Saturday, August 16, 2008
Stewart to Vancouver
[Be sure to click on the photos for larger versions.]
This installment covers Thursday (August 6) through Monday (August 11).
Thursday was a sunny driving day from Stewart to Smithers. It is the first day since we left the U.S. that the temperature topped 80 degrees. We stopped on the road outside of Stewart to get a couple of pictures of Bear Glacier.
.JPG)
En route we made a short side trip to Kitwancool, a village where there are a number of standing totem poles.
.JPG)
On the return to the highway, a bear sow and cub galloped down the road in front of us, but we had no opportunity to get a photo.
After a light lunch in New Hazelton, we visited the nearby K’San museum and village. In addition to visiting the museum, we took a guided tour of three structures – a lodge house, a feast house, and a storage house. No photos were allowed in the buildings, but we did get pictures of the outside of some of the more modern buildings, plus some other totem poles.
.JPG)
Our RV park in Smithers was adjacent to a par 3 golf course. Carol and I had dinner in the RV while some other couples from our group played 9 holes of golf.
Friday was another 80-degree plus, sunny driving day from Smithers to Prince George. Our group went out tonight for dinner tonight, after which I watched some of the Olympics.
Saturday was an overcast sightseeing and shopping day in Prince George. Carol and I started at the Prince George Railway and Forestry Museum which has a large outdoor collection of old railcars and forestry equipment. The one pictured below is a snow plow.
.JPG)
After shopping we returned to the RV park where Carol cooked green beans for tonight’s pot luck, going-away dinner. Everyone brought their own meat dish (we had steak) and a side dish to share.
On Sunday morning Joe Lapinski fixed a going-away breakfast of pancakes for all. After saying good-byes, Carol and I headed south to Lac La Hache. The only notable sight today was a transmission line corridor which held three 500 KV-class lines and one 230 KV-class line. After settling in at the campground, we drove our car a few miles down the road to the 108 Mile House Heritage Site, a collection of reconstructed buildings at the site that had been 108 miles north of one of the gold rush trails in Lillooet.
After some light rain last night, Tuesday was a sunny driving day from Lac La Hache to Vancouver. After traveling south on the main route for about an hour and a half, we took Route 99 into West Vancouver. This road goes through the mountains and the southern part is known as the Sea to Sky Highway – we did it backwards, sky to sea. The first part of the road was windy and steep – as much as 15% grade in some places. With our exhaust brake we can navigate these steep downhills, but we passed one motorhome which had pulled off about half way down with smoking rear brakes.
The downhill stretch ends near Whistler, which will be the site of some of the skiing events at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. From there to Vancouver there was a lot of road construction, as they are widening the road in advance of the tourist influx. This is also the stretch of road that was closed for several days last week due to a rock slide. We saw several convertibles today – the Canadians are taking advantage of the good weather.
We are at a crowded RV park in West Vancouver for four nights. Late this evening we drove across the Lions Gate Bridge into Stanley Park. We drove the loop road through the park, stopping at Prospect Point for a view of the bridge and outer harbor, and at the totem pole site for a host of photos. The last photo is called Moon Over Vancouver.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
This installment covers Thursday (August 6) through Monday (August 11).
Thursday was a sunny driving day from Stewart to Smithers. It is the first day since we left the U.S. that the temperature topped 80 degrees. We stopped on the road outside of Stewart to get a couple of pictures of Bear Glacier.
.JPG)
En route we made a short side trip to Kitwancool, a village where there are a number of standing totem poles.
.JPG)
On the return to the highway, a bear sow and cub galloped down the road in front of us, but we had no opportunity to get a photo.
After a light lunch in New Hazelton, we visited the nearby K’San museum and village. In addition to visiting the museum, we took a guided tour of three structures – a lodge house, a feast house, and a storage house. No photos were allowed in the buildings, but we did get pictures of the outside of some of the more modern buildings, plus some other totem poles.
.JPG)
Our RV park in Smithers was adjacent to a par 3 golf course. Carol and I had dinner in the RV while some other couples from our group played 9 holes of golf.
Friday was another 80-degree plus, sunny driving day from Smithers to Prince George. Our group went out tonight for dinner tonight, after which I watched some of the Olympics.
Saturday was an overcast sightseeing and shopping day in Prince George. Carol and I started at the Prince George Railway and Forestry Museum which has a large outdoor collection of old railcars and forestry equipment. The one pictured below is a snow plow.
.JPG)
After shopping we returned to the RV park where Carol cooked green beans for tonight’s pot luck, going-away dinner. Everyone brought their own meat dish (we had steak) and a side dish to share.
On Sunday morning Joe Lapinski fixed a going-away breakfast of pancakes for all. After saying good-byes, Carol and I headed south to Lac La Hache. The only notable sight today was a transmission line corridor which held three 500 KV-class lines and one 230 KV-class line. After settling in at the campground, we drove our car a few miles down the road to the 108 Mile House Heritage Site, a collection of reconstructed buildings at the site that had been 108 miles north of one of the gold rush trails in Lillooet.
After some light rain last night, Tuesday was a sunny driving day from Lac La Hache to Vancouver. After traveling south on the main route for about an hour and a half, we took Route 99 into West Vancouver. This road goes through the mountains and the southern part is known as the Sea to Sky Highway – we did it backwards, sky to sea. The first part of the road was windy and steep – as much as 15% grade in some places. With our exhaust brake we can navigate these steep downhills, but we passed one motorhome which had pulled off about half way down with smoking rear brakes.
The downhill stretch ends near Whistler, which will be the site of some of the skiing events at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. From there to Vancouver there was a lot of road construction, as they are widening the road in advance of the tourist influx. This is also the stretch of road that was closed for several days last week due to a rock slide. We saw several convertibles today – the Canadians are taking advantage of the good weather.
We are at a crowded RV park in West Vancouver for four nights. Late this evening we drove across the Lions Gate Bridge into Stanley Park. We drove the loop road through the park, stopping at Prospect Point for a view of the bridge and outer harbor, and at the totem pole site for a host of photos. The last photo is called Moon Over Vancouver.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
