Day 33: Victoria, BC to Nanaimo, BC

Another delicious breakfast with Bob and Verna to start this Sunday! The highlight is a jar of marmalade, made with Canadian oranges, grown in the nearby greenhouse in the backyard. Marvelous. Other jams and fruits from the garden complete the meal.

We then go to Saanich Community Church with our hosts, where we get an inspiring sermon on Psalm 148. After the service, we spend some time talking to people, especially with a couple that spent several years in China.

Back on the road, we take Hwy 14 west and drive along the wild Pacific Coast of Vancouver Island, a mix of rocky coasts and sandy beaches. We stop for our first beach experience at Gordons Beach, have lunch at French Beach, and of course have to stop at China Beach in the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park. The Olympic mountains are rising on the horizon on this sunny day, and the piece of Pacific Ocean that is stuck between them and British Columbia, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, named probably after one of the first Spanish explorers coming to the area.

Hwy 14 is a nightmare! As we get closer to Port Renfrew, the road is narrow and windy, going up and down and across one-way wooden bridges. But the roughness of the road is the worst: we have to drive really slowly over each bump (and there are legions), otherwise, the whole motorhome gets shaken like we are on the back of an elephant. 

After arriving to Port Renfrew, we explore another part of the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park: we hike the Botanical Trail Loop at Botanical Beach. First, we walk in a very dense forest, and as we get closer to the coast, the trees have the weirdest shape ever, forced by the wind to grow like a contortionist. Then the forest opens up to a very rugged and rocky shore, surrounded by steep cliffs, still in front of the Olympic Mountains. And as we walk along the shore, we discover fields of tide pools, basins carved in the sandstone flat rock beach and filled with water as the high tide covers them. Filled with water… and a very rich marine life! Those tide pools are literally natural aquariums.

It’s already the evening when we get back to the motorhome and drive in the direction of Lake Cowichan. The road is still bumpy, narrow and windy. At one point, we have to cross a river on a very long one-way wooden bridge with very short rails. Fortunately, as we get inland, the road is very good and we can finally cruise through the coastal range, through the town of Lake Cowichan, and reach again the east coast of the Island. Lake Cowichan is the town where Yellow’s Mom’s Uncle Peter used to live, and Yellow’s parents spent some time there 30 years ago, along with Larry and Ron. We will actually be meeting Ron in Duncan, BC, in 3 days.

When we reach Nanaimo, we decide to stop there to spend the night. We spot the closest Walmart, after checking that it is RV-friendly, and park there for the night, along with some other RVs already parked there.

Day 32: Victoria, BC

 

We wake up and have breakfast with Verna and Bob who have fruit tree nursery, but we'll talk about that later. Some delicious fruits from their garden accompany some pancakes. We leave for Victoria with some ripe plums. Driving south to the city, we suddenly see a large mountain range with snow covered peaks emerging on the horizon. What are these?! Is it Japan?!? After realizing that these mountains are not part of the island, we finally get it. It's the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.

We park close to Beacon Hill park and take our bikes to discover the city.

Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and enjoys some of the mildest weather of Canada, but as soon as you approach the shoreline you can feel the strong wind from the Pacific. Compared to the neighboring cities of Vancouver and Seattle, Victoria gets a lot less rain. We pass Thunderbird Park which is filled with many totem poles and other First Nations monuments. Then we decide to have lunch nearby on the front lawn of the Parliament Buildings.

 

 

The city is filled with people, which is not surprising because it's the long weekend and also a major tourist destination. A couple festivals are bringing even more life to this lively city. The Empress Hotel, designed by the same architect that worked on the Parliament Building, faces the Inner Habour and is well known for its afternoon tea time. The atmosphere is great. It is a lovely small city with the vibrancy of a big city.

 

 

We continue our exploration walking along the streets of the old town. Lots of hip shops and restaurants are occupying the historic brick buildings. Locals and tourists are enjoying the sun and local cuisine. Nearby is Chinatown, the oldest of its kind in Canada. We walk down the narrow Fan Tan Alley, which past was filled with opium dens and gambling clubs, among other things. We stop at Swan's Brewpub for a couple of beers before heading back to the RV along the shoreline.

