Back to BC

And we're back! It was not my intention to take such a hiatus, but for those that don't know me, I'm a teacher and headed back to school this week. So, maybe it's fitting that I take a moment to reflect back on the trip again as a break from all things work related.

At the end of my last post, we had just spent a rainy night across from Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park. With the eventual goal of heading through Revelstoke and then Banff, we needed to get ourselves back south quite a fair bit. We continued down Highway 97, reaching Fort St. John, BC. After consulting a map, we decided to head down Highway 29 as it seemed like a bit of a short cut. This area is known as the Peace River Regional District, and it's GORGEOUS! All I remember thinking was, what if we hadn't come down here.

Unfortunately, at some point it turned into another rainy and quite cloudy day. However, it was clear that we were now getting back into the mountains. The roads curved back and forth, as we headed down into the valley. Here's what much of the drive looked like though...

We were basically in the clouds, pretty awesome, but doesn't make for great pictures. We passed through a few towns, and found a couple municipally run campgrounds. We stopped at one that had the price blacked out on the sign, so we thought it may be free. I went to use the bathroom and investigate the showers (MUCH needed at this point). Everything was clean and looked great, the showers were however coin operated. While I was doing this, Justin was discovering how many mosquitoes were at this site. Given that we were the only ones at the site, we figured we could get eaten alive and decided to leave and look for somewhere else to camp.

We ended up camping at Dinosaur Lake, which is also run by the city. It is essentially right by the Peace Canyon Dam, one of two large dams in the area (and soon to possibly be a third- something that has been a contentious issue for locals).

This campground didn't have showers, but it had been a long day, there were other people camping there, and the mosquitoes didn't seem as abundant. The very friendly park attendants also let us park down by the water, even though this wasn't actually a camp site. It was $20 for the night, but when you're hungry and it's rained most of the day, and there's an abundance of mosquitoes (did I mention those yet?!), it's not hard to give in and pay up.

No parking? Nah, the Odyssey does what it wants!

Enjoying the view with a Mountain House Lasagna (all the carbs!)

Skipping rocks. The dam is in the top left corner of this picture.

We had a pretty low-key evening here. Some other campers invited us over to their fire, but we turned in early instead.

We woke up the next day to some sun, which was a welcome surprise. However, the clouds weren't all gone.

This turned into one of our longest driving days as we didn't have a plan (as usual) of where to stay next). We picked up Highway 97 again and headed for Prince George- yes, we had already been through here, this is where the 16 and the 97 cross paths. I think the view coming into town from the 16 is much prettier than from the 97!

So we just kept drivng, and driving, and driving some more. We couldn't seem to find anywhere to pull off that seemed safe enough to cook and hang out for the evening, and campgrounds were few and far between. We drove far enough to pickup Highway 1 (the Trans Canada) and head East towards Kamloops. As our morning started out in a place with lush greenery, we headed towards the end of our day, staring in awe at the completely changed scenery...

                                       

  

At this point, we basically stumbled across Juniper Beach Provincial Park, about an hour west of Kamloops, BC. This spot quickly became another one of my favourites (is there a limit to the number of favourites I can have from a trip??). It was flanked by two railway tracks, the Thompson River, and some sweet badlands. As we got in quite late, I immediately headed for a shower (coin operated- which didn't matter at this point- I hope no one has done the math on our showers for this leg of the trip...). This campground was quite full, but peaceful, save for the trains that went by several times. 

Side view of our spot- river and railroad in the background

  That evening, Justin whipped up another delicious dinner and we enjoyed some BC beer we had picked up. We ended up chatting with a super nice couple from Salmon Arm, BC. Actually, they were Ontarians who had moved there many years ago to raise their family. They had quite the large trailer and shared stories and suggestions for travelling across the country. They also suggested stopping at the local craft brewery in Salmon Arm- which we did the next day. We picked up a growler from Shuswap Lake Brewery at the restaurant called "Barley Station Brewpub" which would be enjoyed later that evening.

However, we enjoyed a sunny morning with coffee, oatmeal, and a train passing by first, before we got back onto the road. I loved when the train went by! I wondered where it was going and what the cargo was.

Coffee with a view

Another train perched above the Thompson River 

On that note, I've managed to carry on again- I guess that's what reflecting and reminscing will do. We definitley drove further than we needed, but I can't help but think it was to make sure we ended up in this beautiful spot and to meet some great people!

More to come from BC, and then finally back into Alberta!

J & S

P.S. If you're wondering how I'm remembering all this a couple months later- I did make notes shortly after our return. They're the basis for my posts, but appear to be jogging my memory of other details as well!