Summer in Western Canada: A Story with Text and Photos
Introduction
The following story with visuals is a travelogue of my recent trip to British Columbia and western Alberta in Canada. My goal was to witness the beauty of the landscapes, the attractions of its towns and cities, the calling of its wildlife, and the nature of its people. What was particularly interesting for me on this trip were the various modes of transportation that I used to make my observations of this wonderland of beauty. I have written a rather lengthy journal, which may be a chore to wade through. After each day's entry, I will post the photos in a slideshow portfolio format that will give you visual representations of people, places, and events discussed in the text. I will label some of the photos to place the photo and the ones to follow in context. I encourage you to read the text before viewing the related portfolio. However, if time is of the essence, I hope you enjoy the photos for the story they have to tell.
Fresh Tracks Canada, an online travel service, planned this trip for just me based on phone conversations I had over six months ago with Angie at Fresh Tracks. I will have more to say about them in the journal, but they were skilled and professional in planning and facilitating this trip for me. Molly was my facilitator while I traveled and she was most both understanding and supportive.
To Begin:
Scroll down the page and enjoy. Click on Play/Pause for the Slide shows. You can also use the forward and backward arrows to review a photo more carefully. Stop the slide show by clicking on Pause. longer.
Copyright Note: All photos and text for this Travelogue are the property of Jay Voss unless otherwise noted.
The following story with visuals is a travelogue of my recent trip to British Columbia and western Alberta in Canada. My goal was to witness the beauty of the landscapes, the attractions of its towns and cities, the calling of its wildlife, and the nature of its people. What was particularly interesting for me on this trip were the various modes of transportation that I used to make my observations of this wonderland of beauty. I have written a rather lengthy journal, which may be a chore to wade through. After each day's entry, I will post the photos in a slideshow portfolio format that will give you visual representations of people, places, and events discussed in the text. I will label some of the photos to place the photo and the ones to follow in context. I encourage you to read the text before viewing the related portfolio. However, if time is of the essence, I hope you enjoy the photos for the story they have to tell.
Fresh Tracks Canada, an online travel service, planned this trip for just me based on phone conversations I had over six months ago with Angie at Fresh Tracks. I will have more to say about them in the journal, but they were skilled and professional in planning and facilitating this trip for me. Molly was my facilitator while I traveled and she was most both understanding and supportive.
To Begin:
Scroll down the page and enjoy. Click on Play/Pause for the Slide shows. You can also use the forward and backward arrows to review a photo more carefully. Stop the slide show by clicking on Pause. longer.
Copyright Note: All photos and text for this Travelogue are the property of Jay Voss unless otherwise noted.
The Mosaic of Western Canada
The Map: I began in Vancouver and Moved Counter Clockwise around the Red Line
Check List for Canada: This will give you an idea of my planning for the trip.
✓ Get passport from bank
✓ Notify banks of travel
✓ Try out new luggage: LL bean check, Costco carry on
✓ Arrange for parking at airport
✓ Stop mail
✓ Review Travel Info and Contact Molly on July 3 or 5.
✓ Choose Verizon Plan prob $5.00 per day. Use for GPS
✓ Use Voxofon for calling people in US.
✓ Bring new camera only
✓ Bring iPad Pro only. Leave laptop at home
✓ Chargers for all electronics
✓ Bring BT headphones
✓ Bring extra pair of glasses and sun glasses
✓ Figure out how to carry walking sticks
✓ Be sure Gina has letter and info of what to do
Planning and Preparation
I am flying Westjet, but really Delta, for the first time from Hartford, CT. There is a stop in Minneapolis and then on to Vancouver, arriving around 9:37 PM. I am supposed to have a driver to take me to the hotel. I will be interested in the security in flying into Canada re customs and passport check. I plan to use my new LL Bean luggage for the first time. Hope it does the job. I bought a duffle bag at Costco that should do the trick for my carry on luggage (21” by 9” by 15”). Depending on the capacity of the luggage, I need to plan one or two laundry days on the trip.
Plan: Take 12 days worth of clothes. Rotate wearing of clothes to get more life out of them: 12 pairs of underwear, 12 pairs of white shocks with 6 swift wick, 2 pairs of black socks, one black Swiftwick, 8 polo shirts, 8 T-shirts, swim trunks and exercise shorts, pajama shorts, Clark’s (2), Moccasins, rain jacket, 2 sweat shirts, toiletries, medications, chargers, etc.
I have decided to use Pages for recording my trip as it unfolds because it will be easy to copy and paste to the Website when I get home. I should try to insert the edited photos that I take into the appropriate entry for the day. It will be easier to create slide shows in the Website with a series of photos already processed and selected for the Website. Plus, it is a complete copy of text and photos of the trip in a Pages file that can be saved in iCloud.
It is 10 days before my trip to Canada begins. I have booked my parking at Bradley for a great price of $65.00 for the 23 days that I will be gone. I am beginning to start my packing according to the guidelines stated above. I did find a pouch to put my walking sticks in and they fit in the the LL Bean duffle bag that I will check. I am fairly certain at this time that I will just take my iPad Pro to capture my photos that I will take on the trip. I need to make sure that I have plenty of memory. The photos should go into iCloud, but they may also reside on the iPad, which will require memory. I have to check this out. Now that Affinity has an App for iPad, I should be fine on processing photos during the trip and posting them to this document for transfer to the Website when I get home.
I have also purchased the $5.00 per day plan from Verizon for using my phone in Canada. My intent is to only use the data for GPS travel on Vancouver Island. It will be available for emergency service to contact people. However, I plan to use Voxofon for any phone calls that I make from Canada. It is quite inexpensive, but only works with an Internet connection.
The purchase of the Panasonic Lumix camera should guarantee easy and flexible picture taking on the trip. Unfortunately my Olympus travel camera has a problem when I try to use the telephoto. I dropped the camera a few weeks back creating the problem. I know that I will be taking plenty of photos from a distance, so I need to ensure that I have a good camera.
Update:
It is a little after 6 AM and I am sitting in the billiard room of my son Scott’s home on the eastern bay of Newport, RI. In just 7 days, I will be leaving for Vancouver, BC and the trip that is the subject of this travelogue. It looks sunny out there and I suspect we will have a day with sometime at the beach and various other pre 4th activities. I head back to New Fairfield later today and all of the strategic packing that awaits.
Update:
It is Friday, July 7 with three days to go until my trip to BC begins. I am in the middle of packing trying to figure out what to take. Temperatures vary from the mid-seventies in Vancouver to the 50s and 60s in Prince Rupert to the 70s and 80s in Alberta. I believe that I have planned appropriately. If necessary, I can buy a sweatshirt or two along the way. This morning, I read through the itinerary from Vancouver to Jasper and noted areas of special interest. I will do that again for the second half of the trip at an appropriate time during the journey. It looks like my iPhone GPS will work for me when I have my car on Vancouver Island. I am planning on using Verizon’s $5.00 per day international plan that allows me to use data and the phone in emergencies. I hope to use Voxofon for regular calls to Gina. I am still deciding on a second pair of shoes. My broken in Clark’s Waves should do me well, but I am wondering if I should bring a second unbroken-in pair of Clark’s that I just bought or bring my golf shoes for hiking. I will probably go with the Clark’s using my favorites for hiking and the new ones for dressing up a bit for the evening. I am not taking a sports jacket, so the dressing up will always be causal. And the beat goes on.
Update:
Today is the day. I am going to get to the airport a little bit early because of the confusing way my reservation is set up. I am flying Westjet, but it is a Delta flight and there is confusion over my confirmation number. However, I have been assured by both Justfly and Delta that my reservation is in the system. It will be along day. I am guessing that it will be 3:00 AM EST when I get to bed tonight, but my first trip on Tuesday does not begin until 10:45. So let’s hope that all goes well. Bon Voyage!
Update:
I am in the middle of the second leg of my flight to Vancouver. We are still on time, but the day has been long and my feet are bothering me. I am now convinced that riding a plane to New Zealand or perhaps even Peru may be too much for my aging feet. I did enjoy the Minneapolis Airport. It is clean with lots of places to eat. I had a Caesar Salad with Salmon for dinner and guess what, I am still off the “sauce.” Two big iced teas did me well for dinner. I do hope the process of getting through customs and meeting my driver to take me to the hotel goes well. I am toward the back of the plane, but no one is in the middle seat, so that is a nice feature. Unlike my first flight today, I am on the aisle, which should make it easier for me to get up and walk from time to time. My meds are in the duffle in the overhead bin, but I sort of hope that I can wait until the hotel to take the evening dose. That way, I can get on British Columbia time for the meds probably sooner than I can handle the jet lag. No photos yet to keep me from running off at the keyboard, but hopefully that will change tomorrow.
Update:
The flight from Minneapolis to Vancouver was bumpy at times, but right on time. Getting through customs and securing my luggage was a breeze. A very nice lady helped me with the kiosk for filing out the immigration form. I was met in the ground transportation lobby by wonderful gentleman who gave me a history of Vancouver on my way to the hotel.
According to the hotel info, this is a very upscale hotel in the middle of downtown. My room is very nice, but my view leaves much to be desired. So much for the Internet approach to reserving a room. The elevator was not working when I arrived, so we had to take the service elevator, which was not pretty, However, I arrived in my room at 10:30 PST and went right to bed. My sleep was restless, but I did get about four to five hours. It is 5 AM now and I adjusting to the time change. I am ready to meet the challenge of Vancouver.
POST TRIP REFLECTION ON PREPARATION: August 4, 2017
I prepared well for this trip. Fresh Tracks Canada did a fantastic job with my itinerary. I would definitely recommend them to anyone. I took too many clothes. However, I did do laundry twice, so I obviously could have stretched the laundry times a bit. I did not use my walking sticks, although there were a couple of times when they might have served me well. For example, when I walked on the glacier or a couple of mini hikes that I took. My plane flights were on time and I thought Delta did well by me. I was able to get an aisle seat on the second leg of my return flight to Hartford on August 1. That was a plus. My two pieces of luggage survived the trip in good shape and I was happy for the convenience both bags provided. The Lumix camera worked non-stop in helping me to capture many photo images on the trip. I am very happy with the raw photos that I will have for processing to better demonstrate the beauty of the trip to Western Canada. Good planning gets good results. Perhaps that is an obvious statement, but it worked well for me on this trip.
Vancouver: Tuesday, July 11
I started off my day with a nice two mile walk down to the harbor of Vancouver. I met four wonderful locals planning a party or something in downtown Vancouver. Their smiling faces and kind greetings provided a good beginning to a busy day. The architecture in this city is dramatic in many places, and the photos that I took this first day on the trip reflect the varied styles, some quite modern, others more traditional. Boringly I suppose, I found one of many Starbucks in this city and reviewed my initial foray into photography. At. 9:45, I was picked up by Sarah, my guide for the day as we toured the city. I met people from Chicago (owner of several Culver’s), couples from Ohio, Nebraska, a nice young woman from India I believe, and a teacher from Australia. Although we were only together for a day, they helped to make the trip enjoyable. Sarah was a talkative and informative guide. Her jokes were a bit lame, but she made up for it with her good driving and flexible manner with those who showed up late to the bus. We saw Stanley Park, the salmon fish hatchery, the suspended bridge, beautiful scenes of Vancouver, rides through the Granville Island, the West End, Chinatown, and Gastown. It was all capped off with a visit to the scenic point at the top of the spiral dome.
Later on in the evening, I walked down to the Steamworks Pub and had a salmon dinner. On my way back, I stopped at the Fairmont to listen to some music and have a glass of wine. Belle was my waitress and she told an interesting story about getting her doctorate in the History of Religion and her current dilemma of deciding what to do with her life. She wants to move back to California and eventually teach. We had a brief conversation about religion, theology, and spirituality. The woman guitar player and singer had a clear high quality to her voice that made for a very pleasant evening. In honor of Belle, I constructed this little haiku:
Belle, book, and candle
Wine, smiles, and conversation
She charts her own path.
I should have taken her photo and the singer’s as well, but I did not. Opportunity lost.
I said good night to Belle and walked home. It was dark and the city lights were turned on. I captured a bit of Vancouver at night, many repetitious of the day time, but with the added beauty of varied lighting effects.
The Map: I began in Vancouver and Moved Counter Clockwise around the Red Line
Check List for Canada: This will give you an idea of my planning for the trip.
✓ Get passport from bank
✓ Notify banks of travel
✓ Try out new luggage: LL bean check, Costco carry on
✓ Arrange for parking at airport
✓ Stop mail
✓ Review Travel Info and Contact Molly on July 3 or 5.
✓ Choose Verizon Plan prob $5.00 per day. Use for GPS
✓ Use Voxofon for calling people in US.
✓ Bring new camera only
✓ Bring iPad Pro only. Leave laptop at home
✓ Chargers for all electronics
✓ Bring BT headphones
✓ Bring extra pair of glasses and sun glasses
✓ Figure out how to carry walking sticks
✓ Be sure Gina has letter and info of what to do
Planning and Preparation
I am flying Westjet, but really Delta, for the first time from Hartford, CT. There is a stop in Minneapolis and then on to Vancouver, arriving around 9:37 PM. I am supposed to have a driver to take me to the hotel. I will be interested in the security in flying into Canada re customs and passport check. I plan to use my new LL Bean luggage for the first time. Hope it does the job. I bought a duffle bag at Costco that should do the trick for my carry on luggage (21” by 9” by 15”). Depending on the capacity of the luggage, I need to plan one or two laundry days on the trip.
Plan: Take 12 days worth of clothes. Rotate wearing of clothes to get more life out of them: 12 pairs of underwear, 12 pairs of white shocks with 6 swift wick, 2 pairs of black socks, one black Swiftwick, 8 polo shirts, 8 T-shirts, swim trunks and exercise shorts, pajama shorts, Clark’s (2), Moccasins, rain jacket, 2 sweat shirts, toiletries, medications, chargers, etc.
I have decided to use Pages for recording my trip as it unfolds because it will be easy to copy and paste to the Website when I get home. I should try to insert the edited photos that I take into the appropriate entry for the day. It will be easier to create slide shows in the Website with a series of photos already processed and selected for the Website. Plus, it is a complete copy of text and photos of the trip in a Pages file that can be saved in iCloud.
It is 10 days before my trip to Canada begins. I have booked my parking at Bradley for a great price of $65.00 for the 23 days that I will be gone. I am beginning to start my packing according to the guidelines stated above. I did find a pouch to put my walking sticks in and they fit in the the LL Bean duffle bag that I will check. I am fairly certain at this time that I will just take my iPad Pro to capture my photos that I will take on the trip. I need to make sure that I have plenty of memory. The photos should go into iCloud, but they may also reside on the iPad, which will require memory. I have to check this out. Now that Affinity has an App for iPad, I should be fine on processing photos during the trip and posting them to this document for transfer to the Website when I get home.
I have also purchased the $5.00 per day plan from Verizon for using my phone in Canada. My intent is to only use the data for GPS travel on Vancouver Island. It will be available for emergency service to contact people. However, I plan to use Voxofon for any phone calls that I make from Canada. It is quite inexpensive, but only works with an Internet connection.
The purchase of the Panasonic Lumix camera should guarantee easy and flexible picture taking on the trip. Unfortunately my Olympus travel camera has a problem when I try to use the telephoto. I dropped the camera a few weeks back creating the problem. I know that I will be taking plenty of photos from a distance, so I need to ensure that I have a good camera.
Update:
It is a little after 6 AM and I am sitting in the billiard room of my son Scott’s home on the eastern bay of Newport, RI. In just 7 days, I will be leaving for Vancouver, BC and the trip that is the subject of this travelogue. It looks sunny out there and I suspect we will have a day with sometime at the beach and various other pre 4th activities. I head back to New Fairfield later today and all of the strategic packing that awaits.
Update:
It is Friday, July 7 with three days to go until my trip to BC begins. I am in the middle of packing trying to figure out what to take. Temperatures vary from the mid-seventies in Vancouver to the 50s and 60s in Prince Rupert to the 70s and 80s in Alberta. I believe that I have planned appropriately. If necessary, I can buy a sweatshirt or two along the way. This morning, I read through the itinerary from Vancouver to Jasper and noted areas of special interest. I will do that again for the second half of the trip at an appropriate time during the journey. It looks like my iPhone GPS will work for me when I have my car on Vancouver Island. I am planning on using Verizon’s $5.00 per day international plan that allows me to use data and the phone in emergencies. I hope to use Voxofon for regular calls to Gina. I am still deciding on a second pair of shoes. My broken in Clark’s Waves should do me well, but I am wondering if I should bring a second unbroken-in pair of Clark’s that I just bought or bring my golf shoes for hiking. I will probably go with the Clark’s using my favorites for hiking and the new ones for dressing up a bit for the evening. I am not taking a sports jacket, so the dressing up will always be causal. And the beat goes on.
Update:
Today is the day. I am going to get to the airport a little bit early because of the confusing way my reservation is set up. I am flying Westjet, but it is a Delta flight and there is confusion over my confirmation number. However, I have been assured by both Justfly and Delta that my reservation is in the system. It will be along day. I am guessing that it will be 3:00 AM EST when I get to bed tonight, but my first trip on Tuesday does not begin until 10:45. So let’s hope that all goes well. Bon Voyage!
Update:
I am in the middle of the second leg of my flight to Vancouver. We are still on time, but the day has been long and my feet are bothering me. I am now convinced that riding a plane to New Zealand or perhaps even Peru may be too much for my aging feet. I did enjoy the Minneapolis Airport. It is clean with lots of places to eat. I had a Caesar Salad with Salmon for dinner and guess what, I am still off the “sauce.” Two big iced teas did me well for dinner. I do hope the process of getting through customs and meeting my driver to take me to the hotel goes well. I am toward the back of the plane, but no one is in the middle seat, so that is a nice feature. Unlike my first flight today, I am on the aisle, which should make it easier for me to get up and walk from time to time. My meds are in the duffle in the overhead bin, but I sort of hope that I can wait until the hotel to take the evening dose. That way, I can get on British Columbia time for the meds probably sooner than I can handle the jet lag. No photos yet to keep me from running off at the keyboard, but hopefully that will change tomorrow.
