The Long Road Home

August 5 - Back to Lethbridge after our long trek to Alaska and back - 9500 miles, 1 territory, 1 state and 1 more time zone. It was a great journey that we will remember forever. Now it's time to take it easy for awhile so we'll be taking a break from blogging. We hope to head south shortly after Thanksgiving and we'll let you know when we start the blog again. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the summer. Take care and keep in touch!

Clayton's birthday - Rick and Lynda brought out pizza and birthday cake to celebrate his birthday. There was a fire ban on, but we lit all those candles anyway. Fortunately, his volunteer firefighting training kicked in and he managed to blow them all out at once. August 4 - A beautiful, sunny, hot day so we spent the afternoon at Surveyor's Lake. It, too, is part of Kikomun Provincial Park. Mel and Clayton don't look too concerned that Chris is going to try to tip their dinghy.

August 3 - We went into Cranbrook to have a quick visit with Jon and Connie and after supper we enjoyed a game of bocce ball in the field behind our campsites.

Our grand-puppy, Pilot Lynda

Melanie Chris

Ted and Rick August 2 - On July 29 we left Cranbrook and set up camp at Kalispell Campground in Kikomun Provincial Park on Lake Koocanusa. It's a good thing we went there on Tuesday because with the long weekend approaching, it was a very busy place. Chris, Melanie and Clayton arrived on Friday for my favourite weekend of the year - our annual Salken family August long weekend camp-out. Unfortunately Carla had to work and couldn't join us. On Saturday, Clayton's parents, Rick and Lynda, from Cranbrook came out to visit us and we went for a drive up the forestry road along the Bull River where we had a beautiful view of the mountains, the river and the valley.

Wild Horse Creek where gold was first discovered in 1863. Hydraulic water cannons were used to dislodge the gravel and make the gold easier to find. You can still see evidence of the hydraulic mining on the sides of the valley. We then continued on to the ghost town of Fisherville. In 1863 placer gold was found in Wild Horse Creek and thousands of miners, mostly from the northwestern U.S., flocked to the newly-formed town of Fisherville. At its height it consisted of 6 general stores, 4 saloons, several restaurants, a brewery and hundreds of miners' shacks and tents. When it was discovered that gold lay beneath the townsite, Fisherville was dismantled by the miners in order to gain access to the ground underneath. How greedy can you get?? Our first stop was St. Eugene Resort. Built in 1910, the St. Eugene Mission served as an industrial and residential school that instructed 5000 children from the Okanagan, Shuswap and Blackfoot Nations in addition to the area’s Ktunaxa Nation until its closure in 1970. The school is now the main part of the hotel complex of the resort which also includes restaurants, a golf course and the Casino of the Rockies.

July 27 - After enjoying a delicious brunch made by Ted's nephew, Jon and his wife, Connie, we went for a drive. Their dog, Hudson, was happy to go for a ride, too. July 25 - We caught the ferry from Balfour to Crawford Bay. Ferry personnel put us right in the front row in the middle so we had a great view as we crossed the lake and were also lucky to be first off the ferry. We then drove down to Creston where we picked up some delicious cherries and then continued on to Cranbrook. The really neat thing about Ainsworth Hot Springs is the cave. You enter on the right, walk through a steamy hot circular cave and exit on the left. The temperature in the cave is about 40C - only about 3 degrees warmer than the pool - but it feels much hotter due to the humidity. If you're really brave you can step into a small cold pool to the right of the cave entrance. Its temperature is only about 10C. Going from one to the other is like begging for a heart attack if you ask me! We soak in the Hot Springs at Ainsworth every chance we get. Of all the hot springs that we've visited, Ainsworth is definitely our favourite, although Liard Hot Springs is running a close second. July 24 - Yesterday we spent the day with Steve & Cindy Martin and their children, Danielle and Jared, in South Slocan, but unfortunately we didn't get a picture of them. Steve used to work with Ted in Field and still works for CP out of Nelson. Today we drove to Kaslo where we had a delicious bowl of borscht at the Treehouse Restaurant. We then walked down the street to the SS Moyie, "the Sweetheart of the Lake", the world's oldest sternwheeler.

Our next stop was Woodbury Creek Resort 3 kms north of Ainsworth Hot Springs. Don't you love the view of Kootenay Lake from the back window of our trailer? July 22 - We love the area around Osoyoos and you can get a great view from the top of the hill on the east side of town.

We were also lucky to see my nephew, Robert, his wife, Christine and their daughter, Courtney, who were visiting from Golden.

We enjoyed a great visit and a delicious turkey dinner with my brother, Allan and his wife, Anna. July 21 - After spending a couple of days in Chilliwack, we moved on to a campground in Oliver. From there we drove up to Kelowna. Of course, you can't drive that highway without seeing orchards, vineyards and Lake Okanagan.

July 18 - Hard to look anywhere in BC without seeing something advertising the 2010 Winter Olympics - even ferries.

