And So The Journey Begins…. Again

Monday, May 2

The bridge across the Columbia River in Revelstoke

 I actually managed to get out of Cobble Hill.  I boarded the 0900 ferry out of Swartz Bay and am bound for Sicamous to stay the night at friends, Julie and Brian.  

Julie doesn’t know it, but I am also delivering a canvas print that I promised her a couple years ago.  It will finally arrive for her to hang in her office.  She was a sailor back in the day and this particular picture is a B&W of reflections of boats in a marina.  When I took the picture, I was standing on the back of my sailboat.  I know she will relate and appreciate it.  

So, I made a ferry reservation for 0900 on a Monday morning plus I have to cross the  Malahat  to arrive at Swartz Bay no sooner than 0800.  Once I had completed the transaction and committed, I realized that I would or could be hitting rush hour if I left Fogmoor at 0700.  I left at 0630 and it was smooth sailing to Sidney.  I did arrive early so I parked along the waterfront in Sidney and enjoyed the rain, the view, and the relaxed manner I was travelling.  I did not get caught up in any traffic.  It could have been a much different story if I had left at seven or even a bit later.  

The time waiting for the ferry went by really fast.  I walked Morgan, checked emails and did a bit of travel research.  

On the ferry, parked in the bowels because of being 47’ long, I decided to make my way topside to check things out like finding postcards.  Do you know they do not sell postcards on the ferry? Not even a picture of the ferry.  Hahaha.  I have promised my grands I would send them postcards so I will keep a lookout as I travel.  

After perusing the gift shop I stopped to look out the windows. Out of nowhere came 

I did not know this.  Very interesting.

waves of emotion.  I could see Ron and I on our sailboat motoring past Swartz Bay as we did scores of times.  Wow.  I really was not expecting to be in tears but there it is, I was.  Fond, fond memories.  Fun and loving memories.  Adventure memories.  

I headed back down into the bowels of the ship to be with Morgan.  Parked behind me is a beautiful teal and white semi rig. The trailer was huge.  The driver, Paul, was sitting in the truck and he rolled down his window.  I complimented him on the choice of colours.  From Paul I found out that the truck is owned by Bell Media.  It is a very high tech truck with equipment to cover events like soccer, hockey and the such.  Fourteen million dollars is what it is all worth.  He is the driver.  Once he arrives at a destination a team of techies takes over the rig to set up for the covering the event.  Paul enjoys the event, the city, or catches up on sleep if he has to pull the trailer to a new location the next day.  He is currently on his way to LA and then back to Calgary.  

Me waiting my turn for my coffee order.

Now here is the funny thing, Paul is from Gambo, Newfoundland.  So naturally, being a Newfoundlander, he loves to talk and I was ready to hear about his province.  I also got to see some of his pictures.  

This is what I love.  Meeting people and hearing their story.  

The drive to Sicamous was long and almost uneventful.  Just a couple things to share with you. There is so much construction on the Hope side of the Coquihalla.  If it is not on the road directly it is beside the road.  Also, I missed the turnoff to Merritt to get gas and did not readily find a place to turn around.  I looked at my gauges and felt I could make it to Kamloops.  My concern was that I did not know the road well so I did not know how much hill climbing was left  before hitting Kamloops.  I talked to the Universe, I talked to the Creator, I talked to Morgan and I talked to myself believing that we would make it - and we did with the gauge reading 20Km left to go.  I tell ya, I conserved fuel every way I knew how - coasting down hill, going slower up hill, drafting behind the semi trucks and just being reasonable with my speed.  Whew!  I said, never again would I let the tank get so low.  

Majestic mountains as seen from Roger’s Pass.

From Kamloops it was an easy peasy drive to my friends, Julie and Brian.  Remember  the canvas print I mentioned above, well Julie was both surprised and thrilled, and I felt great for finally delivering it.  We had a great time catching up but I will admit I was very tired after an 11-hour day.  Travelling to and riding the ferry added a few extra hours to the trip.  By 21:00 I could barely keep my eyes open.  We did manage to enjoy a Fireball nightcap in my Minnie Home.  

