One full day in Whitehorse

We found out today that you can have just as full of a day in one place as you can driving across the country. Although there were no hotels to check out/in from, no roadside cafes to stop at and write postcards, or bison to squeal over and photograph, we sure were out and about.

We've arrived!

Wow oh wow oh wow! We have been in Whitehorse for about an hour, and it is awesome so far. Our apartment looks onto a foresty hill, and to our surprise, we have internet and phone (email if you'd like the phone number!). Our first efforts were to skype family (Colin) and make the bed with our own sheets and quilt (Lauren). We're going to get a few more things from the car, including a bottle of champagne, and then go explore our new home! It is light out until about 8.30 now, and the days will just keep getting longer :)

Yahoooo!

Lauren

Move-in day!

We're noticing a trend in this adventure- things get better and more exciting and more beautiful the farther north we go! We discussed this with a long-haul trucker in the breakfast place in town this morning, and he confirmed it. Although he did call Dawson City (the gold-rush town 6 hours north of Whitehorse) the 'a**hole of the territory', but then explained that it was because it was the end of the 2-lane highway, and there was nothing after it. Anatomically correct, at least! More of his insights will come later :)

Reached our territory! NEW PHOTOS ADDED

Quite simply, today has been unreal. Here is a top 10 list for the day:

10) Thinking about our pals and family back home and imagining how much fun we will have when they visit
9) Great driving all day along the Alaska Hwy- blue sky, empty road, interesting banked curves
8) Rest stop in Toad River Cafe along the Alaska Hwy, for baking and postcards
7) Seeing 2 caribou in northern BC
6) Driving through the Rockies in Muncho Lake and Stone Mountain Provincial Parks in BC
5) Lounging in the hot springs at "Liard Tropical Forest" (its name in the 1940s!) in BC
4) Seeing 2 bison in BC
3) Seeing the first Yukon welcome sign!
2) Seeing a herd of 30 bison in Yukon
1) Spending our first night in Yukon! We're at the Belvedere Hotel in Watson Lake, and have already had a quick visit to the Signpost Forest. Tomorrow morning, we're going back with snowshoes :)

Pictures to illustrate these points coming soon!
Lauren and Colin

Here are the photos: a working link for March 29th Fort Nelson BC to Watson Lake YT

Traveling the Alaska Hwy and arrived in Fort Nelson, north east British Columbia

Another day of beautiful Canadian landscape, and this time lots of wildlife! We each saw our own moose, and then shared a moose sighting at the side of the Alaska Hwy.

Oh hello!

Exploring northern BC

NOTE: this posting was written on the evening of Sunday March 27th. 

We said goodbye to our friend Jasmine this morning, the last familiar face until... we meet some people in Whitehorse! Jasmine has degrees in forestry and physio, and in both of opinions, is a pretty ideal person to spend time with. She took us to the largest urban park in BC (even bigger than Stanley Park!) for an afternoon of hiking; along the Ridge Trail, we had a great view of where the north and south Thompson Rivers meet. Colin learned to identify some new species, and we were all delighted to find tiny little prickly pear cacti growing in the park.

Vancouver visit

We're taking the TransCanada and Coquihalla highway to Kamloops this afternoon, which is about 250km. We are on a lunch break in Hope, at the Owl Street Cafe, and still have phone reception, so we thought now is a good time to write down some stories.

Through the mountains to Van (NEW PHOTOS)

Click here for a slide show for our trip on March 23 from Nelson to Vancouver.

Wow, is there ever a lot to do in Vancouver! We did want to post daily, but sorta got busy over the past few days. Here's a recap from amazing drive along Hwy 3 from Nelson to Van:
'Best of' list:
- Best coffee shop name: Jitterz, in Grand Forks
- Cutest roadside animals: Llamas! Or baby cows.
- Best surprise: Nelson's Oso Negro coffee at the Deadwood Junction in Greenwood
- Best hair shop: Shear Jeanneous in Kettle Valley
- Best view of the mountains: Tie between Anarchist Summit and where we had a picnic lunch in Osoyoos
- Funnest place name: Tie between Okanagan Shuswap and Osoyoos
- Best deal: 40lbs of organic apples for $15 in Similkameen
- Best highway reminder sign: "Don't drive faster than yer guardian angel can fly" in Headley
Vancouver stories to come!
Lauren

We're in Vancouver (NEW PHOTOS)

Click here for some photos from our can in Vancouver!

Way more details to come later tonight, we while we had the chance we thought you should know, the sun is setting over the pacific.
Colin and Lauren

the first time we have ever done REAL snowshoeing - 6 or more feet of snow!

Staying with Grant and Shawna has been so wonderful. They both spent the day with us, showing us around and filling our brains with the wonders that are Nelson. This place really is magical!

