british columbia

Chapter Twenty: Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

~ Julie M. ~ Leave a comment

The way home began with a stop in Watson Lake, Yukon at Sign Post Forest, which is exactly what you would expect: rows upon rows of signs tacked twenty high. Afterward, we went down BC to Liard, which boasts beautiful hot springs in a natural setting in the woods. They were certainly the prettiest we have seen on this trip. They also turned out to be the smelliest, and, as it was in nature, there were no showers for afterward. This isn’t a problem for those going home after the springs, but for two vagabonds living out of a car, it was not pleasant for us. About 400 km south down the Alaskan highway, someone was wise enough to have a shower stand beside his restaurant, charging an arm and a leg per shower, which we happily paid to no longer smell like egg. We completed the Alaskan highway, passing many bison en route, at Dawson Creek and crossed over into Alberta.

We spent the next week national park-hopping, from Grande Cache (where we spotted a cougar), Jasper National Park (our third and final hot springs and my Jasper got to take a photo with Jasper the bear), Lake Louise and Banff. We took the Icefields Parkway south which is so picturesque and serene. When we did arrive in Banff, we rolled the car into the first garage we found, sputtering and grinding. Some not-so-cheap repairs later, and we were on our way again. We stopped briefly in Kananaskis park, but it was too cold and rainy for a hike so we drove on to Calgary, where we both had a dose of culture shock. We had not seen so many lights, cars and people in weeks, and, frankly, it was overwhelming. We stopped for a beer and a burger (both great) and continued east to Medicine Hat, stopping to park overnight under a very starry Saskatchewan sky.

 

We took the TransCanada highway back for most of the journey, making stops and detours here and there, whenever we saw something we wanted to explore. We visited Regina, spent an afternoon in friendly Minnedosa, Manitoba, and went to the pristine but mosquito-ridden Lake Manitoba shores before stopping to visit a friend in Winnipeg.

I had been to Winnipeg before with work but always in the cooler weather. We really enjoyed the city, walking along the forks, Saint-Boniface, and the old buildings in the financial centre. We stopped for brunch at Stella’s in Osborne Village and picked up cookies by George and then met my friend and her partner for dinner and drinks and stayed over at their lovely home.

We started the final stretch the next morning, stopping for coffee (tea for Jasper) and cinnamon buns at Tall Grass before heading into my home province of Ontario.

 

 

We followed the north shore of Lake Superior homeward, popping into Kenora, Thunder Bay and Sault Ste Marie en route, and stopping at the Terry Fox monument (as well as others), Kakabeka Falls and going for a hike in Sleeping Giant park.

Our plan had been to visit Killarney park for a couple of days, then Manitoulin island and take a ferry to Tobermory, which would be our last stop. However, when we did get to a very rainy Killarney, we realized that you can only enter from the east side and we had overshot the route to Manitoulin by about three or four hours. At this point, Toronto (our final destination) was equally far away. We hemmed and hawed about our options, but were not looking forward to more rainy camping or sleeping in the car, so we decided to save the last two stops for a long weekend in the future, and headed home for our second and final pit stop on our year (or so) of adventure.  ❤

Chapter Eighteen: North

~ Julie M. ~ Leave a comment
There are a few things you notice as you start driving north of the 49th parallel, once you’ve passed the lower cities like Vancouver (where we stopped at Momo for some sushi), Squamish and Whistler Village: The roads deteriorate, the nights get cool and the days stretch nearly into midnight. There is also an almost palpable lack of other people. You can drive the hwy 37 up British Columbia and go hours without seeing a single car. Stocked with canned ravioli, a spare gas tank and heavy blankets, we were prepared physically if not mentally. Suddenly it really felt as though it was actually just the two of us on this trip. No distractions, just an open road, increasingly large mountains and some wildlife. The first time we saw a bear on the side of the road, we drove back past him two more times. By the sixth or seventh, we shared a smile and a, “That’s nice.”
We really enjoyed the longer days. Our first night after veering north, we lit a bonfire and waited…and waited… and waited for it to get dark and then it finally dawned on us that the sun would be setting much later in these parts.
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We did notice that, once the dark had come, it was getting much, much cooler. British Columbia was tolerable, but in northern Alaska, I camped out in two pairs of pants, thick socks, a shirt, two sweaters and a jacket, hood up, sleeping bag and duvet on top. It was cold. But I’m getting ahead of myself. In BC, we stopped at Pemberton and Boya Provincial Parks, visiting the lackluster Prince George in between. The parks were beautiful and on pristine, turquoise lakes. We visited Joffrey Lakes outside of Pemberton and rented a canoe for a morning paddle in Boya. We were sometimes very lucky with our meal breaks, when we would see a beautiful scenic or lakeside pullover, to enjoy a meal with a view. We also had a lot of campfires in this part of the trip (often with roasted marshmallows and spider dogs). It felt very North American again, after four months in Europe.
 
We got into the Yukon on a Saturday and booked into a motel in Whitehorse by that evening, hungry for some entertainment and food that was not a cold salad wrap. We went to Klondike Rib & Salmon for their namesake platter and mixed game meatballs, which were delicious. We walked around the main street strip hoping for some saloon-style bar reminiscent of the gold rush era. Instead, we found a modern bar full of tourists and a hotel bar with a local act playing some live music. We stayed in each for a drink but were a bit let down and headed back to our motel to cut our losses. At least we caught a magnificent sunset at 11:30 p.m.! We would head on towards Alaska the next morning but come back to Whitehorse a couple of weeks later on our way out.
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The road to Alaska was long and scenic, along the Alaskan Highway. We passed through Kluane Territorial Park, known for its abundance of dall sheep. The scenery was a mix of mountains, forests, lakes and glaciers. It was incredibly beautiful. We attempted to go to Wrangell St. Elias National Park but turned around at the one horse town of Chittina (with the trademark motel-restaurant-bar combination) when we realized the next three hours drive would be pot-hole ridden dirt roads and our little sedan may not have made it.
 
We drove on to Anchorage, where we booked two nights in the sleaziest inner-city campground I’ve seen. Most of the sites were occupied seasonally and it had a very rough and tumble crowd. No matter as we wanted to spend the days in the city… which proved to be more time than needed. The city of anchorage is beautifully situated. Aside from that, however, we found there was not much to do in the city itself. We walked the downtown, bought some reindeer sausage, stopped at the 49th State Brewery patio and walked the waterfront trail. We went to the Native Museum. After that, we were hard-pressed to fill the rest of the time we had allocated to anchorage. We explored the greater city hoping to find a cozy café to read in. All we found were strip malls. We were a bit disappointed as we had high expectations of anchorage after seeing beautiful Juneau last spring. I suppose it is best left for a hotel, hot meal and afternoon stroll.
 
We rode on, through Sarah Palin’s hometown of Wasilla, and toward Denali National Park. ❤