Nanaimo, Canada

North Vancouver, Canada

Clearwater, Canada

Today’s drive was short and very sweet. I travelled from Valemount south on Highway 5 to Clearwater, just a couple of hundred kms away because I wanted to spend some time in Wells Gray Provincial Park. So I’m here at the Clearwater KOA for two nights. It’s a mediocre KOA with the usual amenities, but rather crowded and the facilities could use a make over. They’re kind of tired. And the wifi is so bad, I’m once again using my personal hotspot. Today after quickly setting up camp and doing a reconnoiter of Clearwater, I headed into Wells Gray Provincial Park. I wasn’t planning on going in until tomorrow, but because the forecast is for overcast and rain all day tomorrow, I decided to go see as much as I could before the heavens opened. From my pictures you’ll see a small sampling of why this park’s nickname is “Waterfalls Park”. It is home of Canada’s fourth highest waterfall, Helmcken Falls, and 38 other falls that have been deemed substantial enough to be named. The Clearwater Valley is in the Cariboo Mountains in east central B.C. and it runs between forested hills that are less rugged than those in the Rockies but beautiful nonetheless. This area is an outdoor enthusiasts paradise: whitewater rafting (not over the falls presumably!), horseback riding, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, and just generally room to breath. The town of Clearwater provides services for all these activities. For dinner this evening I stopped at a place that was recommended by the visitors centre, called the Painted Turtle. It’s part of a Good Sam campground and cabins which is right on Dutch Lake and it’s got a huge deck overlooking the lake. I was good and had a salad for my main, but then indulged in profiteroles for dessert. Yum. Highly recommended if you’re in the Clearwater area. Tomorrow is chore day, since I’ll be arriving into Vancouver on Saturday and storing my home on wheels for a bit. This will likely be the last of my blogs for a while since I’ll just be visiting with family and friends in the lower mainland and Vancouver Island for a couple of weeks. Then Sept 8th I’m taking a vacation from my vacation and letting someone else plan my life for a couple of weeks. I’m heading on a G-Adventures Tour with my friend, Nanci to Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. I don’t think I’ll manage to do a blog for that journey but you can bet I’ll be taking lots of pictures. Then I’ll be back in BC until mid-October before resuming the North America No Fixed Address Tour. So until then, thanks for your likes and comments, and suggestions. Keep them coming.

Valemount, Canada

What a great day. I can’t begin to describe and do justice to the amazing scenery I’ve seen today. Tourists travel from far away lands to come and see the breathtaking scenery of our country, and today’s route is right up there on the top of most of their lists. I heard all sorts of languages spoken along the way and several varieties of English. I even ran into a New Zealand couple that I’d chatted with at the hot springs yesterday, at the top of the Jasper Skytram.

Entering Jasper National Park again this morning I travelled some of the road I had taken to the hot springs yesterday, but with different light on it, it all looked new again. Through valleys and over passes and past rivers and lakes, and past cute little tourist cabins, each curve in the road providing a new vista to take in.

My first stop was at the townsite of Jasper. I, along with hoards of others, found a great cafe on the main drag that had awesome sticky buns and I devoured one while reviewing a “What to do in Jasper National Park” brochure. I have been to the Ice Fields several times and since it was 100km each way, out of my way, I decided to do something I hadn’t done before and that was to go up Whistlers Mountain on the Jasper Skytram. It’s located just ten minutes or so south of Jasper and it is named after the marmots who live there and who make a whistling sound when alarmed.

The road up to the Skytram was short and well paved but very narrow and windy. At the parking lot, I was in luck and was able to find a double parking spot to pull into so I didn’t have to do the dreaded backing up. I purchased my “flight” ticket and waited patiently (well, OK, not patiently) for my allotted flight. The cable cars are very small and with only 2 of them running and a 7 minute ride, it took a while to get the crowds up and back down again. The views were of course spectacular. The Jasper Skytram is apparently the highest and longest aerial tramway located in Canada. It was built in 1964 and goes to a height of 2,277 m (7,472 ft) above sea level. Once you get off the tram there is a hike of about 1.5 km to the top of the mountain and I have to admit that I didn’t make it to the top. I gave up about half way up for a plethera of reasons.

I jumped in the car and headed west along the Yellowhead Highway and before too long, there was the marker that my trailer was about to step foot (or wheel) into its 9th province. And as the sign said, “The Best Place on Earth”. Feels like coming home. 🙂

Of course the scenery kept on coming and up next was Mount Robson. I stopped for a lunch break and the compulsory Kodak moment. Mount Robson is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies and rarely are you able to actually see that peak because of clouds or fog. Today we could see most of the mountain, but the peak was clouded over. There were several bus loads of tourists, all looking for that perfect shot and using the limited washrooms.

