Wednesday, October 10, 2012

~Second Annual Fall Road Trip~

It's that time of year again...time for the Fall Road Trip. We had such a great time last year, (you can read about it here ), that we decided to do it again. This time we headed west via Canada. Our first stop was 20 minutes away...at Costco (sigh!). This is how we roll!


We were hoping for a B.C. atlas, but none to be found. Brian did get a great shirt though, always the highlight of the trip...really!

Next stop here...


We did get a map here...$20.00...yikes! It wasn't even a very good map...hardly used it. I had brought a stash of maps, some of which were really helpful. Not the one from 1978 though. I was 14 in 1978 so I don't know how I even got that one!

We stopped at this huge rock slide...can't remember where, but the scope was amazing. I just wanted a picture of this guy though!


Driving through Canada was beautiful! So much natural, untouched beauty. Great roads and despite what terrible driver's they are in the States, they rock the road in their homeland!


What will follow are about a billion photos...how do I choose? So sit back and enjoy or get up and leave...wouldn't blame you for that!

We went to Penticton first. People from Lynden tend to go there and to Osoyoos in the summer to camp and enjoy the lakes. We didn't really enjoy Penticton...similar to Moses Lake.

Beautiful Lake, but to the left of us were two guys hanging out, listening to music and smoking and pot...legal there!


Cool paddle wheel parked nearby, but closed for restoration. We spent about 30 minutes there and decided to keep going!


On to Osoyoos! It was really beautiful. So many vineyards and the crush was going on. We didn't go to any wineries, but we loved viewing the vineyards.








It was quite beautiful there. Stayed the night and went out for pizza. Headed out the next morning back into the States to get gas...so much cheaper! We went through a pretty remote border crossing. Being in  border town (four crossing within about 20 miles and the gateway to Vancouver, B.C.) we are used to pulling up, showing I.D., answering a few questions and being on our merry way! Not so much here! Turn the car off, open the trunk, the cooler, answer lots of questions and 10 minutes later we were through...very different!

We wanted to go over Sherman Pass...5600 feet...and back into Canada to see Nelson, B.C. I used to go through quite often as a child, when we would go camping in Balfour. Very British feel, as I recall from my youth, and was recently touted in Sunset mag and a great place to live. Major Disappointment! Very much a hippie town...old and young! Lots of dreadlocks, funky clothes (often sporting many holes!), and again, the pot. Not my scene! But we weren't sure what was ahead as far as hotels, so we stayed there, went to bed early and left early!!

Don't let the cuteness of the buildings deceive you!




Headed on over to Balfour and got in line for the longest, free ferry in North America. It was a gorgeous morning. We were ready for some coffee and maybe a little breakfast. Unfortunately this place wasn't open before we had to leave!! We liked their sign though!


There was a great bakery with all kinds of fresh delectables and some coffee, so we ate in the car.

The ferry was so pretty against the backdrop. A nice 40 minute ride up Kootenay Lake.






We drove through Creston, which was a cute little town. Evey Canadian town we drove through we compared to what we thought was the equivalent in Washington!. Canada just has such raw, natural beauty. We took every back road available and saw such gorgeous scenery. There really was not way to capture it on film. But it's firmly in our brain!

Enough for now...saving my favorite part of the trip for later!

1 comment:

  1. Those last two photos, gorgeous! I have only been to Canada once. Took the train from the Detroit area to go to a play in Toronto. Was a great long weekend with the Company I worked for. Do not know any of the places you have mentioned.

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