Home is where your heart is

Take me home, Country roads

To a place I belong

West Virginia, Mountain Momma

Take me home, Country roads

Eric didn't seem to mind that this was the only song I sang for three straight weeks on our road trip.  Well, that and humming O Canada.  There just didn't seem to be other songs that would be more fitting.  Besides, I love John Denver.  As Billy Joel would sing, too bad Only the Good Die Young...

I have never been to West Virginia or the Shenandoah River.  From what the song lyrics described it is "almost heaven."  Fittingly, that's where I have been for three weeks, places that are "almost heaven."  

We continued our way back to the States, traveling southbound.  Our travel took us to several more charming Canadian towns in British Columbia:  Kaslo, Balfour, Nelson, and finally Creston - the last town before we would cross the border at Porthill.

 Sternwheeler SS Moyie featured in Kaslo, BC
On Lake Kootenay

Downtown Kaslo

Welcome to Downtown Nelson

Cooling down with a tasty iced Americano at Grounded
Downtown Nelson, BC 

Crossing Lake Kootenay from Balfour 

The Osprey 2000 is here 

Beach front property with private beaches 

Onboard the Osprey 2000 and putting
binoculars to good use

Our turn to board the Osprey 2000

Onboard the Osprey 2000

Crossing the border at Porthill

Camping at Sandpoint, ID

Eric enjoying an afternoon swim
Lake Pend Oreille, ID

My occasional obsessive-compulsive tendency wanted to hang on to every detail: What town was it?  What did the town look like?  Where did we camp?  Were mosquitoes bad that night?  Did Eric swim in the lake?  Was there a lake?  Then I hit "replay" to make sure I remember it all... How exhausting!  I am beginning to recognize - and reconcile - that perhaps not all the details are important.  In fact, I know they are not all that important.  The importance was that I was present for the experience while I was there.


I felt like the Country Roads have taken me to places I belong.  

The border-crossing was uneventful; almost pleasant.  After a short visit with Eric's old friends Tom and Sherry in Post Falls, ID, we eventually arrived home on Tuesday evening, August 9.  

Epic experience.

5,150 kilometers and going strong, ayyy!

That's 3,200 miles for the non-metrics folks. 

It seems that every time I update my blog, I announced yet another grande detour. This entry is no exception.  It's called Blending with What Is...  


After speaking with the park ranger at Glacier National Park – the one in Canada, not the one in Montana – Monsieur Park Ranger recommended that we ditch the hustle and bustle at Kelowna and head to the country to check out other more scenic routes and smaller communities.  It amused me a little bit that Monsieur Park Ranger compared the traffic of Kelowna to that of mini-Los Angeles.  Who am I to argue; he knows stuff.

New itinerary highlighted in yellow,
if you care...

A more detailed account of the last several days is probably worth the efforts.  Afterall, we seemed to have visited more small towns in the last 48 hours than the last seven days. 

Driving through Banff National Park 
on Icefields Parkway

Another shot of the Canadian Rockies
Heading to Lake Louise

Glassy lake along the Icefields Parkway
Heading to Lake Louise, BC

We traveled through four national parks:  Jasper, Banff, Yoho, and Glacier.  The most famous ones being Jasper and Banff, of course, having world-class ski resorts in them.   Tourists and tour buses were abundant, as were rip-off souvenir shops and bad coffee. Admittedly, I have a love-hate relationship with national parks.  I love that the parks are made available to the masses and for all to admire.  I hate that the parks are made available to the masses and for all to admire, sometimes to a point of commercialization that they might as well become theme parks.  My eyes wanted to bleed when I saw a woman breaking out the makeup bag, dragging her buttocks to the washroom in high heels.  It was completely out of place.  


I couldn't get in the mood of shopping for shot glasses and paperweights, so we hurriedly left the visitor centers in search for a little solitude.  Good luck!

Daisy making friend with Wiley Coyote
Lake Louise Visitor Center

Golden is a small hippie town
- before we arrive at
Glacier National Park

Crossing the Kicking Horse Pedestrian Bridge
Downtown Golden, BC

Bean Bag Coffee
Downtown Golden, BC

Glacier National Park, BC

Fresh meat for tonight's one-pot-gourmet!!
Marmot @ Glacier National Park

Another famous ski resort - bring cash!
Revelstoke, BC

We made our way on the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) to Revelstoke, another famous ski resort who claims to be “Close to Heaven.  Down to Earth.”  
The town was quiet on a late Friday afternoon, but I can feel the vibrancy on a cold winter day.  We stumbled upon a spice shop called Crescendo.  The proprietary blends of spices, exotic balsamic vinegars and oils mesmerized me, and I willingly and drunkenly doled out my Canadian currency.  Everything seems free when you are on vacation.

It is time to look for a place to call it the night; Monsieur Park Ranger recommended the Blanket Creek Provincial Park so we gave it a try.  We had to camp at the Overflow “camping” area, which turned out to be just a huge parking lot, as the campground was full.  When the “facility operator” came to collect our hard-earned $21 for the night, it was too late to cry foul.  Sure, collect something, but full price for a night in a parking lot?  The annoyance somehow reminded me of flying on United Airlines...   

Rip off!  Please pay $21 to stay in this parking lot -
"overflow" camping area...

