Day 28: Lillooet, BC to Surrey, BC

Lillooet, BC has been the salmon fishing grounds of local First Nations for over 8,000 years. Everything changed with the Gold Rush when it became mile zero on the wagon road that took newcomers to gold country. It is one of the sunniest, driest, and warmest places in Canada. In addition to that, the very rugged landscape attracts people looking for extreme adventures. The Lil'wat First Nation still fishes salmon here. We can see their fishing tents on the other side of the river.

After eating a delicious breakfast outside, we decide to explore the shore of the river. Our campground has beach access with lots of sand and jagged rocks. While Yellow is searching for gold nuggets, Red is exploring on her own. Suddenly while walking close to the shore, her feet start to sink in the sand. She move quickly to more stable ground, but one of her flip flops was swallowed by the sand. Determined to get it back, she starts digging and keeps digging and digging but finds nothing. It sounds crazy, but we have to leave the beach without that flip flop.

After leaving the campground, we drive through the Lillooet area and continue on BC 99 south. Again the road is narrow and really windy. We have to cross creeks and rivers on one-way wooden bridges. We are very surprised to go up and down with more than 10%. We are really nervous when we see a sign indicating a 13% decline. We know are brakes are small and carrying a big load. After descending for awhile, we feel that our brake need a break, so we pull over. The brakes are smelling and smoking, and we could cook an egg on the rims. We end up staying more than an hour on the side of the road chatting with a man who has the same problem and eating lunch. We notice it's a lot less arid when we see the raindrops on our window. This must mean we are getting closer to Vancouver.

 

We get back on the road, hoping that extreme adventures are coming to an end. We are totally shocked when we see the next sign announcing a 15% decline for the next 5 km. This is insane. We shift to the lowest gear and go down as slowly as possible. We finally arrive to the Pemberton Valley that is very famous for its produce before reading Whistler home of the 2010 Olympics with Vancouver. Whistler is to Vancouver what Banff is to Calgary: a tourists paradise. We drive straight through going down the Sea to Sky Highway to finally get the first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. Wow, we did it. We crossed the Rockies and surprisingly had the craziest drive in the last 100 km. We drive up and down along the coast before crossing the Vancouver suburbs to end up in Surrey, BC. There we meet our new hosts, Walter and Lilli. They give us the keys to our own private apartment and let us settle in. After having some dinner and showers, we spend the rest of the evening with our hosts. We share our family histories along with coffee and delicious treats and discuss everything from theology to politics.