Cross Country Trip Day 10 - Kelowna to Seattle

Day 10 - Kelowna to Seattle

Halfway home!

300 miles to Mercer Island!  We started the day with another Okanagan Valley winery, the Summerhill Pyramid Winery in South Kelowna.  Our timing wasn’t perfect, as we showed up right after a tour bus full of Japanese tourists who evidently had the same plan.  Apparently, the staff was able to identify that we didn’t exactly fit the ethnic mold of the other visitors and set aside a separate area for us to sample their various wines.  After another tasting, including some ice wines which we had never previously tasted, we settled on two more bottles to carry with us on our trip.  (Cliff Claven fact: Ice wines can only be grown in extreme northern climates; the grapes are plucked at temperatures of -7 thru -10 degrees (Celsius) and only one drop of juice is extracted from each grape.)  It was very sweet, and hopefully will take us quite a while to go through the small bottle we purchased.  So, any readers of this blog who stop by to visit us in Charlottesville within the first few weeks of our moving in, you are welcome to try a glass or two.

Welome sign to the Summerhill Pyramid Winery, Kelowna, British Columbia

Greg & Aimee on the Patio at the Summerhill Pyramid Winery

After Kelowna we got back on the road for the final stretch of road.  Three hours into the leg we crossed back into the U.S., a significant milestone for two people accustomed to communicating with the outside world so easily.  We turned our phones back on and they both started ringing with all the updates and messages we had missed for the previous 10 days.  Going without email, phones, and internet (except for a few nights in some hotel rooms) was more difficult than we had expected.

Welcome to the USA sign at the US/Canada border 

2700 miles into the trip, we pulled into Grandma & Grandpa Versaw’s driveway in Mercer Island, Washington.  Even though we had a mini-break at Banff, this felt more like a vacation, as we knew we had 3 nights of the comforts of home and sleeping in familiar spaces.  We had initially planned to go to Safeco Field to watch the Mariners play the Orioles, however those plan quickly fizzled, everyone was just happy to sit down and not worry about doing anything for at least a little while (this decision was almost second-guessed, however, when the Orioles pitcher carried a perfect game into the seventh inning.  Good thing that didn’t happen, as I’m not sure Greg would’ve forgiven anyone for a long time had he missed that.

Alex hanging out in a tree at Grandma & Grandpa Versaw's home in Mercer Island.

Ashleigh posing by the small pond at Grandma & Grandpa Versaw's

Tomorrow: staying in Seattle.

Wildlife sightings:

none

Cross Country Trip Day 9 - Canmore to Kelowna

Day 9 - Canmore to Kalowna

After wrapping up our short one-day layover in Canmore, it was time to get back on the road towards Seattle - enroute a 3-day mini-vacation with Grandma & Grandpa Versaw in Seattle. 

Starting out with the familiar journey towards the Banff entrance (free admission again, thank you Canada Day!), Banff decided to give us the grand finale of our wildlife sightings.  We came upon a long line of cars parked on the side of the highway, which can only mean on thing in these parts, amazing wildlife to see.  As we came upon a small field, we noticed a mama grizzly and he three cubs just hanging out munching on grass not more than 75 yards away.  The little family had attracted quite an audience.  Despite our intention of making good time on this 300+ mile day, we couldn’t pass up this opportunity and stopped for a good 30 minutes to take a few dozen pictures and just admire the view…a very cool start to another beautiful day, if I haven’t mentioned before, has been one perfect weather day after another. 

Grizzly sow with three cubs in a field at Banff National Park

Satisfied with our Banff experience, we returned to the car and weaved through the Rocky Mountains to Kelowna, a town Aimee discovered in the Okanagan Valley, the "Napa Valley of the North."  About 2/3 of the way there, we came across an unexpected site, apparently a massive amount of rain fell in the community of Mara Lake a week before we came and had completely flooded the area.  We saw many houses with their first levels completely underwater, and a area where dozens of cars had apparently washed away together to accumulate in a rocky field, all either flipped over or smashed in after being swept by the rising waters.

