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.

From Niagra Falls to the UP

Canadian Horseshoe Falls

Maid of the Mist experience

Sept. 10, 2011    Eons ago, when dinosaurs were still roaming the earth, I visited Niagara Falls.  Okay, it wasn’t quite that long ago, but Niagara was a small city back then.  Viewing the Falls is an incredible experience no matter how you choose to do it but we opted for a small group tour.  With a tour guide, Tom, and two other couples we started with the best part of the tour (from my perspective), the Maid of the Mist.  The boat, which travels near both the American and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, is close enough that you hear the roar and feel the tremendous power of the falls and, if not for your souvenir raincoat, you would get a good drenching as well.  Since the weather had changed our itinerary a bit, we arrived the day after Labor Day.  This turned out to be a perfect time.  Normally carrying as many as 600 passengers, on our post-holiday/post-season visit, there were about 100 passengers on the Maid.  This lack of crowds followed through with all of our stops.  In addition to the Falls, we stopped at the Botanical Gardens and floral clock, designed and maintained by the Niagara College Canada, School of Horticulture and Agribusiness.  This provided a lovely interlude during the day. 

Cave of the Winds

American Fall

Tom provided us with an ongoing narrative on the history of the Falls, as well as info on the Niagara area.  Did you know the first person to go over the falls was a 64-year-old woman in a barrel padded with a mattress?   Falls trivia filled the day between our stops.  The day ended with the Skylon tower trip, via elevator.  At 775 feet it provided a spectacular overview of the entire region, in addition to Niagara Falls.  

At 5 A. M. the next morning we headed for the Niagara border crossing into Canada.  The method to our madness on this early awakening was to beat the long lines at the border, as we took a shortcut to reenter the U. S. in Michigan at Port Huron.  With only a couple of cars in front of us, we breezed through the border and we were sitting in line to come back into the U. S.  four hours later.

Bay City State Park at Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron was our stop for the night.  Ten campers in the park, which holds 184 campers, reflected the post-Labor Day influence.  It seemed like our private campground.  The large grassy sites, under mature oak trees, would be roomy even when full but now it felt extra special.  This year-round park offers sunbathing, fishing and swimming, in addition to a 17.5-mile interconnected walking/bike trail.

Overview from Avalanche Hill   

We moved on the next day to visit with our friend Kathi in Boyne City, MI.  She acted as our tour guide of the surrounding area.  In the nearby tourist area Charlevoix, where the residents of the town plant petunias on both sides of the street for the entire length of the town in May, we saw the “hobbit houses” built by architect, Earl Young.  The primarily rock homes have curved lines (even on the roof) and you can almost visualize a little gnome walking out the door.  At the Petoskey Beach State Park, famous for the Petoskey-fossilized rocks, we walked along the shore and found a few of the prized rocks.  In the nearby town of Petoskey, you can find the fossils in gift and jewelry stores.  They are ground and polished into unique earrings, necklaces, key chains, and a variety of other items.

We stayed in Kathi’s cabin overlooking Lake Charlevoix, which marries into Lake Michigan.  Her home, one block away, is a showplace for her beautiful quilt works.  A large studio off the side of her house provides a roomy work area for her numerous projects.  

The following morning, we borrowed Kathi’s double kayak and took a paddle along the shoreline of the turquoise and teal lake.  Having never visited the Great Lakes region before, I was shocked by the Caribbean feel of the lake.  A short hike up Avalanche Hill provided an overview of the vicinity.  Kathi swam in the “warm” water of the lake after the hike.  We were not enticed by the 65-degree water.  We ended our day and our visit with a barbeque, while watching a glorious sunset, followed by a serene moonrise over the lake. 

Driving through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (known as UP by the locals), we discovered pasties (as in ‘passed’.)   After passing several places advertising this item, we knew we had to stop and check it out. Along Rt. 2, at Big Bay De Noc, we spotted Rosie’s at the Tylene’s Family Restaurant, and we slipped into the large parking lot.  It turns out that a pasty is a meat pie.  First brought to the area in the 1800s by copper miners, this is an English food from the Cornwall region.  The half-moon-shaped, flaky dough is filled with ground meat, a variety of vegetables, and seasonings.  The dough is folded over, crimped, and then baked.  In Alan’s assessment, it was delicious.

We’re moving on to Wisconsin and our workshops at the Madeline School of Art.  Alan will spend the week with Tony van Hasselt in a plein-air art class.  I’ll be with Catherine Watson in a travel memoir writing class.

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.

Dawson City to Alaska

August 2009- Dawson City provides a rustic pioneer feel. Dirt streets (except for the gravel Front Street which runs along the Yukon River), wooden sidewalks, and buildings refurbished in the style

of the 1890's add to the flavor. The poetry of Robert Service comes to life here. We heard a wonderful recitation of "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and other pieces in front of Services' cabin by a Canadian Park Service employee, in 1890's gentleman's attire. Costumes are worn by government employees in the various historical stops in town to help take you back to that time.

Staying with the literary theme, we visited

Jack London’s cabin. Actually, his cabin was originally built in 1898, 120 km south of Dawson City when the 21-year old London came to the Yukon in search of gold and adventure. London’s experiences became fodder for his books and short stories. His original cabin was dismantled and the replica here is built from half of the logs. Another replica, with the other half of the logs, was built in London’s hometown of Oakland, CA.

