October Travels

We took a trip to Vancouver in October, with some stops on the way there and on the way back to visit friends and family. We went in our van, Maxine, with the two dogs.

Our first stop was Swift Current to visit Kathy's parents and sister Alynne, and to dig up the potatoes and carrots in their garden for them. The following day we went to Spring Valley Guest Ranch to see our friend Jim Saville. He has a fairly large herd of cattle and we took a few pictures of his lovely cows and calves and of some of the rusting machinery in his yard.

Some of Jim's cows

Fall colours on the Cypress Hills

On our third night we stayed in a campground at Fort Steele, near Cranbrook. That evening in the dark the dogs (especially Fendi) managed to have a very unpleasant encounter with a skunk! At least it was very unpleasant for us, although she probably thought she smelled wonderful. We washed her as best we could in the campground washroom and tied her leash to the front seat so she couldn't hop into bed with us in the middle of the night.

Near Cranbrook

The next day we arrived at Susan Risk and Anne Mowat's new home in Glade, BC. Much to our dismay Susan informed us that we all smelled of skunk, and that our van smelled skunky too. Off we went to the laundromat in Castlegar to wash everything that might have come into contact with Fendi or Süne, and to look for a product to take the stink off the dogs. Once the dogs were treated and the upholstery in the van was wiped down we returned to Glade, where Susan had cooked a delicious meal in her solar oven.

Glade Falls

Susan and Anne's land at Glade

The new house which will be completed in the spring

After unloading 400 flax straw bales

Covering the bales for the winter

As we continued on toward the Okanagan we saw many market garden and orchard stalls overflowing with fruit and vegetables.

The bountiful harvest

In the Okanagan we were very fortunate to find a lovely campsite on Osoyoos Lake. The Haynes Point Provincial Park sits ona spit of land jutting into Osoyoos Lake and we had the campsite right at theend of the point with magnificent views to the orchards across the lake from usand the US border down the lake.

Sune and the ducks in Osoyoos Lake

Sunset view of Osoyoos Lake

Our campsite's private beach, vineyards in background

We stayed in the Okanagan for two nights and visited a birding area and a vineyard.

Demonstation vines at Tinhorn Creek Vineyard

Sumac trees in their fall colours

Near Chilliwack BC we stayed for one night at Cultus Lake Provincial Park. We had warm weather there so we hiked to a giant Douglas Fir and spent some time reading beside the lake.

Cultus Lake Provincial Park

The giant Douglas Fir tree

Looking west at Cultus Lake

The following day we crossed the border into Washington State and visited some new friends, PJ and Leslie, in Bellingham. We met them in Arizona last winter and we plan to meet again in Arizona in February, 2013.

Leslie, PJ and Evanna and their boat

When we reached Vancouver we connected with our dear friend Kari who was dog and house sitting for some friends. Sune and Fendi got along well with Fossey and Kari kept all the dogs while we did some business, visiting with friends, shopping, birding and some sightseeing in Vancouver.

Fendi, Sune and Fossey

When we left Vancouver it was raining and the rain continued most of the way through the mountains. By the time w arrived in Banff the skies were clearing and the wind was threatening to blow Maxine off the campsite parking pad. We had another spectacular campsite - one of the benefits of camping in the off-season - overlooking Mount Rundle and with Cascade Mountain on the other side of us. We did the Vermillion Lakes drive to look for birds, and hiked at Johnson Canyon and Lake Louise.

Rainy weather along the Coquihalla Highway

Maxine in our campsite in Banff

Vermillion Lakes

Hiking Johnson Canyon with the dogs

Lake Louise

Chateau Lake Louise from the end of the lake

Happy hikers at Lake Louise

When it began to rain again we headed out to the prairie and visited Eileen and Gil in Red Deer, Terry and Gloria in Ponoka and Kim and Martin (and the rest of the Adams family) in Medicine Hat. We stopped for the afternoon in the Cypress Hills Alberta Provincial Park, then continued home via Swift Current.

Tomorrow we hit the road (or the skies) again and fly to Ecuador. More about that in the next post.