Artist and musician haven, the rod ironwork all over town is stunning. The stores are very competitive, and it is a coffee culture which means organic fair trade coffee EVERYWHERE!

If Whitehorse doesn't work out, you can find us in Nelson, BC

Driving down the Cowboy Trail through ranchland this morning, we saw a juvenile bald eagle (a bit mangier than the adult version), a dozen or so mule deer, and herd after herd of cattle. For such giant animals, they sure are still! It was pretty foggy, so we couldn't see too far ahead, but the hills and valleys to the sides of us were pretty scenic. Later, through BC, we saw one more bald eagle, but none of the elk, big horn sheep, or avalanches that were promised to us by the road signs.

Calgary, AB

Hello everyone,

We're in the company of the wonderful Carla and Kirk in Calgary's SW, and feeling super thankful for home-cooked meals and family time. Yesterday was Kirk's birthday and tonight was family dinner. Holy crow, did we get spoiled! Kirk's folks put on a huge Sunday dinner spread featuring Alberta steak and seared tuna, with more trimmings then room on our plates. We really felt at home tonight and are very thankful for that feeling, being far from our own families.

Day three in Banff, with sore legs

We stayed in town today and did some trail hiking. It is kind of hard to remember, while on the busy tourist-filled streets (and the tourists are filled with shopping bags), that we are in a National Park. But this morning we walked for 10 minutes, and found ourselves in an old-growth spruce forest, with the beautiful Rockies in the background. It's amazing how even a muddy old CPR train crossing can look incredibly picturesque with a snowy mountain range as a backdrop! We also walked across the Spray River and found a forest trail around the Banff Springs Hotel, which connected to a trail along the Bow River. About 10% of the Bow River Falls was in liquid form, but even that much was stunning. The blue of the water in the Rockies comes from all the "rock flour" or ground-up mountain pieces that come from the glacial runoff. The Bow river that we hung out at this afternoon starts in the park at the Bow Glacier, and flows into the South Saskatchewan River and keeps flowing east to the Hudson's Bay, so it almost touches Ontario. The Rockies are experiencing Chinook winds which  means the weather is very mild and snow is melting. Nowhere left to snowshoe, but perfect weather for walking around outside and imagining spring.

Skiing at Sunshine in the Canadian Rockies

Imagine a mountain, the top of this mountain is high enough to be above the tree line and is therefore only rock covered in metres of snow. Some ways down the mountain the trees start to pop up then little forests emerge and then the mountain joins up with its neighbour. And as far as you can see while standing on the top of this mountain are more mountains each unique and each majestic.

Happy Rocky Mountain Day

From now on, we will celebrate March 17 as the day the Rocky Mountains blew our minds (sorry St Patrick, no hard feelings). The entire drive between Hinton and Banff was like Christmas for our eyes and spirits, and it would not surprise me to wake up and find out it was only a dream. I (Lauren) guess we have the photos to prove it, though, as well as a lasting sense of amazement of the beauty and power of Canada's natural spots.

!

Edmonton, Wildwood, Edson, Hinton, ROCKIES!

In the Birth Place of Ms. Lauren Barrett

After an uneventful day of driving we arrived in Edmonton to the open arms and great smiles of Megan Fisher. Again seeing a familiar face on this cross country journey is so heart warming and makes us feel like being home, even though nothing looks the same and liquor is sold on every street corner.

Sunny Saskatoon morning

After a fantastic sleep in a fancy hotel, we are looking forward to a great next few days. We're visiting Megan Fisher and my first home in Edmonton, then off to Banff (staying in the town's second most historic hotel, according to their website) and skiing at Sunshine on Friday! Somewhere in there I'd like to chow down on an Alberta steak too. Last night's walk through downtown Saskatoon made us want to explore more in the light, and we'll take some photos for a photo essay about why Colin and I might end up in Saskatoon if Whitehorse is a bust :)

Have a great day,
Lauren

A Three-Province Day!

It was a warm morning in Kenora when we left (+5), and the nice weather followed us into Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The topography stayed behind, though! It's fantastically flat here, and the white snow and blue sky go on as far as we can see. Xavier Rudd, Sublime, Beastie Boys, Barenaked Ladies and the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack are keeping us alert, and we're feeling inspired to make it a long-haul day.

Day o' rest in the Land O' Lakes

We are writing this blog entry together today- Lauren is typing and Colin is offering ideas, in between visits to the hotel's laundry room. We've just come back from a tasty dinner in Keewatin, at a little restaurant called 'My Place' on Ottawa St that made us a delicious coconut-crusted chicken and a pad thai dish that was a good try, but a far cry from the usual from Basil Thai on Danforth. Now we have opened a bottle of Ontario red wine, and once this message is written, we'll update the iPod with some loud, eccentric and stimulating music for the drive straight across the prairies. Any suggestions are welcome!