After arriving in Kelowna we decided to visit the Calona winery in the downtown area.  We did a brief tasting and settled on two bottles to bring with us for the rest of the trip.  As we make our way to the Virginian winery country, we thought it’d be neat to bring some Canadian wines with us to compare.

Small inlet off Lake Okanagan in lakeside town of Kelowna.

After their wines, Kelowna is also known for having a very impressive beach scene, we took a quick drive to the shores and walked along the boardwalk.  Although not as lively as we expected, it was still a very cool experience.  As it was starting to get late, and with the kids itching to spend some time in yet another hotel pool with a cool two-story waterside, we headed back to the hotel to wind down for the day.

Alex hanging out on the boardwalk off Lake Okanagan

After an hour or so of riding down the slide, the kids were done and ready to go to bed.  Unfortunately, even while being exhausted, the anticipation of being at Grandma and Grandpa Versaw’s tomorrow was a difficult adversary to face.  The excitement led to another night of tossing & turning, both kids unable to close their eyes, it took about an hour for both kids to finally submit to their fatigue.

Tomorrow: Seattle

Wildlife sightings:

4 Grizzly Bears (1 sow, 3 cubs)

5 big horn sheep (4 males, 1 female)

Cross Country Trip Day 8 - Canmore and Banff

Day 8 – Canmore

Canada Day!

We’re somewhat embarrassed to admit that neither of us realized that Canada Day came right in the middle of our cross country trip…we couldn’t have picked a better day to take our “day off.”  Both Canmore and Banff were alive with Canadian patriotism, with Canadian flags flying everywhere.  Alex was really impressed and remarked how much the Canadians really seemed to like their country!  Both Canmore and Banff had closed off portions of their streets for the parades and festivals that were taking place, so we had to choose our itinerary carefully to make sure we weren’t trying to navigate through areas that were closed.

Our first destination was the Banff – Sulfur Mountain Gondola, a track that runs almost a mile long that ascends 2,300 ft in altitude.  Daisy was very nervous about getting in the gondola car, and couldn’t dig her head deeper into our legs.  After we made it to the top, we started to follow the very long boardwalk (guessing a mile or so) that brought guests to the Cosmic Ray station atop Sulfur Mountain.  It was quite an interesting trip, since Daisy made quite a few of the visitors very uneasy as we walked by.  Ironically, when we made it to the top, those creatures you thought would be the most uneasy, the Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel, they could care less.  They had obviously become quite accustomed to people and felt no fear coming up to take a snack out of their hands, that the sight of a dog had no impact on their behavior.  Daisy was at attention the whole time, begging for just a moment or two to be let off the leash so she could fetch herself a little squirrel snack.  Unfortunately for her, she didn’t get the chance.

Ash and Alex at the top of Sulphur Mountain in Banff.

The view from the top of Sulphur Mountain.

The little guy that tortured Daisy...

Mommy and Ash on the Gondola.

Brave little squirrel has a stare down with D dog...

After taking the Gondola back down, we headed over to the downtown Banff area to do some shopping at the local souvenir stores.  Weaving through the maze of people drained our energy, so after about an hour or two, we headed back to our hotel in Canmore to take a little break before the evening festivities.

About two months before our trip, Aimee discovered a unique little dinner play about ½ mile from where we were staying called “O Canada, Eh.” The show came highly rated on TripAdvisor, and was supposed to be a humorous take on Canadian life while also celebrating some music from Canadian artists (Bryan Adams, Steppenwolf, Barenaked Ladies, etc.).  The kids loved every minute of the show, which made it worth it for us.

After the show, we headed back to the hotel to get the kids ready for another day on the road.  While we were getting ready for bed, we could hear fireworks in the distance, so we stepped outside to enjoy them for a few minutes…not for long though, as we were very exhausted, and knew it was not long before we returned to the daily routine of getting in the car early for another 300 miles of driving.