Update:
The flight from Minneapolis to Vancouver was bumpy at times, but right on time. Getting through customs and securing my luggage was a breeze. A very nice lady helped me with the kiosk for filing out the immigration form. I was met in the ground transportation lobby by wonderful gentleman who gave me a history of Vancouver on my way to the hotel.
According to the hotel info, this is a very upscale hotel in the middle of downtown. My room is very nice, but my view leaves much to be desired. So much for the Internet approach to reserving a room. The elevator was not working when I arrived, so we had to take the service elevator, which was not pretty, However, I arrived in my room at 10:30 PST and went right to bed. My sleep was restless, but I did get about four to five hours. It is 5 AM now and I adjusting to the time change. I am ready to meet the challenge of Vancouver.
POST TRIP REFLECTION ON PREPARATION: August 4, 2017
I prepared well for this trip. Fresh Tracks Canada did a fantastic job with my itinerary. I would definitely recommend them to anyone. I took too many clothes. However, I did do laundry twice, so I obviously could have stretched the laundry times a bit. I did not use my walking sticks, although there were a couple of times when they might have served me well. For example, when I walked on the glacier or a couple of mini hikes that I took. My plane flights were on time and I thought Delta did well by me. I was able to get an aisle seat on the second leg of my return flight to Hartford on August 1. That was a plus. My two pieces of luggage survived the trip in good shape and I was happy for the convenience both bags provided. The Lumix camera worked non-stop in helping me to capture many photo images on the trip. I am very happy with the raw photos that I will have for processing to better demonstrate the beauty of the trip to Western Canada. Good planning gets good results. Perhaps that is an obvious statement, but it worked well for me on this trip.
Vancouver: Tuesday, July 11
I started off my day with a nice two mile walk down to the harbor of Vancouver. I met four wonderful locals planning a party or something in downtown Vancouver. Their smiling faces and kind greetings provided a good beginning to a busy day. The architecture in this city is dramatic in many places, and the photos that I took this first day on the trip reflect the varied styles, some quite modern, others more traditional. Boringly I suppose, I found one of many Starbucks in this city and reviewed my initial foray into photography. At. 9:45, I was picked up by Sarah, my guide for the day as we toured the city. I met people from Chicago (owner of several Culver’s), couples from Ohio, Nebraska, a nice young woman from India I believe, and a teacher from Australia. Although we were only together for a day, they helped to make the trip enjoyable. Sarah was a talkative and informative guide. Her jokes were a bit lame, but she made up for it with her good driving and flexible manner with those who showed up late to the bus. We saw Stanley Park, the salmon fish hatchery, the suspended bridge, beautiful scenes of Vancouver, rides through the Granville Island, the West End, Chinatown, and Gastown. It was all capped off with a visit to the scenic point at the top of the spiral dome.
Later on in the evening, I walked down to the Steamworks Pub and had a salmon dinner. On my way back, I stopped at the Fairmont to listen to some music and have a glass of wine. Belle was my waitress and she told an interesting story about getting her doctorate in the History of Religion and her current dilemma of deciding what to do with her life. She wants to move back to California and eventually teach. We had a brief conversation about religion, theology, and spirituality. The woman guitar player and singer had a clear high quality to her voice that made for a very pleasant evening. In honor of Belle, I constructed this little haiku:
Belle, book, and candle
Wine, smiles, and conversation
She charts her own path.
I should have taken her photo and the singer’s as well, but I did not. Opportunity lost.
I said good night to Belle and walked home. It was dark and the city lights were turned on. I captured a bit of Vancouver at night, many repetitious of the day time, but with the added beauty of varied lighting effects.
Vancouver: Wednesday, July 12, 2017
My day began with a swim in the hotel pool and a rather vigorous 10 minute experience in the hot tub. I am not sure that either did my feet and my back much good, but it is hard to tell because of the extent of the walking I did in Stanley Park, Following my plan, I caught the Hop On and Hop Off Bus at 8:30 AM and got off at stop number 7 in Stanley Park. Yesterday, I saw the more commercial part of the park with its Totem Pole displays, views of the city, and lots of people. Today, I was able to spend time in the beautiful Rose Garden in the Park and then journey on a back trail to Bear Lake. I was headed for Prospect Pt., but I must have missed a path somewhere and came out to the main road and the sea wall to the south and east of the Point. I made a wrong choice at that point and decided to follow the sea wall, which never gave me access to the Point, which I had seen the day before. Instead, I walked for an eternity with a beautiful view of Lion’s Gate Bridge, English Bay with all of its cargo ships, and the “Pineapple Rock” with the First American name of “Siwash.” I finally came to Third Beach with access to a Concession Stand where I enjoyed an ice cream cone, well needed water, and a place to rest my very weary feet. It turned into a much longer walk than my feet or I desired, but it was another one of those unplanned accomplishments I often have on these trips. I took many photos of flowers, scenes, people riding bikes, walking, and fishing.
I did not have to wait long for the bus and soon I was on my way through the busy west end of Vancouver to Granville Island. I liked my time spent at the market the day before, so I hoped to find a totem gift for Jacob and something else for Stella. I found neither, but I did have lunch of fried calamari at the Keg. I also had a draft of the local beer, so I have successfully used my excuse of the vacation to end my fast from alcohol. I will try to keep my alcohol consumption to a maximum of two-three drinks a day, but will try to still have some days as alcohol free. I will also attempt to stay with beer and wine and forgo the hard stuff.
After Granville Island, I wanted to explore a bit of Gas Town on foot, but somehow we missed the stop and I disembarked from the bus around 2 PM. I took a bit of a nap and then considered my plan for dinner. I wanted to go inexpensive with perhaps another visit to the Fairmont. However, I arrived at Hy’s Steak House which I thought was on the moderate size of price. I was wrong, so I settled in to spend a little dough on Dinner. It was a good mistake. My waiter was Blair, a wise and experienced soul, who told me about the Halibut special with lobster risotto. I went with that and a wedge of lettuce topped with blue cheese dressing and delicious bacon bits. I enjoyed the halibut and risotto immensely and after a delicious coffee, said goodbye to Blair and wandered out into the cool early evening air. The cost was on the high side. However, there is the added benefit that $110.00 US is about $83.00 CAD. However, the attention of Blair, the satisfying tastes of the cuisine, and the ambiance of the restaurant were “priceless.”
It was about 7 PM. I wandered back to my hotel room about a block away and fell into bed, unfortunately, going to sleep way too early. However, the benefit was to wake up in time for Colbert and his great interview with John where they took Trump and his family apart joke by joke. The problem is that there is so much truthful reality in their humor, that the laughs are tinged with a worrisome hesitancy and a sense of disgust with our current president. It is a non-stop feeling that I cannot toss aside. At any rate, I took an Advil to help my feet and legs, abused with all of the walking from the day and was able to get some more sleep. It is now 6:53 AM on Thursday and I have been writing for almost an hour. My plan for today is to test out the subway system and try to take it easy on my feet and legs.
My day began with a swim in the hotel pool and a rather vigorous 10 minute experience in the hot tub. I am not sure that either did my feet and my back much good, but it is hard to tell because of the extent of the walking I did in Stanley Park, Following my plan, I caught the Hop On and Hop Off Bus at 8:30 AM and got off at stop number 7 in Stanley Park. Yesterday, I saw the more commercial part of the park with its Totem Pole displays, views of the city, and lots of people. Today, I was able to spend time in the beautiful Rose Garden in the Park and then journey on a back trail to Bear Lake. I was headed for Prospect Pt., but I must have missed a path somewhere and came out to the main road and the sea wall to the south and east of the Point. I made a wrong choice at that point and decided to follow the sea wall, which never gave me access to the Point, which I had seen the day before. Instead, I walked for an eternity with a beautiful view of Lion’s Gate Bridge, English Bay with all of its cargo ships, and the “Pineapple Rock” with the First American name of “Siwash.” I finally came to Third Beach with access to a Concession Stand where I enjoyed an ice cream cone, well needed water, and a place to rest my very weary feet. It turned into a much longer walk than my feet or I desired, but it was another one of those unplanned accomplishments I often have on these trips. I took many photos of flowers, scenes, people riding bikes, walking, and fishing.
I did not have to wait long for the bus and soon I was on my way through the busy west end of Vancouver to Granville Island. I liked my time spent at the market the day before, so I hoped to find a totem gift for Jacob and something else for Stella. I found neither, but I did have lunch of fried calamari at the Keg. I also had a draft of the local beer, so I have successfully used my excuse of the vacation to end my fast from alcohol. I will try to keep my alcohol consumption to a maximum of two-three drinks a day, but will try to still have some days as alcohol free. I will also attempt to stay with beer and wine and forgo the hard stuff.
After Granville Island, I wanted to explore a bit of Gas Town on foot, but somehow we missed the stop and I disembarked from the bus around 2 PM. I took a bit of a nap and then considered my plan for dinner. I wanted to go inexpensive with perhaps another visit to the Fairmont. However, I arrived at Hy’s Steak House which I thought was on the moderate size of price. I was wrong, so I settled in to spend a little dough on Dinner. It was a good mistake. My waiter was Blair, a wise and experienced soul, who told me about the Halibut special with lobster risotto. I went with that and a wedge of lettuce topped with blue cheese dressing and delicious bacon bits. I enjoyed the halibut and risotto immensely and after a delicious coffee, said goodbye to Blair and wandered out into the cool early evening air. The cost was on the high side. However, there is the added benefit that $110.00 US is about $83.00 CAD. However, the attention of Blair, the satisfying tastes of the cuisine, and the ambiance of the restaurant were “priceless.”
It was about 7 PM. I wandered back to my hotel room about a block away and fell into bed, unfortunately, going to sleep way too early. However, the benefit was to wake up in time for Colbert and his great interview with John where they took Trump and his family apart joke by joke. The problem is that there is so much truthful reality in their humor, that the laughs are tinged with a worrisome hesitancy and a sense of disgust with our current president. It is a non-stop feeling that I cannot toss aside. At any rate, I took an Advil to help my feet and legs, abused with all of the walking from the day and was able to get some more sleep. It is now 6:53 AM on Thursday and I have been writing for almost an hour. My plan for today is to test out the subway system and try to take it easy on my feet and legs.
Vancouver: Thursday, July 13, 2017
Well forget the bit about the legs and feet. According to my trusty iPhone, I walked 8.55 miles on Tuesday, 5.76 miles on Wednesday, and not according to plan, 9.25 miles on Thursday. What happened on Thursday, a so called day of rest where I was going to take it easy? Well, the day begin with a soothing dip in the pool and the hot tub to sooth my feet from the day before and a restless night as mentioned above. After my morning coffee and... at Mario’s, the little coffee shop down the street, I decided to purchase a day pass for the Translink system, caught Bus #44 and took it all the way out to the University of British Columbia (UBC). It was a pleasant 20 minute ride, so far, so good.
I wanted to see the Japanese Gardens at UBC and perhaps the Botanical Gardens. However, the campus is very large and is nestled along side the Pacific Spirit Regional Park that borders the Pacific Ocean. It is a beautiful campus with lots of renovation going on. It is also a large campus and so getting to places on foot took some time. In any event, I wandered over to the Asian Building where the gardens are located and found it did not open until 11. With an hour to kill, I decided to walk in the PSR Park. I took path # 4 which brought me to a set of well constructed wooden steps descending down to the beach. I did not count the steps going down, but it had to be well in excess of 150. I knew that the climb back up would be a challenge to these old legs and feet and to my pacemakered heart. The adventure in me spurred me on and every now and then I would catch a glimpse of the Pacific through the lush forest that was all around me. On the last leg, there was a sign warning all comers that the beach below was “clothes optional.” Well, after my journey downward, I could hardly let a concern for modesty dissuade me from the final dissent. It was not a very welcoming beach. The rocks made it difficult to walk and there were no people there to tempt my roving eyes. I thought I might walk the beach to Trail 6 further on down the beach hoping for a less strenuous climb back up to civilization, but the rocks were too difficult for my hurting feet and I wisely turned around and considered my strategy for climbing the “stairway to heaven.” Perhaps playing the song on my iPhone would help. I did take a “selfie” of me leaning against some driftwood to prove that this little story is not all “fake news.” My strategy for climbing back up the steps was simple. Take a section at a time, rest for several minutes and then climb again. It took me about. 15-20 minutes to climb back up, but I did it without much apparent damage to my feet or cardiovascular system.
The Japanese Garden was about to open and It was worth the wait. It was not a large garden, but it was well attended to and had many quiet places to sit and just enjoy the peaceful surroundings of water, trees, flowers, and beautifully constructed little bridges that added to the photographic scenes. I spent about 40 minutes in the garden taking a few photos, just sitting and listening to the quiet around me interrupted by a few other wandering souls, gentle water falls, and the sounds of nature. It was a good choice, particularly after my descent to the beach from hell. I thought about going to the Botanical Gardens about a 25 minute walk from the Asian Building, but decided not to. Instead I wandered down to the UBC Rose Garden that overlooks English Bay and the Pacific. I have many shots of roses already on this trip, but I could not resist taking some more. After a few minutes, I started the walk back to the Bus Stop where #44 and its driver were waiting to transport me back to downtown.
I enjoyed a very good tuna salad on marble rye at a pleasant little sandwich shop just around the corner from my hotel, the Metropolitan. I decided to go see the Van Duesen Botanical Gardens to the south instead of the Art Gallery near the hotel. I also knew that I could take the subway to the Gardens, which would be another transportation experience. I got off at the right stop, but had forgotten my trusty little hotel map. Since I was trying to go cheap on the use of Cellular in a foreign country, I could not refer to my trusty Apple Maps. So, I started to walk in the presumed direction of the Gardens. It was a longer walk than anticipated through pleasant residential sections, but with no glimpse of the Gardens. Poor planning had put me in this situation and my feet were beginning to rebel big time. Thanks to help from a very nice lady in a wheel chair, I finally reached my destination. The Gardens were beautiful with varied plantings from all over the world. With numerous flower gardens, interesting forested areas, laced with many ponds, I truly enjoyed my walk through the Gardens. I will let a few selected photos tell the rest of the story. A very nice woman at the Information desk said that I could catch Bus #17 across the street and it would take me within a block of my hotel. One of the great joys of the many foreign cities I have been in over the past six years is to discover the transportation system. I did it in Shanghai and Prague and those experiences added rich memories to my stay. The travel system in Vancouver was no different. The subway was clean, the stations easy to transverse, and fast. The Bus system, however, was great for my needs. I would have better off taking Bus #17 from Downtown to the Gardens rather than the subway because of the proximity of the bus to the Gardens. A few more well placed questions to the Concierge might have saved my feet from the uncomfortable mile long walk from the subway station to the Gardens.
I arrived back at my hotel and planned my final night in Vancouver. I wanted to go around the corner to a nearby pub and have a hamburger. Instead, I missed the stairs to the Pub and ended up in the Royal Dinette looking at a menu that was very foreign to me. I had a draft of a local beer and tried to make sense of the menu. It so happens, that this was one of those farm to table restaurants with very fresh food and a very west coast menu, whatever that is. I decided on the Ricotta Gnudi, which was little puff balls loaded with ricotta cheese and topped off with very tasty herbs and a delicious cream sauce. It was probably one of those non-Italian attempts at creating a Ravioli dish. However, my mistake was worth it. The food was excellent and it was great fun sitting at the bar watching the woman with tattooed arms mix the most interesting drinks and topping them off with dried oranges, limes, and who knows what else.
I wandered down to the ARC bar located in the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel. My waitress friend Bella was there, but because I sat at the bar, Kate was my server. When I told her that I had met Bella on Tuesday night, Kate looked at me with a blank stare for just a moment and then said,” Oh, you mean Amy.” So I found out that Bella was really Amy with a Ph.D. In the History of Religion. I was left with the unanswered question of why a woman with her doctorate was working as a waitress. Or perhaps Bella, aka Amy, was just pulling my leg all along. I will never know. However, I did have a nice chat with Jeff the singer for the evening who after I told him my Peggy Sue story recounted in an earlier travelogue on this site, he obliged me by playing the song. Where is Buddy Holly now?
Sitting next to me at the bar were Mary and Roger from Scotland. We had a delightful chat about places we have visited. I shared with them my pleasant memories of Scotland in 2014. It was a pleasant conversation an helped to top off my last evening at the ARC bar in the Fairmont Waterfront, in the great city of Vancouver.
After two classes of wine, I took a final walk along the sea wall and shot some more of Vancouver at night. I liked the city a lot. I never got to the Art Gallery and I know there is more to see, but it will have to wait until next time.
Well forget the bit about the legs and feet. According to my trusty iPhone, I walked 8.55 miles on Tuesday, 5.76 miles on Wednesday, and not according to plan, 9.25 miles on Thursday. What happened on Thursday, a so called day of rest where I was going to take it easy? Well, the day begin with a soothing dip in the pool and the hot tub to sooth my feet from the day before and a restless night as mentioned above. After my morning coffee and... at Mario’s, the little coffee shop down the street, I decided to purchase a day pass for the Translink system, caught Bus #44 and took it all the way out to the University of British Columbia (UBC). It was a pleasant 20 minute ride, so far, so good.
I wanted to see the Japanese Gardens at UBC and perhaps the Botanical Gardens. However, the campus is very large and is nestled along side the Pacific Spirit Regional Park that borders the Pacific Ocean. It is a beautiful campus with lots of renovation going on. It is also a large campus and so getting to places on foot took some time. In any event, I wandered over to the Asian Building where the gardens are located and found it did not open until 11. With an hour to kill, I decided to walk in the PSR Park. I took path # 4 which brought me to a set of well constructed wooden steps descending down to the beach. I did not count the steps going down, but it had to be well in excess of 150. I knew that the climb back up would be a challenge to these old legs and feet and to my pacemakered heart. The adventure in me spurred me on and every now and then I would catch a glimpse of the Pacific through the lush forest that was all around me. On the last leg, there was a sign warning all comers that the beach below was “clothes optional.” Well, after my journey downward, I could hardly let a concern for modesty dissuade me from the final dissent. It was not a very welcoming beach. The rocks made it difficult to walk and there were no people there to tempt my roving eyes. I thought I might walk the beach to Trail 6 further on down the beach hoping for a less strenuous climb back up to civilization, but the rocks were too difficult for my hurting feet and I wisely turned around and considered my strategy for climbing the “stairway to heaven.” Perhaps playing the song on my iPhone would help. I did take a “selfie” of me leaning against some driftwood to prove that this little story is not all “fake news.” My strategy for climbing back up the steps was simple. Take a section at a time, rest for several minutes and then climb again. It took me about. 15-20 minutes to climb back up, but I did it without much apparent damage to my feet or cardiovascular system.