We could not get up early enough to leave the parking lot.  Continued south and eventually reached Shelter Bay, where we would take a 20 minutes inland ferry ride to cross the Upper Arrow Lake to Galena Bay.  Eric was having a great time chatting with the group of bikers while I did my part to check out the traffic operator and the ferry captain.  The scenery was rather acceptable...

We were the first car in line 

Taking the 10am ferry to Galena Bay

Ferry to cross Upper Arrow Lake
Shelter Bay, BC

Traffic operator

A cyclist group getting off the ferry

Eric chatting with bikers

The Harleys getting ready to disembark

Next stop along Highway 23:  Nakusp. 

Located along Lake Kootenay.  A charming community that used to be a booming coal mining town until the Columbia River Treaty was signed.  This must be another summer vacation/winter ski resort so be sure to bring your own money.  The small, friendly, hippie town had a farmer’s market that day, so we filled our fridge with local vegetables. 

Nakusp Farmer's Market

Charming town of
Naksup, BC

At the waterfront of Naksup

Waterfront walkway along
Lake Kootnenay in Naksup

Next Stop:  New Denver

The road split at Nakusp and we would take Highway 6 South to New Denver, another “highly recommended” spot.  It is an undiscovered gem, locals would say. New Denver is my favorite small town.  I am beginning to sound like a broken record, but really.  Bring your own million if you want to live here.  

Welcome to New Denver

Backdrop of New Denver

Spent several hours chillaxing at Sanderella
Featuring handmade gifts and delicious crepes

Eric taking an afternoon swim at Slocan Lake in
New Denver, BC

A lazy Saturday afternoon is best spent being lazy.  We did our share of serious relaxing. 

We spent another night wild-camping somewhere between New Denver and Kaslo, off a protected forest service road.  Eventually we would make our way to Nelson by tomorrow afternoon.  But if we don’t, there is always Monday. 

Found a nice protected spot for the night
Somewhere between New Denver and Kaslo, BC

A beautiful sunset to boot

A nice fast flowing creek called 12-mile Creek
 behind us 

My perception of “time” has completely changed.  I no longer have a schedule to follow. 

Catching up on my writing at the campground

Bear Necessities...

E-Jasper-ration looms

Tangle Ride at the background
Jasper National Park, BC

Sunshine, at long last!
Along Bighorn Hwy 40

Entering Grande Cache, BC

Eric found his long lost cousin, Sir Woverine
Grand Cache Visitor Center, BC

Daisy posing very un-PC with a coyote pelt - very soft!
Grande Cache, BC

Three weeks into the Canadian Rockies and it feels like I am just warming up.  After a familiar spa treatment at the local Sanctuary of the Green Umbrellas (aka Starbucks) at Grande Prairie, we forged on the Bighorn Highway (Highway 40) to Grande Cache.  It will eventually junction the Yellowhead Highway 16 and leads us to Jasper National Park.  We “cached” in for some local grande attractions at Grande Cache; by the way, it is pronounced “grand cash”, not “gran-day ca-che…”   A cache is basically a cabin on stilts, a large storage place.  The location was used as a staging area for fur trappers and Natives prior to their departure to trap lines.  Upon their return, they would store large caches of furs while waiting for transportation to trading posts; hence, the name. 

We couldn’t bear to pay $21 for a tiny campsite at the municipal campground that’s crammed with RVs whose generators would be cranking into the night; instead, we drove a bit south of town and found an user-maintained campground and hunkered down for the night.  No charge, of course.  Dry, flat, wildlife-free evening.  Another day in paradise.

# # #

Along the Yellowhead Highway 16
Heading to Jasper National Park, BC

The sceneries on the Yellowhead Highway to Jasper were as magnificent as any tourist brochures have ever claimed; only better.  More sightings of a black bear, deer, and other four-legged animals on road.  The climate is dry; the air clean and crisp; the mountains are huge.  I tried to sketch some images along the way; they just do not do justice.  Slab after slab, cliff after cliff of gneiss rocks. 

Hiking up Sulphur Skyline
Miette Hot Springs in Jasper NP, BC

Slab after slab of gneiss rocks
Jasper National Park, BC

Bighorn ram perched right on top of a hill, it looked
so huge!

Along Icefields Parkway with glaciers at the back
Jasper NP, BC

One of the most beautiful and scenic routes in the North America continent is the Icefields Parkway, which links Jasper National Park and Banff National Park with 230 kilometers of jaw-dropping sceneries and humongous icefields.  The Parkway passes seven icefields and about 25 smaller glaciers.  (Icefields are large, upland glaciers.)  The largest icefield in the Rocky Mountains and the centerpiece is, of course, the Columbia Icefield.  Like other glaciers, it has retreated rapidly in recent years – an indication that the earth’s climate is warming. 

Icefields Parkway off Jasper NP
Humongous glaciers at viewing distance

These mountains have a mysterious draw to me.  Not only because they are magnificent, but a magnetic connection of sort.  Take no offense:  Give me buttery, flaky croissants and the Eiffel Tower all year long, but I will happily trade them all with an One-Pot-Gourmet and the Canadian Rockies for just one day.

I put my binoculars, a most useful and appreciated birthday gift, to work.  Along the way, more wildlife posed for tourists.

Onward to another night of mosquito-swatting.  We slathered another layer of the trusted bug juice with maximum DEET. 

“Cover me; I’m going in…”