Thursday ; Christina Lake to Princeton
The temperatures today fluctuated between -2 C and +2 C, depending on our elevation. At higher elevations there was snow on the ground, but not at the lower elevations. The highway was clear and dry all day.
We checked out of our motel in Christina Lake at 10:30 AM. We were now out of the Kootenay Rockies and in the Cascades range of mountains, a “kinder, gentler” mountain range, and where we had lived from 2007 to 2021.
Half an hour west of Christina Lake we reached Grand Forks. When I was doing my trip planning I thought Grand Forks was further from Christina Lake than that. First stop in Grand Forks was Total Pet to buy Apollo a large bag of his special dog food and a package of the treats matching the food. Today was the monthly seniors’ discount day at all Pet Valu owned stores, including Total Pet and Bosley’s in BC. Next stop was Save-On-Foods to buy some groceries and refill a water jug. Then I refilled the minivan with fuel at Mobil.
Our final planned stop in Grand Forks was to be Borscht Bowl, a local restaurant, to have Doukhobor Borscht for lunch. But because of my planning miscalculation, it wasn’t even noon yet, and we weren’t ready for lunch for at least another hour. So … no borscht today … we continued west on Hwy. 3.
When we crested the summit of Anarchist Mountain we were suddenly enveloped in thick fog / cloud, lasting for half of the 20 km. descent into the Okanagan Valley at Osoyoos. We bought some cheap burgers at Dairy Queen in Osoyoos, and supplemented with some items in our car fridge we ate our lunch parked in what we always called “Bo’s PP Park” overlooking Lake Osoyoos. It’s where we often ate lunch during the two summers we towed trailers from a camper trailer rental business in Summerland and set them up for their clients in one of the many RV parks in and around Osoyoos.
After lunch we continued westward, admiring the rather bizarre Spotted Lake, having not seen it in 3 ½ years. On impulse I decided to buy a bottle of the award winning Pomme Désirée apple ice wine from Forbidden Fruit Winery located between Osoyoos and Cawston. As has often been the case Forbidden Fruit’s current vintage (2023) Pomme Désirée won a gold medal at the Canadian Wine Competition. We first became familiar with that product of theirs when it won the Best Canadian Wine award in 2010. We consume very little wine, but I certainly do like that product, and wanted a bottle for Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Soon we reached our prior “home village” of Keremeos. Joanne wanted to buy some take-out for supper at BoBoys, a local “hole in the wall” take-out restaurant that opened a year or two before we left Keremeos in 2021. We bought supper, then continued westbound for another 13 km. until reaching Riverside RV Park Resort, our home from 2007 to 2021. We wanted to visit, for old time’s sake. Our dog Ozzie’s and cat Emma’s ashes are scattered there.
The place has changed considerably in the last 3 ½ years, and not for the better. It has become overdeveloped / overbuilt, with buildings and vehicles covering every square inch of every lot. Looks like … well … a bazillion other trashy “trailer parks”, which is NOT how it started in 2006, its first year of development, and the year we bought our lot. We are very glad that we sold and left when we did.
We pulled out of Riverside RV Park Resort at 4 PM. It was dusk ! We arrived at our motel in Princeton at 4:45 PM, fifteen minutes after darkness ! ! !
Friday ; Princeton
Another rest day. So … we rested. Especially Apollo ! HA HA HA ! “No, no … I don’t need to go outside. It’s very cold out there ! Maybe I could just pee indoors ? You know … like foster dog Pika did !” HA HA HA ! NO !
We slept late. Got a late, slow start to the day. I uploaded the first week of this trip’s journal / daily diary to my blog. Around noon we drove into town … our motel is on the highway, on the edge of town … to check out a bakery café for lunch. We didn’t like the owner / baker. We didn’t like her very limited offerings. We especially didn’t like her outrageous prices. Goodbye !
On impulse we went next door to a discount / thrift store. Privately owned / operated. By an obnoxious freedummy. Looked around … left ! HEY … axe THIS tax, asshole !
