Fresh air & Timbits

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Now that we are back in Edmonton, we find ourselves in a panic to complete everything we had planned before returning to La Paz.  We have made many purchases via the web in the last few days and are awaiting arrival of some new charts of Central America, a new Duo-charger for what will be a new starting battery when we get around to buying one, a new salinity tester for our watermaker and a new pair of sandals for yours truly (with size 15 feet, no one has such things in stock, especially this time of year).

 

The current plan is to be back on the boat on October 14th.  Right now we are keeping a close watch on the current crop of tropical storms and hurricanes that are threatening the penninsula - so far so good.  As I write this, tropical storm Norman is churning its way into the Sea of Cortez, but it looks like it will not be a problem for the marina in La Paz.  With any luck this is close to the end of the hurricane season for this year.

Meanwhile, we have been busy visiting with Susanne's brother Murray and family.  We watched the budding hockey star Scott at practice on a local ice rink.  Is it just me or does this just seem to emphasize the need to get out of this cold climate and head south soon.  To be honest though, the weather over the last few weeks has been spectacular, warm and sunny most every day with highs in the low 20s - just about as good as it gets around here in September.

We also spent a day at Murray's cabin, just outside of Edmonton.  We cooked hot dogs over an open fire on a beautiful fall day - a good memory for us to take back with us to Mexico.

{GMST}53|35.3928|N|113|32.361|W|Edmonton, Alberta, Canada|Edmonton, AB{GEND}

Alberta bound

High River, Alberta, Canada

We had a great day in Nelson.

Nelson is a lovely place.  We can almost understand the appeal of the Kootenay lake towns.  As usual, we walked from one end of this town to the other.  Great hotel too, although a bit pricey.

So when the pirates left the Caribbean, this is where they went?

Today, we made the long journey through the Crowsnest pass into Alberta.  We stopped at the site of the Frank slide - this place always gives me chills!

Tonight we are at the Circle 8 in High River.

There is really not a whole lot to say about High River - so I will say nothing.

Tomorrow should see us back in Edmonton, where we started this whirlwind tour...

{GMST}50|34.2312|N|113|50.6064|W|High River, Alberta, Canada|High River, AB{GEND}
{GMST}49|35.5975|N|114|23.3778|W|Frank, Alberta, Canada|Frank Slide, AB{GEND}

Oceans and lakes

Nelson, BC, Canada

We are on the move - travelling inland to British Columbia's lake country.

After a couple of days of gut-wrenching nostalgia in Nanaimo (seeing a strange boat in our old slip at Stones Marina was surprisingly bittersweet), we took the ferry from Departure bay back to the mainland, then drove to the town of Princeton, close to the US border, in central British Columbia.



Nanaimo Harbour

The next day, we took a leisurely drive along highway 3 as far as Osoyoos before turning north and making our way to Westbank (Western Kelowna), passing through tourist central BC along the way.  In Westbank, we spent the evening with my sister and some of her family.  Good times and good food were had by all.

Interesting observation on the drive along the Okanagan lake - from some perspectives, the scenery could be mistaken for the Baja penninsula (just substitute ocean for lake and increase the temperature by about 10 degrees).  Of course I don't think the Baja could possibly compete in the billboards per mile challange.

Today, we drove a route that we had not used in many many years, going further north to the town of Vernon before turning back SE and makng our way down the smaller winding highway 6, all the way to the town of Nelson, nestled in the mountains along the west arm of Kootenay lake.

Along the way, we were treated to a ride on one of the small ferrys that are used to get across the long narrow lakes that fill these valleys.  The log booms on the lake and even some forest clearing going on on the highway itself give testiment to the primary industry in these parts.

The town of Nelson is something special.  Looking at the lake from our hotel, you could again be fooled into thinking you are on the coast somewhere, particularily when you note all of the sailboats at anchor.  Nelson looks so much more like our kind of place that we have decided to spend two nights here and let it really sink in.

{GMST}49|29.8416|N|117|17.5926|W|Nelson, BC, Canada|Nelson, BC{GEND}
{GMST}49|49.6596|N|119|38.1648|W|West Kelowna, BC, Canada|Westbank, BC{GEND}
{GMST}49|27.3576|N|120|30.636|W|Princeton, BC, Canada|Princeton, BC{GEND}

Island bound

Nanaimo, BC, Canada

Quick update...

We spent one short day in Vancouver, visiting some of our favorite places, primarily Steveston (home of the Steveston chandler) and Granville island.

We took the ferry to Vancouver island and spent a few nights in Victoria.  We parked the car in the underground parking at the hotel and did our usual walking tours of the city.  This was a great opportunity to catch up with an old buddy of mine, Rudy, who has a boat moored nearby.

Now, we are in our old home port of Nanaimo for a couple of days - a chance to see how things have changed in the last two years (yes, it has been two years since we left) and visit with old friends from Stones Marina.  Of course, we will spend an extraordinarily large amount of time perusing the local marina chandlers, looking for bargains.