Wildlife sightings:

Golden Mounted Ground Squirrel – too many to count

Chipmunks – lots, but less than the squirrels

Day 9 – Canmore to Kelowna

Cross Country Trip Day 7 - Calgary to Canmore

Day 7 – Calgary to Canmore

Calgary was the biggest city we’ve been to in a while, and the first thing we noticed was the TRAFFIC!  We’ve been spoiled for the last 4 years, rarely taking us 20 minutes to go anywhere.  Today it took us 20 minutes just to get out of the hotel parking lot.

The Calgary Tower and our first big city buildings in a LONG time!

The first item on our itinerary was Olympic Park, site of the ski jumping/ice skating events at the 1988 Calgary Olympics.  It was neat to walk around and see how big the ski jumps were, but the excursions were pretty pricey and the kids weren’t old enough to participate in some of the more “extreme” (i.e. fun) options, so we walked over to the ice rink and pretended what it’d be like to perform in front of screaming fans for a few minutes.

Ash and Alex check out what a bobsled is like.

Ashleigh imagines what it would be like to perform in this rink!

The big attraction of the day was the Calgary Zoo.  Greg stayed outside with Daisy, since it was by far the hottest day we’ve had on our trip - almost 80 degrees!  (After following our friends back east going through the misery of 108+, I’m not sure we’ll get much sympathy.  While Aimee and the kids were walking around viewing all the animals, Greg took a trip over to the Big Rock Brewery, only to discover that it was closed – on a Saturday!  Greg was not having a lot of luck on his brewery tour so far!  However at the zoo, the kids were very excited to see hippos, giraffes, monkeys, elephants, a red panda, and lots of butterflies in the butterfly garden.  We debated whether or not to add them to the official wildlife count.

Ashleigh thought someone had stepped on this guy but was pleasantly surprised when she picked him up and he moved!

Unfortunately, when we first started planning the trip, we had planned on coming through Calgary a week later during the Calgary Stampede.  Although slightly disappointed to miss this festival, we were thankful we would not have to deal with all the extra crowds!  It will be the Stampede’s 100^th anniversary, so it is sure to draw a huge crowd - the “uncrowded” Calgary was enough for us.

After the zoo, we ventured back towards Banff and stopped in the neighboring town of Canmore.  We ate dinner at the highly recommended Grizzly Paw Brewery (thank you Dwyer’s!) and walked around the town for an hour or so.  We got settled in our lodge off the main strip, and quite excited to know that we didn’t have to pack up tomorrow morning, since we were staying an extra day in Canmore to enjoy all the sights and activities in nearby Banff.

A grizzly bear we spotted up on the hill at our exit to our Canmore hotel.

Another note, today felt like a half-day of sorts, as Canmore is only about 60 miles from Calgary, which after 6 days of 300+ miles a day, was a nice change of pace.  It was also nice knowing we were staying put tomorrow, as we could use a day to settle down and not focus on just putting more miles on the road.

Tomorrow: Staying in Canmore

Wildlife sightings:

Grizzly Bear – 1

Big Horn Sheep - 4

Cross Country Trip Day 6 - Hinton to Calgary

Day 6 – Hinton to Calgary

Wow!  Today was the highlight of the trip so far. 

Once we entered Jasper, the forest seemed to come alive.  Within 1 mile from the entrance, we came upon a two elk.  We joined the dozen or so cars stopped on the side of the road to take pictures for a few minutes, then moved onto the next animal sighting, which was never more than a few minutes away. 

Elk at Jasper entrance.

another Elk grazing on the grass.

mama big horn sheep and her baby.

Going for a stroll down the highway...

Our first Jasper activity was to go to the horse stables where we bought an hour horse ride through the forests of Jasper.  The kids were very excited to show off their horse riding skills from Echo Ranch…everyone had a good time, and it was quickly shaping up to be a memorable day.

