Day 73, June 13, 2019, Thursday. Quesnel, BC (57 miles)
A good night’s sleep interrupted by only one rogue mosquito. We attended several performances in town including a guided tour of Barkerville by Mrs. Isabella Hodgkinson, who came to town as a hurdy gurdy dancer but married and became a washer woman, Billy Barker’s partner telling about Barker’s life of rags to riches to rags, a cemetery tour by the Reverend Reynard, a water wheel show demonstrating the gold mining process and Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie, the first Chief Justice of the Crown Colony of British Columbia, telling about the justice system. The judge was known as the “hanging judge” but he insisted the name was a creation by reporters due to his famous temper, and he was really the “haranguing judge”. In 14 years he only sentenced 27 to hang, when lawless San Francisco during its gold rush was known to hang one a day. A really interesting and fun day.
Day 72, June 12, 2019, Wednesday. Barkerville, BC (204 miles)
We got an early start leaving the campground but not until we had to get the owner to hold a pole to raise an overhead wire so we could get the coach under it. We could not attach the car until we were on the street. Well, I guess after 70 successful days we should not complain about one not so good. Today got better as we arrived at Barkerville, BC, an historic town and park and a National Historic Site. Barkerville was founded in 1862 during the Cariboo gold rush. The town was also instrumental in British Columbia becoming a part of Canada due to the gold, possibly beating the U.S. to claim it since Alaska was already part of U.S. territory and it would have made Alaska contiguous to the lower 48. Unlike other gold rush towns which were abandoned, Barkerville was continuously resided in until 1979. It became an historic site in 1958. The entire town is much the same as it originally existed with some buildings dating to the 1860's. It comes complete with a Chinatown where Chinese immigrants made their homes. Professional actors play people from Barkerville’s past and do a fine job. We first attended a variety show with singing, acting and comedy. The actors were very good with trained voices and musical skills. Then we had our own personal guided tour of Chinatown by Mrs. Jeanette Houser who lived in Barkerville until her death at age 85 in 1933. Then after touring the town on our own, we had dinner in Barkerville at the Lung Duck Tong Restaurant, Chinese of course. A very pleasant day and more to follow with a 2 day ticket. We also paid $23 Canadian to stay in the parking lot for the night but with complimentary high speed wifi, it was a bargain. We could not even get wifi or cell signal in West Vancouver. We kept the slides in to try to keep the mosquitos out.
Day 71, June 11, 2019, Tuesday. Canim Lake, BC (191 miles)
We continued our northward trek and headed toward the Wells Grey Provincial Park with the goal of hiking to the Mahood Falls. One our of tourist brochures showed a picture of the falls which looked like a must see. The provincial park has an RV campground but it requires 27 kilometers of unpaved road. But there is a private campground about 5 miles before the pavement ends. We stopped in front of the private campground, South Point Resort, but I was unsure I could even fit into its entrance. So we continued onward but after about a mile and a half of the unpaved road in not so great condition we decided to turn around and return to the private campground. After a 5 point turnaround, we arrived at South Point Resort and I was correct that I could not fit into the entrance. It was either my mirror or my tail end to sacrifice so I figured I could repair the mirror which hit a power pole and shifted downward. The campground was empty so we had our choice of sites but all were tight, not very level, surrounded by trees and the electric and water on the wrong side. Although on beautiful Canim Lake, the mosquitos were out in force. We hooked up and the 30 amp electric popped the breaker within seconds. Fortunately, the power pole had a second 30 amp outlet and it worked. We then drove the car to the falls, a 40 minute drive on the dirt road. When we got there, the trail head warned of bear with cubs. We pushed onward to the falls and were surprised that the Mahood Falls was not as pictured and was mostly obscured by trees. We hiked a bit farther to the Canim Falls which were very nice and mostly visible. But the 30 minute hike was not worth the 40 minute drive each way plus another 20 minutes back to the highway to go north. Back at the campground we stay in the coach due to the mosquitos. We slept until about 3 a.m. when our ears were buzzed by a mosquito. After dispatching the bug, we tried to go back to sleep but that bug was not alone and we fought mosquitos for the next few hours before getting up for good at about 6 a.m.
Day 70, June 10, 2019, Monday. Somewhere between Spuzzum and Hell’s Gate, BC (129 miles)
We departed Vancouver and fortunately, we did not have to take the Lions Gate Bridge. We stopped at the Bridal Falls Provincial Park just east of Chilliwack. The hike to the falls was about 15 minutes and was well worth it. Of all the falls we have seen on this trip, this one may be the prettiest. We continued on to Hope, BC, and parked at the visitor center. Very friendly folks there allowed us to keep the coach there while we drove the car to the Othello-Quinette Tunnels in the Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park. Four tunnels were built in 1911-1916 through the Coquihalla Canyon to complete a railroad. The tunnels are narrow and are adjacent to the zigzag Coquihalla River. The railroad was abandoned in 1959 and the tunnels are now connected by wooden walkways to allow great views of the river. Yes, we brought a recommended flashlight which was needed as the tunnels were up to 550 feet long and quite dark. We then drove around downtown Hope, which was one street, to see some of the fairly elaborate chain saw wood carvings. After dinner in the coach, we hit the road and drove until I got tired and parked in a Trans Canada Highway 1 pull off for the night.