Tuesday, May 3

Standing guard over all who travel through Roger’s Pass

I was awake at 05:00, out of bed by 05:45 and walked Morgan at 06:30 for a half hour.  Just down from Julie’s is a great little park so Morgan had a fetching good time.

We said our good-byes and I left at 08:00.  On the road again.  I am excited but still containing myself. I think it is because I have travelled these roads before.  It is not new.  Some of the routes I an taking I travelled just last September coming home from The Yukon.  

Today was a Banff travel day.  I didn’t bother making coffee because I knew exactly 

Waiting in traffic on Highway 95 Golden to Radium.

where I could find coffee in Revelstoke and how easy it was to take the trailer there.  OK, so it is Starbucks but hey, you choose the simplest.  There is parking for RV’s and rigs just across the street.  You enter and follow a one way loop.  So simple.  I parked, got my wallet and headed to Starbucks.  Then I and a lady trucker discovered that Starbucks was closed to indoor traffic, only the dive-thru was open BUT I wasn’t about to try it with my trailer.  I fixed the problem, I turned it into a walk thru.  I got in line with the cars and trucks and walked on through.  It was actually quite funny.  The lady at the window was laughing.  I got my coffee then got Morgan from the pickup and we went for a little walk at the riverfront park.  

I did notice the devastation of the slides from last winter.  It is quite something seeing where the slide once crossed the road.  It’s cleaned up, of course, but you can see from the debris how massive the slide was.  No pictures because it was not safe to stop

Map of Tunnel Mountain Village II campground.

 Roger’s Pass, a thriving tourist stop in the summer was completely closed up.  I stopped to snap a couple mountain pictures.  The majesty of the mountains never ceases to amaze me.  

The Kicking Horse Pass, east of Golden is closed until May 20 so, just like last year, I had to detour 100 extra kilometres through Radium Hot Springs.  It’s a bit longer but really pretty.  Farmlands, rivers, snow-covered mountains.  I drank it in with my eyes the whole way.  

If I were to complain about anything, I would say that it is about the rest stops.  Some 

Tunnel Mountain Campground picture 1

are great and some not so great.  Some you get a warning that they are just ahead and some no warning at all.  It’s the no warning that drives me crazy.  It is difficult to slow down from 100kph with freight trucks behind you to turn in on a seconds notice.  So, I end up driving past and hoping to catch the next one, only to find the next one too small for me or no place to turn around to get out.  Grrrrrrrr. OK that is my rant for the day.

Tunnel Campground picture 2

Did I tell you that I quite like travelling with the semi trucks. They give me a reason to go slower and I can conserve fuel.  I like to think that I am a conscious driver meaning that if I do get a line up behind me (whether I am going the speed limit or not) I find a safe place to pull over.  I prefer to be last in the line of traffic than first.  

My event for the day - missing the gas stations in Golden!  Hahahaha,  I had to continue to Radium for gas with 34 kilometres left in the tank.  Oh geez.  Will I ever learn this trip?  Last year I barely went below half before fueling up.  I think I am being lazy and assuming that there is gas around every corner where in Northern BC and the Yukon fuel stations are scarce.  

I had no trouble following the signs through downtown Banff to find Tunnel Mountain 

Tunnel Campground picture 3

Village II Campground.  It was a bit further out of town than I thought but I must admit, I have not been to Banff for about 12 years.  It has changed a lot.  

The campsites are not really sites as I know sites.  There are 209 spots that you pull up to on the road.  You step outside the trailer to you picnic table but parked on the road.  Hopefully you can tell from the pictures. I did not have to back in so that was easy.  

The sky is blue, the wind is quite chilly but the sun is warm.  It’s very fresh outside.