Not far down the road, I headed onto Highway 5 which heads sound from Highway 16 (which continues on to Prince George). I am overnighting in the town of Valemount, BC. Not far from here, is the genesis of the mighty Fraser River, and in a stream called Swift Creek at the back of the campsite I’m in, there are dozens of Chinook salmon who have made the trek up the Fraser and into the McLennan River to get into this stream to spawn. There is a deep pool where dozens of them wait their turn at the more shallow water up stream in which to spawn. Their attempts are marked by much splashing as they fight against the current to get to that exact spot where they will lay their eggs or fertilize those already laid, only to die immediately after. It’s been 3 months and 1280 km since they left the Pacific Ocean without stopping to eat anything, and they are spent from the voyage.

Not quite as dramatic, but I’m spent from my voyage today, and I believe it’s nap time.

Hinton, Canada

The drive from southern Alberta to northern was uneventful and really that’s the best kind of drives. It was a nice day, no rain, very little construction on a straightforward highway (Hwy 2) for the most part and White Spot for lunch in Leduc. White Spot is one of the things I miss about the west coast. Legendary burgers. Hmmm good.

The Edmonton area was my next stop. Well Stoney Plain to be precise. Here I stayed at possibly the nicest campground I’ve encountered so far, appropriately called Camp’n Class. The location wasn’t terribly inspiring (just off 16A west of Spruce Grove) but it was convenient to all sorts of shopping and just a short distance out of Edmonton. It is obviously a relatively new park, and so the facilities are fresh and sparkling clean. Showers are roomy and bright, with a couple of accessible washroom/showers that are by definition huge. One nit-picky negative is that they charge $1 for each 6 min for the showers which is a pain. The park itself is really well laid out and even has hedges between each site to hide the utility hook ups. Each spot has a gravel pull through with a concrete pad for a patio. The grounds are meticulous and they have grass that is so green that it doesn’t look real. I actually went up and touched it to see!

My mission in the Edmonton area was to have dinner with my niece Lisa, and her daughter Amber, so that we could celebrate our birthdays belatedly. We’re all Leos, along with Lisa’s twin sister, Lara and her other daughter Victoria. We decided that it’s amazing we all get on so well. Lisa and I are even willing to fess up to being bossy and so fitting the Leo stereotype.

Lisa and Amber stopped by the park before we departed for dinner to see my trailer and we got all wild and crazy and shared some bubbly in birthday celebration. (Thanks Janelle and Elizabeth!) Unfortunately it had to be consumed out of plastic glasses since my champaign flutes were excess baggage.

Then it was off to do a drive-by of Lisa and Doug’s new home in Spruce Grove. It’s in a lovely neighbourhood and has plenty of room for all their “toys”. We checked out the pub at the nearest intersection to their place called “The Beer Hunter”. If you know Lisa and Doug you know how appropriate that is. It’s really comfortable with good pub food and I expect it will become a regular haunt. It was great to be able to get together in Edmonton area, since we’re not sure when we might run into each other again and where.

All evening the clouds were gathering and darkening and we had another thunderstorm with rain overnight.

Tuesday’s dawn brought clear, blue skies and cool temperatures, which warmed up to 22 degrees throughout the day. The drive today was a really easy one as I just meandered west down the Yellowhead highway (Hwy 16) to just west of Hinton. I didn’t get on the road until 10 am I arrived just after 1 pm and after a quick set up of the trailer, I headed into Jasper National Park to Miette Hot Springs.

I’ve been to Radium Hot Springs and the ones at Banff but this was a new one for me in this area. It’s up a pretty, meandering mountain road with lots of twists and turns, 17 km into the valley and up the other side, It’s the hottest of the hot springs in the Rockies and the water comes out of the mountain at 54 degrees, but they cool it down to 40 degrees in the hottest pool and then have others cooler than that and one that is absolutely frigid.

I lazed around in the middle temperature one that was just warmer than body temperature and had lunch on a beautiful patio overlooking the pool and the mountains surrounding the Fiddle Valley (something about the wind making fiddling sounds coming down the valley). Not a lot of more perfect ways to spend an afternoon which was only enhanced by a nap back at the trailer to sleep off the effects of the warm water and chemicals.

