Continuing our Journey up into Canada

Here is the continuation of our trip up to today… I left off telling you about the things we saw while staying at Emory, BC, Canada. We also went to a place called Hell’s Gate. What an experience it was… My friend Chris, who is so afraid of heights and water that we just knew she wasn’t going to go. But guess what she did and what fun we had there….

North of Hope, just before Boston Bar on the Trans Canada Highway 1/ Hwy 97, is one of the most spectacular sights in British Columbia. Hell's Gate, a narrowing of the Fraser River where the water churns through the famous gorge in a tremendous force. It's an awesome sight to see, and certainly a "hellish" experience for the more than 2 million spawning salmon that must pass through this part of the Fraser River every year. For a closer look at the fury of Hell's Gate you halve to ride the Hell's Gate Airtram across to the other side of the river. There is a restaurant, gift shop, candy shop and an interpretive center when you reach the other side. We enjoyed the area even though it was raining on & off.

Off we went down the road where we went through several tunnels, More beautiful Mountains and the Fraser River always within our sight.

Our next stop was Cashe Creek where we stayed at a nice little RV park called Brookside RV Resort. We went to Herbies where they boasted you could get the Worlds Famous Monster Double Cheeseburger… It was pretty big and very tasty … We only stayed for the night and moved on the next morning. We headed for William’s Lake where we planned on boondocking at the casino there. When we arrived at the casino had plenty of room but was very unlevel so right next to it was the Visitor Center. Our friend went down to check if we could boondock there for the night and they said YES! What a treat it was too… Plenty of room, nice paved level parking and the visitor center was the most gorgeous one I think I have ever seen.

The Tourism Discovery Center is, in total, 14,596 square feet. The log and timber frame was built by local renowned log homebuilders and contractors. Within the Center is a vertical log with its' flared root in tact that is approximately 10 feet across and rises over 52 feet. It was sensitively harvested from Bella Coola and estimated to be 745 years old. Natural forked posts, nature's oddities become beauties in this structure demonstrating Pioneers' Artisans ability to let the natural logs and their uniqueness determine the final design and true elements in the structure. The very impressive interior exhibits feature interactive displays that demonstrate all of the activities that one can do in the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Region. The Big Picture display has three 12 foot tall images with props and storyboards in front of them. You are able to hop on the bike and take a picture as shown below. The So Much To Do display is a real car, loaded to the rafters with all sorts of gear from a canoe to ice skates. A great place to visit!

Massive tree inside building and a car packed for travel... what a hoot!

We stopped off in Prince George to restock our supplies and just rest a day or so… We stayed at Sintich RV Park just south of town and it was a very nice campground… While there they had a family of Black Bears that was getting into bird feeders and all. We never did see them. Guess it's good not to see them up close & personal. After we left there we went west on Yellowhead Highway also know as Hwy 16 for about 250 miles heading towards Smithers.

One of my Bloggin Buddies Kim & Don of D & K in the RV informed us that they lived in Smithers and would like to meet us while we were there. Of course I love being able to meet my blogging friends (they are the best people in the world) so I of course said yes… I asked her about the campgrounds in the area and she had told me they checked out the Riverside Golf & RV Park already for us and thought we would love it. How sweet was that???

View across from Tassie at RV Park

Now I know I am going to like them a lot and getting anxious for our arrival so we can meet. After we arrived (and it was a GREAT park) I called Kim & Don right away. They came by that evening and had brought us so many things and as a special gift she had made both Chris & I a great quilted mat for our kitchens to put hot plates and pots on. It was spectacular with a totally Canadian theme… moose and all. LOVED IT!!! Thanks a ton Kim. They even brought information to us on places we would be visiting in the Yukon Territory.