The Japanese Garden was about to open and It was worth the wait. It was not a large garden, but it was well attended to and had many quiet places to sit and just enjoy the peaceful surroundings of water, trees, flowers, and beautifully constructed little bridges that added to the photographic scenes. I spent about 40 minutes in the garden taking a few photos, just sitting and listening to the quiet around me interrupted by a few other wandering souls, gentle water falls, and the sounds of nature. It was a good choice, particularly after my descent to the beach from hell. I thought about going to the Botanical Gardens about a 25 minute walk from the Asian Building, but decided not to. Instead I wandered down to the UBC Rose Garden that overlooks English Bay and the Pacific. I have many shots of roses already on this trip, but I could not resist taking some more. After a few minutes, I started the walk back to the Bus Stop where #44 and its driver were waiting to transport me back to downtown.
I enjoyed a very good tuna salad on marble rye at a pleasant little sandwich shop just around the corner from my hotel, the Metropolitan. I decided to go see the Van Duesen Botanical Gardens to the south instead of the Art Gallery near the hotel. I also knew that I could take the subway to the Gardens, which would be another transportation experience. I got off at the right stop, but had forgotten my trusty little hotel map. Since I was trying to go cheap on the use of Cellular in a foreign country, I could not refer to my trusty Apple Maps. So, I started to walk in the presumed direction of the Gardens. It was a longer walk than anticipated through pleasant residential sections, but with no glimpse of the Gardens. Poor planning had put me in this situation and my feet were beginning to rebel big time. Thanks to help from a very nice lady in a wheel chair, I finally reached my destination. The Gardens were beautiful with varied plantings from all over the world. With numerous flower gardens, interesting forested areas, laced with many ponds, I truly enjoyed my walk through the Gardens. I will let a few selected photos tell the rest of the story. A very nice woman at the Information desk said that I could catch Bus #17 across the street and it would take me within a block of my hotel. One of the great joys of the many foreign cities I have been in over the past six years is to discover the transportation system. I did it in Shanghai and Prague and those experiences added rich memories to my stay. The travel system in Vancouver was no different. The subway was clean, the stations easy to transverse, and fast. The Bus system, however, was great for my needs. I would have better off taking Bus #17 from Downtown to the Gardens rather than the subway because of the proximity of the bus to the Gardens. A few more well placed questions to the Concierge might have saved my feet from the uncomfortable mile long walk from the subway station to the Gardens.
I arrived back at my hotel and planned my final night in Vancouver. I wanted to go around the corner to a nearby pub and have a hamburger. Instead, I missed the stairs to the Pub and ended up in the Royal Dinette looking at a menu that was very foreign to me. I had a draft of a local beer and tried to make sense of the menu. It so happens, that this was one of those farm to table restaurants with very fresh food and a very west coast menu, whatever that is. I decided on the Ricotta Gnudi, which was little puff balls loaded with ricotta cheese and topped off with very tasty herbs and a delicious cream sauce. It was probably one of those non-Italian attempts at creating a Ravioli dish. However, my mistake was worth it. The food was excellent and it was great fun sitting at the bar watching the woman with tattooed arms mix the most interesting drinks and topping them off with dried oranges, limes, and who knows what else.
I wandered down to the ARC bar located in the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel. My waitress friend Bella was there, but because I sat at the bar, Kate was my server. When I told her that I had met Bella on Tuesday night, Kate looked at me with a blank stare for just a moment and then said,” Oh, you mean Amy.” So I found out that Bella was really Amy with a Ph.D. In the History of Religion. I was left with the unanswered question of why a woman with her doctorate was working as a waitress. Or perhaps Bella, aka Amy, was just pulling my leg all along. I will never know. However, I did have a nice chat with Jeff the singer for the evening who after I told him my Peggy Sue story recounted in an earlier travelogue on this site, he obliged me by playing the song. Where is Buddy Holly now?
Sitting next to me at the bar were Mary and Roger from Scotland. We had a delightful chat about places we have visited. I shared with them my pleasant memories of Scotland in 2014. It was a pleasant conversation an helped to top off my last evening at the ARC bar in the Fairmont Waterfront, in the great city of Vancouver.
After two classes of wine, I took a final walk along the sea wall and shot some more of Vancouver at night. I liked the city a lot. I never got to the Art Gallery and I know there is more to see, but it will have to wait until next time.
Ferry to Vancouver Island and Victoria: Friday, July 14, 2017
I bid a fond farewell to Vancouver at 8:30 AM and began a trip that would take me to Victoria on Vancouver Island via the BC Ferry. It was a bright sunny day and there was a strong breeze on the upper decks of the Ferry. I did a number of photos of the various small islands we navigated on our way. The 95 minute ride was smooth and relaxing.
After the ferry ride we got back on our bus for the next adventures on this day trip to Victoria. Marken was our bus driver. He was from Wales and had lots of one liners and puns to share with us along the way to Butchart Botanical Gardens. The gardens were the creation of Mrs. Butchart, the wife of a limestone quarry guy who gutted the countryside. When the limestone and related concrete industry ran out of material, Mrs Bouchart, now a very wealthy widowed lady, planted flora on all the ugly hillsides and began the creation of an incredibly beautiful park of color, forests, and well designed walkways. I have made a separate slide show for the gardens with all its unusual landscapes, beautiful flowers, and well placed walkways and stairs. Remember that Mrs. Butchart took an eye soar of a depleted quarry and turned it into a mosaic of shapes and colors and she did this over a century ago. There were two downsides to the gardens. It was very crowded and tough to find places to just sit and enjoy the surroundings. Secondly, it was almost too perfectly designed. I am not sure why that bothered me, but in its perfection, there was sense of people trying too hard to create the best Botanical Gardens ever. However, I am glad that I can add the Butchart Gardens to my list of many floral displays that I have seen on my trips both abroad and in the U.S. It was worth it.
So Marken our driver then transported us to the harbor area of downtown Victoria. The other people on the bus, none of whom I had talked to the entire day disembarked for a 90 minute walk around the harbor. They were all going back on the Ferry to Vancouver, but Marken dropped me off at the Coast Harbor Hotel located on the harbor. It is a brand new, very comfortable hotel and quite close to Fisherman’s Wharf that is blessed with floating restaurants and homes. “Sleepless in Seattle” came to mind where Tom Hanks and his son hung out in a boathouse. I went to Barb’s seafood “shack” on the wharf for the “best fish and chips any where” and they were not bad. I sat at a table with a family from the docked Norwegian Cruise ship just up the road. Mark and his son Tom were from Seattle and they were there with Tom’s mom and and an aunt eating very fresh Sushi from a different “shack.” They clearly enjoyed their Japanese creations.
I walked around the floating neighborhood and took some photos of the various structures. There was a B&B that did not look all the inviting to me. There was a floating house for sale for around $480,000. Too rich for my blood. It was a pleasant, sunny evening with two so so singers jiving on the dock. I wandered back to my hotel, went for a swim to sooth my aching feet and finished off the evening with a Lager in the bar overlooking the harbor. It was an early evening, which is why I am writing this so early the next morning. I started about 4:15 AM and now it is a little after 5. Today, I go for a Whale Watch. Hopefully, my walking will be at a minimum.
I bid a fond farewell to Vancouver at 8:30 AM and began a trip that would take me to Victoria on Vancouver Island via the BC Ferry. It was a bright sunny day and there was a strong breeze on the upper decks of the Ferry. I did a number of photos of the various small islands we navigated on our way. The 95 minute ride was smooth and relaxing.
After the ferry ride we got back on our bus for the next adventures on this day trip to Victoria. Marken was our bus driver. He was from Wales and had lots of one liners and puns to share with us along the way to Butchart Botanical Gardens. The gardens were the creation of Mrs. Butchart, the wife of a limestone quarry guy who gutted the countryside. When the limestone and related concrete industry ran out of material, Mrs Bouchart, now a very wealthy widowed lady, planted flora on all the ugly hillsides and began the creation of an incredibly beautiful park of color, forests, and well designed walkways. I have made a separate slide show for the gardens with all its unusual landscapes, beautiful flowers, and well placed walkways and stairs. Remember that Mrs. Butchart took an eye soar of a depleted quarry and turned it into a mosaic of shapes and colors and she did this over a century ago. There were two downsides to the gardens. It was very crowded and tough to find places to just sit and enjoy the surroundings. Secondly, it was almost too perfectly designed. I am not sure why that bothered me, but in its perfection, there was sense of people trying too hard to create the best Botanical Gardens ever. However, I am glad that I can add the Butchart Gardens to my list of many floral displays that I have seen on my trips both abroad and in the U.S. It was worth it.
So Marken our driver then transported us to the harbor area of downtown Victoria. The other people on the bus, none of whom I had talked to the entire day disembarked for a 90 minute walk around the harbor. They were all going back on the Ferry to Vancouver, but Marken dropped me off at the Coast Harbor Hotel located on the harbor. It is a brand new, very comfortable hotel and quite close to Fisherman’s Wharf that is blessed with floating restaurants and homes. “Sleepless in Seattle” came to mind where Tom Hanks and his son hung out in a boathouse. I went to Barb’s seafood “shack” on the wharf for the “best fish and chips any where” and they were not bad. I sat at a table with a family from the docked Norwegian Cruise ship just up the road. Mark and his son Tom were from Seattle and they were there with Tom’s mom and and an aunt eating very fresh Sushi from a different “shack.” They clearly enjoyed their Japanese creations.
I walked around the floating neighborhood and took some photos of the various structures. There was a B&B that did not look all the inviting to me. There was a floating house for sale for around $480,000. Too rich for my blood. It was a pleasant, sunny evening with two so so singers jiving on the dock. I wandered back to my hotel, went for a swim to sooth my aching feet and finished off the evening with a Lager in the bar overlooking the harbor. It was an early evening, which is why I am writing this so early the next morning. I started about 4:15 AM and now it is a little after 5. Today, I go for a Whale Watch. Hopefully, my walking will be at a minimum.
The Beautiful Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island
Victoria: Saturday, July 15, 2017
I had a lovely and exciting day in Victoria. It started with a shuttle ride from my hotel to Budget Rental Car where I confirmed my reservation for Sunday. I then spent the next two plus hours wandering the downtown area including the harbor where there is a Busker Festival going on this weekend. Buskers are street performers and I was able to capture a few photos of Buskers at work. I stopped at a local coffee shop and spent a little time on the Internet. One of the interesting shows I saw in the harbor was the “Water Ballet” performed by the tiny taxi boats that are navigating the harbor during the day time. I made a movie of part of the show staged and presented as a water ballet. I had a late morning ice cream cone and got in line to wait for boarding the Prince of Whales boat to take us on a three hour journey in search of either killer or humpback whales. Fortunately, I brought my LL Bean jacket that kept me quite warm during the trip when many were freezing and covered with blankets.
Lilly was our guide and she was the best. She gave us more information about whales than I ever could have absorbed from a brochure or a book. She spoke with great passion about her friends, the killer and humpback whales. She prepared us well for the several sightings we encountered as evidenced by the selected photos below. She said that we saw three individual whales who surfaced a total of six times. It was thrilling every time we saw a water spout because we knew it would shortly be followed with a huge humpback whale rolling across the surface in preparation for a dive. Several times we saw the tail of the whale as it began its next dive. People on the boat got very excited and with the wind and the rocking boat it was difficult to get a clear shot, but I did get a few. At one point the wind was strong and the boat moving so fast that I lost my favorite “Wisconsin Education” hat, I thought forever. Much to my surprise and great pleasure a man sitting toward the stern of the boat caught it and I got it back. Just one of the great little stories of our search for whales.
We stopped by the Lighthouse at Race Rock to witness sea lions, seals, and related wildlife basking on the rocks and then we headed home. We never saw Ollie the otter and a bald eagle. These particular wild life sightings were anticlimactic after the whales, but the boat slowed and we could all sit quietly for a short time. It was a great trip with lots of cold and wind, but the whale sightings made it worth it. To top it off, the woman sitting next to me on the boat had a non-stop infectious laugh that was great fun. She was native to Vancouver Island and along with her husband were entertaining a couple from Iran. She just enjoyed every bump and jerky movement of the boat. Two Asian women sitting next to me were huddled in blankets. I kept fearing that I would fall into them when the boat was hitting the waves and knocking me off balance. They were very gracious and forgave me any off balance bumps.
When the trip ended around 3 PM in the afternoon I wandered up to an Irish Pub, had a beer and some calamari and then decided to take a water taxi like the ones in the morning water ballet back to my hotel. It was a pleasant ride back to Fisherman’s Wharf and the short walk back to the Coast Victoria Hotel and Marina. I rested for a couple of hours and then found the Italian Restaurant across the street was fully booked. I wandered back to Fisherman’s Wharf for a much less expensive brat and root beer. While enjoying the delicious brat I met Mike and Bonnie from St. Simon’s Georgia. He is a retired professor from the business school at Georgia Southern University. We had a great time talking about our travels and families. We walked back to the hotel together. I hope to see them the next time I am in St. Simon’s. Traveling alone has its challenges, but I continue to enjoy the serendipitous experiences that just happen because you are traveling. These short encounters with people fare only or a short time, but they greatly add to the richness of journey. Lilly, the laughing woman from Vancouver Island, and Bonny and Mike are are new additions to my growing list of first and last meetings that includes Blair, the older waiter at the steak house where I had halibut, Bella-Amy the waitress, Jeff the singer, Marken the bus driver, Mark and Tom From San Diego, and Mary and Rodger from Scotland.
I had a lovely and exciting day in Victoria. It started with a shuttle ride from my hotel to Budget Rental Car where I confirmed my reservation for Sunday. I then spent the next two plus hours wandering the downtown area including the harbor where there is a Busker Festival going on this weekend. Buskers are street performers and I was able to capture a few photos of Buskers at work. I stopped at a local coffee shop and spent a little time on the Internet. One of the interesting shows I saw in the harbor was the “Water Ballet” performed by the tiny taxi boats that are navigating the harbor during the day time. I made a movie of part of the show staged and presented as a water ballet. I had a late morning ice cream cone and got in line to wait for boarding the Prince of Whales boat to take us on a three hour journey in search of either killer or humpback whales. Fortunately, I brought my LL Bean jacket that kept me quite warm during the trip when many were freezing and covered with blankets.
Lilly was our guide and she was the best. She gave us more information about whales than I ever could have absorbed from a brochure or a book. She spoke with great passion about her friends, the killer and humpback whales. She prepared us well for the several sightings we encountered as evidenced by the selected photos below. She said that we saw three individual whales who surfaced a total of six times. It was thrilling every time we saw a water spout because we knew it would shortly be followed with a huge humpback whale rolling across the surface in preparation for a dive. Several times we saw the tail of the whale as it began its next dive. People on the boat got very excited and with the wind and the rocking boat it was difficult to get a clear shot, but I did get a few. At one point the wind was strong and the boat moving so fast that I lost my favorite “Wisconsin Education” hat, I thought forever. Much to my surprise and great pleasure a man sitting toward the stern of the boat caught it and I got it back. Just one of the great little stories of our search for whales.
We stopped by the Lighthouse at Race Rock to witness sea lions, seals, and related wildlife basking on the rocks and then we headed home. We never saw Ollie the otter and a bald eagle. These particular wild life sightings were anticlimactic after the whales, but the boat slowed and we could all sit quietly for a short time. It was a great trip with lots of cold and wind, but the whale sightings made it worth it. To top it off, the woman sitting next to me on the boat had a non-stop infectious laugh that was great fun. She was native to Vancouver Island and along with her husband were entertaining a couple from Iran. She just enjoyed every bump and jerky movement of the boat. Two Asian women sitting next to me were huddled in blankets. I kept fearing that I would fall into them when the boat was hitting the waves and knocking me off balance. They were very gracious and forgave me any off balance bumps.
When the trip ended around 3 PM in the afternoon I wandered up to an Irish Pub, had a beer and some calamari and then decided to take a water taxi like the ones in the morning water ballet back to my hotel. It was a pleasant ride back to Fisherman’s Wharf and the short walk back to the Coast Victoria Hotel and Marina. I rested for a couple of hours and then found the Italian Restaurant across the street was fully booked. I wandered back to Fisherman’s Wharf for a much less expensive brat and root beer. While enjoying the delicious brat I met Mike and Bonnie from St. Simon’s Georgia. He is a retired professor from the business school at Georgia Southern University. We had a great time talking about our travels and families. We walked back to the hotel together. I hope to see them the next time I am in St. Simon’s. Traveling alone has its challenges, but I continue to enjoy the serendipitous experiences that just happen because you are traveling. These short encounters with people fare only or a short time, but they greatly add to the richness of journey. Lilly, the laughing woman from Vancouver Island, and Bonny and Mike are are new additions to my growing list of first and last meetings that includes Blair, the older waiter at the steak house where I had halibut, Bella-Amy the waitress, Jeff the singer, Marken the bus driver, Mark and Tom From San Diego, and Mary and Rodger from Scotland.
Vancouver Island Journey: Sunday, July 16, 2017
Today was a day for travel. I picked up my car at the Budget rental place in Victoria. The car is a huge Toyota SUV, but it did well in getting me up the Trans Canada highway to Campbell River. Early on, I stopped to attend Mass at St. Joseph the Worker Parish just outside of Victoria. It was another opportunity to meet a new person for my list. Her name is Lisa, who was married to a representative of the United Nations. They had lived in many places around the world, but here she is, now widowed, living in neat Victoria, BC and part of a Church congregation that was welcoming and exciting. The guitar music and folk style church singing along with the great conversationalist, Lisa, made my stop at the church quite positive.