Tonight I’m at the Hinton/Jasper KOA and it’s a lovely park, built in 2004 after many battles for the owners. The local land owners were not keen about a trailer park in this upscale area of homes on acreage. They finally got over the legal hurdles and have done a great job of making it as attractive as possible, and the facilities are really well maintained. The one downside is they have to rely on satellite wifi which is definitely not high-speed. I’ll try getting this uploaded but it may be Wednesday before you see it.

Stony Plain, Canada

Leduc, Canada

Red Deer, Canada

Calgary, Canada

My visit to Calgary is ending as it began, with grey, dark, ominous clouded skies and light showers and the odd sunny break. It’s been a cool weekend, with pouring rain most of Saturday but sunny and very usable today. One of the craziest coincidences of this trip is that one of my BC-based friends, Barbara, (she was the first person I spoke to about federal politics back in 1993 when she was Riding President in Vancouver Quadra) was visiting friends in Calgary this week and she discovered that we were just 5 minutes away from each other. So of course we had to get together to rag chew. We did so at a great restaurant recommended by Barbara’s Calgary friend called The Lazy Loaf and Kettle. They had great generously-portioned, and gorgeously gooey cinnamon buns; the kind that you eat with a knife and fork. <a href=”http://www.lazyloafandkettle.com” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>www.lazyloafandkettle .com</a> Given my historical political involvement with folks from this part of Canada, you won’t be surprised to hear I have quite a lot of friends in Calgary and I was able to meet up with some, but not all, of them this weekend. Susan, very kindly invited me to dinner when I let her know I was going to be in the neighbourhood. She has previously been a gracious host to my participation in a couple of Stampede weeks and I always enjoy a visit with her, her Mom, and furry friend Riley. I met Riley as a pup and she can in no way be considered a pup any longer. Susan’s newly renovated kitchen is beautiful and the food coming from it was just as great as in the past. And another friend, Cynthia, very kindly allowed me to tag along to a house warming party that she was hosting last evening so I was able to catch up with a few people and to make some new friends. Great to see you Cynthia, Bruce, Troy and Lisa. Jim and Karen and Stacey and Jason, it will have to wait until my next visit to get together. Sorry I missed you. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to meet up with Jane and her partner Lance either because they were singing in a couple of festivals in southern Alberta. I met Jane on a tour of Spain back a few years, and she’s the sister of good Ottawa friend, Anne. If you’re in the Calgary area and looking for some great musicians, consider Jane Allan and Lance Arnell, Musicians for Hire. <a href=”http://www.allanandarnell.com” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.allanandar nell.com</a>     Again coincidentally, another out-of-town friend was in Calgary visiting family this week. Gillian, “the elder” (her suggestion to keep from confusing her with my daughter Gillian), from Ottawa dropped by with a very well mannered and patient, 4 year old, “Captain America” clad, grandson. They got a personal tour of my home on wheels and stayed for tea, which appallingly I had to serve in a plastic mug without proper steeping (and Gillian being British-born)! Oh yes, as you will have seen from the subject line, today is a milestone birthday for me. It’s a year of milestone dates, actually. I turn 60, daughter Gillian turns 30 in September, my Mom turned 95 in May, and it would have been my 40th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks (yes, I was married at a rather youthful age). The funny thing is that I don’t feel 60 at all, except on the days when my sacra-iliac joint is acting up. It’s amazing to me that just last year on my birthday the notion of going on my “No Fixed Address North American Adventure” or more recently coined “Magical Mystery Tour”, was just crystallizing in my mind. I was still working and when pressed by my Boss’ Chief of Staff to articulate what my goals and objectives were for the coming year while enjoying the traditional celebratory cake, without hesitation I said that I’d be fulfilling a life-long dream of buying some sort of RV and touring North America. I was a little shocked that it actually came out of my mouth as I really hadn’t articulated it prior to that. The Chief of Staff was even a little shocked to hear it as well, as I was not specific about the timing of this journey. As it turned out, it came together sooner than even I expected much to the Chief’s further consternation. As one does on these milestone birthdays, I have spent some time today reflecting about my life past and that which is to come. Like everyone, my life has had its ups and downs. 2007/8 will go down in my life’s history book as my very own “annus horribilis” but that too was a growth experience and I couldn’t have enjoyed some of the highs of the years since without having experienced the lows of that year. Time passed since then has allowed the positive experiences to float to the top of my memory pool. My emotions came alive again as a result of that experience and while there have been many tears and set backs, there have been so many moments of sheer joy and lust for life. Of course, sixty is the new forty, as everyone tells me, and there is even evidence of this in the below newspaper article. And you believe everything you read in newspapers, right? <a href=”http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tech nology-science/science/sixty-new-40-hea lthy-living-5525916″ target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.mirror.co. uk/news/technology-science/science/sixt y-new-40-healthy-living-5525916</a&g t; So this is the year that I cross a North American camping adventure off my bucket list. Good to do it this year, while I’m still mostly able to manage the physical part of it, and brave (or foolish) enough to tackle the unknown. I totally buy into the benefits of life long learning, and I have always liked to challenge myself outside my comfort zone. Well, this trip is doing that in spades. I just hope I’m still alive at the end of it to put what I’ve learned to use in some other way. 🙂 Tomorrow I will meander up the highway to Edmonton (unless you’re in Cape Breton in which case I’ll meander DOWN the highway to Edmonton) to visit with my niece Lisa and great-niece Amber who are also Leos and to celebrate our birthdays together. P.S. My thanks to niece Lori for the following link to my birthday horoscope. I don’t follow horoscopes normally but there are some pretty relevant parts in here. <a href=”http://www.cafeastrology.com/birt hday/august16_2015.html” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.cafeastrol ogy.com/birthday/august16_2015.html< /a>