 

 

We get back to our hosts' place in Sidney through West Saanich Road, and pass many farms and wineries. Right when we arrive, Bob offers to give us a tour of the fruit tree nursery. He explains to us the processes of selecting, pruning, growing and protecting the different trees. Their lemon and lime trees, with minimal protection from the rain, produce much fruit year-round. The fig trees are from all over the world: Greece, Italy, Turkey, Israel, USA. We get to try some ripe Black Mission figs that are delicious. Apricot, nectarines and peaches, kiwis, all kinds of plums, apples and pears are all around. But the most surprising trees of all are the orange trees. Growing in a greenhouse, they might be the only oranges grown in Canada. Their taste is a lot more complex that an orange from Florida for example. The climate being a little bit cooler, they develop a subtle balance between sweetness and acidity. They almost melt in your mouth. Such a great experience!

Later, we hike with Bob around the neighborhood, checking out an old grove of trees before walking to the Saanich Inlet to watch the sunset.

Day 29 to 31: Vancouver, BC

We leave our hosts' place around 10:00 am and walk to Fraser Highway. We buy some day-passes at Mac's, the local convenience store, and catch the next bus to the King George SkyTrain Station. We take the train into the city and get off at Chinatown, which is one of the largest historic Chinatowns in North America. We walk around Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Public Garden and browse around the colorful shops. From there we head into the neighboring Gastown, which was Vancouver's first downtown core. After walking around for a bit, we hunt for an all-you-can-eat sushi place around downtown. We end up at Shabusen Yakiniku on Burrard and Alberni, where we eat our hearts out. We have miso soup, sashimi, nigiri, sushi rolls, veggie tempura, gyoza, and teryaki chicken. It's delicious, and once we're done we take the SeaBus to North Vancouver and lay down on a park bench with the Vancouver skyline in front of us.

 

 

After recovering from our food-coma, we walk around the Lonsdale Quay Public Market filled with fresh produce and tasty food that we can't bring ourselves to look at quite yet. We take the SeaBus back to downtown, and since it's raining we take the SkyTrain and start our way back to Surrey. We stop at the Main Street Farmer's Market that's in a park in front of the Pacific Central Train Station. We check out the local booths filled with meat, cheese, olive oil among others. After chilling out at the park for awhile, we go back to Surrey.

 

We wake up pretty early the next day and leave our apartment around 9 am on our bikes. We bike to the SkyTrain station and take the train into the city with our bikes. We get off at the Main Street/Chinatown station and bike to Granville Island on the south shore of the False Creek facing the peninsula of downtown Vancouver and its innumerable skyscrapers.

 

 

Granville Island is actually not an island but a peninsula, and Granville was the name for the city until it got changed to Vancouver in 1886. Granville Island is impressive. It's an amazing concentration of the arts: a huge public market, various performing art theaters, art galleries, the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, an active community of craft studios, and of course a brewery. The place is so cool that a bunch of people are living on houseboats on the side of the island. We eat our lunch in the midst of the busyness of the market, keeping an eye on the many buskers performing.

 

 

 

Then we cross Granville Bridge and bike through Yaletown and Davie Village until we reach Stanley Park. It's a beautiful day and lots of locals and tourists are taking advantage of the weather. We bike along the waterfront which turns from beach to rocks and back to beach again. After biking for a couple of kilometers, we discover that the bike path has turned a one-way, and we are going the wrong way. We decide, shamefully, to keep going. Yes, we are those annoying tourists. Upon finishing the loop, we see that it's close to rush hour and decide to head back to Surrey without stopping at the Alibi Room for a local beer. That evening we are invited to share a dinner with our hosts. We eat some soup made from fresh garden vegetables and enjoy the company of our hosts. We are sent off with some rhubarb-strawberry jam, some ground green beans, and some more of the soup.

The next day we deliberate about going to Vancouver Island or not, and we decide to go despite that it's the long weekend in Canada and Labor Day in the US. Yellow's mom has some relatives living on the island, so we try to get a hold of them. After doing some internet stalking, we find Larry who is Yellow's mom's cousin, and we call him at work. With much flexibility, we arrange to get together for dinner, so we make a reservation for the 9 pm ferry and take a nap. Larry meets us at the ABC Country Restaurant in Surrey. It's great to connect some family and enjoy some delicious burgers. Red is very excited, as each burger comes with a free Coke float. We talk about family history and travels. Larry calls his brother Ron, who still lives on the island, in order for us to connect once we're there. After leaving Larry, we drive to Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal. It's a beautiful drive at sunset with a view of the Vancouver skyline that is backed by the mountains. We board Bertha onto the ferry and arrive to Swartz Bay at 10:30 pm. After a short drive, we pull into our hosts' place and briefly meet Verna before going to sleep.