After Mass, I took off for Campbell River. Little did I know that the highway is loaded with stoplights between Victoria and Naiamo, some 100+ km down the road. After Naiamo, it became more of a super highway and I arrived at the Painter’s Lodge in Campbell River about 2:30 PM. It is now 4:20 and I am sitting on the deck of my room looking at the River, sipping some white wine, and deciding to write this peace now rather than early tomorrow morning. I still have some time ahead of me, but I will spend this evening in the quiet surroundings of these beautiful grounds. I intend to have dinner at the Lodge and watch the sun go down later this evening. This trip has been filled with great variety so far. From urban, to smaller harbor town, to quiet lodge in the the center of Vancouver Island, this trip is becoming special. I do not want to jinx it, but I am loving Canada and this part of it. Fortunately, my photos are few today and that is a good thing.
I had a real salmon burger at the Pub. This is a quiet place with serene water and mountain views. Tomorrow, I plan to visit the suspension bridge at the park in Gold River. I also am thinking about taking the mini-ferry to Quadra Island and ride an electric bike. I cannot seem to figure out if this place has air conditioning beyond the fresh air of the open windows. I may have turned the heat on last night thinking it was air, but I am still in somewhat of a quandary. This place does have a very different feel to it than my two previous stops on this trip.
Today was a day for travel. I picked up my car at the Budget rental place in Victoria. The car is a huge Toyota SUV, but it did well in getting me up the Trans Canada highway to Campbell River. Early on, I stopped to attend Mass at St. Joseph the Worker Parish just outside of Victoria. It was another opportunity to meet a new person for my list. Her name is Lisa, who was married to a representative of the United Nations. They had lived in many places around the world, but here she is, now widowed, living in neat Victoria, BC and part of a Church congregation that was welcoming and exciting. The guitar music and folk style church singing along with the great conversationalist, Lisa, made my stop at the church quite positive.
After Mass, I took off for Campbell River. Little did I know that the highway is loaded with stoplights between Victoria and Naiamo, some 100+ km down the road. After Naiamo, it became more of a super highway and I arrived at the Painter’s Lodge in Campbell River about 2:30 PM. It is now 4:20 and I am sitting on the deck of my room looking at the River, sipping some white wine, and deciding to write this peace now rather than early tomorrow morning. I still have some time ahead of me, but I will spend this evening in the quiet surroundings of these beautiful grounds. I intend to have dinner at the Lodge and watch the sun go down later this evening. This trip has been filled with great variety so far. From urban, to smaller harbor town, to quiet lodge in the the center of Vancouver Island, this trip is becoming special. I do not want to jinx it, but I am loving Canada and this part of it. Fortunately, my photos are few today and that is a good thing.
I had a real salmon burger at the Pub. This is a quiet place with serene water and mountain views. Tomorrow, I plan to visit the suspension bridge at the park in Gold River. I also am thinking about taking the mini-ferry to Quadra Island and ride an electric bike. I cannot seem to figure out if this place has air conditioning beyond the fresh air of the open windows. I may have turned the heat on last night thinking it was air, but I am still in somewhat of a quandary. This place does have a very different feel to it than my two previous stops on this trip.
Campbell River: Monday, July 17, 2017
After a rather large breakfast at the resort, I went downtown and did my first batch of laundry on the trip. It was a great laundromat with a very helpful attendant. After, I put the load in, I wandered down to a nearby coffee shop and waited for the 30 minutes washing time to go by. I met Serge from Alberta at the laundry and we had one of those typical onetime conversations that I have when I meet people by chance on these trips. We made small talk about vacations, places to see in BC and Alberta and he discussed a bit about his family. I was happy to meet Serge and to get my first load of laundry done so early in the morning.
I came back to the resort and prepared myself to visit Elk Falls just down the road and up a mountain. I had to walk a little way, but I found the suspension bridge and the falls after a 1.2 km walk. It was an impressive falls, supposedly the highest in BC. A very nice lady took my photo overlooking the falls to proof once more that I was where I said I was.
Arriving back at the resort, I decided to take the water taxi across to Quadro Island where Painter’s sister resort resides. It was a fast 10 minute ride across the water known as the Discovery Passage. It was no surprise that we passed in front of a large cruise ship on its way to Alaska. I was hoping to ride an electric bike once I got there, but I chickened out largely because my feet are not doing so well today and I did not want to take the chance of riding a bike alone on an Island I knew little about. You have to take a ferry to get to this island with a car, so there are roads and neighborhoods, etc; but I still chickened out. Instead, I walked for a bit down to the April Point Marina and listened to a guy next to me tell fish stories for a few minutes. Then back to the taxi and my resort for a short rest, a swim in the pool, a glass of wine on my deck, and a chance to bring this journal up to date.
I loaded photos on to my iPad and then chose my favorites, the first cut for my eventual posting on the Website when I return home. I am thinking about how to organize this travelogue. Perhaps I should use themes, e.g. Gardens, Water Experiences, and Landscapes, Special shots are some possible topics. I plan to go to the Pub at the resort tonight and relax. Tomorrow, I will start out early for Port Hardy. My feet are really bothering me. I hope by taking it a bit easy, they may feel better.
I had dinner at the Pub and a Jameson, just one, after dinner looking out at the water and Quadro Island. When I came back on to my room, I started working on the days photos when I saw a bald eagle land on one of the trees just to the right of my deck. He probably posed for 30 minutes before flying off. I did not get the fly off, but I did get a couple of shots of him on the tree. My trusty new Panasonic did quite well with this one. How exciting to see whales, eagles, and who knows what else---I hope a grizzly at a safe distance. My hope for seeing the great bear is in Prince Rupert a couple of days from now.
After a rather large breakfast at the resort, I went downtown and did my first batch of laundry on the trip. It was a great laundromat with a very helpful attendant. After, I put the load in, I wandered down to a nearby coffee shop and waited for the 30 minutes washing time to go by. I met Serge from Alberta at the laundry and we had one of those typical onetime conversations that I have when I meet people by chance on these trips. We made small talk about vacations, places to see in BC and Alberta and he discussed a bit about his family. I was happy to meet Serge and to get my first load of laundry done so early in the morning.
I came back to the resort and prepared myself to visit Elk Falls just down the road and up a mountain. I had to walk a little way, but I found the suspension bridge and the falls after a 1.2 km walk. It was an impressive falls, supposedly the highest in BC. A very nice lady took my photo overlooking the falls to proof once more that I was where I said I was.
Arriving back at the resort, I decided to take the water taxi across to Quadro Island where Painter’s sister resort resides. It was a fast 10 minute ride across the water known as the Discovery Passage. It was no surprise that we passed in front of a large cruise ship on its way to Alaska. I was hoping to ride an electric bike once I got there, but I chickened out largely because my feet are not doing so well today and I did not want to take the chance of riding a bike alone on an Island I knew little about. You have to take a ferry to get to this island with a car, so there are roads and neighborhoods, etc; but I still chickened out. Instead, I walked for a bit down to the April Point Marina and listened to a guy next to me tell fish stories for a few minutes. Then back to the taxi and my resort for a short rest, a swim in the pool, a glass of wine on my deck, and a chance to bring this journal up to date.
I loaded photos on to my iPad and then chose my favorites, the first cut for my eventual posting on the Website when I return home. I am thinking about how to organize this travelogue. Perhaps I should use themes, e.g. Gardens, Water Experiences, and Landscapes, Special shots are some possible topics. I plan to go to the Pub at the resort tonight and relax. Tomorrow, I will start out early for Port Hardy. My feet are really bothering me. I hope by taking it a bit easy, they may feel better.
I had dinner at the Pub and a Jameson, just one, after dinner looking out at the water and Quadro Island. When I came back on to my room, I started working on the days photos when I saw a bald eagle land on one of the trees just to the right of my deck. He probably posed for 30 minutes before flying off. I did not get the fly off, but I did get a couple of shots of him on the tree. My trusty new Panasonic did quite well with this one. How exciting to see whales, eagles, and who knows what else---I hope a grizzly at a safe distance. My hope for seeing the great bear is in Prince Rupert a couple of days from now.
Port Hardy: Tuesday, July 18
I had another good breakfast at the resort restaurant and then headed off for Port Hardy around 8:00 AM. I did not know what to expect. I was greeted with a very small amount of northbound traffic for the 3 hour drive. The whole route is picturesque with lakes, mountains- even some with snow on the peaks, and forested valleys. There is simply no let up to the marvelous scenery on this part of the trip north from Victoria via Campbell River. I arrived in Port Hardy at 10:30, much too early to check in, but they told me my room might be ready by 12. In the meantime, I scoped out the town and the Budget rental place near the the dinky airport south and east of town. I stopped back at the Quarterdeck Resort and Marina at 12 and my room was ready. After dropping my luggage in my room, I decided to return the car, figuring I could walk along the harbor in the afternoon to kill time. The nice gentleman at Budget rental said that I could keep the car and just turn the keys into the clerk at the hotel desk and he would pick up the car in the morning. What a great gesture. I used the car time to drive out to a small fishing village called Coal Port that was once the home of whaling ships. It was quaint and I took a few photos, then traveled back to Stories Beach where the tide was out and I could walk for long distances on the hard surfaced sand taking photos of people enjoying the pleasant day at the beach. I even saw one of those Alaska cruise ships moving up the Discovery Passage with a backdrop of snow covered mountains. I waded into the water and found it warmer than expected and quite refreshing. Thanks to my friend at Budget, I was able to have a special look at Port Hardy and vicinity.
I stopped at the Resort Pub for a beer and some pita with a dill sauce. I followed that up with a short nap to pass the time until dinner. I went to the Resort Pub for dinner and had a hamburger with a delicious Caesar salad, topped off with an apple crisp and ice cream dessert to die for. While eating, I saw two bald eagles perched on the top of a tall tree across the harbor. When I came out after dinner and walked a bit around the marina, I was able to catch the two eagles in flight. This is not as impressive as the photos from Campbell River, but I felt honored that they put on a brief show for me. It is important to note that eagles are so common here that the locals hardly notice. It is similar to my reaction when people “ooh” and “aah” when they see deer. I see them every day in my backyard. However, for me, seeing the eagles on two separate occasions was special. I know that they fly at the Shepaug Dam in Newtown, CT only 20 minutes from my house. It was still a thrill to get some photos of them. I am writing this entry knowing that I have to get up early tomorrow morning to catch the ferry.
I had another good breakfast at the resort restaurant and then headed off for Port Hardy around 8:00 AM. I did not know what to expect. I was greeted with a very small amount of northbound traffic for the 3 hour drive. The whole route is picturesque with lakes, mountains- even some with snow on the peaks, and forested valleys. There is simply no let up to the marvelous scenery on this part of the trip north from Victoria via Campbell River. I arrived in Port Hardy at 10:30, much too early to check in, but they told me my room might be ready by 12. In the meantime, I scoped out the town and the Budget rental place near the the dinky airport south and east of town. I stopped back at the Quarterdeck Resort and Marina at 12 and my room was ready. After dropping my luggage in my room, I decided to return the car, figuring I could walk along the harbor in the afternoon to kill time. The nice gentleman at Budget rental said that I could keep the car and just turn the keys into the clerk at the hotel desk and he would pick up the car in the morning. What a great gesture. I used the car time to drive out to a small fishing village called Coal Port that was once the home of whaling ships. It was quaint and I took a few photos, then traveled back to Stories Beach where the tide was out and I could walk for long distances on the hard surfaced sand taking photos of people enjoying the pleasant day at the beach. I even saw one of those Alaska cruise ships moving up the Discovery Passage with a backdrop of snow covered mountains. I waded into the water and found it warmer than expected and quite refreshing. Thanks to my friend at Budget, I was able to have a special look at Port Hardy and vicinity.
I stopped at the Resort Pub for a beer and some pita with a dill sauce. I followed that up with a short nap to pass the time until dinner. I went to the Resort Pub for dinner and had a hamburger with a delicious Caesar salad, topped off with an apple crisp and ice cream dessert to die for. While eating, I saw two bald eagles perched on the top of a tall tree across the harbor. When I came out after dinner and walked a bit around the marina, I was able to catch the two eagles in flight. This is not as impressive as the photos from Campbell River, but I felt honored that they put on a brief show for me. It is important to note that eagles are so common here that the locals hardly notice. It is similar to my reaction when people “ooh” and “aah” when they see deer. I see them every day in my backyard. However, for me, seeing the eagles on two separate occasions was special. I know that they fly at the Shepaug Dam in Newtown, CT only 20 minutes from my house. It was still a thrill to get some photos of them. I am writing this entry knowing that I have to get up early tomorrow morning to catch the ferry.
BC Ferry Inside Channel: July 19, 2017
I woke at 4 and began the preparation for my 16 hour Ferry ride up to Prince Rupert. The Ferry left about 20 minutes late, but the Captain assured us he would make up the time. This is without a doubt some of the most dramatic scenery that I have ever witnessed. I have taken a lot of photos that I hope will tell the visual story. My personal cabin has two beds, a desk, and a bathroom. I have spent most of my time on the outside deck with my jacket on and taking pictures, but I did catch a few morning winks. Most of my time inside the ferry has been spent in the cafe area where I have worked on some of my photos and now I am writing this segment of the journal. It is 3:15 on a beautiful afternoon and we still have 8 hours to go. The most dramatic scenery is supposedly yet to come as we get closer to Prince Rupert. There should be day light for most of it and even a sunset thrown in.
We made one stop on the way north at Bella Bella. It is a small Heiltsuk First Nation community of about 1400 residents (Wikipedia). Bella Bella is a ferry transfer point for boats to smaller communities on the Inside Passage. It took a long time to get people and cars on and off the boat, but patience is all one needs on a journey of this type. There were a group of Kayak campers who disembarked in Bella Bella and I took some photos of them preparing their kayaks. I was amazed at how much stuff they squeeze into the nooks and crannies of the kayaks, while still leaving enough room for their body. We left port before they launched, but it was fun to watch them prepare. A couple of passengers walked their dogs and some trucks make their way off the ferry, one moving quite slowly. When we were leaving Bella Bella, we passed a camping lodge on a small island nearby. We saw passengers from our ferry board a small power boat for the ride to the camp. This is wilderness, but as we pulled away, an airplane appeared to land nearby. It did not appear to be seaplane, but a regular type with wheels.
The rest of the trip was filled with more of the same. Snow capped mountains in the the distance, heavily forested green mountains to both the left and right of the ferry, calm water for the ferry, and plenty of sunshine, particularly on Deck 6 in the rear of the boat. Deck 5 below was the designated smoking area for the boat and there was one guy smoking pot as the fumes wandered up from below. I had fish and chips for dinner and continued to take photos (way too many again) of the scenes as they changed slightly on the trip. Sixteen hours is a long time on a Ferry as comfortable as it was. One day of this kind of travel was enough for me, but I am very glad my journey included it. There were miles and miles of pristine scenery with no humans in sight. Bella Bella was the only significant village we saw on our way to Prince Rupert. About two hours out from landing, there was a lone small fishing boat that passed us going the opposite direction. I did get a couple of nice shots at sunset around 10 PM. My photos will tell the story.
Upon landing, we walked off the boat, retrieved our luggage and I shared a cab with Olive to the Crest Hotel. I had met her on the morning shuttle going to the boat in Port Hardy. She was an impressive older woman who is a kayaker and had just spent a week with a group, kayaking and camping in the Port Hardy area. She says she has been doing this for seven years, but this may be the last one. She lives in the UK,
We checked in by 12 AM. My room is very nice, overlooking the harbor area. I am looking forward to the Grizzly Tour tomorrow.
I woke at 4 and began the preparation for my 16 hour Ferry ride up to Prince Rupert. The Ferry left about 20 minutes late, but the Captain assured us he would make up the time. This is without a doubt some of the most dramatic scenery that I have ever witnessed. I have taken a lot of photos that I hope will tell the visual story. My personal cabin has two beds, a desk, and a bathroom. I have spent most of my time on the outside deck with my jacket on and taking pictures, but I did catch a few morning winks. Most of my time inside the ferry has been spent in the cafe area where I have worked on some of my photos and now I am writing this segment of the journal. It is 3:15 on a beautiful afternoon and we still have 8 hours to go. The most dramatic scenery is supposedly yet to come as we get closer to Prince Rupert. There should be day light for most of it and even a sunset thrown in.
We made one stop on the way north at Bella Bella. It is a small Heiltsuk First Nation community of about 1400 residents (Wikipedia). Bella Bella is a ferry transfer point for boats to smaller communities on the Inside Passage. It took a long time to get people and cars on and off the boat, but patience is all one needs on a journey of this type. There were a group of Kayak campers who disembarked in Bella Bella and I took some photos of them preparing their kayaks. I was amazed at how much stuff they squeeze into the nooks and crannies of the kayaks, while still leaving enough room for their body. We left port before they launched, but it was fun to watch them prepare. A couple of passengers walked their dogs and some trucks make their way off the ferry, one moving quite slowly. When we were leaving Bella Bella, we passed a camping lodge on a small island nearby. We saw passengers from our ferry board a small power boat for the ride to the camp. This is wilderness, but as we pulled away, an airplane appeared to land nearby. It did not appear to be seaplane, but a regular type with wheels.
The rest of the trip was filled with more of the same. Snow capped mountains in the the distance, heavily forested green mountains to both the left and right of the ferry, calm water for the ferry, and plenty of sunshine, particularly on Deck 6 in the rear of the boat. Deck 5 below was the designated smoking area for the boat and there was one guy smoking pot as the fumes wandered up from below. I had fish and chips for dinner and continued to take photos (way too many again) of the scenes as they changed slightly on the trip. Sixteen hours is a long time on a Ferry as comfortable as it was. One day of this kind of travel was enough for me, but I am very glad my journey included it. There were miles and miles of pristine scenery with no humans in sight. Bella Bella was the only significant village we saw on our way to Prince Rupert. About two hours out from landing, there was a lone small fishing boat that passed us going the opposite direction. I did get a couple of nice shots at sunset around 10 PM. My photos will tell the story.