Calgary, Canada

It’s now Friday evening and I’m settled into my spot just west of Calgary on the hillside where the 88 Olympic ski jump was held and where there is still a training facility. The campground is in a lovely setting and it’s clear it used to be a KOA by the design of the buildings and site. It is packed to the rafters but because of the slope and trees it doesn’t feel crowded.

But backtracking just a little, yesterday I started in Brandon, Manitoba (did I mention that is where my Mother was born just a few years ago) and my first stop was a visit with the good folks at Pik-A-Dilly RV Centre. What great people. They had my plastic moulding fixed in just 30 minutes with minimal cost, and I was on my way. Got some great advice from them about some accessories I could buy at CamperWorld in the States.

Not long on the road I was already seeing my first oil pump-jack near Virden (where I got a massive speeding ticket once – I learned from that experience) and crossed over into Saskatchewan. People always think of Saskatchewan as being flat as a pancake. And in vast parts it is. But for long stretches along the TransCanada Highway the countryside is rolling with ever changing colours of green and yellow and browns with big blue skies. Some have said to me that it must be boring driving across the prairies, but to be truthful I love it and find there is always something to see. The farmers working the fields, cowboys moving along the herd using ATVs and working on the fences. Small towns dot the landscape and the odd elevator along the train line. Places like:

Indian Head, incorporated back in 1902, and which at one time was the largest point of initial shipment of wheat in the world. Today perhaps more relevant is that the television sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie which aired on the People’s Network (CBC) 2007-12 was filmed partly in Indian Head.

Chaplin, on Chaplin Lake, is home for huge numbers of shorebirds. The main business of Chaplin are harvesting the sodium sulphate deposits of Chaplin Lake through an evaporation method and another company catches and packages the brine shrimp that thrive in the salt water of Chaplin Lake. There is some synergy there because both of these industries help preserve the water supply to support the needs of the shorebirds.

Morse, nothing to do with Morse Code and not known for much of anything except this great looking elevator.

Many of the small towns boast their contribution to the NHL or the curling world. I heard on the radio that Saskatchewan contributes more players to the NHL than any other province. I don’t know if that’s true or has some qualifiers such as “per capita” but seeing as many signs as you do would indicate there must be some truth to it.

I stopped for the night in Swift Current, and I’m not afraid to admit I cheated a little. I stayed in a lovely motel last night. I had been without good wifi for so long that I needed to catch up on planning the next few weeks of my trip and getting caught up on some emails, etc. Also, glad to use a shower that you didn’t have to wear your flip flops into.

I didn’t get underway too early this morning, luxuriating in the simple motel amenities, and free breakfast. It was a great travel day, although it was brutally hot along the way which caused a haze rather than the usual blue prairie skies. As I got closer to Calgary, though, it got cooler and cooler and it was pretty dark and stormy when I arrived. I got set up just as it was starting to spit a little, and I expected to be spending the evening inside and not able to BBQ the steak I had planned for dinner tonight. Within about 20 minutes it started to clear and it’s now much later and I did BBQ that steak and veggies from brother Rae’s garden and I’m still sitting outside enjoying the clear, blue sky, and cooler air.