Revelstoke to Banff

Our drive from Revelstoke to Castle Mountain Chalets was only 150 miles or so along the Trans Canada Highway.  This highway is 4,860 miles in length stretching from St. Johns Newfoundland on the east coast to Victoria on the west coast.  According to my math we covered a whopping .03% of the total length.  In the short drive we did manage one thing that I think is pretty impressive. We passed through four National Parks, Mount Revelstoke, Glacier, Yoho and Banff.  There was stunning scenery the whole way that was highlighted by us spotting a grizzly bear as we were getting near our hotel! 
We took a bunch of pictures along the way and hopefully I'll be able to attach a few to this blog (the internet isn't real strong up here) and I'll edit it when we return to civilization. 

Lake Louise



Emerald Lake

Natural Bridge Falls near Emerald Lake

Along the Highway

Moraine Lake-A shout out to an old friend (Marty Moore) for suggesting we check it out

Revelstoke, A Dam and A Good Soak!

Before leaving Penticton Saturday morning we had one more stop, the Saturday Farmers Market in downtown.  This is a huge weekly event from the spring through the fall that takes up several blocks of Main Street as well as a couple of intersecting streets.  We got there not long after the scheduled opening time of 8:30 and it was already bustling with vendors and shoppers.  There was only one thing lacking and that was fresh produce!  The growing season starts a little later up here so most fruits and vegetables won't be ready until July/August.  There was plenty of fresh breads and other baked goods so we didn't go hungry and we were able to pick up some huge, crisp apples at a fruit stand a few days before so we've had a sampling.  I would love to be here when all the fresh fruits and veggies are in season.  It looks like they produce quite a variety.
Our next destination was Revelstoke which is about 150 miles Northeast of Penticton.  The drive up Highway 97 took us up the western side of Okanagan Lake before we crossed over to the east side at Kelowna.  It is a beautiful city on the lake that we enjoyed walking around for an hour or so.  We were on Highway 97 another hour or so before we got on the Trans Canada Highway (Highway 1).  The highway number may have changed but the scenery the entire drive was amazing.  Huge lakes, rivers, forests and snow capped mountains the entire way!
Revelstoke is a "ski town" with about 7,000 residents that is located along the Columbia River.  Even up here in the Great White North ski season is over and summer vacations haven't started so the town is a little sleepy right now, just the way we like it.  I've learned that the Revelstoke Mountain Resort has the greatest vertical of any ski resort in North America (5,620 feet).  I have absolutely no idea what that means but it sounds impressive and it also sounds like something that I want no part of!
http://seerevelstoke.com/
http://www.revelstokemountainresort.com/
Just a few miles north of the city is the Revelstoke Dam.  This dam is just under 600 feet tall and produces enough electricity through it's five turbines to power around 1 million homes and businesses in British Columbia.  They have a really nice visitors center and tour of the facility which was well worth the hour or so of time and $6 admission fee.  Our tour guide was a college student who is working at the dam for the summer.  When we asked her at the end of the tour if she had any recommendations for the rest of the day she suggested we visit Halcyon Hot Springs.  Well, she pretty much had us convinced just by the mere mention of the word "hot springs" but her description of the springs overlooking a lake and the mountains plus a nice restaurant had us on the road in no time.  It was about an hour out of Revelstoke but again the drive was spectacular. There was an added bonus on this drive and that was that a twenty minute ferry ride across Upper Arrow Lake was required.  The ferry runs every hour from the Revelstoke side of the lake and returns on the half hour and you can't beat the cost..........free!
There were four pools at the springs, my favorite @ 104, Beth's favorite @ 99, a "seasonal" pool @ 86 and a cold plunge @ 58.  Beth managed 50 seconds in the cold plunge.  I lasted around four and a half seconds!  I think with the two hours or so we spent in the warmer pools we got our moneys worth for the day!
https://www.bchydro.com/community/recreation_areas/visitor-centres/revelstoke-visitor-centre.html
https://halcyon-hotsprings.com/
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/transportation/passenger-travel/water-travel/inland-ferries/upper-arrow-lake-ferry

No we didn't.  The sign was actually in a pizza joint.  I thought it was pretty funny

These life size grizzly bears are at the entrance to downtown Revelstoke.  Dad on one side, mom and cub on the other

From our hotel room at sunset

We don't do many selfies.  This one was on the ferry

From the ferry

Hot Springs Pools @ Halcyon Hot Springs

Outdoor patio at the hot springs

It's true for us!