Upon landing, we walked off the boat, retrieved our luggage and I shared a cab with Olive to the Crest Hotel. I had met her on the morning shuttle going to the boat in Port Hardy. She was an impressive older woman who is a kayaker and had just spent a week with a group, kayaking and camping in the Port Hardy area. She says she has been doing this for seven years, but this may be the last one. She lives in the UK,
We checked in by 12 AM. My room is very nice, overlooking the harbor area. I am looking forward to the Grizzly Tour tomorrow.
Prince Rupert: Thursday, July 20
I decided to get a breakfast of French Toast and bacon while overlooking Prince Rupert Harbor. I went on a discovery walk to find a 7/11 for an ATM and then on to Safeway for some good old fashion deodorant. The antiperspirant I have is bothering me as it has in the past, so I have remedied that situation. I scoped out the harbor walk and found the place for my Grizzly Tour just a short walk from my hotel. The port walk is quite pleasant and at the end I found a transplanted antique railroad station that is reminiscent of the old RR stations on Via Rail Canada. It is now a museum, but was not open. I spent the rest of the morning working on my journal and photos.
We left by boat for the Grizzly Tour at 1 PM where I first realized this is an 8 hour day, totally on water with no walking on land. We went north toward Alaska on the Chatham Sound and then over to the Khutzaymateen Inlet ( a beautiful fjord) to search for grizzlies. Along the way we saw humpback whales, harbor seals, numerous eagles, and lots of beautiful scenery. We found at least four bears. Three were most likely a family, the fourth a loner. I was able to catch some satisfactory photos of the bears. Our captain is an exceptional photographer and he shared with us via Apple Air drop his photos of the bears and the whales that he took on this trip.
It was a long day, but a very worthwhile one. I met Jason, the Episcopal minister for Prince Rupert who is moving his family to Alberta in the next few weeks to accept a new assignment. He filled me in on much of the local history, particularly information about the First Nation “bands” on the islands in the area of Prince Rupert. We arrived back around 9 PM after a flying demonstration of eagles brought on by the staff of the boat throwing pieces of chum off the boat. It was quite a show, but I have seen enough eagles now to satisfy me for along time.
I went for a class of red wine and a sandwich in the hotel pub and tried to get to sleep. The noise from the pub deck below made it difficult. Hotels up here do not have air conditioning in the rooms, so you open your windows. I had a beautiful view from my room at the Crest, but also the inconvenience of late night noise. I mentioned the concern to the hotel clerk this morning and she said there had been another complaint.
Today, I board the train for Prince George and Jasper at 8 AM. At the present time, I am sitting outside the railroad terminal that shares space with BC Ferries, the same company that brought me from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert on Wednesday. It is quite cloudy today, which has been an unusual occurrence during my trip. An employee of BC Ferries just told me that any day here when it is not raining is a good day. So far, we just have clouds.
I decided to get a breakfast of French Toast and bacon while overlooking Prince Rupert Harbor. I went on a discovery walk to find a 7/11 for an ATM and then on to Safeway for some good old fashion deodorant. The antiperspirant I have is bothering me as it has in the past, so I have remedied that situation. I scoped out the harbor walk and found the place for my Grizzly Tour just a short walk from my hotel. The port walk is quite pleasant and at the end I found a transplanted antique railroad station that is reminiscent of the old RR stations on Via Rail Canada. It is now a museum, but was not open. I spent the rest of the morning working on my journal and photos.
We left by boat for the Grizzly Tour at 1 PM where I first realized this is an 8 hour day, totally on water with no walking on land. We went north toward Alaska on the Chatham Sound and then over to the Khutzaymateen Inlet ( a beautiful fjord) to search for grizzlies. Along the way we saw humpback whales, harbor seals, numerous eagles, and lots of beautiful scenery. We found at least four bears. Three were most likely a family, the fourth a loner. I was able to catch some satisfactory photos of the bears. Our captain is an exceptional photographer and he shared with us via Apple Air drop his photos of the bears and the whales that he took on this trip.
It was a long day, but a very worthwhile one. I met Jason, the Episcopal minister for Prince Rupert who is moving his family to Alberta in the next few weeks to accept a new assignment. He filled me in on much of the local history, particularly information about the First Nation “bands” on the islands in the area of Prince Rupert. We arrived back around 9 PM after a flying demonstration of eagles brought on by the staff of the boat throwing pieces of chum off the boat. It was quite a show, but I have seen enough eagles now to satisfy me for along time.
I went for a class of red wine and a sandwich in the hotel pub and tried to get to sleep. The noise from the pub deck below made it difficult. Hotels up here do not have air conditioning in the rooms, so you open your windows. I had a beautiful view from my room at the Crest, but also the inconvenience of late night noise. I mentioned the concern to the hotel clerk this morning and she said there had been another complaint.
Today, I board the train for Prince George and Jasper at 8 AM. At the present time, I am sitting outside the railroad terminal that shares space with BC Ferries, the same company that brought me from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert on Wednesday. It is quite cloudy today, which has been an unusual occurrence during my trip. An employee of BC Ferries just told me that any day here when it is not raining is a good day. So far, we just have clouds.
Prince George: Friday, July 21, 2017
Note: There are two days of Journal entries for this first train ride. The photos below were taken over the two days.
This was another long day, but his time on a train. It was an overcast day, but with only a few drops of rain in the beginning of the trip. The scenery for the first 250 miles was spectacular. I took all of the photos, except for a few, through the windows on the train, so the quality leaves something to be desired. Ron and Gill (pronounce g like a j) were our attendants on the train and they were upbeat and funny, They served breakfast, lunch, and dinner with lots of laughs. There was a tour group from Edmonton on the train and it was fun to talk to many of them. The train was delayed for an hour at least once waiting for an extra long freight train to pass. In Canada, freight trains have the right of way. It was a pleasant day without much stress. The tour group left the train about an hour before we arrived in Prince George. The seats and accommodations were most comfortable and made the length of the day much more bearable.
My optimism on the lateness of the train was misplaced. We arrived in Prince George about 10:30. The good news was that I had a nice conversation with Olive Carter the kayaking lady from England (last name unknown at this point) and the Mosses from England (first names unknown at this point) for the 2.5 hour journey from Vanderhoof to Prince George. Everyone shared stories about their trip. The Mosses and I had come up on the same Ferry from Port Hardy and we were also on the Grizzly trip together, but never met until the end of the train ride. It turns out that our hotel, the Coast Inn, was only about eight blocks from the train station so the Mosses and I walked the distance. It was good exercise after a long day of sitting on the train. I fell into bed about 11, started watching Colbert, but turned him off recognizing that it was an old show. Colbert’s humor is so contemporary re the U.S. political situation that it is not worth watching old shows. I got about 4.5 hours sleep, which will just have to do. We still have an 8 hour train ride ahead of us today, assuming we are not delayed too often.
Note: There are two days of Journal entries for this first train ride. The photos below were taken over the two days.
This was another long day, but his time on a train. It was an overcast day, but with only a few drops of rain in the beginning of the trip. The scenery for the first 250 miles was spectacular. I took all of the photos, except for a few, through the windows on the train, so the quality leaves something to be desired. Ron and Gill (pronounce g like a j) were our attendants on the train and they were upbeat and funny, They served breakfast, lunch, and dinner with lots of laughs. There was a tour group from Edmonton on the train and it was fun to talk to many of them. The train was delayed for an hour at least once waiting for an extra long freight train to pass. In Canada, freight trains have the right of way. It was a pleasant day without much stress. The tour group left the train about an hour before we arrived in Prince George. The seats and accommodations were most comfortable and made the length of the day much more bearable.
My optimism on the lateness of the train was misplaced. We arrived in Prince George about 10:30. The good news was that I had a nice conversation with Olive Carter the kayaking lady from England (last name unknown at this point) and the Mosses from England (first names unknown at this point) for the 2.5 hour journey from Vanderhoof to Prince George. Everyone shared stories about their trip. The Mosses and I had come up on the same Ferry from Port Hardy and we were also on the Grizzly trip together, but never met until the end of the train ride. It turns out that our hotel, the Coast Inn, was only about eight blocks from the train station so the Mosses and I walked the distance. It was good exercise after a long day of sitting on the train. I fell into bed about 11, started watching Colbert, but turned him off recognizing that it was an old show. Colbert’s humor is so contemporary re the U.S. political situation that it is not worth watching old shows. I got about 4.5 hours sleep, which will just have to do. We still have an 8 hour train ride ahead of us today, assuming we are not delayed too often.
Prince George to Jasper, Alberta: Saturday, July 22, 2017
So after an early morning walk and a stop at the local Starbuck’s, I wandered down to the RR Station to catch our train to Jasper at 9:45. Well let it be said that the train system in British Columbia at least on the northern VIA route leaves a lot to be desired. Super freight trains that can be up to 15000 feet long can tie up main tracks for hours. We were 3 hours late pulling out of the station, which probably means an ETA in Jasper around 9 PM Mountain Time, assuming there are no future delays. The four of us in the “Touring Class” had two train cars all to ourselves and we spent the time talking to each other and in my case sitting in the dome car. Right now, at 4:30 PM we are moving quite well with a wide river to the left of us and distant mountain ranges in sight. I am taking a break from conversation with Graham, Fiona, Olive, and our incredible attendant Ron telling stories about the vast forested area around us, Rose, a local who gets the train to stop near her secluded property on the rail line, and the politics of Trump, Obamacare, and Brexit. It helps to pass the time. The scenery is often dramatic, but sometimes quietly subtle with its wild flowers and various green plants and trees. To the right of me is a mountain in the Caroub mountain rage with a glacier nestled into its crevices hundreds of feet above us. We have been traveling in a valley populated by the Fraser River and wildness . There are gravel roads and an occasional house or farm, but wilderness is the evident characteristic.
As we moved closer to the British Columbia and Alberta border, we entered deep into the “heart” of the Canadian Rockies. We continued to move along side of the Fraser River until it turned into Moose Lake. The train moved through a narrow opening between the trees and we began to to get wide open views of the the highest points in the Canadian Rockies. The highest point could not be seen because of cloud cover. It is only visible an average of 12 days per year and today was not one of them. The last third of the ride into Jasper was dramatic and beautiful. However, there is a bug, the pine beetle, that has infested the pine trees in the area. It causes the trees to die, but turn red as the disease progresses in each tree. The hillsides near Jasper were filled with the red colored dying pines.
Our train was 3 hours late getting into Jasper and the person from Sun Dogs did not meet me. Fortunately, the Crimson Hotel was a brief walk from the station along the main shopping area of Jasper. After the long train ride, I was happy to see my hotel room, but I took the time to celebrate my arrival with a single beer in the hotel bar. I was in bed by 11. Unfortunately, I neglected to take a photo of my train friends, Olive, Graham, and Fiona.
Final comments on the first experience on Canadian trains. The service was outstanding, the food quite fresh and good, and my three friends mentioned above along with Ron and Gill made the trip quite special. Chronic lateness is the scourge of the passenger train system in Canada. The small little passenger line from Prince Rupert to Jasper via Prince George must give way to the lengthy super freight trains carrying endless amounts of containers, mostly from China. It is frustrating, but the scenery and the people you meet on the train make up for the stress caused in waiting to move. As a result of this experience, I am considering adding an extra night in Vancouver to guarantee that the very real potential for the Rocky Mountaineer from Banff to Vancouver via Kamloops to be late will give me some extra wind down time before getting on the plane for home. I will scope all of this out on Monday with Molly at Fresh Tracks Canada.
The photos below are in no particular chronological 2 day order and may not always connect with the sequence of the text, but I thought organizing this slide show around landscape themes might be a better viewing experience.
Jasper: Sunday, July 23, 2017
Unfortunately, my trip with Sundog tours was scheduled to begin at the same time that the only Mass on Sunday at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Jasper was scheduled. I like to attend Mass on my travels when I can, but today it was not possible. The trip to Maligne Lake and to see the Maligne Canyon were wonderful sightseeing trips. I sort of kept dozing off while riding in the mini-bus, primarily because my sleep on this trip as rarely gone beyond my five hour minimum requirement. We stopped first at Medicine Lake which is far below Maligne Lake. We observed an eagle’s nest and I caught some pristine views of the lake. This lake is dependent on runoff from winter snows and the glaciers on the mountains above. Although it is about 60 feet deep in spots in the summer, it almost dries up in the winter as it awaits the rush of water falling through the Maligne canyon and caves from above in spring. It was a pleasant first stop on the trip. An Asian family were equipped with good photographic equipment, and a mother was posing her daughter for various shots near the lake. The daughter was dressed in a bright red flowing skirt that made for some nice picture taking with Medicine Lake in the background.
We continued up the road to Maligne Lake where we took a pleasant boat ride on the largest natural glacier lake in the Canadian Rockies. There are no dams to create an artificially larger lake. The runoff from the melting snows and glaciers provide the pristine water ways, which also offers kayakers and canoe enthusiasts quiet trips along the shoreline. The waters can be rough when the wind blows, but today the waters were shimmeringly calm, allowing for many small boat rowing experiences. The trip stops at Spirit Island, a small piece of land that carries many stories of the past. We observed the island from a well prepared pathway and I was able to capture some dramatic photos. A nice American couple agreed to take my photo with Spirit Island and Lake Maligne in the background.
On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at Maligne Canyon, the deep gorge that carries the rising glacier waters from Lake Maligne to Lake Medicine. There were small and great water falls with loud raging water noises passing into underground caves far below. This was a tour that brought nature’s best into a strikingly beautiful reality for me. Along the way, we observed an eagle’s nest, a black bear, and numerous deer.
I was dropped off at my hotel in mid afternoon and I decided to go for a walk through bustling downtown Jasper. It was quiet in the early morning when I took the first walk; but now, the tourists were evidenced in great, but not overwhelming numbers. On my walk, I ran into Graham and Fiona Moss and we decided to have dinner together. They were going to contact Olive to join us. When I returned to my room, I watched a replay of the British Open, which had been won earlier in the day by Jordan Spieth. Even though I already knew that he at won, it was fun to watch him play the final holes of the tournament. He is only 23 and has won three of the four major tournaments. Only Jack Nicholas had done the same before the age of 24. Not even Tiger Woods accomplished that.
The photos below generally follow the flow of water from the glacier to the end lake called Medicine. The photos to not follow the chronology of the journal.
Unfortunately, my trip with Sundog tours was scheduled to begin at the same time that the only Mass on Sunday at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Jasper was scheduled. I like to attend Mass on my travels when I can, but today it was not possible. The trip to Maligne Lake and to see the Maligne Canyon were wonderful sightseeing trips. I sort of kept dozing off while riding in the mini-bus, primarily because my sleep on this trip as rarely gone beyond my five hour minimum requirement. We stopped first at Medicine Lake which is far below Maligne Lake. We observed an eagle’s nest and I caught some pristine views of the lake. This lake is dependent on runoff from winter snows and the glaciers on the mountains above. Although it is about 60 feet deep in spots in the summer, it almost dries up in the winter as it awaits the rush of water falling through the Maligne canyon and caves from above in spring. It was a pleasant first stop on the trip. An Asian family were equipped with good photographic equipment, and a mother was posing her daughter for various shots near the lake. The daughter was dressed in a bright red flowing skirt that made for some nice picture taking with Medicine Lake in the background.
We continued up the road to Maligne Lake where we took a pleasant boat ride on the largest natural glacier lake in the Canadian Rockies. There are no dams to create an artificially larger lake. The runoff from the melting snows and glaciers provide the pristine water ways, which also offers kayakers and canoe enthusiasts quiet trips along the shoreline. The waters can be rough when the wind blows, but today the waters were shimmeringly calm, allowing for many small boat rowing experiences. The trip stops at Spirit Island, a small piece of land that carries many stories of the past. We observed the island from a well prepared pathway and I was able to capture some dramatic photos. A nice American couple agreed to take my photo with Spirit Island and Lake Maligne in the background.
On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at Maligne Canyon, the deep gorge that carries the rising glacier waters from Lake Maligne to Lake Medicine. There were small and great water falls with loud raging water noises passing into underground caves far below. This was a tour that brought nature’s best into a strikingly beautiful reality for me. Along the way, we observed an eagle’s nest, a black bear, and numerous deer.
I was dropped off at my hotel in mid afternoon and I decided to go for a walk through bustling downtown Jasper. It was quiet in the early morning when I took the first walk; but now, the tourists were evidenced in great, but not overwhelming numbers. On my walk, I ran into Graham and Fiona Moss and we decided to have dinner together. They were going to contact Olive to join us. When I returned to my room, I watched a replay of the British Open, which had been won earlier in the day by Jordan Spieth. Even though I already knew that he at won, it was fun to watch him play the final holes of the tournament. He is only 23 and has won three of the four major tournaments. Only Jack Nicholas had done the same before the age of 24. Not even Tiger Woods accomplished that.
The photos below generally follow the flow of water from the glacier to the end lake called Medicine. The photos to not follow the chronology of the journal.
Jasper: Monday, July 24, 2017
This morning I got up early and went and did my laundry to get me through the rest of the trip. I had a bagel and coffee at Tim Hortons. I also stopped in at the local bike rental and checked out the possibility of renting a bike. I decided not to do that.
I also thought about adding on an additional day to my trip to deal with the problem of late trains and an early arrival at the airport on August 1. After checking with my travel agent and my airlines, I decided it was too costly to add on the extra day. I will just have to grin and bear it.
I talked to Gina on the phone today. She told me that she mowed my lawn the day before. She asked Joe to show her how. I made a crack about how the women of 3 Renda St. never mowed the lawn for the 35 years that I have lived there. Gina reminded me that when she was much younger, she had offered to learn how, but I said no. Apparently, this was one of those rare opportunities in life when an opposite answer may have made later years a bit easier for me. However, mowing the lawn has always been therapeutic for me. At any rate, I am proud of Gina’s accomplishment last Sunday.
I did the Jasper tram and it was pretty impressive. The morning was quite gray and I was worried that visibility at the top of the mountain would not be great. However, the sun came out and the views were terrific. Ii also walked about halfway up to the peak from the tram. That was plenty of exercise for me, but it allowed me to take a couple of selfie's.
