June 4th, 2022
Spokane, WA (via the Okanagan Valley, B.C.)

After being somewhat skunked by weather in April, I pointed the van north in May and headed to B.C. A mere 4.5 hours from home I braved the border crossing into Canada which was remarkably painless.  You simply download the ArriveCan app, take photos of your passport and Covid vaccine card, tell them when and where you will arrive, and you’re done.  They scan you passport at the border and it brings up the rest on their computer.

Immediately after the border you are in wine country, with vineyards and wineries along the entire drive to Penticton.  Beautiful country. Penticton is a cool, funky, pleasant place in a very nice setting, right on the southern tip of Lake Okanagan.

I was told that the Okanagan Valley had 30 vineyards in 1990 and now has 350. Certainly there were many dozens within a 15-minute drive from Penticton. Similar to the area near Paso Robles in California, every available 5 acre plot has a vineyard. Whereas in Paso Robles most of these sell their grapes to a winery, most the ones near Penticton have a winery at the vineyard. The terrain slopes up quickly as you move away from the lake and I sampled wines at a couple of wineries on the Naramata Bench, just NE of Penticton.

Heading north along the west shore of the lake, I next visited the Kettle Valley Historic Railway. It is up a gorgeous green valley leading west from the lake. Very reminiscent of Europe. Enumerable small farms in a lush setting.

The KVRW was part of the Canadian Pacific Railway that ran from the east all the way through the mountains to Vancouver. Built just after the turn of the last century, most of it is now abandoned or turned into popular mountain bike trails, particularly where there are tunnels or trestles.

The engine currently is use is period, if not one that actually ran on this line. Still a fun 90-minute diversion. Not high on the thrill-o-meter, but how often do you get to ride a train pulled by a 100-year-old steam locomotive? And the views were spectacular.

And some views along the track.

 

Traveling further north on the way to Kelowna is Peachland. While it would be easy to drive right through as you are so close to Kelowna, that would be a mistake. Jumping off Highway 97 and driving along the lakeside is a worthy diversion, and they have a pretty cool Sunday crafts fair/farmer’s market at the park.

Another cool thing near Peachland is a nearby series of zip lines that is a lot of fun and video from which I would love to share. Suffice it to say “SD Card Error” is not something you want to see on your GoPro as you are being hooked up to a zip line.

The real gem of the trip was Kelowna. Four times the size of Penticton and in a spectacular setting on the lake and with mountains all around. They decided in recent decades to build up instead of out, resulting in skyscrapers that add to the city’s beauty. Short of a lakeside city somewhere in the alps, it is hard to imagine a more beautiful setting.

Kelowna also has a decent history museum, though nothing special. I stayed three nights at Bear Creek Provincial Park across the lake, but barely 10 minutes from downtown. It was my first experience with a public campground and it was spotless. Just really, really nice.

From Penticton I drove up to Kamloops. Kamloops didn’t do much for me, though I guess I didn’t give it much of a chance. After visiting their very nice history museum, a had a mediocre burger at a mediocre brew pub. As the skies were getting darker and darker and were starting to rumble, I beat feet for Paul Lake Provincial Park and spent the remainder of the afternoon reading as the skies poured forth torrents.

Next up was Revelstoke, in the Kootenay Mountains to the east. It is a very cool little place that found itself there on account of the railway. They have a nice little historical museum and a quite credible railway museum. Not just a few pieces of rolling stock outside, but an actual museum with educational displays. Well worth the $10 (Canadian) entry fee. A very pleasant and picturesque small town.

I headed south from Revelstoke toward Nelson, but intended to see Kaslo first. The first surprise came when the highway ended and I found myself in line for the ferry. Ferry? Yes, across Upper Arrow Lake, a manmade reservoir on the Columbia River. I hadn’t expected that, but it was only about an hour delay and was free. An interesting twist to the day in any case.

The second surprise came near the top of the pass over to Lake Kootenay and Kaslo. I stopped for a potty break at a rest area and found that later in the season it is on a toad migration route. Perhaps I have lived a sheltered life, but I never imagined that toads migrated. I got into a lively discussion with a 4-year-old there who insisted he had seen one that day, but was suspiciously vague on the details. Based on the expression on his grandfather’s face, I suspect the boy was pulling a fast one on me.

I don’t remember what originally caused me to want to stop at Kaslo, but I’m glad I did. Curiously quite a few Japanese were housed there in WWII. I had no idea that Canada had treated their Japanese citizens are reprehensibly as we had in the U.S., if on a much smaller scale. The majority of those relocated from the coast to the interior were Canadian citizens by birth. These forced relocations didn’t end until 1949.

Like a number of the lakes in B.C., the Canadian Pacific Railroad had operated a steamship here. It is said to be a nice museum, but was undergoing repairs.

From there I headed down to Nelson which is a very cool and lovely down place on the southern end of Kootenay Lake. The terrain slopes up rather sharply from the lake, creating some interesting neighborhoods. Rain plagued me again and I repaired early to Kokanew Creek Provincial Park, another fine example of the extraordinary campgrounds in B.C. I swear, there were rake marks around the fire pit. They rake the campsites!

I had intended to spend two nights in Nelson, but rain was expected all the next day and, in fact, did not disappoint. I drove down to Castlegar where the Kootenay River meets that Columbia, then crossed the border and was home by noon.

The border crossing was even faster than getting into Canada. No line whatsoever, but I was relieved of a dozen contraband Canadian eggs. I’m surprised they didn’t lock me up in the hoosegow.

In all, a great trip. B.C. is well worth a visit, and I just scratched the surface. I will definitely go back.

Some Canada Observations:

Yes, Canadians really are as friendly as their stereotype.

I never noticed before, but my van’s odometer reads MPH only.  You have to do the math to get KPH.  Diesel was only slightly more outrageously expensive than here in Washington.

Canadians are very frugal with highway numbers.  There is 97A, 97B, 97C, 97D, and 97W.  No word on what might have happened to 97E-97V. Imagine the catastrophe if you ran out of highway numbers!

With Canada only a few hours away, and B.C. being so gorgeous, I suspect I’ll be back.  Soon.

Though the weather on this trip was not the best, it was also not particularly cold.  It’s been a late spring throughout the PNW.  I suspect that late May might just be an ideal time to visit B.C.  Late enough for decent weather, but early enough to avoid the crowds in summer.

B.C. provincial parks are truly wonderful for camping.  The three I stayed at were green, spotless, and well-managed.

You can’t drive more than about 30 minutes in Canada without seeing a Tim Horton’s. I can think of no chain similarly ubiquitous in the U.S. Canadian’s do love their Tim Horton’s.

And, finally, two border pix. One on the way into Canada, one upon return to the U.S.