After the usual Lions Gate Bridge entrance backup, we visited the VanDusen Botanical Garden. 55 acres of over 7,500 plant species from all over the world made a very nice 3 hour walk. There were giant sequoias and northern redwoods which although young trees were still quite large. I inquired how they got there and was informed they were imported and planted in 1974. There was an Elizabethan hedge maze made up of over 3,000 pyramidal cedars which gave us a run for our money to find our way out. Next we visited the nearby Queen Elizabeth Park which had a rose garden in full bloom. The park is on Little Mountain (the highest point in Vancouver) which offers a great view of the city, the harbor and the North Shore mountains. Afterward we visited Granville Island again which was mostly on the way back. Rosemary got a chance to visit the retail shops and we purchased more pastries at the market. Dinner at Nishiki Sushi in West Vancouver was very good especially the snake roll which was tempura shrimp rolled with avocado.
Day 68, June 8, 2019, Saturday. Vancouver, BC
The morning was spent at the Lonsdale Quay Market which combines with a farmers market on Saturdays. Many tastings but not as many as at Granville Island, nor was it as crowded. We bought an almond croissant and a couple bottles of Okanagan Valley (British Columbia) Rieslings. After lunch in the coach, we packed our bikes on our car bike rack (for the first time as we finally remembered to bring the bike rack on a trip) and headed to Stanley Park, just over the Lions Gate Bridge. Today there were 2 lanes open going into town so the back up merging from 5 lanes to 2 was only about 10 minutes. I guess that’s not bad but consider it was early afternoon on a weekend day so supposedly no rush hour traffic. We biked around the park’s perimeter seawall which is about 6 miles. There were several stops along the way to see various sites. The path allowed us to see at various times downtown Vancouver, North Vancouver and West Vancouver. Although the weather indicated a high temp of 63, the sun was out and the jacket came off fairly soon after we started riding. A very enjoyable outing but I must check into getting softer bike seats. There was one disappointment. I had parked the car to allow us to finish the loop at the Stanley Park Brew Pub to have a beer after the bike ride but alas, the Pub was closed for remodeling.
We woke up to rain so the Stanley Park bike ride was postponed and plan B was put into effect.
Incredibly, the Lions Gate Bridge center lane was closed meaning 5 lanes entering merging to one. I can’t imagine people doing this every day. We drove to the University of British Columbia and visited the UBC Botanical Garden and Greenheart Treewalk. The garden had 2 sections, one a series of manicured gardens and one a forest. The forest had a series of suspended walkways and tree platforms high above the forest floor. I alone partook of the treewalk. The suspended walkways were very bouncy as UBC opted not to insert anything into the trees (such as bolts) so it was all done with tension. The view was pretty neat and I had the walkways to myself. A few minute drive away we visited the Nitobe Memorial Japanese Garden, also on the UBC campus. Very beautiful and peaceful but alas, no suspended treewalks. Next we visited the UBC Museum of Anthropology. A beautiful collection of totem poles some 200 years old. The totems were both inside and outside the museum. The museum also has Bill Reid’s best known sculpture, The Raven and the First Man, carved from a yellow cedar. We closed the museum down at 5 pm and decided it was time to get Rosemary her Chinese dinner. We stopped at Peaceful Restaurant. We ordered 2 dim sum items and 2 mains dishes. The soup dumplings were good but the beef rolls (one of their specialties) were great. We also had a noodle dish as they make their own noodles. A very good meal and leftover noodles to boot. It was so good I forgot to take photos! An evening stroll at the Park Royal South Mall which luckily had a David’s Tea so Rosemary replenished her stash enough to last the rest of the trip.
We began the day with a drive around the perimeter road in Stanley Park checking the park out for a hoped for bike ride the next day. We had no trouble crossing the Lions Gate Bridge which amazingly has only 3 total lanes with the center lane switching direction at different times of the day. But there is a nice wide bike lane on each side of the bridge. We then visited the Public Market on Granville Island, just south of downtown. The market was a blast with lots of samples. We had lunch there and made several purchases including 2 liters of #3 dark maple syrup. Rosemary also got her sesame bagels from Siegel’s Bagels, boiled first in honey water and then baked. The sesame were hot right out of the oven and one went right into our mouths. The afternoon was spent at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. Advertised as the first full-scale scholar’s garden-home constructed outside China. It was constructed by 53 experts from Suzhou in 13 months and is a secluded oasis in bustling downtown Vancouver. Included was a guided tour and jasmine tea. Dinner at Carmelo’s Ristorante with Andi and Steve Kapplin. Andi is Rosemary’s Israeli dance instructor who happens to spend summers in Vancouver. Both the food and company were very enjoyable.
Day 65, June 5, 2019, Wednesday. Vancouver, BC (158 miles)
An uneventful travel day as we crossed the border into British Columbia, Canada. The border crossing was easy except for the fact that I had no more than 3 inches on each side of the coach going through the border checkpoint. And that was the lane designated for RV’s! We had some rain as we approached Vancouver but it stopped shortly before we got to our campground. We checked into the Capilano River RV Park (fhu 50 amp) in West Vancouver. Our site has a view of the north entrance to the Lions Gate Bridge and at about 4:30 pm, the traffic was at a standstill. I thought it was the worst rush hour traffic I had ever seen. A short time later we took a walk and noticed some police cars on the bridge but no other cars. We climbed the stairs up to the bridge and were told by the police that the bridge was closed due to a person on the bridge threatening to jump. So the main bridge of only two in and out of Vancouver to the north was shut down during rush hour. And the second bridge was quite a distance away. One of the officers was quite talkative and he informed us of the many problems of Vancouver. Among the problems are a terrible drug problem which leads the abusers to break into cars if anything is visible that one could sell to get a fix. We were informed not to leave anything in the car and not to open the trunk while in the city. Other problems were Chinese money laundering leading to unaffordable real estate prices and government corruption. Made us wonder why we came to Vancouver.
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