The ferry ride back from the hot springs.........totally relaxed!

Trans Canada Highway Bridge in Revelstoke

Biking the Kettle Valley Railway Trail

No, that's not a misprint in the title!  We mixed it up a little bit, used a few different muscles and got in some biking.  About 26 miles worth of it on the Kettle Valley Railway Trail.  This multiuse trail(hiking, biking and horses) was built along a railway bed that was no longer in service.
 http://www.visitpenticton.com/
http://www.penticton.ca/EN/main/community/parks-trails-beaches/trails.html
We did just a small section riding from Penticton to Little Tunnel, which as the name implies is a little tunnel.  The ride was along the eastern shore of Okanagan Lake and cut through vineyards, orchards and pine forests along the way.  One of the nice things about the ride is that the ground was relatively flat which for us non-mountain bikers was perfect.  The entire way out there was a fairly steady small elevation increase of 1-2% which required a little bit of an effort.  Once we reached Little Tunnel and turned around the ride back was pretty easy.
We rented the bikes from a local bike shop in Penticton (Performance Bikes) from a young man named Josh.  When Josh found out we were from Texas (my license is still a Texas license) he told us he had just opened a bbq place in Penticton and that he was going to be taking some of his staff to Austin in the fall to experience Texas bbq.  We had a long conversation about some of the great ones in a state that's full of great bbq joints.  I recommended a number of them to him (Franklin, Salt Lick, Smitty's, Kreuz Market & Snow's.  If he can come close to duplicating what those places put out he's going to do great.
http://www.texasmonthly.com/list/the-50-best-bbq-joints-in-the-world/
As I had mentioned, the ride went through vineyards and where there are vineyards there are also wineries.  We rewarded our efforts with lunch at the Hillside Winery and Bistro on the way back into Penticton.  It was a two hour lunch as we soaked in the view, the food and merlot, while letting our bodies (and butts) get a little rest before heading back into Penticton.
http://www.hillsideestate.com/
It wasn't the Tour de France but the Tour de Kettle Valley Railway Trail was pretty darn spectacular!

Proper nutrition and hydration are important on these bike rides!

Along the Kettle Valley Trail-Yes, that's sweat on my shirt!

Trail View

The Little Tunnel-Our turnaround point

From the patio of the Hillside Winery and Bistro

Aerated Chocolate-Hillside Winery & Bistro





 





Canadian Wine Country.........way too much of a good thing!

We've put Vancouver in the rear view mirror and moved inland around 250 miles to the city of Penticton.  By the time we left Vancouver we had pretty well circumnavigated the entire peninsula that makes up the main part of the city.  We even spent some time in a couple of areas (Chinatown and Gas Light District) that we really hadn't explored before.  There are a bunch of places to see around the globe but Vancouver is high on our list of places we're already looking forward to visiting again. 
Once we got out of Vancouver and the suburbs the drive became very scenic as we drove part of what is known as the Crows Nest Highway.  The total length of the Crows Nest Highway is over 700 miles.  Obviously we did just a portion of it but it included a couple of nice climbs and descents including the Allison Pass Summit and Manning Provincial Park. 
Penticton is one of those gems that Beth has the ability to find.  It's a city of about 50,000 that has the distinction of being situated between two large lakes.  On the north side is Okanagan Lake which is almost 100 miles long and around 4 miles wide at it's widest point.  To the south is Shaka Lake which is much smaller (7 miles long and 1.4 miles wide) but impressive in it's own right.
This area is Canada's oldest wine producing region and currently there are over 125 wineries.  The heaviest concentration of them is along the eastern shore of Okanagan Lake although they extend down south to the small towns of Oliver and Osoyoos which are very close to the US border. 
It was suggested to us by a nice lady in the visitors center that if we drove down towards Osoyoos that we stop at the Burrowing Owl Winery for lunch.  We had no option but to take her up on the recommendation especially after she shared with us that her favorite place on earth is Anna Maria Island!  The Burrowing Owl wine (and food) was really nice and shouldn't be confused with the Winking Owl wine that you can buy at Aldi for around $3.  Although at $35-40 a bottle I'll be sticking closer to the Winking Owl wine!
https://www.burrowingowlwine.ca/
https://grapecollective.com/articles/winking-owl-reviews-of-an-under-3-wine
After a little looking around we headed back towards Penticton and found Ice Cream Heaven!  It's a place called Tickleberry's in Okanagan Falls which is a small town that doesn't have a waterfall (seriously).  The ice cream was amazing but it wasn't just the quality it was also the quantity.  A small "single" cone had 3 hearty scoops.  It was a tough job but we fought our way through it.
http://www.tickleberrys.com/
So was it too much wine or too much ice cream?  Actually it was neither!  The too much of a good thing I'm referring to is the record rain and snowfall that this area received this past winter.  When we started walking along the elevated walkway of the Lake Okanagan shore we noticed the lake level seemed as if it might be elevated even though it's contained within the lake.  We've since learned by talking to a number of locals that it is at levels that have never been seen by life long residents.  Even though it is not overflowing it's banks there is normally 40-50 feet of sandy beach in front of our hotel and right now there is none.  If you recall the lake sizes I shared earlier in this blog the excess water in the big lake (Okanagan) flows out through a dam into the smaller lake (Shaka) and then on down into other small lakes and rivers.  I'm not an engineer but I can tell you it's going to take a long time for the lake (which hasn't crested yet) to return to it's normal level.  Some of the pictures may give you a better idea.