The Empress in Victoria

{GMST}49|10.8564|N|123|57.0996|W|Nanaimo, BC, Canada|Nanaimo, BC{GEND}
{GMST}48|25.284|N|123|22.1335|W|Victoria Harbour, BC, Canada|Victoria, BC{GEND}
{GMST}49|12.291|N|123|7.8444|W|Vancouver, BC, Canada|Vancouver, BC{GEND}

Hope cometh

Hope, BC, Canada

Nothing much to report.

Nice drive from Smithers to Quesnel, down highway 97.  Good driving weather except for a bit of rain around Prince George.  Overnight in Quesnel, supper at Billy Barker's Casino and Hotel.

Another nice, uneventful drive today from Quesnel to Hope.  Sue got to drive the really fun part, down the twisty highway 1 portion, along the Fraser Canyon - I am sure she appreciates the sacrifice I made in letting her have this honor.

We are not sure what we will do tomorrow, probably head towards Vancouver, possibly on to the island.  I do want to stop at some marine chandlers along the way.  After some discussion, we may just skip our original idea of heading to Seattle for the Lake Union Boats Afloat show- just not sure there would be much of interest there based on the list of exhibitors.

{GMST}49|22.679|N|121|26.483|W|Hope, BC, Canada|Hope, BC{GEND}
{GMST}52|58.5431|N|122|29.496|W|Quesnel, BC, Canada|Quesnel, BC{GEND}

Smithereens

Smithers, BC, Canada

We had an uneventful drive on a beautiful sunny day to Smithers, arriving in the early afternoon.

After a walk around town, we looked up our old friends Rick and Debbie and spent the evening hiking along the river and catching up on old times.  They are both teachers at the local school, so our timing was good, arriving on a Friday afternoon.

Yesterday, Saturday, we had a very full day, starting with a relaxing visit to the nearby farmer's market.  Once we were in the hands of our outgoing friends however, we headed out on a series of more energetic adventures.

The day was warm and sunny and perfect for outdoor activities.  We did a short hike to Twin Falls, the water flowing out of a high glacier overlooking the airport.  Getting close to the falls was wet and wild and quite a rush.

After lunch at the pub in town, we visited a very pretty local lake where Rick combed the shores for some special weeds which he apparently feeds to the kids at the school or some such.

Along the way, we visited the local log-home builder, where our friends had their retirement home designed and built before being shipped to South Pender island, where the finishing work is ongoing.

Today, we will be heading back south.  The weather has turned a bit cooler and overcast and we take this as our sign to be on our way.

{GMST}54|46.937|N|127|9.911|W|Smithers, BC, Canada|Smithers, BC{GEND}

A fork in the road

Prince George, British Columbia, Canada

We drove into BC today.

The weather was perfect.  So perfect in fact, that we were treated to a rare sight - a perfectly clear view of Mount Robson (the highest point in the Canadian Rockies for those of you who don't already know).  I have driven this route 100's of times and it is indeed a treat to see the mountain in all its glory, not shrouded in the almost perpetual clouds.

We continued our journey northwest to the City of Prince George.  It is a strange fact that in all our years of travelling back and forth from Edmonton to Vancouver, we have only been to Prince George one other time, when we were forced to use this route due to forest fires trying to burn down pretty much all of the interior of BC.  That time, we arrived around 1AM in the morning and then left early in our vain attempt to get to the ferry to Vancouver island before the last ferry of the day.  Needless to say, we felt we should give Prince George another chance.  Our verdict?  Prince George is OK but probably not worth a special trip.



This is more like our
usual accommodations

Now that we are here, we have a decision to make.  Turn south and head to the heavily populated areas of southern BC, or head further northwest to the remote town of Smithers and possibly on to Prince Rupert.  The coin flip came up Smithers!  Never been there - should be interesting...

{GMST}53|55.194|N|122|45.4074|W|Prince George, BC, Canada|Prince George, British Columbia{GEND}

Road Trip 2012

Jasper, Alberta, Canada

Summer is almost over, the kids are all back in school and, hopefully, the holiday traffic on the highways should be somewhat diminished.  With this in mind, we hopped into our trusty new, old, 2005 Ford Escape and started an escape of our own.

With an early start this morning from Edmonton (maybe 10:30 AM), we topped up with fuel and headed west towards the mountain parks.  Some 75 kms later we discovered all the things we had forgotten to bring with us and promptly drove the 75 kms back to Edmonton.

After again stopping for fuel, the second attempt was much more successful.  By late afternoon we were enjoying an on again/off again sunny/rainy drive through Jasper National park.  For wildlife, we saw only one poor, soggy, bedraggled mountain sheep standing on the road, and a fleeting glimpse of a deer darting across the highway about 1/4 km ahead of us.

We ended the largely uneventful drive by finding an enormously overpriced room at the Marmot Lodge in the town of Jasper.  We treated ourselves to a great meal at our favorite Greek restaurant and took a major hike around the town - the rain has stopped and the sun is shining brightly, promising better days to come.

It is still pretty busy in Jasper of course, but it is really starting to feel like autumn.  I think this incredibly depressing sign says it all...

{GMST}52|53.25|N|118|4.641|W|Jasper, Alberta, Canada|Jasper, AB{GEND}