SMOKE 3 … B.C. TRAVELS, days 4 & 5 . Memoir .

Who’da thunk it? The smokey haze continues but we aren’t letting it get in the way of enjoying the end of summer 2015. Well, the others aren’t letting the smoke impede their activities, but I am walking around sounding like I have C.O.P.D.  For those not aware of the acronym, it is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – nothing you ever want.

I arrived in British Columbia with the last stages of a chest cold still clinging on. It should be over by now, but my chest is tight and I am continually apologizing for my terrible hacking cough, so I figure perhaps the smoke is contributing to my discomfort (and by association, the discomfort of everyone around me).

Stephanie, Brendan & Tyler spent Wednesday, Day Four of my visit in beautiful Banff, Alberta. We did the tourist things – shopped until we dropped, enjoyed yummy lunch at the Magpie & Stump, an authentic Mexican restaurant. Then off to the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Boy, more than a century ago the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) sure knew how to build incredible hotels for weary travellers crossing this beautiful country via train.

Views of the castle-like Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel exuding a bit of Canadian history – one of the fabulous Canadian Pacific Railway hotels.

Stephanie, Brendan & the marble Bear

Day five, we stayed around home in Golden BC.  Bren and Ty accomplished a few necessities prior to heading back to university next week. I amused myself with my book, my laptop, a wee walk around the property.

Above – view of Steph & Jeff’s home, bunkie, garden & Steph’s garden shed
Below – Stephanie’s impressive garden

Steph worked from home, then cooked up some culinary delights.

Steph’s Kale Pesto – so fresh and delish.
Ingredients – olive oil, lemon juice, kale, spinach, basil, garlic cloves, S&P. Yum!

Before dinner, we headed for a walk along the Kicking Horse River. Simple pleasures remain the most memorable somehow.

The boys and Steph skipped rocks across the river while I searched for river rocks that appealed to me. Of course I will lug them back to Ontario.

Above – My Kicking Horse River-Rocks
Below – Steph, Bren & Tyler searching for good skipping rocks, Kicking Horse
River, Golden, British Columbia

Last year I brought home stones to make an Inuksuk – a memory of the large one the boys and I made for Steph so she would remember that “we too passed this way”. My small rocks are still on a shelf in the garage.

Our Inuksuk for Stephanie – here with her boys 2014.

Dinner was a scrumptious taco salad …

Dinner – a delish Taco Salad

Good night all. I am off to bed to get rested for grizzly bears and mountain top adventures.

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SMOKE … BC Travels 2015, Day 1 . Memoir .

When you travel, you see everything in a new light. I was on this highway a year ago, and again I was in awe of the ever-changing grandeur of the majestic Rocky Mountains. Everything was the same, yet it was entirely different this visit. The faraway views were spectacular and ever-changing. Near views of sheer rock faces climbing straight up, only feet from our car, was breath-taking.

I landed in Calgary early in the afternoon from Ontario, lakeside, a short walk from the turquoise water of Georgian Bay. Now, after a four-hour plane ride, I was a different world.  We headed north and west on Trans Canada Highway #1. When we drove through Banff, the sun was kissing the mountains making them appear clear and colourful. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky – a perfect August day to soak in the splendor of this incredible National Park. An hour further north-west, we crossed the Alberta border into British Columbia and continued through Yoho National Park.

The view began to change, almost imperceptibly. The mountain views, previously crisp with detailed colours and jagged edges, we’re now softened as if viewed was through a filter, a haze.

The smoke hanging in the air as we drive through the Rockies on TransCanada Highway #1, in Yoho National Park, British Columbia.

I commented on how particularly beautiful the misty view was.

Stephanie said, “That is smoke, from the forest fires. Can’t you smell it?”

With my sniffer alert on, the faint pungent odour was indeed discernible.

I asked, “Are some of the fires close?”

Steph answered that she didn’t know where they were now but a few days earlier they were raging in the Okanogan, a three or more hour drive south. I was incredulous that the airborne detritus carried this far away.

Continuing our drive, we veered into Field, B.C. with majestic views of Yoho National Park, now muted in a smokey mist in every direction.

The smokey haze visible In Yoho National Park at Field, British Columbia

Mountain roads cut into and around rock face are a wonder unto themselves.

We near our destination of Golden B.C., a town in a ‘mountain trench’ surrounded be the Rockies, the Selkirks and the Purcell mountain ranges and by five National Parks: Yoho, Banff, Jasper, Glacier and Kootenay.

So, approaching Golden is a visual treat. Roadside signs become more plentiful:

“Approaching Ten Mile Hill“.    Really, a hill that long?

“Test Your Brakes“.    Okay then!

“Runaway Lane”.     ‘OMG’, I think. And there it is – a road veering off the highway, climbing a steep grade, only to stop abruptly at the mountain wall. Handy for those out-of-control transport trucks.

This Ten Mile Hill world becomes a circular, downhill kaleidoscope of images – steep mountains on one side of our car, unbelievable depths on the other, and the road winding out of sight behind each new curve up ahead. And so it goes, around every bend and every downhill mile, each one more spectacular than the last.

‘Ten Mile Hill’ on Trans Canada Hwy #1 nearing Golden B.B.

Finally the view opens to expose Golden nestled in its mountain cradle.

Above & Below:   Golden BC  where a river runs through it – the Columbia River. Photo shot from part way up the mountain to Steph & Jeff’s home. On the far side of town, only partially visible through the smokey haze, are the Selkirk Mountains (part of the Rockies) and Kicking Horse Pass.

Farther up, Steph and Jeff’s home is tucked in on the side of the Rocky Mountain range.

From Steph & Jeff’s patio & garden, Golden BC,  another mountain peeks through the trees. To the left, a sturdy fence protects Steph’s vegetable garden from deer who make themselves at home here. Her previously lush, colourful planters & flower beds were not as fortunate. The deer had a feast, leaving only stubs of stems.

We enjoyed ending the day with a glass of wine, dinner of Atlantic salmon (ironic since we are near the Pacific), asparagus, kale artichoke salad, & rice. Dessert was one of Steph’s delectable creations …

Stephanie’s exquisite ROSE desert – apple slices dredged in brown sugar, butter, cinnamon with a scoop of butter pecan ice cream. Almost too lovely to eat!

Last summer, I recorded my British Columbia adventure in my sketch journal. This year, I will blog my way through our daily doings.

Day one. Good night.

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