In Kenora

I've got photos to share, and i promise they will all be right side up. I'll write a caption or some info below the pic. You should be able to click on the the pictures for a bigger version of the shot, feel free to steal them and claim them as your own.

 

Maybe/maybe not local blueberry jam and triangle buns for breakfast. Now i have to say to everyone out there who is eco aware, i did find my traveler coffee mug today and i will be delighted to be using it tomorrow.

Blue sky day

I woke up this morning at a respectable time, thanks to the Central time zone, which gave us back the hour lost to Daylight Savings! A short walk across the TransCanada, and I fulfilled a dream that has been two years in the making, after my previous visit up here with Tricia. Kakabeka Falls' smoked salmon is sold at the back of the grocery store, packaged up as a big piece of salmon, skin and all. It is sweet and salty and smoky, and is one of humanity's great achievements.

Still Day Two - Going to Bed

We're in Kakabeka Falls about 30 minutes west of Thunder Bay at the Telstar Hotel. They have clean rooms, satellite tv, wireless internet, and it was cheaper then last night's super8 by $15 - that is a lot of coffee.

All is quiet.  Lauren is asleep, and it seems that we don't have cell phone reception in Kakabeka Falls.

Terrific day two

leaving SSM

We continued along the TransCanada all day, and had some experiences with truckers that gave me the warm fuzzies- lots of nice friendly waves and smiles, and once even a flash of headlights to warn of a speed trap ahead! The weather has been warm enough to do our run-laps-around-the-car-on-driver-switches in a t-shirt. No snow today, and another beautiful sunny afternoon.

My stretches of driving today were mostly on empty highway- it's a neat feeling to check the rearview and side mirrors and see only a line of concrete, trees, rocks and sky. I understand now how people can enjoy driving, which is certainly good timing, with 6000km left to go on this trip :)

Today's soundtrack included Buck65, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Valery Gore, Andrew Bird, electronica from the 90s, Ben Harper and DMB. We got into an audiobook loaned from a friend called Seeing Through Native Eyes, and it's awesome so far.

Although we're far from home now, the generosity of our friends and fam still brightens our day- a gift card from Cailey and Steve bought us lunch and coffees, another one from the Wallises and Jennifer paid for our gasoline. Boyd and Nancy's CAA got us a deal at Super 8, and Heather G's last two gingerbread cookies were a tasty afternoon snack!

I'm posting this message from the Madhouse Tavern Grill, our favourite place in TBay. We're here for the sauteed mushrooms, chicken club and Greek salad. Tonight we're going to stay in a motel in Kakabeka Falls, just so we get to say Kakabeka Falls over and over. Also so that we are close to the falls for an early-morning sightsee tomorrow.

Some community news from Northern Ontario:
- Wawa is fundraising for a new Canada Goose statue
- Dubreuilville is having a Strong Man competition Sept 10-12
- All scenic lookouts and points of interest everywhere are covered in snow and closed for the season!

Today's Tallies
- Provincial parks driven through/by: 13 (Lake Superior Provincial Park has the honour of Best Lake Names- we passed Mom Lake, Dad Lake and Baby Lake!)
- National parks: 1
- A&Ws: 4
- Most expensive gas: 135.9/L
- Species of wildlife seen: 1 (ravens)

- Today's distance: 700km
- Total distance: 1445km

:) Lauren

What a day, one!

After driving 785 km with Colin, the only blogging I have brain power for is a 'Best of' list for our first day:

- Best town motto: Echo Bay, "Worth Repeating"
- Best part of the drive so far: along Lake Huron's North Channel, on Hwy 17 (beautiful sunset)
- Best feeling: safely passing a salting truck on Hwy 69 in a snowstorm!
- Best laugh: making fun of each other for watching 'DC Cupcakes' on TLC in the Super 8 in Sault Ste Marie
- Best present: tie between the Esso gift card (thanks LK and JP!) and Kit's Canadian Road Trip CD
- Best shout-out: "Sault Ste Marie, Home of Roberta Bondar- First Neurologist in Space"

Off to dinner in Sault Ste Marie (our tummies are demanding steak), then to bed in the Super 8!
:) Lauren

Last day at home

 

 

One Day To Go - then we belong to the road

Well, we have officially finished our respective jobs in Ontario. Lauren worked her last day on February 28th and I worked mine today. Saying goodbye/see you soon to the Rouge was hard, a bit teary, but I was encouraged by the promise of new adventures and a very active and dedicated FRW staff that are going to be pushing forward on this year's lofty goals.