Memories of Vancouver Past

Stanley Park Gardens

Vancouver Waterfront

June 2004.  Alan and I started planning our first trip to Alaska around 1977. 
 Subscribing to Alaska magazine for years, we had more info on Alaska than we could possibly use.  And then, upon our request, the Alaskan Tourism Board provided us with an avalanche of additional information.  The problem with Alaska from anywhere in the U.S., and especially from Florida, is the distance.  Our businesses allowed us to leave for only 10-12 days, so we decided to fly into Vancouver and take a cruise on the inside passage with the Carnival Line.  Nicole was still living at home and in school, so we planned the trip on the cusp of the summer season (early June) which resulted in great deals on the flight, the hotel, and the cruise.

Stanley Park Waterfront

With a 7-day cruise planned, we had time to explore Vancouver.  This cosmopolitan city with over 2 million residents is ringed by water and mountains, provides an incredible diversity of cuisine, and offers a wonderful blend of urban living and nature.  Reserving a place in Yaletown, we learned after our arrival, that this was the up and coming new area of the city.  Eclectic restaurants, microbreweries, and interior design businesses lined the streets along with new, upscale condos.

Nicole on the Stanley Park Bike Trail

Stanley Park Hiking Trail

Utilizing public transportation, we were able to explore the Downtown, Gastown, and Granville Island portions of the city as well.  Downtown is primarily a shopping district.  The streets are lined with boutiques, coffee shops, and a wide variety of eateries.  The most outstanding feature of this part of the city is Stanley Park.  At over 1000-acres, this park provides a six-mile plus biking/walking trail around the circumference of the park, hiking trails in the beautifully forested interior and perfectly maintained gardens.  Nearby businesses provide rental bikes.   Taking advantage of the rentals, we spent an ideal day wandering through the park.

Gastown is the historic district of the city.  This was where Vancouver started back in 1867, basically as a bar for the gold miners, but I’m sure Vancouver historians would take exception to my interpretation of their city’s history.  Now the area is a big tourist destination.  The cobblestone streets, Victorian street lights and traditional architecture create a wonderful ambiance, as you meander through the variety of little shops and scan menus at the many little restaurants.

Granville Island was a close second after Stanley Park, as our favorite part of the city.  As a former industrial area, this region has been converted into a multitude of shops, artisan workshops, and restaurants.  With incredible pastries and breads, fresh seafood, homemade jams and jellies, jewelry, and on and on, the Public Market, was a destination we visited three of the four days we spent in Vancouver.  Staying in a suite with kitchen facilities, we were able to take advantage of the Dungeness crab, halibut, and fabulous variety of fresh produce.

But then it was time to board the cruise ship, so that will be the beginning of the next story.

Grouse Mountain Ski Lift provides a year-round overview of Vancouver.

Making our way back home

Sept. 25, 2009, Spent Alan's birthday in Vancouver, BC.   Clear skies and mid-70's, a perfect day for Stanley Park, we rented bikes and completed a trip around the park.  This lovely park is primarily surrounded by water and provides great views of the city and the mountains overlooking the area.  Having explored Vancouver extensively in the past, this trip we did not explore.  After working up an appetite, we drove to our other favorite spot in the city, Granville Island Market.  This market consists of 50 vendors selling an incredible diversity of items--flowers, seafood, meats, produce, spices, nuts, pastries, and on and on.  We loaded up on goodies for the road as we headed south.

Back in the USA, the next leg of the trip took us east on Route 20 and into the North Cascades Natl. Park.  Venturing out on the Diablo Lake Trail, we were supposed to go to the top of a mountain and an overlook of glaciers.  Taking a detour, we were led to the North Cascades Institute.  This facility provides a variety of natural and cultural history courses.  Living quarters, cafeteria, and classrooms are in a fabulous mountain setting.

Driving out of the Cascades, we noticed a strong burning smell and smoke rising from the engine.  Luckily, we were able to coast off the highway and into a campsite located just off the road at Lone Fir, a US Forest site.  I guess the mountains of the Cascades had been the last straw.  After determining the problem, the following day Alan drove with limited brakes, downshifting 100 miles south to Wenatchee, WA.  The Columbia River Valley produces around 60% of the apples for the U.S. and there are numerous boutique wineries but we had not realized that succulent peaches, nectarines, pears, and plums are also grown in this area.  the peaches and nectarines were perfect, definitely a two-napkin requirement for eating these juicy, sweet treats.

The gravel and mountainous roads had been hard on the RV.  We spent the next two days in Wenatchee and then into Spokane, getting new brakes for the front end, two new tires and a ball joint replacement.  Driving toward Yellowstone Park along the Madison River Valley, we spotted many guide float trips fly fishing for trout on the river.  Never one to miss an opportunity to go fishing, we stopped.  Alan was able to catch a trout on the first cast.  On our entry to Yellowstone, a Bald eagle was causing a minor traffic jam as he surveyed the area.  Animal sightings in the park are accompanied by a line of traffic on both sides of the road.  The following morning, we watched the spectacle of Old Faithful and then spent a lazy afternoon next to Yellowstone Lake.

