Osoyoos and beyond

 Osoyoos, isn't that a great name? 

  Osoyoos, British Columbia, was the first stop on our journey to Vancouver and our Rocky Mountaineer Anniversary adventure.   I realized that I hadn't written about that leg of the trip and, since I often refer to this blog for a memory jog, here are my thoughts and pictures of that week.    (I know, I know, these last blog posts have been out of order, but that's how my mind has been working these past few months, bear with me!)

The drive north from the Spokane area was beautiful, mountains, meadows, lakes and rivers....all the things we love.

Osoyoos is the southernmost town in BC's Okanagan Valley.    It's a tourist town, to be sure, but it's a lot more.    We stayed at a lovely resort, just steps from the First National Cultural Site, NK"MIP, set amidst green vineyards, dry desert like mountains and overlooking the lake.   It was an all-suite place, so we had plenty of room and a beautiful porch for second cup and happy hour.

view from our suite

We enjoyed a few great meals there, complete with their local wines and beautiful views.

We visited several wineries, enjoyed several stellar meals and did some nice off roading during our visit.

one of our favorites, Burrowing Owl Vineyard

lunch on the hood

One afternoon we took lunch and went off road, up a mountain, to see what we could see.   While enjoying our sandwiches at the top of Mt. Kobau we noticed an odd-looking lake below.

After we finished our drive, we set off to find it.    

  Spotted Lake is a sacred place to the indigenous people of the Okanagan Nation  and is thought to have medicinal powers.  

 Its waters are richly concentrated with various minerals that form perfect, different colored circles as it evaporates throughout the summer.    Each circle is said to have different healing and medicinal properties.    Fascinating.

 The Osoyoos area is one we will definitely return to, lots more to see and do.

The next stop for us was in the small city of Chilliwack, BC.    Another interesting place in the middle of vineyards, orchards and farm fields.    We were there in the middle of sweet corn season and my mouth watered as we passed through the fields of sweetness.   They are very serious about their produce in Chilliwack.....to the point of having drive through corn stands along the road!     Once again, we ate well, and drove into the mountains to explore the area.

Lobster roll at Bow and Stern

Our hotel was across from the little airport, and we had second cup by the window each morning.   You-know-who loved it!   We even shared a pizza there one night!

no wine glasses?  coffee cups work

After our brief stay in Chilliwack, we continued on our way to the beautiful city of Vancouver where we'd meet Steve and MonaLiza and begin our Rocky Mountaineer adventure.

It's been quite a while since we spent time in a city of any size.    In our other life, pre-retirement, we traveled to major cities often.   Boston, New York, Toronto, San Diego, Dallas, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, New Orleans, etc.   We prefer quieter places now, places where we can see the sky, places with trees and birds when we step out our door.   I don't think I could say we missed spending time in cities, but we certainly had a wonderful, short stay in Vancouver.    It's clean, walkable and friendly.    The architecture is fantastic at every turn.

We left the Jeep at the Vancouver airport to await our return, so we relied on taxis and our feet to explore.   Oh, and we took a city tour bus to acclimate ourselves to this huge metropolis.    

Our city tour was a "hop on, hop off" one so we took advantage of that and explored a little of each area on foot before continuing the tour.

Chinatown

we ate lunch overlooking these unusual docks

And, as probably you already know, we sought out and found a few good restaurants.

he's very patient with me.....

After departing Vancouver, we enjoyed our wonderful train trip to Banff and the Icefield Parkway drive to Jasper with the Lowes.     Banff, despite its stunning setting, was way too busy (think...touristy) for us.    Walking the streets was like being in NYC.   

 

the line waiting for a photo with the BANFF sign......

my view of Lake Louise 

Driving on the Icefield Parkway was one fabulous sight after another, a highlight of the trip.   Steve and/or Dave were very patient with the backseat drivers who shouted loudly (STOP, PULL OVER RIGHT HERE!) every few miles.  

what's she looking at?

We stopped at the Icefield Crossing motel, halfway between Banff and Jasper.   It was a true, old-fashioned motel.    It reminded Dave and I very much of the places we'd stay in at the 1000 Islands region of New York State back in the day.    Tiny, paneled motel rooms big enough for a bed and dresser, an alcove with hangers for a closet and a tiny bathroom with just enough room to turn around in.  The decor was gold and avocado green.....  The on-site restaurant (the only one around) was even serving dinner as a buffet.    Memory lane for us!

It was neat and clean and worked for us all!

We very much enjoyed our stay in Jasper, however.   The setting was stunning, even with the evidence of the tragic fires last year, the people friendly (and not too many of them!) and lots of mountain roads and bodies of water to explore.   We even saw three bear across Medicine Lake (I think that was the name of the lake....)   MonaLiza got a pretty good video of them playing (?) in the water, check it out on her next blog.

see them?

see her?

what's he looking at?

bridge abutment entering Jasper

good restaurants....

we took care where to pull over around Jasper, however.

we made sure we parked near this sign, just to be safe.

evidence of the terrible fires last year

new life can't be denied

 neighborhoods of temporary homes for the people displaced by the fires

We left Jasper on a rainy day.    The scenery flattened out drastically and the rest of the drive to Edmonton was uneventful.     We had a nice dinner at friends of MonaLiza and Steve and then flew back to Vancouver the next morning.    Rocky was patiently waiting for us at the airport.     

second cup in the Edmonton airport lounge

Our drive back to Spokane and Beluga took us through the stunning North Cascades National Park.    More mountains, rivers, lakes and breathtaking scenery.

I think this blog has gotten WAY to log, sorry.    I'll show you that drive and where we are now in another blog, maybe tomorrow or the next day.   stay tuned?