Roller coaster drive

Well, we made it to Vancouver late last night and are resting up for a few days visiting sisters-in-law (or is that sister-in laws?)/aunts Claire and Helen. Also a good time to catch up on other essentials - like laundry! Two guys in a car for nine days means ... well, you can imagine what it means. It could possibly give Sandra Shamus enough material for a new show.

Yesterday was a good day on the road, sunny and warm (starting off around 20 degrees C). We started a little later than planned from Nelson (mainly because I got out late for my run) and headed north along Kootenay lake to Kaslo, where Graham's grandfather lived as a young boy. The drive was along a highway that hugged a cliff to the west of Kootenay Lake and afforded some spectacular views of the lake. Kootenay Lake is the first of those three north-south elongated lakes that you see when flying into Vancouver over the Rockies from the east. Kaslo is a picturesque town with some interesting old buildings as well as a paddle steamer museum. Apparently it was a jumping off point for miners looking for silver in the surrounding hills. Graham and I stopped for a late breakfast at a little cafe before strolling around and checking out the town. We stocked up with provisions (Graham: Croissant, fruit roll ups, green tea; me: Muffin, granola bars, diet coke) at the grocery store and headed out back on the road. We stopped briefly at Mirror Lake and then it was back to Nelson and on to Vancouver.

I had been practising my zen driving, so the few roadworks we encountered didn't bother me, nor did the slower drivers along the way (at least not too much). It was an interesting drive, essentially cutting across the grain of the continent. Since the mountain ranges in the Rockies run approximately north-south, driving west means a lot of ups and downs. For someone from Ontario, whose idea of ups and downs are indicated by the direction of a line on a stock market graph, the drive is a challenge, especially on the long winding descents. Fortunately we managed to get through it without burning the break linings, but it was a relief to get onto the flatter sections closer to Vancouver.

We did stop at a fruit stall in the southern Okanagan. The stalls are located all along the highway in this area and offer fresh picked fruit from the local orchards. We would have visited a vineyard or two, but we were already running late and it was incredibly hot. The car thermometer indicated 40 degrees C as we made our way through the Okanagan. I was thankful for that one hot day before we left that made me realize the AC wasn't working, without it we would have baked. With a supply of peaches and cherries (that taste wonderful) we journeyed on. When I told Graham we still had 3 hours to go, he sighed and said "let's listen to Stuart McLean." Ginny had thoughtfully bought Graham a CD collection of Vinyl Cafe stories for just such an eventuality, so we spent the next hour enjoying stories of Dave toilet training the family cat and Sam taking piano lessons - it was great! We eventually arrived in Vancouver around 9:15pm and after a further half an hour or so managed to find Clair's place.

Trip Facts:

Driven yesterday: 885 km
Driven in total: 5997 km
Run yesterday: 9 km
Run Total: 69.5 km
Number of TH Stops: 14
Number of speeding tickets: 1
Ipod progress: 328 songs Last: Daniel Lanois "Rocky World"
Song of the Day: "Boys don't cry" The Cure