Outside of Grand Teton Natl. Park, we camped along the Wind River.  The sky was so clear and the night so dark we were able to see millions of stars and the Milky Way--indescribably beautiful.  The evening was accented by a lovely fire, one of the dozens we have had over the past months.

Continuing south into Utah, we met Bob and
Stan, two Harley bikers.  They were part of a group of 500 bikers riding from St. Joseph, MI to Sacramento, CA in a rally tracing the route of the Pony Express Trail, around 2000 miles.

We headed through a gorgeous canyon drive down to Wellsville,  where we visited friends.  In their agriculturally-zoned city home, they grow much of their own fruits and vegetables and have several chickens providing eggs for their family--a lovely pastoral setting.  As we continued our drive, we passed road signs, "Antelopes entering highway at 55mph".  Thankfully we did not have any such encounters.

The cave dwellings, of the Ancestral Puebloans at Mesa Verde, were our next stop.  Nearing the end of September, the evenings were dipping down into the 30’s, and the campgrounds were fairly empty.  Beginning around 550 AD, the Puebloans lived on the mesa tops.  Around 1200 AD, the group began building their homes in the sheltered alcoves of the canyon walls, that the Park is known for.  But by 1300 AD the population began moving south.  Looking around it is hard to fathom how they managed to survive in this setting for over 700 years.

Snow flurries fell as we drove through the mountains toward Taos.  Approaching the town, we spotted another unusual community, Earthship.  These homes are built with natural and recycled material and use water harvesting, and solar and wind electric power. (website-www.earthship.com)
They can function100% off the grid.  Very cool to see an area successfully functioning in this manner.

Taos  (pop 6500) is an artist community.  Over 80 galleries are found in the area, and almost 30% of the population are artists.  Perusing the galleries and partaking in gourmet southwestern cuisine, we enjoyed visiting this lovely town.  Now, it is time for the manatees to leave the byways and hit the highways for home.

Prince Rupert, Port Hardy, Johnstone Straits,Victoria

Sept. 9, 2009, Heading toward, Prince Rupert, our next ferry destination, we were treated to a cornucopia of wildlife.  We spotted Stone Sheep, deer, moose and a small herd of wild horses.  As we journeyed south, we discovered a detour that would lead us back briefly into Alaska and a bear fishing site.  In Hyder, AK., on Fish Creek, the US Park Service has built extensive boardwalks over the water to provide safe viewing of bears fishing for salmon.  We were treated to both black bears and grizzlies at that destination.  We observed an interaction between two grizzlies. (We were told they were brothers.)  One was a talented and swift hunter, the other seemed rather lazy and inept.  The successful hunter would snag a fish and eat about half and then allow his brother to finish it, as the hunter would return to the river for his next catch.  They put on quite a show for us.

Prince Rupert is a salmon and halibut fishing and canning town.  For us, it was the site of the ferry departure to Port Hardy, Vancouver Island.  Departing at 7:30 AM, this was a 15-hour trip.  With the upgraded tickets, we were on the ferry version of the first class.  For an additional $30.00, we had a 180-degree viewing area, snacks and comfy recliner chairs with footrest.  This long but pleasant trip was enhanced by numerous humpback whale sightings and the lovely mountain-lined channels.  In Port Hardy, we did some hiking along the Quatse River trail.  The towering western hemlocks with their low sweeping branches and the plentiful ferns created a magical walk.  Our enjoyment was interrupted by our sighting of a black bear ahead of us on the trail, we retreated quietly.  Later in the evening, we drove further up the river to a wooden bridge overlooking some black bears feeding.  One bear appeared to be somewhat annoyed by the camera clicks,  as I failed to get him in focus due to his fast movement, I realized he had disappeared in the area of a trail which led to where I was standing.  At this point, he was about 20 feet below me.  Processing this information, I hollered to Alan and ran back to our vehicle, 100 feet away in about 10 seconds.  The RV was locked but fortunately, the bear had not come up from the riverbed.  The following morning, we had a much less dramatic nature experience as we walked along the low tidal flats at the Bay and spotted 20-30 male and female bald eagles and hundreds of gulls.

Continuing our journey south, at Port McNeil we boarded a highly recommended whale watching tour that traveled into the Johnstone Straits.  We spotted dozens of sea lions, hundreds of Pacific white-sided dolphins, numerous humpback and killer whales.  It was a thrill to see the Orcas and a joy to watch the hundreds of dolphins jumping alongside our boat, another highlight for us.  The original four-hour tour was expanded to six hours as the captain sought to deliver sightings of everything promised.  Felt like we were part of a National Geographic film.