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.

Day 26 and 27: Jasper NP, AB - Prince George, BC - Lillooet, BC

On Day 26 after spending eight consecutive days in six Canadian national parks, we return to civilization by taking the Yellowhead Highway to Prince George, BC. Leaving Jasper NP and Alberta, we enter Mount Robson Provincial Park in British Columbia and change our clocks to Pacific time. Mount Robson is the most impressive peak we have seen so far. It is the tallest in the Canadian Rockies at 12,972 feet. The summit topped with fresh snow is majestic in the morning light, surrounded by forests.

 

We keep driving west and stop at Beaver Falls hoping to see some migrating salmon. The only one we see is on the camera screen of a fellow hiker. We console ourselves with our delicious sushi lunch. We continue driving through forests and mountains rarely interrupted by towns until we reach Prince George, BC. We are surprised at how empty this part of British Columbia is. On the contrary, Prince George, is claimed as BC's capital of the north. It's a pretty large town at the crossroads of important railroads, highways, and rivers. We take advantage of being in a city to do some grocery shopping at the Real Canadian Superstore. Then head to our hosts' place. We take BC 97 north, then turn left on a smaller road, then turn right on an even smaller dirt road, and follow that road even when it takes us into an unmarked territory on our GPS. After finding the house number, we drive into a very dense and young forest before arriving to our destination. We see an unfinished house surrounded by a large garden, a green house, and some livestock. We are greeted by our hosts and a big bearlike dog. We spend the rest of the evening talking with the family over some mint tea and cookies. We find out their oldest son is also traveling around the continent but with only his bike and a tarp, mostly stopping in forests to sleep.

The next day we wake up with the roosters, and we leave pretty early after being sent off with some fresh tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, and green beans. We take BC 97 south through the Gold Rush Trail. This trail is closely related to the history of British Columbia. In fact, in 1858 word leaked out that gold was found in the Fraser River, and pretty quickly thousands of people showed up to the area. Because of this British Columbia was proclaimed a crown colony that same year. We pass Quesnel, “The Gold Pan City.” Not so far from here there is the town of Barkerville, which was a leading destination for gold prospectors that made it into the largest city west of Chicago and north of San Francisco in 1862. The drive is very pleasant filled with rolling hills, marshy lands, and old log houses and barns along the way. These logs structures are so common that we aren't surprised when we pass through 100 Mile House that claims to be the “Handcrafted Log Home Capital of North America.”

 

We turn onto BC 99 south and the rolling hills turn into rolling mountains and the marshy lands turn into much drier lands. This highway crosses many First Nation territories before reaching Vancouver. The houses are sparse, and Clinton is one of the rare towns on the road. We almost stop at an all-you-can-eat BBQ place there, but we save that all-you-can-eat experience for Vancouver.

 

 

 

 As the sun goes down, we enter an arid land that is almost desolate. The road is steep and windy, playing hide-and-go-seek with the railroad. This very rugged landscape falls down into the deep gorge of the Fraser River. We are enchanted. And even more so when we arrive to Fraser Cove Campground in Lillooet, BC on the shore of the river. We are welcomed by a warm breeze that makes us feel like we have arrived to the southwest of the US. We enjoy this new temperature and sleep with the windows open.

Day 24 and 25: Jasper National Park

We wake up to the cold morning, eat breakfast, and get back on the Icefield Parkway heading towards the town of Jasper, AB. We stop at both Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls. Both falls are gorged with melted glacier water that is compressed into a small passage creating pretty powerful surges of water.

 

 

Then we try to get a campsite at the Whistler's campground, but it's booked for the whole weekend.  Fortunately we can get an electric site in their overflow RV parking. It's not the best, but it has a nice view and electricity. One little problem, our electric cord is tangled and can't reach the site's plug-in. We now become determined to solve this issue. Red gets some tools and fixes it. The opening for the cord is a bit messed up, but at least it's long enough now. It's another cloudy and chilly day, so we eat lunch and do some trip planning. In the afternoon we get some motivation and drive to Maligne Lake. The area is filled with bears, moose, and caribou. We are especially eager to see a moose, as neither of us has seen one. We drive pretty slowly but see no wildlife. We arrive to the cute lake and hike the Mary Schaeffer Loop, hiking along the lake shore before crossing into the forest and hilly lands. The grounds is covered with mosses of different shapes and colors and has variety of mushrooms too. At the end of the loop, we head back to the parking. While approaching the parking lot, Red notices something moving out of the corner of her eye, probably a tourist. The next second we are face to face with a black bear. We are startled. We turn around as quickly as possible and try to walk rapidly in the other direction without running.