They asked us over to their lovely home for a Canadian BBQ the next day and she had prepared a wonderful meal of Buffalo Burgers, Chicken Wings with yummy blue cheese dip, Artichoke dip with crackers and not one but two wonderful salads… It was so much fun and we really enjoyed their gracious hospitality. Their friend Loren had come to join in on the fun afternoon and what a great guy he was… Hopefully someday we’ll all get together again… Perhaps I can host them in my RV Park back home in Florida one day.

Don, Kim & Ralph (first Picture) Ralph, Norm, Chris, Kim, Don & Me (second picture)

Morris the Moose from my other great Canadian Bloggin’ Buddies Sue & Doug of BigDawg & Freeway is still enjoying his front row seat heading down the highway, Thanks so much to all my Canadian followers… you have been so wonderful!!
O’ Canada I love you & my friends so...

So the next day we headed out for Prince Rupert and that is to come… So keep an eye out for the next segment of Our Great Canada/Alaskan Journey.

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!

Where do I begin???

Hi all my bloggin' friends… It has been a while and I am trying to do a couple of catch up post to let you know where we are and what we’ve been up to. As suspected we are having trouble with internet coverage so this is a BIG post. We are loving our trip and are half way up in British Columbia, Canada. What a beautiful country this is with its majestic mountains, Ragging Rivers and farmlands. But I want to start at the beginning since I last posted so here it goes….

While we were in Blaine, Washington preparing for our entrance into Canada we had visitors from Canada…. My bloggin' buddies Sue & Doug at BIG DAWG AND FREEWAY, along with their wonderful dog Tucker, came all the way down here to spend the afternoon with us. What a delight that was for not only me but also all of us! It was great fun getting to know them and they also were so helpful with all of their information on Canada. I just know we’ll be friends for a very long time. Sue came loaded with gifts for me, which wasn’t necessary, because we would have loved them any ways… Included was a cute little moose, which we named Morris, now resides in the front window of Tassie and shares in all of our adventures…

The day had finally arrived for us to go into Canada, cross the border, face the customs cops and bring Tassie safely over into another country. I had did so much research on what you could and could not bring into the country and heard so many different stories that I had myself worried… I just knew they were going to take all my food and booze… should I hide stuff, throw it away or just face the customs officer and tell the truth about what was aboard? By nature I am not a worrier so I decided to tell the truth and what will be, will be. Sue had told that she makes a list of all they have in their rig and it works, so since I already keep an inventory list I printed it up to present to them if asked. Well we pulled up and after a few questions like where are we from, where are we headed, where did we work, any veggies, any booze (which I truthfully answered) we were let into Canada… No worries, no problems.

Our first top was at Cultus Lake Thousand Trails Park near Lindell Beach. We stayed there about 4 days and visited some really great sites. Bridal Veil Falls and Harrison Lake. Plus we took care of a few more errands while there.

From there we moved onto Yale, just north of Hope, on Canadian Hwy 1. We actually stayed at a lovely RV park in Emory called Emory Bar RV Park. They just couldn’t do enough to make us happy there… While we were there we went and visited quaint little city of Hope, Hopes Slide and Hell’s Gate.

Hope is nestled in deep wilderness at the base of the Cascade Mountains and sits on a wide sweeping curve of the mighty Fraser River, at the entrance to the Fraser River Canyon. This is truly the Chainsaw Carving Capital of Canada, with over two dozen large wooden sculptures scattered throughout downtown. These carvings feature local wildlife, including eagles, bears, mountain sheep and cougars.

Hope Slide is just east of Hope on Highway 3 is an awe-inspiring testament to nature's power. In January 1965, most of an entire mountain called Johnson's Peak came sliding down into the valley. Over 45 million cubic feet of earth, rock and slate travelling at 95 mph, tumbled down to bury the highway, an entire lake and mark the valley forever. Now known as the Hope Slide, the remaining half of Johnson's Peak is an irresistible draw.

This is becoming such a HUGE post that I will continue on another post in a few days… So keep an eye out for the continuing saga of Our Canadian/Alaskan Journey.

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!