On our way out of the area, we stopped to visit
Dredge No. 4. This National Historic Site is
operated by the Canadian park service which offers tours. Located near the site where the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896 began, this dredge was in operation from 1913 until 1959. The success of dredges in digging and separating the gold from the pebbles/sand made them invaluable.


The heatwave finally broke but unfortunately, dozens of fires in the Yukon and Alaska were sparked by dry lightning. As we headed out of Dawson City, a heavy layer of smoke hid the sun and the distant mountains from view. A bit of a blessing perhaps, since the Top of the World Highway was our route to Alaska. This narrow, rough, primarily gravel road, has no guard rails and travels over the top of a series of mountain ridges for its 79 miles. It was kind of nice not to see the sheer drop-offs but of course, we didn't get to see the spectacular views either.

Making it to the Alaskan border with no problem, we were glad that we had been the lead vehicle on the highway so everyone could eat our dust instead of vice versa. Entering our first Alaska town, Chicken (pop. 200), the sun had returned and the local cafe served tasty apple and rhubarb pies. Our first night was in Tok, AK at a camp along the Tok River. This small town is a big hub for Alaskan visitors entering from the Yukon. Miles of land
nearby show evidence of the 1990 fire that nearly devastated the town.

In spite of the massive fires SW of the city, we decided to move toward Fairbanks. This turned out to be a fortuitous decision. On our way, we discovered Quartz Lake State Recreation Area and set up camp. Leaving the vehicle the next morning to go fishing, we were surprised to find a mom and calf moose munching on vegetation just about 100 feet away from us. Slipping out onto the lake with a small rental boat in the choppy waters, we were able to catch 7 trout, even though we lost 3—and of course one of the ones that got away was the proverbial "big one". On our way back to shore, a bald eagle swooped down low overhead. We had hit the trifecta.

Moving into Fairbanks, we lost the sun again. Heavy smoke enveloped the city, and upon rising the following morning, ash was descending on our camp. Time to head out.

Tok River

Dawson Creek, BC and Whitehorse, YT

Dawson Creek is an area steeped with the history of the 11,000 men who built the 1400 mile Alcan (Alaskan) highway back in 1942 in only 9 months.  It was a Herculean effort under extreme conditions.  It is hard to fathom the accomplishment.  Heading to Muncho Lake, we landed a campsite overlooking the azure waters of the lake with some floatplanes and mountains in the background, a lovely, serene spot.

We headed out early the following morning and were rewarded with our first bison sighting --saw a total of 35 to 40 including 9 calves. Making a concerted effort to find some Stone sheep, since we were going to be leaving their territory soon.  Within minutes, we spotted one on a mountainous ledge.  She posed several minutes for pictures.

Our next stop was Laird River Hot Springs.  As we approached the springs on the boardwalk, the vegetation changed to tropical in nature, many ferns.  Signs warned visitors not to leave the boardwalk due to bears in the area.  We were happy the bears understood not to attack if you were on the boardwalk, but we made it to the springs without incident.  The contrast between the cool air (50 degrees) and the warm water (108-126 degrees) was delightful and it was hard to leave.

Most of the restaurants along this highway have bakeries.  We started an informal search for the best pie, which we found at Dawson Peak Resort in Teslin, their bumbleberry pie (apples, rhubarb, and blackberries) was outrageously delicious.

Next, we made it into Whitehorse, a fairly large city (pop. 25,000) for these parts.  We stumbled onto the Copper Moon Gallery--a coop of 35 local artists with phenomenal diversity and talent.  Probably one of the best galleries of this type either of us have ever seen.  The curator told us about Arctic Char--sort of a cross between salmon and trout.  Luckily we found some in a local market, moist and flavorful --another great discovery.  The highlights of the area were the SS Klondike and the salmon step ladders.  The Klondike was the biggest sternwheeler ever built to bring people and freight up the Yukon River.  A ranger-led tour provided us with great insights into the past.  The ladders (the world's longest)  help the salmon go back upstream to spawn and bypass the hydroelectric dam which now blocks the river.  In Whitehorse, the temperature soared to an unusual 100 degrees with the evening temps around 50.  After a couple of days, we decided to head north to seek out colder weather.

Twenty miles north of town we saw a sign for 'Mom's Bakery'.  This is halfway between no place and Neverland.  We hadn't seen anything for miles.  Intrigued we turned off the highway and drove down a dirt road for another two miles before we saw the bakery.  Trying to figure out how she had stayed in business for 26 years in this desolate spot we learned that she owns 3 active gold mines which have been in the family for 3 generations--so maybe it doesn't matter how many cinnamon buns she sells.  We loaded up on goodies and hit the trail.

We stopped for the evening at Fox Lake.  This time of the year (the end of July) the days are very long which explains why Alan was fishing at midnight and I was up until 1:30 AM watching the sunset.  The lake was magical with the golden sky silhouetting the trees and mountains.   It was such a compelling view, I couldn't go to sleep until exhaustion won out--to top it off Alan caught his first grayling here.

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.