The views from the top of Whistlers were quite dramatic. I took a number of photos and spent some time at the café at the top of the mountain. I had an elk meat loaf sandwich for lunch with a nice glass of red wine. It was a pleasant experience.
While waiting for the bus, I met a young woman from Toronto on a holiday. Her name is Kathleen. We talked for the short 20 minute ride back to Jasper. The chatter was small talk, but just one more little plus on the board for making contact with others, as brief as those encounters may be.
After a swim in the pool and a little time in the hot tub soothing my aching feet, I ate dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. I sat at the bar and had a nice chat with a bartender who had lived in Jasper since the 80s. We chatted about the beauty of this little town and her love of being there.
Back at the hotel, I began to prepare to move on to Lake Louise.
This morning I got up early and went and did my laundry to get me through the rest of the trip. I had a bagel and coffee at Tim Hortons. I also stopped in at the local bike rental and checked out the possibility of renting a bike. I decided not to do that.
I also thought about adding on an additional day to my trip to deal with the problem of late trains and an early arrival at the airport on August 1. After checking with my travel agent and my airlines, I decided it was too costly to add on the extra day. I will just have to grin and bear it.
I talked to Gina on the phone today. She told me that she mowed my lawn the day before. She asked Joe to show her how. I made a crack about how the women of 3 Renda St. never mowed the lawn for the 35 years that I have lived there. Gina reminded me that when she was much younger, she had offered to learn how, but I said no. Apparently, this was one of those rare opportunities in life when an opposite answer may have made later years a bit easier for me. However, mowing the lawn has always been therapeutic for me. At any rate, I am proud of Gina’s accomplishment last Sunday.
I did the Jasper tram and it was pretty impressive. The morning was quite gray and I was worried that visibility at the top of the mountain would not be great. However, the sun came out and the views were terrific. Ii also walked about halfway up to the peak from the tram. That was plenty of exercise for me, but it allowed me to take a couple of selfie's.
The views from the top of Whistlers were quite dramatic. I took a number of photos and spent some time at the café at the top of the mountain. I had an elk meat loaf sandwich for lunch with a nice glass of red wine. It was a pleasant experience.
While waiting for the bus, I met a young woman from Toronto on a holiday. Her name is Kathleen. We talked for the short 20 minute ride back to Jasper. The chatter was small talk, but just one more little plus on the board for making contact with others, as brief as those encounters may be.
After a swim in the pool and a little time in the hot tub soothing my aching feet, I ate dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. I sat at the bar and had a nice chat with a bartender who had lived in Jasper since the 80s. We chatted about the beauty of this little town and her love of being there.
Back at the hotel, I began to prepare to move on to Lake Louise.
Lake Louise: Tuesday, July 25, 2017
So, I am beginning to doubt the quality of Sundog Tours. No one picked me up at the train station and yesterday, we had a driver that was a bit on the flakey side, but with some redeeming qualities. Her name is Terry, which was kind of a surprise connection to the coincidence that my late wife’s name is Terry and today would have been our 36th Wedding Anniversary. It sparked my early optimism about the trip, However, Terry--the driver--took a long time to pick everyone up, could not get the microphone to work in the early part of the trip, and was terribly disorganized in getting her 9 charges on the Glacier Walk and then picking us up at the end. She is a very laid back person, not bothered by anything and that probably is a flaw in directing one of these tours. However, she was loaded with historical and scientific information about the glaciers and the Canadian Rockies. I did share with her my concerns when she dropped me off at Lake Louise and she thanked me for the feedback. I gave her less of a tip at the end because of the flaws in the trip, but I am glad that I gave her the feedback at the same time.
This was a day of scenic beauty and as I worked on my photos before I went to bed, I am not sure that I fully captured the dramatic quality of the scenic Canadian Rockies and its glaciers, ice fields, and glacier lakes and rivers. The objective I have is to select a few photos to tell the story of the scenery and cover the wonder of this part of Canada. It is a different beauty than what I saw on Vancouver Island and the train ride from Prince Rupert to Jasper. Yes, I have have experienced a mosaic of oceans, rivers, and lakes; medium sized mountains and some of the highest peaks in North America; large, medium, and small communities, and met wonderful people along the way. The commonality is that Canadian people are just plain nice. The layers of scenic beauty, however, have provided me with new understandings of western Canada each day of the trip.
There were two women from Texas on the tour. Janel, the mom was traveling with her daughter, Julie. We sort of connected on the first stop at Athabaska Falls and we took photos of each other. We did that several times throughout the day. They were going on to Banff, but Julie had to make an important phone call in Lake Louise, and they sent the Sundog Bus and Terry on to Banff. So, I am sitting at the bar having a hamburger at one of the many restaurants in the Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise when I felt a tap on my shoulder and it was Janel telling me that they were waiting for a taxi to take them to Banff at 8 PM. Janel, Julie, and I spent the next hour chatting over a glass of wine on the patio and making small talk. They left at 8 and I could include one more serendipitous interaction with new folks in my growing list of travel stories. It is these encounters that add to the beauty of the sight seeing on these adventures of mine.
After they left, I wandered down to the Lake, took a seat and spent a little time listening to a young Canadian singer give her haunting rendition to many tunes that I knew. After transferring photos from camera to the iPad and choosing favorites, I fell into bed around 9:30. I slept OK, but here it is, 5:30 AM of a new day and I have been up for 90 minutes working on my photos and writing this entry.
So, I am beginning to doubt the quality of Sundog Tours. No one picked me up at the train station and yesterday, we had a driver that was a bit on the flakey side, but with some redeeming qualities. Her name is Terry, which was kind of a surprise connection to the coincidence that my late wife’s name is Terry and today would have been our 36th Wedding Anniversary. It sparked my early optimism about the trip, However, Terry--the driver--took a long time to pick everyone up, could not get the microphone to work in the early part of the trip, and was terribly disorganized in getting her 9 charges on the Glacier Walk and then picking us up at the end. She is a very laid back person, not bothered by anything and that probably is a flaw in directing one of these tours. However, she was loaded with historical and scientific information about the glaciers and the Canadian Rockies. I did share with her my concerns when she dropped me off at Lake Louise and she thanked me for the feedback. I gave her less of a tip at the end because of the flaws in the trip, but I am glad that I gave her the feedback at the same time.
This was a day of scenic beauty and as I worked on my photos before I went to bed, I am not sure that I fully captured the dramatic quality of the scenic Canadian Rockies and its glaciers, ice fields, and glacier lakes and rivers. The objective I have is to select a few photos to tell the story of the scenery and cover the wonder of this part of Canada. It is a different beauty than what I saw on Vancouver Island and the train ride from Prince Rupert to Jasper. Yes, I have have experienced a mosaic of oceans, rivers, and lakes; medium sized mountains and some of the highest peaks in North America; large, medium, and small communities, and met wonderful people along the way. The commonality is that Canadian people are just plain nice. The layers of scenic beauty, however, have provided me with new understandings of western Canada each day of the trip.
There were two women from Texas on the tour. Janel, the mom was traveling with her daughter, Julie. We sort of connected on the first stop at Athabaska Falls and we took photos of each other. We did that several times throughout the day. They were going on to Banff, but Julie had to make an important phone call in Lake Louise, and they sent the Sundog Bus and Terry on to Banff. So, I am sitting at the bar having a hamburger at one of the many restaurants in the Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise when I felt a tap on my shoulder and it was Janel telling me that they were waiting for a taxi to take them to Banff at 8 PM. Janel, Julie, and I spent the next hour chatting over a glass of wine on the patio and making small talk. They left at 8 and I could include one more serendipitous interaction with new folks in my growing list of travel stories. It is these encounters that add to the beauty of the sight seeing on these adventures of mine.
After they left, I wandered down to the Lake, took a seat and spent a little time listening to a young Canadian singer give her haunting rendition to many tunes that I knew. After transferring photos from camera to the iPad and choosing favorites, I fell into bed around 9:30. I slept OK, but here it is, 5:30 AM of a new day and I have been up for 90 minutes working on my photos and writing this entry.
Lake Louise: Wednesday, July 26, 2017
This was a day of leisure. I finally got up after watching some “Morning Joe” at 6:45. I showered and shaved and went to the Deli for a bagel and coffee. The toaster messed up my first bagel, but I was OK with the second one. After dealing with the flakiness of Terry the day before, I became annoyed with the laid back attitude of the waitress who proceeded to get my bagel stuck in the toaster. I was a bit rude and felt guilty about it later on. In moments of frustration, I have found that taking a couple of deep breaths helps with the patience barometer. Mea Culpa!
I went outside to eat and drink my coffee by the lake. I had my camera with me and I noted the early morning reflections of the mountain and glacier in the lake. I decided to see what the hiking trail was like along the west side of the lake. It turned out to be a long trail, but I walked about 1.25 miles out and back. Along the way, I stopped and took many photos from angles that you do not get from the hotel. I also decided to do some black and whites of rotted tree stumps along the way and found some interesting shapes.
I returned around 8:30 AM and decided to work on my photos in the Living Room sitting area on the third balcony above the lobby. It was a pleasant time. The morning went by and I continued to make slow progress on my photos. I opted for an ice cream cone for lunch and then went for a short walk on the left side of the lake toward the boat rental facility. I had options to do more hiking, but decided not to. I took a few more photos from that side of the lake and then around 2:30 decided to have a beer at the same bar as the day before. I met some nice people, Larry and Joy, from Phoenix. Joy has been a part time teacher in recent years after retiring as a nurse. They are Trump supporters, so we stayed away from politics and had a nice discussion about other things. I took their photo and they agreed that I could use their photos and write about them on the Website.
I came back to the room around 4:30 and dozed off for a couple of hours. I went to dinner again at the Alpine Social because the bar is a nice place to sit and the food reasonable. I met another Bella the bartender at a Fairmont, but this one claimed that it was her real name. She is from Toronto and has a degree in Travel and Hospitality. I told her my Bella story at the Fairmont in Vancouver, but also told her about Fresh Tracks Canada in Vancouver as a potential work place. The Halibut dinner was good. I had another ice cream for dessert, sat outside for awhile and packed it in about 9:30. I am doing this day’s entry now before I go to bed. I also worked on some more photos. I am up to 75 now. I suspect that I will have well over 250 for the Web when I complete the post processing.
Note inserted on Oct 2, 2017: (Unfortunately, as I am about to post this entry to the website, the total number of photos for posting is beyond the 250 goal mentioned above. I did try to cut photos as I went along; and, for those of you have stuck with me on this journey, you could probably make suggestions what more to cut. To quote some unremembered source: "It is what It is.")
I have a 10 AM pickup tomorrow to head to Banff with stops along the way.
This was a day of leisure. I finally got up after watching some “Morning Joe” at 6:45. I showered and shaved and went to the Deli for a bagel and coffee. The toaster messed up my first bagel, but I was OK with the second one. After dealing with the flakiness of Terry the day before, I became annoyed with the laid back attitude of the waitress who proceeded to get my bagel stuck in the toaster. I was a bit rude and felt guilty about it later on. In moments of frustration, I have found that taking a couple of deep breaths helps with the patience barometer. Mea Culpa!
I went outside to eat and drink my coffee by the lake. I had my camera with me and I noted the early morning reflections of the mountain and glacier in the lake. I decided to see what the hiking trail was like along the west side of the lake. It turned out to be a long trail, but I walked about 1.25 miles out and back. Along the way, I stopped and took many photos from angles that you do not get from the hotel. I also decided to do some black and whites of rotted tree stumps along the way and found some interesting shapes.
I returned around 8:30 AM and decided to work on my photos in the Living Room sitting area on the third balcony above the lobby. It was a pleasant time. The morning went by and I continued to make slow progress on my photos. I opted for an ice cream cone for lunch and then went for a short walk on the left side of the lake toward the boat rental facility. I had options to do more hiking, but decided not to. I took a few more photos from that side of the lake and then around 2:30 decided to have a beer at the same bar as the day before. I met some nice people, Larry and Joy, from Phoenix. Joy has been a part time teacher in recent years after retiring as a nurse. They are Trump supporters, so we stayed away from politics and had a nice discussion about other things. I took their photo and they agreed that I could use their photos and write about them on the Website.
I came back to the room around 4:30 and dozed off for a couple of hours. I went to dinner again at the Alpine Social because the bar is a nice place to sit and the food reasonable. I met another Bella the bartender at a Fairmont, but this one claimed that it was her real name. She is from Toronto and has a degree in Travel and Hospitality. I told her my Bella story at the Fairmont in Vancouver, but also told her about Fresh Tracks Canada in Vancouver as a potential work place. The Halibut dinner was good. I had another ice cream for dessert, sat outside for awhile and packed it in about 9:30. I am doing this day’s entry now before I go to bed. I also worked on some more photos. I am up to 75 now. I suspect that I will have well over 250 for the Web when I complete the post processing.
Note inserted on Oct 2, 2017: (Unfortunately, as I am about to post this entry to the website, the total number of photos for posting is beyond the 250 goal mentioned above. I did try to cut photos as I went along; and, for those of you have stuck with me on this journey, you could probably make suggestions what more to cut. To quote some unremembered source: "It is what It is.")
I have a 10 AM pickup tomorrow to head to Banff with stops along the way.
Banff: Thursday, July 27, 2017
I spent my last couple of hours at the Chateau Lake Louise looking at the scenery one last time. The day ahead on Brewster Tours was another day of phenomenal scenery. We started at Moraine Lake, a short distance from Lake Louise. We climbed a moraine of rocks left by the glacier to get the views of the lake depicted in the photos. It was a slightly energetic climb to the top, but I did it without losing my breath. We then stopped to take a look at the spiral railroad tunnels that run through the mountains near Lake Louise. It was an engineering feat to build these tunnels in the early 20th century. Later, on my train trip from Banff to Vancouver, I would actually pass through these tunnels.
On our way to Emerald Lake for lunch, we made an unplanned stop to observe the Kicking Horse River flowing powerfully. Emerald lake was discovered by Thomas Wilson who also discovered Lake Louise. It was more of nature’s beauty, which is almost non stop in this part of the Canadian Rockies. The most striking piece of beauty at Emerald Lake were the unique flowers that they are growing there. I had not seen several of these flowers on this trip. Perhaps the most stunning stop was at Takakkaw Falls where we were able to walk along the Kicking Horse River to see the second highest waterfall on the Canadian Rockies falling with great energy and power over a high cliff. I was able to get some interesting photos of the falls. There was a much more professional photographer than I using a tripod for his photo efforts. Throughout the day, I experimented with my black and white camera setting to see if I could capture some future content for photo canvases when I get home.
After our visits in a relatively small geographic area, we returned to Lake Louise to drop travelers off at hotels there. We then proceeded to Banff where we arrived at the Moose Hotel and Suites about 6:00 PM. My hotel is relatively new and located in the center of Banff, which is a hustling and bustling summer tourist destination. It is quaint and attractive, but filled with people walking the streets. The lines at the IGA were quite long. I walked up and down Banff Ave. to take a look and found familiar names of restaurants like the Keg and numerous gift shops. I stopped in at a Wine store to buy a bottle of wine, but in reaching for a bottle, I sustained a cut on the fourth finger of my right hand. It was one of those surface cuts like a paper cut that bleeds more than you think it should. At any rate, I left the wine store and went back to my hotel where I had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant called Pacini.
On a side note, I received two unknown charges on my car rental agreement with budget. It looks like they charged me twice for the drop off fee and then some other fee, which is unexplained. I called the rental place in Victoria twice, but got no response. Today, I may follow up with an email to Molly. I am beginning to feel like I am bugging them, but I guess that is what they get paid for. This was a wonderful, but costly holiday; so I need to get some answers to this issue. This problem was resolved later in the trip by Molly. I was unclear about a debit and credit made to my account. Once it was explained, it all made sense. Thanks again goes to Molly at Fresh Tracks.
We have another half day of touring scheduled for tomorrow. I do not know how much more my touring brain can handle. The beauty of oceans, rivers, lakes, mountains, valleys, etc begin to run together. I am so glad that I am keeping this contemporary journal for reference. Yesterday was the first day that I saw smoke drifting westward from the forest fires in British Columbia. It is supposed to rain today. Perhaps that will help with the smoke. If it does rain, it will be the second day of rain on this trip. The weather and the temperatures have been exceptional. Even when it comes close to 80, there are breezes that keep it quite comfortable.
I spent my last couple of hours at the Chateau Lake Louise looking at the scenery one last time. The day ahead on Brewster Tours was another day of phenomenal scenery. We started at Moraine Lake, a short distance from Lake Louise. We climbed a moraine of rocks left by the glacier to get the views of the lake depicted in the photos. It was a slightly energetic climb to the top, but I did it without losing my breath. We then stopped to take a look at the spiral railroad tunnels that run through the mountains near Lake Louise. It was an engineering feat to build these tunnels in the early 20th century. Later, on my train trip from Banff to Vancouver, I would actually pass through these tunnels.
On our way to Emerald Lake for lunch, we made an unplanned stop to observe the Kicking Horse River flowing powerfully. Emerald lake was discovered by Thomas Wilson who also discovered Lake Louise. It was more of nature’s beauty, which is almost non stop in this part of the Canadian Rockies. The most striking piece of beauty at Emerald Lake were the unique flowers that they are growing there. I had not seen several of these flowers on this trip. Perhaps the most stunning stop was at Takakkaw Falls where we were able to walk along the Kicking Horse River to see the second highest waterfall on the Canadian Rockies falling with great energy and power over a high cliff. I was able to get some interesting photos of the falls. There was a much more professional photographer than I using a tripod for his photo efforts. Throughout the day, I experimented with my black and white camera setting to see if I could capture some future content for photo canvases when I get home.
