The Wander West - 2022

  Can’t believe we’re at the end of the month already.  We left our park around 9 a.m. and the ferry at Earl’s Cove was at 10:30 a.m.  We stopped on the way at a hardware store as we are having some leaking in the bathroom sink.  We didn’t find the part we needed, though.  We carried on thinking we would never make the ferry, arrived at 10:30 on the dot and were the last vehicle on the ferry.  It is a free ferry from Earl’s Cove to Saltery Bay.  That was exactly the right timing to have coffee on the passage and enjoy the views on deck.  It is way busier and more built up here than we expected.  Probably a lot because it is still tourist season.  The weather has been amazing.  Very warm and sunny, but cool at night for sleeping.  We arrived in Powell River just in time to see the ferry sail away at 11:30 a.m.   The next ferry is not until 5:15 p.m.  We did some grocery shopping, bought some more plumbing supplies for ...

  We were on the road again by 8:45 and arrived at Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver at 1:00 p.m.  We got in line for the ferry to Gibsons and are hoping to sail at 2:25 but if not we will be on the 4:45 crossing. We made lunch here in the van while we were waiting.  We will then stop to visit Don and Gwen Roberts in Gibsons.  Hopefully, they are home.  Otherwise, we always wanted to see the Sunshine Coast and we’ll take a ferry from Powell River to Comox on Vancouver Island.  That will get us right where we need to be. 

  We were on the road this morning at 8:45 a.m. but the time changed again a short ways down the road and so we were actually on the road at 7:45.  It makes for very long days this way.  Our campground last night was about 20 km southwest of Cranbrook, B.C.  We stopped for morning coffee at a roadside fruit stand in Creston.  We bought some cherries, nectarines, apples and a small variety of cabbage that can be sauteed.  We’ll enjoy that with our stir-fry rice tonight.  The man at the store also gave us a peach which we ate right away.  Delicious!  It is so beautiful here.  We also went through the Kootenay Pass today which was 1774 metres with a grade of 8%.  The suggested speed for trucks was 20 km and it went downhill for 10 km.  We had a truck pulling a big race car trailer in front of us and his brakes were smoking almost right away.  He went so slow down the hill which made us have to go so slow, we were in 3rd gear ...

  Today is Sunday.  We got up and cleaned up.  I did a little grocery shopping in Walmart while Pete cleaned up the breakfast dishes.  We went to church at the Maranatha CRC in Lethbridge.  They were having a free pancake breakfast before church followed by an outdoor service.  We just enjoyed a coffee while we waited for the church to start.  They had lots of neighbourhood visitors for the breakfast, so we didn’t stand out too much as visitors, but a couple came and talked to us.  They were an aunt and uncle of Doug Pool and friends of Ed VanderPloeg.  He worked for Jaylor like Ed did.  Their names were Bert and Trudy Slomp.  It’s always amazing the connections you make.  We left right after church, stopped for lunch at McDonald’s, and hit the road.  We are taking the Crow’s Nest Pass route which is the most southern route over the mountains.  It is probably the busiest as it goes through the fruit regions and is mor...

  We left Assinaboia at 8:30 a.m.  The time is now 2 hours different from home, so each day we can drive a little longer, but struggle more to stay up late enough at night and getting up in the morning is harder.  We drove all day again on Highway 3 instead of the Trans Canada for part of the day.  We stopped for morning coffee on a gravel range road that had it’s bridge washed out and we were completely surrounded by wheat fields.  It was so nice.  Eventually we made it back onto the TransCanada and stopped for lunch at the Alberta border.  The land almost immediately starts to look different.  More cattle country and if there are crops they are irrigated.  We arrived in Lethbridge around 3 or 3:30.  We had bought tickets for the Pro Rodeo in Lethbridge on our drive which also included the fair called Whoop-Up Days.  It was fun to spend time there.  We also went back to the van for a nap before the rodeo which started at 7:00 ...

  We were up and on the road by 8:30.  We decided to follow Highway 2 instead of the TransCanada.  Highway 2 is a little lower than the TransCanada and we followed it some the last time we crossed Manitoba and Saskatchewan.  It is a little quieter, but still a really good road.  We saw beautiful fields of crops and rolling grasslands on which you can imagine the Buffalo roaming.   At lunchtime, we stopped in Delano where there was a lovely little park that used to be a schoolhouse.  They keep it up like crazy and it even has bathrooms that are immaculate.  They had a guest book and a donation box.  A great place to get off the highway. We stopped for the day in Assiniboia in a little municipal campground that is beside the town pool.  They give swimming lessons there and you register with the lifeguards in the pool office.  I went for a swim in the pool after supper.  It was really hot during the day and it was threatening...

 Today is Mom's 80th birthday.  Happy Birthday, Mom! We were up at 7:30, showered, and drove to the closest McDonald's to update our blogs.  We didn't have great success as none of our pictures were on Google photos.  We started driving around 9 a.m. and made our first stop for lunch at Tower Hill in Ignace.  Our next stop was for afternoon coffee at a rest stop on a lake between Dryden and Kenora.  We made it to Winnipeg today!  A very long drive, over 600 km.  We are at Town and Country Campground and can see Winnepeg close by.  Happy to be out of Ontario.  It is such a big province!

 We left Pancake Bay Provincial Park at 8:30 a.m. and basically just drove all day.  We did stop for lunch in Marathon and picked up a few groceries there too.  We stopped in Thunder Bay at Trowbridge Municipal Park.  It was very nice but the bathrooms were not too clean.  We met a nice couple there who have been traveling since May.  There were from Kelowna and now are on their way home again.  They only drive 300 km per day and stop lots to hike and see sights along the way.  Pics to come.  We're having trouble.  We really should have packed Matt.

  We had a good sleep. After breakfast and coffee time, we went for a bike ride on the Edmund Fitzgerald Trail for about 10 km.  On the website it said it was possible to bike it, but we definately pushed our bikes for about half the time.  We saw the Pancake Falls and went to the lookout where you can see the whole of Pancake Bay in Lake Superior and thd spot where the Edmund Fitzgerald sunk just outside Whitefish Bay.  Cue Gordon Lightfioot’s song…..It was all way more exercise then we were expecting, but worth it.  We were back at the camp for lunch at 12:30.  I had a swim in the afternoon and Pete had a shower instead.  The water is quite cold, but very refreshing!  Then we read for a while and enjoyed the lovely surroundings. 

  We boarded the ferry at 8:30 in the morning and sailed at 8:45.  We arrived in South Baymouth at 10:30 a.m.  We drove straight to Sault Ste. Marie where we picked up a few forgotten items and then went to the Pancake Bay Provincial Park where we had reservations for 2 nights.  It is on Lake Superior.  It is a really long, narrow park with an amazing, long sandy beach the whole length.  We were fully set up and sitting down for a drink at 5:45 p.m.  We then went for a bike ride around the park, made supper and enjoyed a quiet evening. 

 The packing is done, the duties have been shirked, the jobs have been completed, the goodbyes have been said and we are now in Tobermory to sleep for the night so we can catch the ferry in the morning.