This is the SS Sicamous.  It has been a museum for 40 years.  Normally it has no water under it.  Right now it is floating!




http://sssicamous.ca/

These three statues of children are normally 2+ feet out of the water.  The water is above the knees of the first child.  Someone put lifejackets on them...........not a bad idea!

What it normally looks like along the lake front

Sandbags along the walkway.  Normally there is 40-50 feet of beach here

The walkway along Okanagan Lake.  It remains high and dry although the water comes right up to it.  Notice all the nice benchs

Lunch at the Burrowing Owl!

Desert Center Boardwalk

A storm brewing over the vineyards!

Walking Vancouver

Yesterday (Monday) morning we made our final pass at the all you can eat bacon on the breakfast buffet and disembarked in Vancouver.  It was a great cruise with some more great memories created, as well as some new friendships forged along the way.  We hope British Air is back up and running smoothly for Derrick and Flora and that Chris and Joan enjoy their time in San Francisco before they head back to England.
Our hotel here in Vancouver is the Hyatt (Hotwire) which is just a few blocks from the cruise terminal so it was an easy walk to reach.  Fortunately even though it was only around 8:00 AM they had a room ready so we were able to go ahead and check in before heading out for the day.  Vancouver is nicknamed "Rain City".  It's a well earned nickname since they average close to 45 inches of rain per year and are coming off one of their wettest winters in history.  However we were greeted with blue skies and temperatures in the 70's (it is raining a little today).  So we did what we like to do which is take off by foot and walk, and walk, and walk, and walk! 
We were on the streets around 9:00 and not back until close to 7:00.  Through town, across the Burrard Bridge, through the Kitsilano neighborhood to Kitsilano and Wilderness Beach, along the sea wall to Granville Island, a short ferry ride across the inlet back to the city and then around the Stanley Park Sea Wall.  We're not sure of the exact distance but somewhere in the 16-18 mile range.  A long walk but a lot of nice benches along the way!
Spending that much time walking there is a lot of time for conversation.  One topic along the way was favorite international cities.  I suggested we come up with a top five but were never able to whittle the list down to just five.  If we would have, Vancouver would have been near the top of the list.  It combines friendly people with beautiful coastlines, mountains, great food, and pedestrian friendly walkways through town and along the waterfront.
http://granvilleisland.com/public-market
http://granvilleisland.com/
http://covapp.vancouver.ca/parkfinder/parkdetail.aspx?inparkid=112
http://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/stanley-park.aspx
Even though it was a Monday the weather brought out a lot of beach goers, walkers and bikers so the people watching was as entertaining as ever. We also enjoyed watching the ships coming in and out of the harbor at Burrard Inlet, spotted several seals and had an eagle land on a group of rocks no more than 20-30 yards away from us.  As we finished up the day we sat on a bench and watched as the Norwegian Sun, which had been our home for the past two weeks, made it's way out towards the Pacific Ocean with a new load of passengers heading for Alaska and hopefully a fresh supply of bacon!

Wilderness Beach-Behind me is a tree trunk that washed up on the beach, it's huge!

Vancouver skyline from Kitsilano Beach

Not a good day of sailing for someone!