After our visits in a relatively small geographic area, we returned to Lake Louise to drop travelers off at hotels there. We then proceeded to Banff where we arrived at the Moose Hotel and Suites about 6:00 PM. My hotel is relatively new and located in the center of Banff, which is a hustling and bustling summer tourist destination. It is quaint and attractive, but filled with people walking the streets. The lines at the IGA were quite long. I walked up and down Banff Ave. to take a look and found familiar names of restaurants like the Keg and numerous gift shops. I stopped in at a Wine store to buy a bottle of wine, but in reaching for a bottle, I sustained a cut on the fourth finger of my right hand. It was one of those surface cuts like a paper cut that bleeds more than you think it should. At any rate, I left the wine store and went back to my hotel where I had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant called Pacini.
On a side note, I received two unknown charges on my car rental agreement with budget. It looks like they charged me twice for the drop off fee and then some other fee, which is unexplained. I called the rental place in Victoria twice, but got no response. Today, I may follow up with an email to Molly. I am beginning to feel like I am bugging them, but I guess that is what they get paid for. This was a wonderful, but costly holiday; so I need to get some answers to this issue. This problem was resolved later in the trip by Molly. I was unclear about a debit and credit made to my account. Once it was explained, it all made sense. Thanks again goes to Molly at Fresh Tracks.
We have another half day of touring scheduled for tomorrow. I do not know how much more my touring brain can handle. The beauty of oceans, rivers, lakes, mountains, valleys, etc begin to run together. I am so glad that I am keeping this contemporary journal for reference. Yesterday was the first day that I saw smoke drifting westward from the forest fires in British Columbia. It is supposed to rain today. Perhaps that will help with the smoke. If it does rain, it will be the second day of rain on this trip. The weather and the temperatures have been exceptional. Even when it comes close to 80, there are breezes that keep it quite comfortable.
Banff: Friday, July 28, 2017
Our tour company is Discovery Banff and our driver is named Rose. We spent a very nice three hours traveling to see the sites around Banff. It included a look at the grounds of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, which like the Chateau at Lake Louise was build by the railroad company over a century ago to attract travelers to visit Banff by train. One of the reasons for the selection of the site for the grand hotel and golf course was Bow Falls, a powerful rushing smaller falls, smaller than others we saw, but dramatic none the less in its force and power as the Bow River flows over it. We then explored Tunnel Mountain, named for a non-existent tunnel that was never built, but the name stuck. Our first stop was to view the Fairmont Hotel from a distance. We then stopped at a lookout point on Tunnel Mountain to view surrounding mountains and the impressive Banff valley below. We followed the Tunnel Mountain Road up the mountain to Lake Minnewanka and then on to Two Jacks Lake where we stopped for about 30 minutes. Some of our troupe walked in the cold water. I put my hand in and found the water cold, but tolerable. There were smaller children in the distance swimming in it. Rose explained that this very pleasant lake, beach, and park area attracted many of the locals, including herself for a peaceful day of relaxation. Although Lake Minnewanka is the large lake and actually flows into the smaller Two Jacks Lake, Rose preferred this lake over the other for the reasons mentioned. While at the lake, a man on the tour from Switzerland approached me because of my Wisconsin-Education hat and said he had spent a summer in the Law Institute that ran in Madison in the 80s. We had a nice chat about Madison. The hat comes through again.
Rose shared much of the history of Banff with us and stories about the wildlife. At one point, she said the mountain goats are often on the side of the road just around the corner and sure enough they were. I shot a very nice photo of a Ram from the bus with its impressive set of horns. Rose dropped several of us off at the Banff Gondola that traverses up the slopes of Sulphur Mountain. It was an impressive ride and the scenes of Banff and the surrounding geography were eye catching. There was some smoke from the forest fires in British Columbia that caused a haze similar to the ones that we get in Connecticut on hot, muggy days. Though the views from the mountain were impressive, the photos would have been clearer without the smoke.
The line for the gondola was long. While waiting in line, I was annoyed that a person behind me was constantly hitting my back. I discretely moved behind him and more calmly tolerated the Disney like line that moved rapidly for the ride on the Gondola. I rode up the mountain with an Asian couple from Vancouver and their young guest from China. The wife saw my Wisconsin hat and asked if I was from Wisconsin. I said yes, that I had grown up there and went to the University. The husband, Michael, graduated from Wisconsin in the early 70’s. We had a wonderful chat about Madison and the UW on the way up the mountain. It was the hat again that worked its charm. That was the last time that I saw them, but what a nice connection. Michael gave me his card before we parted. At the top of the mountain, I ran into the two bar waitresses--remember Belle--that I met at Lake Louise in the Alpine Social restaurant. We chatted for a few moments and then moved on.
I returned to the Moose hotel for a small beer and some calamari at the nice bar in the Pacini's restaurant. I then took a walk to find the church that I will attend tomorrow and went walking to find the ATM that is free of user fees. That did not happen, but I did find the railroad station where I will board the Rocky Mountaineer on Sunday. After working on my photos for a bit (I try to process 5-10 at a sitting), I had some linguini and seared cod at my favorite bar with a nice cold Stella to wet my pallet. I wandered into bed about 9:30 and had a fairly good night sleep. It is now 6:39 AM of a new day as I wrap up this entry. Today is quite open. I am not sure yet what my plan will be.
Our tour company is Discovery Banff and our driver is named Rose. We spent a very nice three hours traveling to see the sites around Banff. It included a look at the grounds of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, which like the Chateau at Lake Louise was build by the railroad company over a century ago to attract travelers to visit Banff by train. One of the reasons for the selection of the site for the grand hotel and golf course was Bow Falls, a powerful rushing smaller falls, smaller than others we saw, but dramatic none the less in its force and power as the Bow River flows over it. We then explored Tunnel Mountain, named for a non-existent tunnel that was never built, but the name stuck. Our first stop was to view the Fairmont Hotel from a distance. We then stopped at a lookout point on Tunnel Mountain to view surrounding mountains and the impressive Banff valley below. We followed the Tunnel Mountain Road up the mountain to Lake Minnewanka and then on to Two Jacks Lake where we stopped for about 30 minutes. Some of our troupe walked in the cold water. I put my hand in and found the water cold, but tolerable. There were smaller children in the distance swimming in it. Rose explained that this very pleasant lake, beach, and park area attracted many of the locals, including herself for a peaceful day of relaxation. Although Lake Minnewanka is the large lake and actually flows into the smaller Two Jacks Lake, Rose preferred this lake over the other for the reasons mentioned. While at the lake, a man on the tour from Switzerland approached me because of my Wisconsin-Education hat and said he had spent a summer in the Law Institute that ran in Madison in the 80s. We had a nice chat about Madison. The hat comes through again.
Rose shared much of the history of Banff with us and stories about the wildlife. At one point, she said the mountain goats are often on the side of the road just around the corner and sure enough they were. I shot a very nice photo of a Ram from the bus with its impressive set of horns. Rose dropped several of us off at the Banff Gondola that traverses up the slopes of Sulphur Mountain. It was an impressive ride and the scenes of Banff and the surrounding geography were eye catching. There was some smoke from the forest fires in British Columbia that caused a haze similar to the ones that we get in Connecticut on hot, muggy days. Though the views from the mountain were impressive, the photos would have been clearer without the smoke.
The line for the gondola was long. While waiting in line, I was annoyed that a person behind me was constantly hitting my back. I discretely moved behind him and more calmly tolerated the Disney like line that moved rapidly for the ride on the Gondola. I rode up the mountain with an Asian couple from Vancouver and their young guest from China. The wife saw my Wisconsin hat and asked if I was from Wisconsin. I said yes, that I had grown up there and went to the University. The husband, Michael, graduated from Wisconsin in the early 70’s. We had a wonderful chat about Madison and the UW on the way up the mountain. It was the hat again that worked its charm. That was the last time that I saw them, but what a nice connection. Michael gave me his card before we parted. At the top of the mountain, I ran into the two bar waitresses--remember Belle--that I met at Lake Louise in the Alpine Social restaurant. We chatted for a few moments and then moved on.
I returned to the Moose hotel for a small beer and some calamari at the nice bar in the Pacini's restaurant. I then took a walk to find the church that I will attend tomorrow and went walking to find the ATM that is free of user fees. That did not happen, but I did find the railroad station where I will board the Rocky Mountaineer on Sunday. After working on my photos for a bit (I try to process 5-10 at a sitting), I had some linguini and seared cod at my favorite bar with a nice cold Stella to wet my pallet. I wandered into bed about 9:30 and had a fairly good night sleep. It is now 6:39 AM of a new day as I wrap up this entry. Today is quite open. I am not sure yet what my plan will be.
Banff: Saturday, July 29, 2017
I had a very nice final day in Banff. It started off with a coffee and muffin at a local coffee shop just a block from my hotel. I took the bus, appropriately named Roam, to the Cave and Basin section of Banff. We did not go there yesterday on our tour, so it was a new experience and a worthwhile one. One of the nice features of my hotel is that my room card gets me on the bus for free, so I knew that I could go anywhere I wanted for no transportation cost. My visit to the Cave was informative. I took some photos of the cave and the hot springs that house the single snail that populates the small pool. The most interesting part of the cave experience was talking to the young college women who were playing the roles of various individuals in the historical context of building the railroad. After my visit to the cave, I walked along the paths that led down to the marshland along the Bow River. There was a horse trail that intersected the walkway and I got some nice photos of folks on horseback. I found the sanctuary, primarily for birds along the marsh very enjoyable. I took several photos that I hope display the serenity and the beautify of the marsh. Toward the end of my walk, I ran into Ian and Nancy from Calgary. Ian was originally from Scotland. We had a very nice chat about traveling and our lives. He was carrying a huge telephoto lens and was obviously interested in getting close ups of the wild life in the marsh sanctuary. We exchanged cards concerning our websites and said a goodbye. Another serendipitous encounter had come and gone in only ten minutes, but was an added richness to my independent Saturday morning tour of Banff.
I then caught the bus back into town where I picked up my swim suit, caught the bus to Sulphur Mountain and headed up to the hot springs near the Gondola that I had visited the day before. I enjoyed a pleasant 30 minute swim in the hot springs pool, spoke with a nice gentleman from Portland, Oregon, and then caught the bus back to town an hour later. I am happy that I added these two excursions to my tour of Banff. I rested for awhile back at the hotel and then did some final shopping for Gina’s family. I like the items that I purchased for Jacob and Stella. I hope that they do.
I went to the 5:00 Mass at St. Mary’s Parish within a short walking distance from my hotel. It was an unexpected pleasure. A very nice woman gave the history of the church, started by Fr. McGuinniss in the early 50s. The stain glass windows in the church depict biblical scenes, but with the geographic surroundings of Lake Louise and Banff. The Stations of the Cross were carved by a European. The depiction of the Holy Spirit over the altar was quite impressive. The woman presenting the history made the point that because of the diverse cultures that visit from afar, the church made an effort to combine the biblical with the international and the local. It was a cool church and I enjoyed the Mass.
After Mass, I stopped at a steak house and sat at the bar. The meal of steak and a Ceaser salad were great. I wandered back to my hotel and spent the next hour sipping Jameson whiskey. It is now 9:16 and I am wrapping up this entry and looking forward to the train ride back to Vancouver beginning around 7:40 AM tomorrow. I have packed my bags in anticipation of the two day train ride with an overnight stop in Kamloops. The smoke from the forest fires was pretty heavy earlier today, but It seems to have dissipated a bit this evening. I am expecting to see more smoke on the train ride back to Vancouver.
Except for the train ride, I have visited all of the places on my itinerary. It is hard to pick the best spot, but I believe at this point I liked Victoria and Jasper the best. They seemed quieter than the other places I visited, although I would put Campbell River where I shot my first eagle with the camera not far behind. The whale adventure in Victoria and the Grizzly tour in Prince Rupert were special and truly dramatic. I liked Banff. It is very touristy, but even having spent a full two days here, I did not see all that Banff has to offer and I suspect that non touristy times could be very pleasant here. After all of that, let me say that no place on my itinerary has been a disappointment. Fresh Tracks of Canada, Angie and Molly, did a great job for me in putting this trip together. I am ready to go home, but this trip done solely on my own has been very special. Would I have liked companions to share the entire trip with me? Of course! However, I have never been bored or lost for something to do. And, I have all of my brief encounters with other world travelers that have enriched this trip. I am looking forward to the next two days on the famous and elegant Rocky Mountaineer.
I had a very nice final day in Banff. It started off with a coffee and muffin at a local coffee shop just a block from my hotel. I took the bus, appropriately named Roam, to the Cave and Basin section of Banff. We did not go there yesterday on our tour, so it was a new experience and a worthwhile one. One of the nice features of my hotel is that my room card gets me on the bus for free, so I knew that I could go anywhere I wanted for no transportation cost. My visit to the Cave was informative. I took some photos of the cave and the hot springs that house the single snail that populates the small pool. The most interesting part of the cave experience was talking to the young college women who were playing the roles of various individuals in the historical context of building the railroad. After my visit to the cave, I walked along the paths that led down to the marshland along the Bow River. There was a horse trail that intersected the walkway and I got some nice photos of folks on horseback. I found the sanctuary, primarily for birds along the marsh very enjoyable. I took several photos that I hope display the serenity and the beautify of the marsh. Toward the end of my walk, I ran into Ian and Nancy from Calgary. Ian was originally from Scotland. We had a very nice chat about traveling and our lives. He was carrying a huge telephoto lens and was obviously interested in getting close ups of the wild life in the marsh sanctuary. We exchanged cards concerning our websites and said a goodbye. Another serendipitous encounter had come and gone in only ten minutes, but was an added richness to my independent Saturday morning tour of Banff.
I then caught the bus back into town where I picked up my swim suit, caught the bus to Sulphur Mountain and headed up to the hot springs near the Gondola that I had visited the day before. I enjoyed a pleasant 30 minute swim in the hot springs pool, spoke with a nice gentleman from Portland, Oregon, and then caught the bus back to town an hour later. I am happy that I added these two excursions to my tour of Banff. I rested for awhile back at the hotel and then did some final shopping for Gina’s family. I like the items that I purchased for Jacob and Stella. I hope that they do.
I went to the 5:00 Mass at St. Mary’s Parish within a short walking distance from my hotel. It was an unexpected pleasure. A very nice woman gave the history of the church, started by Fr. McGuinniss in the early 50s. The stain glass windows in the church depict biblical scenes, but with the geographic surroundings of Lake Louise and Banff. The Stations of the Cross were carved by a European. The depiction of the Holy Spirit over the altar was quite impressive. The woman presenting the history made the point that because of the diverse cultures that visit from afar, the church made an effort to combine the biblical with the international and the local. It was a cool church and I enjoyed the Mass.
After Mass, I stopped at a steak house and sat at the bar. The meal of steak and a Ceaser salad were great. I wandered back to my hotel and spent the next hour sipping Jameson whiskey. It is now 9:16 and I am wrapping up this entry and looking forward to the train ride back to Vancouver beginning around 7:40 AM tomorrow. I have packed my bags in anticipation of the two day train ride with an overnight stop in Kamloops. The smoke from the forest fires was pretty heavy earlier today, but It seems to have dissipated a bit this evening. I am expecting to see more smoke on the train ride back to Vancouver.
Except for the train ride, I have visited all of the places on my itinerary. It is hard to pick the best spot, but I believe at this point I liked Victoria and Jasper the best. They seemed quieter than the other places I visited, although I would put Campbell River where I shot my first eagle with the camera not far behind. The whale adventure in Victoria and the Grizzly tour in Prince Rupert were special and truly dramatic. I liked Banff. It is very touristy, but even having spent a full two days here, I did not see all that Banff has to offer and I suspect that non touristy times could be very pleasant here. After all of that, let me say that no place on my itinerary has been a disappointment. Fresh Tracks of Canada, Angie and Molly, did a great job for me in putting this trip together. I am ready to go home, but this trip done solely on my own has been very special. Would I have liked companions to share the entire trip with me? Of course! However, I have never been bored or lost for something to do. And, I have all of my brief encounters with other world travelers that have enriched this trip. I am looking forward to the next two days on the famous and elegant Rocky Mountaineer.
Kamloops: July 30, 2017
“Hurry up and wait” was the theme for the day. I was down at the front desk fifteen minutes early and the bus to the train station was there with the driver ready to load our luggage. We made it to the train station early and boarded the train. That was when the day outside stopped. Currently, the train has been sitting still for 4 hours because of a freight train that developed a mechanical problem 30 miles ahead. However, we have been treated well on the inside of the Rocky Mountaineer. Breakfast was delicious and soon after we retuned to the upper part of CB 5 train car, I was given a glass of red to soothe the pain of waiting, We have received frequent updates and I have met some nice people already. Vincent and Mary are sitting in front of me and they reside in upstate NY. Vincent is a plumber and we talked a bit about the educational system relative to preparing students for a trade. At breakfast I had a wonderful conversation with Leath and Warren from Melbourne, Australia. They are music people and represent a record label. One of their singers was supposed to perform in Canada, so they booked a vacation. The singer came down with a throat illness, but Warren and Leath came to Canada anyway. We talked about Australia and a bit about Trump. Mostly, we discussed the educational system in Australia, particularly the private school system. I shared information about my time on the state and local boards. I am not sure if we will sit together at lunch, but I enjoyed our conversation. More to come. Hope the train starts soon.
The train started 5 hours late. This is too much. I will say that the scenery between Lake Louise and Revelstoke has been spectacular, particularly the spiral tunnels we saw from the road several days ago. However, progress has been slow with a projection of getting into Kamloops early in the morning. To avoid this unsavory consequence, we will take motor coaches from Revelstoke to Kamloops. This may make our arrival time more in the area of 10-11 PM. Oh well, travel on the Mountaineer is quite luxurious, if you do not mind the delays. The crew says the length of this particular delay is unusual, but the breakdown of the train this morning made travel today most difficult. We did pass by a forest fire west of Revelstoke where a helicopter was dropping water bombs. It is best just to stay inside the coach because the air outside is smoky. At any rate, I have no choice but to ride it out. I just hope that we get in at a reasonable time tomorrow night for my flight home on Tuesday.
