Alberta Bound

After a trip into Vancouver to see my doctor on Tuesday morning, we finally were hooked to the truck and ready to go.  We pulled out of the yard at about 2:15, which considering our morning was not too bad.  We were very happy to be on the road and heading east.  Of course when we got to Hope, we had to stop and grab a Tim Horton's for the road.  This is the first really big trip for this truck so we were excited to see how it would do on the Coquihalla, especially going through the snow shed and up that first long hill.  The truck did very well and Ray is pleased with the performance.  In the area of the Britton Creek Rest area, we spotted a young moose and a young deer having a late lunch together on the side of the road.  I was actually amazed to see them so close together.  About 30 feet apart from each other.  I guess I just never thought that these two creatures would be tolerant of each other.

After a pit stop in Merritt to get rid of that darn Tim Horton's, we took highway 5A which is the road through Quilchena and around Nicola Lake.  It was a beautiful drive.  We arrived in Kamloops at Ron and Mary Friesen's where we had planned on spending the night.  They have the best spot for parking an RV, complete with sewer, water and electrical!  Mary had dinner ready when we arrived and after a great visit we had an early night.  Ron and Mary's place backs onto the Kamloops Wild Life Park, which has some interesting sounds coming from it during the night.  None of which kept us awake, but it sure was different being woken up by a peacock rather than a robin, crow or whatever kind of birds come into our yard in Mission.  After a shower and a great breakfast compliments of Ron & Mary we were on our way once again by about 10:15.

Leaving Kamloops, we took Highway 5 which takes us through McLure, Barriere and Louis Creek.  It too is a beautiful drive, but one cannot overlook the beauty and forget the devastating forest fire in August 2003.  That hot dry summer a forest fire ripped through this area almost destroying the small towns.  Seventy two homes and nine business were lost.  3800 people were evacuated.  The mill in Louis Creek was destroyed putting everyone out of work.  As you drive through the area today you can see the charred trees on the mountain side, but there is a carpet of bright green grass on the old forest floor.  The valley itself is peaceful and the townsfolk who could move back; have settled into their daily lives once again.  So when you are out camping this summer wherever you are in our beautiful Province, please remember to be mindful of any campfires you may have and IF you are a smoker,,,,,please do NOT toss out that cigarette from your moving vehicle.  Think of all the animals and/or townsfolk you may displace by a thoughtless action.

We saw so much beautiful scenery along the way today.  Rivers, lakes, valleys etc.  Nothing was more impressive though than when we rounded a curve in the road and came upon the beautiful Mt Robson.  At 12,972 feet it is the 2nd highest mountain that is in BC alone (meaning it doesn't border another Province or State). Yup it is all ours and we can be proud of that fact!  Maybe we do not have oil like Alberta does, be we do have this beautiful mountain!

We followed Highway 16 into Alberta.  The highways themselves have been very well maintained with one noticeable exception and any who travels the Coquihalla on a regular basis will agree.  The lines on our highways are terrible.  Can you really call them lines when you can't really see anything….you just know they should be there!  If you travel often enough you might know when the highway goes from two lanes to three lanes, or when it is time to merge back to two lanes.

On entering Wild Rose Country we have decided that our two Provinces (BC and Albert)  must purchase the same cheap paint for line painting from the same manufactures!  The lines were barely visible!  I feel bad for all the tourists travelling here from other countries. It is bad enough that they are renting motorhomes in a strange country and driving on the wrong side of the road in some cases, but how do they even keep themselves on the roads?? Enough said about that as we all know the financial restraint that each Province is always on,,,,and how important are the highways anyhow?.

Jasper.  Mmmmm what do I think about Jasper. Well we arrived at the junction to Jasper off Highway 16 at about 3:30.  Ray was feeling a bit sleepy so I suggested we pull into Jasper take a walk around the town and have a Starbucks.  We pulled into Jasper which is quite a bit different in appearance than Banff.  Seems to have more residential then commercial compared to Banff, or maybe it is just laid out differently. While Ray is navigating the truck and dodging pedestrians, I am scanning the storefronts looking for a Starbucks or a similar coffee joint.  We could not find any on the main drag so went up and down the "side" streets.  No Starbucks or Tim Horton's did we see!  I mean really,,,,, Starbucks I can see because we are now out of BC,,,,,,,,but Tim Horton's????  We are still in Canada aren't we?  We did spot a sign that said "Espresso",,,, so parking the truck and 5th wheel, we both get out anticipating a smooth yummy non-fat latte.  I mean we were almost drooling!  Ray puts his hand on the door to open it for me (what a gentleman!!).  Door wouldn't budge.  The store was closed.  Locked up tight!  Arg!!!  So my initial thoughts on Jasper were not good as I really was craving a latte.  But all is not lost in this story, because I,  in my wisdom had bought some Starbucks Espresso before leaving home and brought our cappuccino machine,,,,,, just in case!  So we decide to continue on to Hinton where we were going to camp for the night, where I would brew us up a beautiful not so nonfat latte (added Baileys to it). Lori is in her happy place one again!!!  Before I move on with this I must say that while sitting here with my homemade cup of joy, and on Googling Tim Horton's in Jasper,  I discovered that there is in fact a Tim Horton's on Patricia Street in Jasper so I am once again restored in that fact that I am still truly in Canada!

Jasper is truly a picturesque little town nestled in the Athabasca River Valley.  It is not far from the Icefields Parkway where you can stop at the Columbia Icefield Interpretive Center and board an ice explorer which will take you up onto the Athabasca Glacier where the ice is supposedly as thick as the Eiffel Tower is tall!  One thing that you really need to do when driving through Jasper National Park is follow the speed limits as you just never know when you might turn a corner and find some bighorn sheep standing or lying beside the road!

Tonight we are in Hinton at a KOA Kampground.  Tomorrow we head to Devon where we will help my sister-in-law Pam, however we can to get ready for my brother Ken's Celebration of Life on Friday.

Take care,,,, and check back soon.

Lori and Ray