit. Quite a difference from Walmart the night before.
Today was a driving day and we had relatively few stops. The first place we did stop was the Gitanyow Totem Pole Park which has one of the largest and oldest outdoor totem pole collections. The totem poles show the clan status and are carved from bottom up.
Shortly after our visit to the totem poles we left beautiful Highway 37 and turned onto Highway 16 to begin our journey eastward. Our next stop for gas and a short break was Smithers. Since it was Sunday not many stores were open. The town was designed after an Alpine village and thus has a sculpture of a Swiss man with an Alpenhorn. Smithers also had the first traffic lights we’ve seen since Whitehorse.
We continued on to Prince George and since it was already relatively late and dark we opted for a Walmart parking lot.
After a long sleep and long breakfast we continued our trek south and stopped at Jade City. There are several major Jade mines in the Cassiar region and together they produce approximately 1 million pounds of Jade a year, half of which is exported. The mines account for 92% of the world’s Nephrite Jade production. We spoke to a very knowledgable woman at the store who explained the differences in quality and how the jade is worked to show its beauty. Our van is a few pounds heavier now as a result of this visit.
The weather changed by the hour. We drove through rain, dark clouds, wind, beautiful sunshine which make the change of scenery even more fascinating.
Tonight we are camping in an unmarked rest area right by the Devil’s Creek bridge. As we were having dinner we noticed he had company. We peeked out of the side window to see what this older gentleman was up to. He had a pickup truck and kept hopping in and out of the bed of the truck. At one point flames appeared from the truck bed so we went out to investigate and found out he was just making coffee.
After a cozy breakfast and updating our blog, we finally got on the road. Instead of taking the Alaska Highway all the way, we decided on a short detour to Carcross because we had been there 14 years ago on a Holland America cruise trip.
On our way to Carcross we passed Emerald Lake with its mesmerizing blue, turquoise and green water.
Carcross is a town on the White Pass and Yukon rail line which was built because of the gold rush and linked Skagway and Whitehorse.
The town has really changed. Some of the buildings were or are in the process of being renovated and new stores and boutiques in a small plaza were a nice addition. We had ice cream in one of the old ones and cappuccino and German Apple cake in a new one. We visited a gallery and saw very different pieces and styles of art by various artists.
One of the shops sold Maple Syrup. Since we hadn’t seen any Maple trees on our journeys, we enquired as to whether Maple trees grew in the Yukon, at which point the owner showed us a potted Maple tree at his front door. Once he realized that we were from Ontario he quickly confessed that his syrup actually originates in Quebec and he makes artisan maple butter and crunches from the syrup.
We were determined to make it to British Columbia via Highway 37 today. We passed through beautiful landscape and just before dark we found a fabulous free campground right by a river on Kaska Nation land.