The bus ride to Kamloops was actually quite pleasant, since we were moving at a much faster clip and the scenery was no longer dramatic. It seemed more like driving through Pennsylvania, which is nice enough, but not comparable to the Canadian Rockies. The train tracks ran along side the Canadian Transcontinental Highway most of the way, so the scenery was the same on either mode of transportation. We passed by this enormous lake named Shuswap that stretched for many miles, much bigger than Candlewood Lake in Danbury. The Eagle River flows into the lake from the east and the Thompson River from the north. It was nice, because I knew that when we saw the last of the lake, we were close to Kamloops. They told us it would be a three hour trip on the bus, but it turned out to be 2.5 hours. The train was going to take us at least twice that time if we had stayed on, plus additional hour for replenishing the water supply for the the train. This was a good choice. I must say that the Rocky Mountaineer Organization responds well to difficult situations. The train attendants accompanied us on the bus and were upbeat the whole time. Their attitude had sort of a Disney optimism about it, but it kept us going. My room in Kamloops at the Sandman Hotel was actually one of the nicer rooms of a set of very nice rooms that I have had on my trip. I had no time to peruse the town, but it must be a very good place, because they have helped out so much with evacuatees from the fires north of Kamloops.
I took some shots of a fire we passed on the train, which I will include on the Website. I got several unique shots of scenery along the way, but I have seen so much on this trip of Canada’s beautiful landscape, there are few surprises left. However, there were the spiral tunnels, the white water rafters on the Beaver River, and the train going around corners that captured my interest. The latter observation brought back posters of trains that my Dad had hanging in his office back in the 50s.
“Hurry up and wait” was the theme for the day. I was down at the front desk fifteen minutes early and the bus to the train station was there with the driver ready to load our luggage. We made it to the train station early and boarded the train. That was when the day outside stopped. Currently, the train has been sitting still for 4 hours because of a freight train that developed a mechanical problem 30 miles ahead. However, we have been treated well on the inside of the Rocky Mountaineer. Breakfast was delicious and soon after we retuned to the upper part of CB 5 train car, I was given a glass of red to soothe the pain of waiting, We have received frequent updates and I have met some nice people already. Vincent and Mary are sitting in front of me and they reside in upstate NY. Vincent is a plumber and we talked a bit about the educational system relative to preparing students for a trade. At breakfast I had a wonderful conversation with Leath and Warren from Melbourne, Australia. They are music people and represent a record label. One of their singers was supposed to perform in Canada, so they booked a vacation. The singer came down with a throat illness, but Warren and Leath came to Canada anyway. We talked about Australia and a bit about Trump. Mostly, we discussed the educational system in Australia, particularly the private school system. I shared information about my time on the state and local boards. I am not sure if we will sit together at lunch, but I enjoyed our conversation. More to come. Hope the train starts soon.
The train started 5 hours late. This is too much. I will say that the scenery between Lake Louise and Revelstoke has been spectacular, particularly the spiral tunnels we saw from the road several days ago. However, progress has been slow with a projection of getting into Kamloops early in the morning. To avoid this unsavory consequence, we will take motor coaches from Revelstoke to Kamloops. This may make our arrival time more in the area of 10-11 PM. Oh well, travel on the Mountaineer is quite luxurious, if you do not mind the delays. The crew says the length of this particular delay is unusual, but the breakdown of the train this morning made travel today most difficult. We did pass by a forest fire west of Revelstoke where a helicopter was dropping water bombs. It is best just to stay inside the coach because the air outside is smoky. At any rate, I have no choice but to ride it out. I just hope that we get in at a reasonable time tomorrow night for my flight home on Tuesday.
The bus ride to Kamloops was actually quite pleasant, since we were moving at a much faster clip and the scenery was no longer dramatic. It seemed more like driving through Pennsylvania, which is nice enough, but not comparable to the Canadian Rockies. The train tracks ran along side the Canadian Transcontinental Highway most of the way, so the scenery was the same on either mode of transportation. We passed by this enormous lake named Shuswap that stretched for many miles, much bigger than Candlewood Lake in Danbury. The Eagle River flows into the lake from the east and the Thompson River from the north. It was nice, because I knew that when we saw the last of the lake, we were close to Kamloops. They told us it would be a three hour trip on the bus, but it turned out to be 2.5 hours. The train was going to take us at least twice that time if we had stayed on, plus additional hour for replenishing the water supply for the the train. This was a good choice. I must say that the Rocky Mountaineer Organization responds well to difficult situations. The train attendants accompanied us on the bus and were upbeat the whole time. Their attitude had sort of a Disney optimism about it, but it kept us going. My room in Kamloops at the Sandman Hotel was actually one of the nicer rooms of a set of very nice rooms that I have had on my trip. I had no time to peruse the town, but it must be a very good place, because they have helped out so much with evacuatees from the fires north of Kamloops.
I took some shots of a fire we passed on the train, which I will include on the Website. I got several unique shots of scenery along the way, but I have seen so much on this trip of Canada’s beautiful landscape, there are few surprises left. However, there were the spiral tunnels, the white water rafters on the Beaver River, and the train going around corners that captured my interest. The latter observation brought back posters of trains that my Dad had hanging in his office back in the 50s.
Rocky Mountaineer: Monday, July 31, 2017
We arrived at 10:PM at the Sandman Hotel. The walk from the train was short and refreshing after a long day on the train and bus. It was a pleasant room with lots of space. It would be easy to spend a couple of more days in a quality room like this one. I had a little time this morning before catching the bus to the train so I wandered around the outskirts of the Sandman Hotel and found the Riverside Park that borders Kamloops Lake. I took some nice photos at the attractive downtown park. I was impressed that the town was grooming the beach for visitors later in the day. It was a smoky day with the wind obviously pushing the smoke from nearby fires toward Kamloops. I was surprised with the first impression of the town and wished perhaps we had full day to see more of it. A boat trip on the lakes would be interesting. The train left on time this morning and is now moving slowly through the “desert” of British Columbia. The terrain is in a semi-arid climate in the rain shadow of the Coastal Mountains. The scenery is quite different that the rest of my journey. There is a lot of sandstone and shale rock in this area with lots of crumbling rocks falling down. We are riding along side the Thompson river, which is mostly on our left. There are lots of eagles perched on trees and occasionally seen in flight. It is almost 11.00 AM. It looks like we are about a third of the way to Vancouver. Breakfast was excellent and I just finished a Bloody Mary.
It is now 3:29 and at the moment we are moving at a pretty good clip. The fertile Fraser River Valley has many farms and various production firms. In the distance you can see the Coastal Mountain Range of BC and some of the Cascades to the south in the U.S. I even see a mountain with a glacier as I look to the north from my train window. The diversity of the land in this single province of British Columbia is astounding. I had a delicious lunch of a celery based cream soup and a tasty flatbread combination of meats and vegetables. I have sat with different couples at each of the dining car sittings and it has been fun to get to know different people. I am not sure how much longer we have until our arrival in Vancouver. I suppose delays are possible, but I am holding my breath that I can spend a little time at my last night in Vancouver perhaps at the Fairmont Waterfront with a hello to Bella-Amy. Time will tell. I feel the trip winding down and that is a good thing. This adventure has been great fun. Twenty-two days on my own has been a challenge, but one that I have enjoyed.
We arrived around 45 minutes late. It took a long time to get into the station, but once we did, we said goodbye to the wonderful staff that served us so well and then proceeded to get on our bus. I arrived at the Sutton Place Hotel around 7 PM. It is a beautiful hotel and I regret not staying in Vancouver a coupe of extra days, but the cost was prohibitive and I am happy to be heading home. After getting settled in my room, I walked to my favorite Vancouver watering hole, the ARC at the Fairmont Waterfront. Bella-Amy was not working, but I sat at the bar, ordered some wings, had an amber beer and listened to Jeff, the fellow who was singing there three weeks earlier. After my brief reprise of the Fairmont, i walked back to the Sutton, prepared my bags for travel, and went to bed. My journey was done.
We arrived at 10:PM at the Sandman Hotel. The walk from the train was short and refreshing after a long day on the train and bus. It was a pleasant room with lots of space. It would be easy to spend a couple of more days in a quality room like this one. I had a little time this morning before catching the bus to the train so I wandered around the outskirts of the Sandman Hotel and found the Riverside Park that borders Kamloops Lake. I took some nice photos at the attractive downtown park. I was impressed that the town was grooming the beach for visitors later in the day. It was a smoky day with the wind obviously pushing the smoke from nearby fires toward Kamloops. I was surprised with the first impression of the town and wished perhaps we had full day to see more of it. A boat trip on the lakes would be interesting. The train left on time this morning and is now moving slowly through the “desert” of British Columbia. The terrain is in a semi-arid climate in the rain shadow of the Coastal Mountains. The scenery is quite different that the rest of my journey. There is a lot of sandstone and shale rock in this area with lots of crumbling rocks falling down. We are riding along side the Thompson river, which is mostly on our left. There are lots of eagles perched on trees and occasionally seen in flight. It is almost 11.00 AM. It looks like we are about a third of the way to Vancouver. Breakfast was excellent and I just finished a Bloody Mary.
It is now 3:29 and at the moment we are moving at a pretty good clip. The fertile Fraser River Valley has many farms and various production firms. In the distance you can see the Coastal Mountain Range of BC and some of the Cascades to the south in the U.S. I even see a mountain with a glacier as I look to the north from my train window. The diversity of the land in this single province of British Columbia is astounding. I had a delicious lunch of a celery based cream soup and a tasty flatbread combination of meats and vegetables. I have sat with different couples at each of the dining car sittings and it has been fun to get to know different people. I am not sure how much longer we have until our arrival in Vancouver. I suppose delays are possible, but I am holding my breath that I can spend a little time at my last night in Vancouver perhaps at the Fairmont Waterfront with a hello to Bella-Amy. Time will tell. I feel the trip winding down and that is a good thing. This adventure has been great fun. Twenty-two days on my own has been a challenge, but one that I have enjoyed.
We arrived around 45 minutes late. It took a long time to get into the station, but once we did, we said goodbye to the wonderful staff that served us so well and then proceeded to get on our bus. I arrived at the Sutton Place Hotel around 7 PM. It is a beautiful hotel and I regret not staying in Vancouver a coupe of extra days, but the cost was prohibitive and I am happy to be heading home. After getting settled in my room, I walked to my favorite Vancouver watering hole, the ARC at the Fairmont Waterfront. Bella-Amy was not working, but I sat at the bar, ordered some wings, had an amber beer and listened to Jeff, the fellow who was singing there three weeks earlier. After my brief reprise of the Fairmont, i walked back to the Sutton, prepared my bags for travel, and went to bed. My journey was done.
Vancouver: Tuesday, August 1
I woke up at 2:30 AM and met my driver Craig at 3:50 in the lobby of the Sutton. The traffic was light going to the airport, but that was misleading in relation to checking my baggage, going through security, and passing through U.S. Customs. The whole process took me almost an hour and twenty minutes. The lines were long, but moved quickly. I had no trouble going through security, except it is always a pain. It was great that we could go through U.S. customs, which may save me some time when I land in Hartford. I am writing this on the first leg of my plane journey. We have about an hour before we land in Minneapolis.
The three hour lay over went very quickly. I had something to eat, worked on some photos, and changed my seat on the airplane to an aisle seat, a welcome change from the center seat. While sitting on the plane to Hartford, I have been working on the photos that I took yesterday in the so called desert area of BC. It is hard to call a place a desert when two mighty rivers are flowing through it, but the dryness of the hills and the vegetation suggest a fairly dry area. Wikipedia concurs. We passed by a town that was severely damaged by fires last year and you could see the charred remains of buildings. I found the desert photos very interesting to work with, perhaps because I have been so overwhelmed with beautiful scenery of the mountains and water ways of BC and Alberta. It was nice contrast to work on these photos today. I hope one becomes a candidate for a canvas photo. We are about an hour out from Hartford and my iPad battery is low, so I am going shut down the production mill for the time being.
We landed around 6:30 and by 7:00 I had my car from Lazfly and was on my way home. I stopped at Taormina’s about 8:15 and had a quick meal and a nice conversation with Michelle about my trip and other things. I was home by 9:00, unpacked a little, crawled into bed and resumed my life in New Fairfield. My trip had ended and so has this 16000 word journal.
POST TRIP REFLECTION
This is a good point to say a bit about Fresh Tracks—Canada (freshtrackscanada.com). Angie was terrific in putting this trip together for me with all of the transfers, vouchers, and incidentals that made my trip seamless as I moved from one place to another. In every facet of the trip, with one exception, I was met on time for all of my transfers and tours. My name was always on the manifest, even though I was a party of one. Fresh Tracks reimbursed me for the one exception, and it was hardly anything but a small glitch. I had to walk a few blocks which was good for my legs after a long day on the train.
After the trip was set, Angie handed my trip off to Molly who was my contact as the trip approached and during the trip. Molly was patient with me in handling a couple of situations I should have figured out for myself. She secured my refund of a missed transfer without question and in a timely fashion. This pair of travel consultants were an integral part of the joy that I have taken from this tour. I recommend Fresh Tracks to anyone who wants to experience the best features of Western Canada. Ask for Angie and Molly and say that Jay sent you. There is no reward for me, except the pleasure in knowing you will be served well by both of these women
My Panasonic Lumix Camera worked quite well. I had to remind myself to use the wrist strap when riding on a bumpy boat looking for whales or standing on the open platform of the Rocky Mountaineer. I would be easy for the camera to fall out of my hands. However, it did not. I used my Verizon $5.00 per day International Service on 5 days and that was plenty. Twenty-five dollars was a small price to pay for the GPS help I had while driving on Vancouver Island and for easy phone calls to Gina. I tried Voxofon a few times, but either I am Voxofon challenged or the system does not work for well for me.
Now for a few words about Western Canada and how I might display its wonder on this website. At the risk of repetition of descriptions already rendered in this journal, Western Canada is diverse in its landscapes and natural beauty, filled with wild life that stoke the imagination, and inhabited by very friendly people, no matter where you go. When you add the joy of meeting fellow world travelers to the equation, you are left with a memory that will last forever. My intent is to follow this journal and selected photos with more comprehensive photo essays organized around themes with a minimum of narrative, just to provide a context.
If you have read this entire journal with my jaded syntax, you are an exceptional human being with the patience of Job. I thank you for your indulgence and determination. For those of you who look at the photo portfolios without having read the text, I will attempt to label the photos for context, To anyone who looks at his page on my website, I hope you find some of the joy that I found on this trip.
I woke up at 2:30 AM and met my driver Craig at 3:50 in the lobby of the Sutton. The traffic was light going to the airport, but that was misleading in relation to checking my baggage, going through security, and passing through U.S. Customs. The whole process took me almost an hour and twenty minutes. The lines were long, but moved quickly. I had no trouble going through security, except it is always a pain. It was great that we could go through U.S. customs, which may save me some time when I land in Hartford. I am writing this on the first leg of my plane journey. We have about an hour before we land in Minneapolis.
The three hour lay over went very quickly. I had something to eat, worked on some photos, and changed my seat on the airplane to an aisle seat, a welcome change from the center seat. While sitting on the plane to Hartford, I have been working on the photos that I took yesterday in the so called desert area of BC. It is hard to call a place a desert when two mighty rivers are flowing through it, but the dryness of the hills and the vegetation suggest a fairly dry area. Wikipedia concurs. We passed by a town that was severely damaged by fires last year and you could see the charred remains of buildings. I found the desert photos very interesting to work with, perhaps because I have been so overwhelmed with beautiful scenery of the mountains and water ways of BC and Alberta. It was nice contrast to work on these photos today. I hope one becomes a candidate for a canvas photo. We are about an hour out from Hartford and my iPad battery is low, so I am going shut down the production mill for the time being.
We landed around 6:30 and by 7:00 I had my car from Lazfly and was on my way home. I stopped at Taormina’s about 8:15 and had a quick meal and a nice conversation with Michelle about my trip and other things. I was home by 9:00, unpacked a little, crawled into bed and resumed my life in New Fairfield. My trip had ended and so has this 16000 word journal.
POST TRIP REFLECTION
This is a good point to say a bit about Fresh Tracks—Canada (freshtrackscanada.com). Angie was terrific in putting this trip together for me with all of the transfers, vouchers, and incidentals that made my trip seamless as I moved from one place to another. In every facet of the trip, with one exception, I was met on time for all of my transfers and tours. My name was always on the manifest, even though I was a party of one. Fresh Tracks reimbursed me for the one exception, and it was hardly anything but a small glitch. I had to walk a few blocks which was good for my legs after a long day on the train.
After the trip was set, Angie handed my trip off to Molly who was my contact as the trip approached and during the trip. Molly was patient with me in handling a couple of situations I should have figured out for myself. She secured my refund of a missed transfer without question and in a timely fashion. This pair of travel consultants were an integral part of the joy that I have taken from this tour. I recommend Fresh Tracks to anyone who wants to experience the best features of Western Canada. Ask for Angie and Molly and say that Jay sent you. There is no reward for me, except the pleasure in knowing you will be served well by both of these women
My Panasonic Lumix Camera worked quite well. I had to remind myself to use the wrist strap when riding on a bumpy boat looking for whales or standing on the open platform of the Rocky Mountaineer. I would be easy for the camera to fall out of my hands. However, it did not. I used my Verizon $5.00 per day International Service on 5 days and that was plenty. Twenty-five dollars was a small price to pay for the GPS help I had while driving on Vancouver Island and for easy phone calls to Gina. I tried Voxofon a few times, but either I am Voxofon challenged or the system does not work for well for me.
Now for a few words about Western Canada and how I might display its wonder on this website. At the risk of repetition of descriptions already rendered in this journal, Western Canada is diverse in its landscapes and natural beauty, filled with wild life that stoke the imagination, and inhabited by very friendly people, no matter where you go. When you add the joy of meeting fellow world travelers to the equation, you are left with a memory that will last forever. My intent is to follow this journal and selected photos with more comprehensive photo essays organized around themes with a minimum of narrative, just to provide a context.
If you have read this entire journal with my jaded syntax, you are an exceptional human being with the patience of Job. I thank you for your indulgence and determination. For those of you who look at the photo portfolios without having read the text, I will attempt to label the photos for context, To anyone who looks at his page on my website, I hope you find some of the joy that I found on this trip.