Ashleigh and Alex on their  horses and ready to go!

After riding the horses, we made our way to downtown Jasper took a stroll down the main street.  We decided to eat lunch at the Jasper Brewing Company.  After sampling a few beers and eating some good sandwiches, we toured some of the souvenir shops and caved into the kids’ pleadings for some homemade fudge.

After getting back on the road, we found ourselves on the Icefields Parkway, the long stretch of road connecting the Jasper and Banff National Parks.  To say it was an unbelievable drive is an understatement.  The pictures don’t do justice to how huge the mountains are, and every lake we passed seemed to get more and more blue in color.  

just one of our many views from the car on our drive today. 

The first lake we stopped for was Peyto Lake, a small lake a little bit out of the beaten path requiring about a ½ mile hike up a steep hill to get to the lookout point.  The water was such a deep turquoise in color it looked almost impossible to be true… almost like someone messed the color up when they were developing the pictures.

The amazing turquoise color of Peyto Lake.

After Peyto Lake, we travelled a little further to Lake Louise, the most famous of the Banff lakes, and home to the very classy Fairmont Hotel at $600/night.  Needless to say, that wasn’t our hotel.  However, we stayed long enough to marvel at how the massively large mountains circled around the amazingly blue lake. 

Lake Louise.

Even though it was starting to get late, we pressed on to the third of the lakes we wanted to see, Moraine Lake, a short but windy road leading to a small observation area.  All three lakes were so different from each other, but each one was so cool and unique that we’re glad that we did all three.

Moraine Lake.

After finishing the Icefields Parkway, we passed through Banff and Canmore on our way to Calgary without stopping, knowing we were returning to Canmore tomorrow.  We arrived in Calgary after 9pm (Alex had already had enough excitement for the day, as he was passed out in the backseat).  One more unexpected surprise for the day, is the hotel we were staying at was right across the street from the Calgary Tower.  After a long day, everyone was exhausted, and happy that tomorrow’s plan was for minimal driving (just back to Canmore), having spent the last 6 days averaging around 300 miles a day.

Tomorrow – Canmore

Wildlife sightings -

Grizzly Bear -1

Black Bear – 3

Big Horn Sheep – 32 (6 lambs)

Elk - 6

Cross Country Trip Day 5 - Dawson Creek to Hinton

Day 5 – Dawson Creek to Hinton

Even early on today’s drive, the day started out much more promising than the day before.  Within a few minutes, we spotted a moose on the side of the road.  Already surpassing yesterdays today quickly into the trip, everyone’s spirits were up.

Lunch at Grand Cache was another perfect setting for a picnic.  However, the real excitement began when a large bug was discovered walking on Alex’s leg shortly after everyone got back in the car..  After letting a wail out that almost caused Greg to drive off the road, we were able to pull over to the side of the road and remove the bug from the car.  After about 5 minutes of emotional counseling, Alex regained enough composure to get back in the car and continue with our travels…although promised that the incident would haunt him for the rest of his life.

With no excursions planned for the day's 300-mile drive, we arrived in Hinton relatively early, even with the lost hour due to the time zone change.  We had scouted a pretty cool skateboard park during our pre-trip planning, and headed over there to kill some time and let the kids release some energy with their scooters.

Ash & Alex testing their skills at the Hinton skate park.

After about 45 minutes, the kids had enough and the bigger kids were starting to take over the park, so we decided to pack it up and head to the next item on our list - Hinton’s famous Beaver Boardwalk.  Essentially a Disneyland for beavers, apparently a whole community of beavers reside at this multi-acre park and build dam after dam after dam.  After yesterday, we were happy to see any form of wildlife, and it was cool to watch a lone beaver swimming laps around the pond.  We also learned that this area of the world were serious about their beavers, having seen a 17-foot beaver statue marking the center of the appropriately named town, Beaverlodge.

If you look closely, there's a beaver swimming there...I promise.