Sunset on the ocean in Nanaimo Harbour On the Dinghy Dock, there is a small tank where you can fish for minnows. Daniel caught two while we waited for the ferry to arrive to take us back to shore. Proud mom, aunt and sis look on as Daniel displays one of his catches. While we were there, Jody's sister-in-law, Elaine and friends rowed their dragon boat over to the Pub after their practice. Caitlyn and Daniel got a chance to sit in a real dragon boat. Lisa and Jody The Dinghy Dock Pub at anchor off Good Point, Protection Island.

That evening Ted, Jody, Caitlyn, Daniel and I picked up Ted's niece, Lisa (who lives in Nanaimo) and took a 10 minute ferry ride to a floating restaurant in the Nanaimo Harbour called the Dinghy Dock Pub.

Dave & Jody own a BMW convertible and were kind enough to let us borrow it and go for a drive into Parksville. Doesn't Ted look right at home in a Beemer?? I've tried asking nicely again, but so far it isn't working! Ted may be agreeable to stopping to see totem poles (as long as they're close to the highway), but buying a convertible is in a whole different league as far as "asking nicely" goes. We also saw lots of deer in the area. As you can see, they were quite comfortable around people. As we walked down to the beach, we saw huge Douglas fir trees - makes Ted look tiny!! July 17 - On the 16th we left our trailer at a campground near Chilliwack and drove over to Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island to visit Ted's niece and family - Jody, Dave, Caitlyn and Daniel. Dave & Jody have bought this beautiful property, have drawn up plans for an incredible new home and are just waiting to break ground. Ted, Jody & I walked the property which, as you can see, has a great view of the ocean.

July 15 - Another beautiful rest area where we spent the night. This is the Lake of the Woods Rest Area just a few miles north of Hope. Hell's Gate - the airtram was closed for the day but we had a great view of the Fraser River. South of Spences Bridge the highway follows the Fraser River as well as two sets of railroad tracks - CP and CN. You can also see the havoc the pine beetle is causing. The "red attack" occurs one year after the beetles have laid their eggs in the healthy trees. The beetles cut off the water and nutrients to the tree causing them to turn red. The following year the needles fall from the trees in what is called the "grey attack". Harvesting the dead trees quickly recovers the value of the timber, removes fuel for wildfires and speeds regeneration, but unfortunately there is not enough money available to keep up with the infestation.

July 14 - From Prince George, we headed south on the Cariboo Highway (Hwy 97). The further south we went, the drier it became. It's no wonder they call Cache Creek the "Arizona of Canada". It is definitely desert-like.

July 14 - Quesnel, BC claims to have the World's Largest Gold Pan, but Burwash Landing, YK makes the same claim. I hate to start Gold Pan Wars, but I do think the one at Burwash Landing is bigger and has a nicer picture in the centre (you can see its picture in the "Seward to Carcross" post). The Quesnel gold pan display is rather boring, but does include a pick and shovel so bonus points for that.

Darren, Eric, Susan, Daniel and me.

July 12 - We spent a few days in Prince George getting new tires for the trailer, washing vehicles and resting up. While there we spent time with Eric & Susan Tallis and their sons, Daniel and Darren. Eric used to work with Ted in Field many years ago. They invited us for a weiner roast at Wilkins Regional Park and we spent a great day with them visiting and enjoying the sunshine as the Nechako River gently flowed behind us. Some of our best camping was at rest areas. This is the Dry William Lake rest area about 90 miles west of Prince George. A great view and we were right beside the lake! The town of Houston is proud to display the World's Largest Fly Fishing Rod. It is 60 feet long and made of anodized aluminum. The 21-inch fly is a fluorescent "Skykomish Sunrise" - hopefully that means something to those of you who fly fish. Smithers had several neat statues (including that of an alpenhorn player) scattered throughout the town, but this is probably its most famous.

The towns of Gitwangak and Gitanyow are noted for their authentic totem poles, however, we would have had to drive off the highway to see them and Ted was on a mission to go as far as possible as fast as possible so we didn't get to see them. However, after I asked nicely, he did agree to stop to see the totem poles in Moricetown, the oldest First Nations settlement in the province.

Lake Eddontenajon - one of many beautiful lakes along the Cassiar Highway.

July 9 - After spending the night at the Rapid Grizzly Rest Area near Dease Lake, BC, we woke up to fresh snow on the mountain across the road. Too close for Ted's comfort! The nice thing about rain - rainbows! This is the Cassiar Highway (Hwy 37) which took us 450 miles from the junction of the Alaska Highway and Hwy 37 to Kitwanga where it meets the Yellowhead - Hwy 16. It, too, was a narrow, hilly, winding road with no passing lanes or centre lines and a few stretches of gravel. This was one of the few straight stretches. July 8 - Watson Lake, the second time around - it looked as if even more signs had been added in the past month.