Oh, Canada

You were waiting for a post with this title. It’s a gimme. But it is so appropriate.

This has been an amazing leg of our journey, so different that visiting US National Parks. Don’t get me wrong, there are things that still make the US home (and it is tough to get Canadian citizenship right now), but the grandeur here is just different.

At home in the US, it is often a quest and a journey to see our National Parks. The places were specifically designated and in many cases, roads built in order to visit them. They are usually off the main roadways, or in some limited cases (such at Theordore Roosevelt, Petrified Forest, Capitol Reef ,etc) you can see some of the park land from a major thoroughfare. As we mentioned earlier, the Canadian National Park system that we have visited meanders all along the Trans-Canada Highway, HWY1 where we are currently located. On this very route, we have seen the most stunning views of the Canadian National Park system. There is no need to exit, traverse many miles and go through an entrance station to see these incredible views as we do in the US. They are just there for you, around every bend. There is some (challenging) hiking, just off of these roads, but the major parts of the park are just there for you to see as we drive across the country. We have been on this same road from Banff, through Yoho, Glacier and Mount Revelstoke Parks. While not as steep as some of our US vistas, it is just as (if not more) grand.

In addition, everything is so much more relaxed here. The speed limit has never been over 100km/hr (aka 62 mph), there is very little speeding, everyone seems patient wherever we go; we truly feel like we are on vacation here.

We have found our latest destination in Revelstoke to be perfect, so much so that we have already added a night. There is a heat wave building here and to the West, so this location will help us minimize the pain. We are cancelling our last stop in Canada (West, open field and even hotter); we will get back in the States a day earlier, once the heat wave breaks there. We have been talking about it for a few days as we watched the weather, and getting here solidified our decision. This is a great place to call home for a few days!

And now, on to the pictures…

Another great start to the day in Golden. While this campground was a little odd, i t had a million dollar view. We both slept great here every single night, so that is a bonus. Lots of fresh mountain air will give you that gift.

Before leaving, we made our way back into town to enjoy the car wash; this time focused getting the gunk off of as much as he could, vs just the back. Livvy looks much improved, but the bug gunk will take some good scrubbing at a later date. Always nice to get on the road a little cleaner, especially since we have 7+ weeks to go!

Rt 1 has been a mix of 2-lane and 4-lane roads. But in between Golden and Revelstoke, there is very little other than national park land. There is a project underway to expand it all to 4-lane over time, and we traversed some major construction sites (one actively blasting out rock to make room for road) along the way. What a major undertaking, and glad they are doing it a little bit at a time. Plus the roads were well maintained for travel as we went (vs. the shitshow in Montana). The sections of 4 lane road were wonderful! God bless Canada.

This was so cool… not a “tunnel” but an avalanche-protector, called snowsheds. There were many along the way, which always had steep inclines above. I lost count of how many “avalanche warning” areas there were; not a big risk in late August. We wouldn’t be trying to drive Livvy up here in the winter, that’s for sure! (and I can’t imagine trying to make this area 4 lanes, but that is the plan)

Canada’s Glacier National Park… we saw more glaciers here than we did in the US, right from the highway. These glacial grooves are so much more than we have seen on Kelley’s Island… just sayin.

Just in the past few days, Daisy has claimed the recliners as her riding seat. They became her sleep seat earlier this year as well. I think she likes the scenery, and less road noise.

Thanks to a change to the Pacific Time Zone, we got to Revelstoke, our next location, earlier than our check-in time. We were happy to get there so that Rick could get to the fishing store (he will finally get to fish at this stop), but we had to kill time with lunch and some glamour photos while waiting for our check-in time

Once settled in at our lovely new campground, it was time to explore. We are set for some wonderful walking and driving adventures here in the Revelstoke area. Today, we decided to walk to find the local market and pub… Big Eddy’s, on Big Eddy Road.

Our server convinced us that the local poutine is fantastic here, so we had to try it. We have lots of leftover brisket for (Rick’s) future enjoyment, but it was a great way to spoil our planned dinner.

While there, we learned that the mosquitos are horrible this season throughout BC, so much so that they nicknamed their bar “Big Itchy” vs Big Eddy after dark, since in is worse when the sun goes down. So we intend to be back safely in Livvy before that happens. For now, we are enjoying a nice cooling evening in our favorite new spot.

So for those who knew my mom, Gloria, you will understand this. I was raised with a general dislike of medication. “Take some tylenol and get some rest” was as far as we went. So until yesterday, I never even had a Benadryl. I was hesitant on Rick’s recommendation, but also super miserable with no relief in sight. It absolutely helped, and I understand why some parents give it to kids to help them rest. Today, Rick advised I take some OTC Claritin, and it has been a godsend. I have never had so many bug bites in my life! I will be pre-medicating the rest of the trip.

Vacation life… retired life… life is good.

Oh, Canada

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