After dinner, Ash & Alex took advantage of another hotel pool with a two-story hotel waterslide.  Thankfully, it did the trick, as shortly after returning to the room, the kids were quick to sleep.  Although a relatively slow day, the scenery on the drive continued to impress, and we looked forward to tomorrow’s drive as Hinton is situated just a few miles from the entrance to Jasper National Park.

Daisy wanted to watch the movie, too!

Tomorrow – Calgary

Wildlife sightings:

4 deer

1 moose

1 beaver

Cross Country Trip Day 4 - Fort Nelson to Dawson Creek

Day 4 – Fort Nelson to Dawson Creek

The word of the day was “looooooong.”  The most exciting discovery of the day today was locating the precise location of where time actually stands still.  For any of you lucky enough to transit the ALCAN, it is approximately one-quarter of the distance between Fort Nelson and Dawson Creek, where despite appearing to make good time in looking at the speedometer, it seemed as we never really got any closer to where we wanted to go.

road...sky...trees...

This phenomena may be due in part to the lack of success we had in observing wildlife. After yesterday, we had hoped that we had entered a new stage in our trip, one where we’d quit taking pictures unless the caribou herd topped at least 30 or more…alas, that was not the case.  The decision was made halfway into the trip to loosen the strict criteria we applied in defining “wildlife.”  Before today, we had applied the definition to only include the bears, goats, moose, elk, etc. that one traditionally associates with the term .  If we stuck to that approach, however, our final number would’ve been really depressing.  However, once we added cows to the mix, our success ratio seriously took off!  Our decision was validated when upon seeing our first cow herd, Alex declared that he had never, in fact, seen a cow with his own eyes.  After initially dismissing his claim, we thought about the places we have been and also that we moved to Juneau when he was three…not many cow herds roaming around in SE Alaska.  So, after some thought, his claim actually seemed plausible, which was backed up with his excitement every time we came across another cow herd.  As you can image, this small change upped our numbers from a very disappointing zero to a “more than you can count” figure.  

Four hours into the trip with zero actual wildlife sightings to our credit, we reached a decision point on our voyage; either just call it a day, press on to Dawson Creek and forget about this day forever (not hard, since there was not much to remember), or continue with our previously planned detour over to Chetwynd, BC, site of the Annual Internatioanl Chainsaw carving contest.  Chetwynd was added to our iteneray after a positive review from the Clarke’s (again), who passed through during the actual tournament, which occurred about three weeks ago.  After a tense lobbying session, the electorate was polled and cast their votes for the future of the day.  With a result of 3-1, despite the extra 2 hours it would add to the trip, the majority elected to continue onto Chetwynd as planned.

I can't believe this was done with a chainsaw!

Ashleigh posing next to "Building Character"

intricate detail on one of the carvings.

Shortly after arriving in the small town, we were glad we continued with the plan.  To think that these figures were crafted primarily with chainsaw’s was beyond impressive.  I did learn that touch ups with Dremels and sanders were permitted, but that at least 85-95% of each carving was completed with a regular, ordinary chainsaw, and done within a 36-hour timeframe.  We walked around the area where they had all of the 15 or so entrants on display, and both Alex and Ash took turns posing with each one.  We also saw that throughout the town carvings from previous years were posted everywhere…it was really kind of cool.  After about 30-45 minutes of admiring the carvings, it was a unanimous 4-0 vote that we made the right decision and it was certainly the highlight of the day.

With everyone in a better mood, we made the quick hour or so trek over to Dawson Creek and took some pictures at “Mile 0,” the beginning of the Alaska Highway.  We felt a great degree of accomplishment, and despite the relative lack of non-bovine wildlife we observed today, we all agreed that the trip was very much worth it.

Mile 0 landmark family photo.

and we can't forget how we got there!

We had an excellent dinner at Mr. Mikes Steakhouse & Bar, highly recommended for any people passing through. 

Tomorrow – Hinton, AB

Wildlife:

Cows (too many to count)
Others - 0