 

The bear nonchalantly moves the other direction. We circle back around the parking lot and keep a safe distance from him, but observe him eating berries. We go to our RV and drive back to where we were and find the bear still eating berries but now next to the road. He doesn't even seem to notice the group of tourists snapping pictures of him from the other side of the road. Whew, that was a close one.

 

 We drive slowly back to the town of Jasper looking for moose or caribou and also being careful about our very low gas tank. We treat ourselves to dinner at Jasper Brewing Company. We order two bison burgers along with some of their house beers. Later we learn that the brewery was started by some local young people after winning the lottery. Great thinking there.

 

The next day we spend some time cooking clam chowder and making some sushi rolls for the next days. The sun comes out in the afternoon, so we decide to go hiking. Unfortunately the trail we had planned to explore around the beautiful Mount Edith is closed due to a fallen glacier.

 

 

We decide to continue on AB Highway 93A, a narrow and windy road, that is surrounded by beautiful mountains and rivers. We chat with some locals at Leech Lake who have lived in Jasper for the last 35 years. The husband is a train engineer, which captivated Yellow's attention, and the wife is a nurse at the local hospital. We stopped at Horseshoe Lake and found that the trail the flooded, but knew there must be another way because of all the cars in the parking lot. We made our to the center of the horseshoe through unofficial trails and found some brave (or crazy) people swimming and cliff jumping. The lake's deep blue color matched its profound depth. Later we drove to Pyramid Lake and Lake Patricia before heading back to camp.

Day 23: The Icefields Parkway

We leave pretty early in the morning and take Alberta Highway 93 north, which is better known as the Icefields Parkway. This road begins in Banff NP and continues into Jasper NP and is strictly used by national park pass holders. It's 142 miles long with only one gas station along the way. The day is very cloudy and drizzly, so we won't get to see it at its best. It still remains quite impressive.

 

We stop at every lookout. There is a succession of lakes colored from glacier blue to emerald green, glaciers hanging to the sides of mountains, and snow sprinkled peaks. After pulling into a parking spot at Peyto Lake, we are in the car getting ready when we feel a big smack! The RV that was backing out of its parking spot just hit us. Yellow honks, but several seconds pass before it to moves forward and releases Bertha from her tipping position. We get out to see the damage and greet the elderly German man and his wife that just hit us. Their back bumper hit our left side close to the generator, which left some scratches on its door frame and a dent close to the driver's door. It's not too bad. It's not like the RV is new... The German couple offers us $50, and we accept. Deal. After feeling a little shook up, we finally walk towards Peyto Lake. It starts to rain, so Red runs back to the car but Yellow waits in the rain for the perfect moment when the sun will illuminate the lake.

And we're back on the road. As we go up to Sunwapta Pass, the view gets more and more spectacular. We can see the edges of the Columbia Icefield. This icefield is a gigantic layer ice that is held up between eleven different peaks and feeds many glaciers. It's like a water tower for North America, as it feeds major rivers (like the Columbia River) going to the Pacific, Arctic, Hudson Bay, and Atlantic. Some areas are thicker than the height of the Eiffel Tower. And it's a big tourist hotspot, especially the Athabasca Glacier which is one of the most accessible glaciers in the world. We can see it from the car. We can touch it after hiking for 1.5 km. One hundred and fifty years ago, we wouldn't have been able to use this road. However, two-thirds of the glacier have melted since then.

 

 

We park the RV and decide to bike around despite the cold, which doesn't turn out to be a good idea. In fact, after a couple minutes it starts to rain ice. We still make it up to the finger of the glacier and wait for the clouds to pass. They don't. We go back to the RV and wait around a bit more to see if it will clear up at all. It does just a little bit, but we don't want to spend the night here, so we keep driving north and find camping at Honeymoon Lake. We eat dinner and get into our sleeping bags pretty early due to the dropping temperature.