Upon our arrival in Victoria, we found a Blues Bash and festival in full swing along the harbor.  Known as "the garden city", this capital of British Columbia is true to its name.  Manicured gardens and potted flowers, along with Victorian lighting, on the main streets and at the Parliament building (with Canadian geese in the lawn) overlook the waterfront.  After wandering along the waterfront for the afternoon, we moved on to Saanichton, BC, the destination of our final ferry of this trip.  A nearby estuary provided a refuge for migrating Canadian geese, and we had a show that went on through the night.
Following morning we took off for Vancouver, our odometer is now at 10,000 miles and counting.

Jasper National Park, British Columbia, Canada

July 24, 2009,   Driving along the Icefield Parkway at the north end of Banff NP, we were headed toward Jasper National Park. The roadway is named for the Columbia Ice-fields which feed 8 major glaciers, in an area that receives close to 300 inches of snow a year. Clear turquoise lakes, at the foot of the Canadian Rockies, looked like prime fishing territory. However, with water temperatures in the 30’s and a 20 mph wind gust, it was easy for Alan to talk himself out of fishing for very long, especially since nothing was biting.

The following morning we walked to the powerful Athabasca Falls. This was a 30-40 minute trek in from the roadway and parking lot. While this is not a particularly large fall with a drop of only 75 feet, it is impressive because of the volume of water roaring over the top and it was definitely worth the stop.

Later in the day, we hiked up to Athabasca Glacier and three layers of clothes were actually not quite enough, perhaps some long underwear would have been a nice addition.  Standing on the glacier in 40-degree weather with wind gusts had us thoroughly chilled and we opted out of an extended tour that was offered. 

In Jasper, we caught up on laundry, groceries, and gas. Water and gas were both around $4.00 a gallon. It’s a nice little town but we definitely got sticker shock. As we headed into British Columbia, Alan claimed the first bear sighting. Lots of pretty wildflowers and mountains, but not the drama of western Alberta.

Spending the night at Crooked River Provincial Park campground, we decided the following morning to take what we were told was a "15-minute walk" to Square Lake to catch some morning trout. Between the downed signs and bad signage, we wound up at the lake an hour or so later escorted by swarms of mosquitoes. Fish didn’t cooperate here either, but we made it back to camp in record time after spotting fresh bear prints on the trail.

Departing the park, we traveled north and stopped at what appeared to be the perfect trout river, and it was. Within a couple of minutes, Alan snagged a 21-inch brown trout. He was so excited by the big hit, he slipped down the rocky bank and fell, smashing his reel, but he did land that fish. Yes!

Making it into Dawson Creek, B.C., we stopped at the 0-mile marker for the Alcan Highway, where we met Adam and Tim. They had just arrived on bikes from Anchorage.  Tim is dropping out of the ride due to medical issues. But Adam will be biking 25,000 miles over the next two years, with the end destination of Argentina, to raise money and awareness for autism; his website is AdventureforAutism.com. (In April 2010--Adam spent a couple of nights with us as he passed through Florida--still Argentina bound.)

Western Alberta and Banff National Park

Lake Louise

Western Alberta was an incredible experience. We started by passing fields of bright yellow canola, oats, wheat, and hay. A cloudy day added to the drama of the landscape as we headed into the foothills and mountains. At some points, we were literally driving into the clouds. Clear blue skies the following days created a spectacular background for the dynamic mountains, etched by glaciers and waterfalls of the past and present, as we drove into Banff Natl. Park. Camping in a primitive site, we shared a campfire, marshmallows, and tales from the road with a family from Alberta. Breaking camp the next morning we were headed for Johnston Canyon.

Pulling off the side of the road to fix breakfast, our stop provided an overlook of a boulder

Johnston Canyon

filled river, surrounded by pine forest and snow-capped mountains. But, shortly after our departure, the RV gears were not engaging. On these curvy, narrow mountain roads this was more than disconcerting. Somewhat miraculously, we were able to coast into one of the scarce rest areas and make a cell phone call from this remote spot. After our call to AAA and a 120-mile tow to Calgary, we spent the next two days "camped" in the Aamco Transmission Service parking lot. We were within easy walking distance of the city, so as our transmission was being rebuilt, we explored. A clean and easily walkable city, we enjoyed checking this area which had not originally been on our agenda. Thousands of dollars later, we were back on the road to Banff.

The first stop on our return to the park was Johnston Canyon. A short walk led us up to Lower Falls. At the top, there is a platform created by carving a tunnel in the mountain which allows you to walk out almost over the top of the falls, very powerful. Lake Louise was our next on our itinerary. We reserved our campsite and waited until after 4 PM to visit the lake so we could

avoid the crowds at this popular destination. The crowd was still there but the Lake provides a spectacular view, the cloudy, pale green lake with glacier topped mountains in the background. Beautiful.