Hi everyone,
Welcome to the Roger and Janet’s MeAnd’Er Across Canada journey, (pron. Meander Across Canada)
As you know, we are driving our all electric Hyundai Kona across Canada and using 3 to 4 months to do it - all the way to Newfoundland and back!
Lots to see and people to visit - a bucket list dream come true 💕
Day 1 -
We left Mission Sunday in a nice, laid back mode, trying our best to remind ourselves that there is no rush at all. This is going to be a huge adjustment for us both but we are determined to ‘go with the flow’ and unwind.
The work on the pipeline has torn apart a huge amount of the land leading up to the Okanagon, and we could certainly see where all our workers are - there are 100’s of people working on this. Leading up as far as Merrit and through the Coldwater area the entire hillside is pulled apart and banked with big white absorption bales.
We left that behind after Merritt, where we changed course and took the Connector for a beautiful drive through high elevations with snow still on the side of the roads, and on up the west side of Okanagan Lake to Vernon, We had a wonderful visit with our friends Cal and Sharon. They are definitely hosts extraordinaire and have found their own little piece of heaven in their new home. And the waffles are a Must Have!
We’re glad Cal sent us on the Westside Road because you don’t even see Okanagon Lake when you take Hwy. 97, but the west side we saw it all the way to the tip!
It was a little touch and go last week whether we would even stop and see them on our way because of the flooding and their water being shut down. They’re still on a boil water order, but that didn’t stop us from having a great time.
The devastation from the past forest fires is amazing, and I will never understand how the heat could be so intense yet not burn the trees to the ground???
Day 2 -We drove through some of the most beautiful parts of BC and even stopped at the Farmers’ Market in Vernon along the way and picked up some Triple-berry Granola bars.
The trails in Sicamous are lovely and we found the houseboat company on the river that gives Sicamous the prestigious title of the “Houseboat Capital of Canada”. Who knew?
Then down through the highway we drove and came upon Craigellachie, where they drove the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Why they did that in the middle of nowhere I could not understand, but Roger read the signs and that’s where the East met the West,
A few of the places were closed though - ‘shoulder’ season so they’re doing reno’s and stuff.
Revelstoke has an art project in the alleys downtown that have some pretty amazing stuff - right there with the dumpsters! The initiative was launched in 2019 and aims to transform the downtown alleyways into outdoor art galleries. “Art Alleries” revitalize dark and disused places into thriving public spaces for locals and visitors to walk through and enjoy.
The houses are really old and the town is filled with charm and character.
But we’re moving on - tomorrow we’re going to Alberta! YeHaw
Note to self #2 - ask the hotel if they have an EV charging station BEFORE checking out in the morning!
Day 3 -
After walking around Revelstoke yesterday we were tired, so we started this morning with a great breakfast at the Stoke Hotel and headed East. Roger is starting to talk a bit less about charging stations and enjoying the scenery - it will be nice to get the ‘feel’ of the travel down to a comfort level where we don’t have to talk about it at all 🙏
Next stop was Golden - a ‘must stop’ destination on my list because I heard the owner of Bacchus Bookstore on North by Northwest when Margaret Gallagher was featuring independent bookstores in BC. I promised Amy at Totally Book-ish that I would do my best to visit every independent bookstore along the way, and when I can I’ll try to link them to one another - Once again, thank you CBC! As luck would have it, the owner wasn’t there, but I did manage to pick up a used copy of Stuart McLean’s Welcome Home, Travels in Smalltown Canada. Definitely a valuable independent bookstore treasure on the route through Rogers Pass, and the trip will be even richer now that we have Stuart with us, AND - I have his Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe podcasts on my phone! Glory be, all we need is Farley Mouat’s The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be. !
The walking bridge and the hill heading east out of Golden reminded us of our trip with Lori and Ray when we were in Radium Hot Springs and rafted down the Kicking Horse River. I swear Lori thought we were going to die!
It rained all the way from Golden to Canmore, so tonight we are in Canmore for a couple of days and will double back to visit Lake Louise and Banff tomorrow. We couldn’t see any of the mountains along the way, although we did see the taillights of a John Deere for about 5km coming out of Golden driving at 15km/hr!
Wrap Up -
We jumped ahead an hour today and I’m going to try to log into my Rotary meeting tomorrow morning, so “So Long for Now”.