Coal Harbor Marina

Granville Island Public Market

From Vancouver with Granville Island and Granville Bridge in the background

Siwash Rock in Stanley Park

Along the Sea Wall Walkway in Stanley Park.  Lions Gate Bridge in the Background

Totem Poles in Stanley Park

Vancouver skyline from Stanley Park near Brockton Point

Hopefully they restocked the bacon!

Alcohol was probably involved-reposted

This blog was originally posted on Saturday, May 27.  I tried to get fancy and write it in notes on my iphone and then cut and paste it into the blog............it didn't work so well!


The last few days have included an attempt to view the Hubbard Glacier, our final Alaskan port, Sitka and our first Canadian Port, Prince Rupert Island.
Weather wise we've had a pretty mixed bag.  We were not able to get up to the Hubbard Glacier due to dense fog/drizzle combined with heavy ice in the inlet.  It would have been nice to get up close but not at the risk of us being the modern day version of Titanic.  I'm glad the weather cooperated earlier when we visited Glacier Bay, especially since seeing the glaciers were high on the list of so many people we've visited with over the past twelve days.
Sitka is a town of around 9,000 people which is fairly large by Alaska standards.  Sitka we heard was the largest city in the US.........by land mass.  Now I was always told the largest city by land mass was Jacksonville, Fl.  I guess I'm going to have to do a little fact checking when I have internet.  I'll let you know what I find.
Our weather up in Sitka was a slight upgrade over the Hubbard Glacier weather.  We had a little chill in the air, some drizzle and fog but not enough to cause any disruption in our plans, especially since we didn't have anything specific on the agenda.
Having visited Sitka before we knew we were surrounded by snow capped mountains.  They weren't visible because of the low hanging fog.  This fog gave everything a different look which was pretty interesting as well.
After walking around the downtown which is far less "touristy" than most we visited the Sitka National Historic Park.  We listened to a woodcarver who was a member of the Tlingit (pronounced Clink-it) tribe share a fascinating story on the meaning of one of the totem poles on display.  The park is full of trails through a dense forest which served as a natural canopy from the drizzle.
Once we returned to the ship we were treated to a great show.  Just off the back of the ship we saw a full grown sea lion (they can get up to 2000 pounds) with a large fish in its mouth.  I'm not sure if he was trying to kill the fish or tear it into smaller pieces but he was shaking it like crazy from side to side.  The fish slipped out of his mouth and landed about 10 yards away.  As he lazily swam over to it an eagle swooped down, grabbed the fish and was gone.  It was a thrill for us.  A meal for the eagle. There are more fish in the sea for the sea lion.  The real loser in this National Geographic moment was this particular fish who at great personal sacrifice played a key role in the event!
The sunshine returned yesterday for our visit to Prince Rupert Island.  This was our first visit to this city on the northwest coast of British Columbia.  Even though it was our first visit we didn't actually discover it.  They have found evidence that the area has been inhabited for around 10.000 years.  The towns biggest industries are related to the port and mainly focus on shipping and fishing instead of tourism.  We roamed the sleepy downtown a bit before heading back into the neighborhoods in search of the McClymont Park Trail which followed Hays Creek down to the seaside.
Once we got tot the port area we stopped in a small pub with outdoor seating overlooking a marina and the harbor.  The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and we were enjoying a beverage and snack when suddenly we heard the shrill scream of a woman "help", man overboard"!  We looked up and sure enough a guy had fallen overboard from a commercial fishing boat tied to the dock.  He was able to swim around the boat to the dock and hold on patiently while they found a ladder for him to climb up.  After climbing out of the water  the possible cause of the fall was still floating near the boat.  I'm making a few assumptions here but it looked like a can of beer to me and I'm betting it since it was late in the day it wasn't his first.
Just out of curiosity I check the water temperature.........it was a chilly 51 degrees.  Yikes, I'll bet that was a sobering experience!


The pictures below also include some from earlier in the week (Hubbard Glacier, Skagway & Yukon Pass and Icy Strait Point.


Also, I just looked it up.  Jacksonville is the largest city by area in the lower 48.  Four Alaskan cities are larger than it and Sitka is the largest!  Everyone can sleep easier tonight with that mystery solved!
https://factualfacts.com/us-largest-cities/

Bear #1 Yukon Pass

Hubbard Glacier

Emerald Lake-Yukon Pass

Bear #2 Yukon Pass

Yukon Pass

Icy Strait Point

Humpback Whale-Icy Strait Point

Prince Rupert Island

Sunken Garden Prince Rupert Island

Marina Prince Rupert Island-Site of the "Man Overboard"!