Went to Vancouver

Left our campground and drove over to the King George station to catch the Sky Train into Vancouver. For $9 you can ride the Sky Train, Seabus and a regular bus all day around Vancouver. We used all three modes of transportation during our visit. The Seabus was pretty neat and it is like a big enclosed barge with lots of seats for people to sit. The ride takes about 15 minutes and drops you off in North Vancouver. There is a nice market/mall with lots of places to eat. We decided to eat at the Soup Meister, as a camper told us about the place. Excellent soup and bread, it reminded us of the Soup Nazi episode from Seinfield:) Make sure you eat there if you make it to North Vancouver. We walked around downtown and then decided to go see the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

North Vancouver

Vancouver

Staying at Fort Camping in Ft. Langley, BC

We had plans to stay in Surrey, BC at a campground, but later found it was a place we didn't want to be. So I started looking for another place close to Vancouver and found Fort Camping on Brae Island. Thanks to someone cancelling, we were able to get a reservation. This was a big weekend as Santa Clause was coming for a visit:))  There are over a 100 sites and everyone was full with lots of kids. It was a great weekend for them and the weather was perfect. The town of Fort Langley, population of a little under 3,000, is just over the bridge and is an easy walk. There is plenty to see and lots of places to eat. We found Wendels Books and Eatery, where you can sit outside and enjoy the views, the best for food and the very best for deserts:)) On Saturday we drove around the town on our way to Walnut Grove for groceries, the IGA in Ft. Langley burnt down last year, and found a celbration going on for the 100th year of Parks Canada. There was a firing of a cannon and shooting of firearms to help with the celebration, but only a few people to witness the 100th year festivities. Ft. Langley is along the Fraser river and is town that is about an hour away from Vancouver.  It seems that from Fort Langley it is one suburb after another all the way to Vancouver. We will be going into Vancouver on Tuesday for a visit and then crossing to border for our visit to Mt. Rainer.

Hope and the Othello Tunnels

Decided to take a hike through the Othello Tunnels also known as Quintette Tunnels. These tunnels, 5 of them were designed by Andrew McCulloch to save going around the Coquihalla Canyon and were built in 1914. The railbed crosses the Coquihalla River several times and the views are well worth the trip. The trestles have all been converted to walkways now, and it is a provincial park.  Suzanne and I enjoyed the fabulous views of the river and the canyon. This is a popular place for tourists and we found lots of people around for a Thursday. We also stopped and looked at the Kawkawa Lake and found familes and children playing in the lake. The lake water was cold but really looks neat with the surrounding mountains in the background. Overall a great day in Hope!
On to Fort Camping on Brae Island.  They are having Christmas in August for the kids on Saturday. I think Santa Clause is coming.  Should be fun :)

More pictures of Hell's Gate

Hell's Gate!!!

Hope, BC

What a nice ride going to Hope. The road is in good shape and follows along the Fraser River with some very nice views. We stopped for lunch and I spotted a bunch of wooden motorcycles way on the other side ov the river. I couldn't figure out why they were there other than lawn ornaments. The drive takes you through several tunnels, which always amazes me. Just the engineering of those tunnels is mind boggling. Just outside of Hope is Hell's Gate, with an airtram going down to HELL. If you want to know more about Hell's Gate visit their website http://www.hellsgateairtram.com/history.html . It is worth the visit and Suzanne even had fun, even though she feared the ride down to Hell's Gate. There are some spectacular views at the bottom of the ride and the suspension bridge gives you some good looks at the speed of the water below.

Staying in Williams Lake, BC

Went to Williams Lake, BC on Monday, 8/14. It was a nice ride of about 250 miles with pretty good roads and scenery. We are staying at the Williams Lake Stampede Campground which is were the stampede was held, just a few weeks ago. This was the 85^th year of the stampede and they had close to 13,000 people attend. Suzanne and I took a nice hike around the island in Williams Lake which gave you a nice view of the lake. The also have a big lumber mill in Williams Lake and the smell of cut lumber is in the air. The visitor center has a very unusual piece of “art”. Overall we had a nice stay and enjoyed the campground. Going to Hope and will be stopping by Hells Gate!!

From Fort Nelson to Prince George

Well we have been on the move the past 4 days. Stopped off at Dawson Creek, Mile "0" of the Alaskan Highway for a few days. Nothing new to report from there but very few tourists visiting the famous Mile"0" sign. The campground was full because of their yearly rodeo. They had a parade, but we missed it because we were being lazy and hanging around the campground. We left early for Prince George and glad we did as the highway was being repaired because of flooding in July. We had 2 delays that lasted for a total of an hour and still had to go slow for many of the miles. The ride from Fort Nelson to Prince George has been a pretty rough 600 miles. There is a lot of road repairs and in another month and a half winter will strike, I am not sure they can get all the repairs done.

Prince George is a nice town of about 80,000 with a some beautiful parks for public use. I have not seen any parks like those in Florida.  We are staying at the South Park RV Campground on the southside of town. It is a very nice campground with grass and very clean restrooms and laundry facilities.

Prince George is also home of Rex and Lori, campers we met in Albuquerque. It sure is nice to visit with fellow travelers. They treated us to a nice tour of Prince George and some places we probably wouldn't have seen without their help. We are going over to their camper tonight for fried fish, one of my favorites. We hope they come to Florida so we can repay the hospitality.
Staying in the campground are Tom and Barbara, who are good friends with Walt and Linda from New Smyrna Beach. We had met them in Seward over a month ago and here we are 1000 miles from there and camping at the same park. What a small world!!
Moving on down to Williams Lake and Hope before going into Vancouver.