We went to Save-On-Foods, the grocery store, and bought stuff for both lunch and supper today. We returned to our room and had lunch. Apollo and I had a long nap. HEY … that’s what rest days are for, n’est-ce pas ? After napping I worked on planning next spring’s return home, comparing identical routing and timing, in reverse, versus new routing, different timing, etc. No conclusions reached. Joanne worked on “arrival in Victoria” priorities planning ; grocery shopping, etc. Conclusions reached !
Saturday ; Princeton to Langley
-2° C this morning in Princeton. +8° C this afternoon in Langley. Cloudy all day. Occasional light drizzle. No snow on ground once west of Manning Provincial Park.
We checked out of Evergreen Motel in Princeton at 10:40 AM and continued west on Crowsnest Hwy. 3. Shortly after leaving Princeton Joanne saw a Bald Eagle on her side of the road. I did a U-turn and went back to see if I could get a picture of it. I think I got some pictures. I won’t know until I download the photos from the i-Phone to my laptop, probably tomorrow. I’m too tired tonight.
We stopped at Flying J in Hope to refill with fuel and eat lunch. Crowsnest Hwy. 3 ends at Hope (having started at Medicine Hat … remember ?). After Hope we travelled west on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1. Hello, old friend ! Starting at about Chilliwack the traffic became Lower Mainland / Vancouver area “urban congestion”.
We arrived in the city of Langley at 3 PM. Before checking into our motel we went to the very large Willowbrook Mall across the street to check out T&T Asian Supermarket. The mall has thousands of parking spots … none of them empty ! And the mall has hundreds of stores … all of them crowded ! Especially T&T Asian Supermarket ! We browsed the store, not recognizing much of what was being sold there. Although I was intrigued by the sushi with caviar. Seems like we are in a bit of a “high rent” district.
Given that our motel was across the street from Willowbrook Mall it was surprisingly difficult to get there ! Had difficulty driving a short distance from Point A to Point B ! After checking into our motel room I decided to walk to Safeway in the same mall to buy a few grocery items for tomorrow. WHEW … more difficulty getting from Point A to Point B, this time on foot. Joanne (and her sore foot) stayed in the room with Apollo.
At 7 PM we all loaded into the car to drive the short distance to Abu’s Kitchen, the restaurant Joanne had selected for tonight’s supper. <sigh> It no longer exists ! Back to Safeway to buy some “ready to eat” foods for supper tonight, and for lunch tomorrow on the ferry to Vancouver Island.
Joanne seems very tired from the cross-country travel, despite the slow pace we set.
Sunday ; Langley to Victoria, Vancouver Island
+5° C this morning in Langley, +8° C this afternoon in Victoria, sunny … a very nice day considering the date ! I hope there will be a lot more days like this during our winter on Vancouver Island. Probably not though. Vancouver Island usually has quite rainy winters.
We checked out of our motel in Langley at 10:30 AM and headed for the Vancouver ferry terminal at Tsawwassen, arriving there at 11:20 AM to catch the 1 PM ferry to Victoria on Vancouver Island. The ferry left on time at 1 PM and arrived on time at Victoria’s Swartz Bay terminal at 2:30 PM. Once off the ferry we headed south down the Saanich Peninsula towards downtown Victoria. About halfway to downtown we stopped at a supermarket, Country Grocer, to purchase a few grocery items to get us through tonight’s supper and tomorrow’s breakfast. We arrived downtown and checked into our hotel, Royal Scot Hotel & Suites, shortly after 4 PM. Our hotel suite is excellent ! Apollo approves heartily !
I brought all our stuff in from the car, Joanne unpacked, it was dark by the time we were finished at 5 PM. We took Apollo for a brief walk, to the BC Legislature Building, half a block from our hotel. Lots of Christmas lights on the Legislature Building, all around the Inner Harbour, and across the street on the Fairmont Empress Hotel. We’re looking forward to lots of downtown exploring, day time and night time. But not today ! We’re tired from the journey from home to here.
Monday ; Victoria, Vancouver Island
Cloudy, temperature +8° C.
Shopping day ! As was the case with our winters in Portugal and Mexico, the first day in a new location requires a hefty grocery shopping trip. We spent most of today, from about noon until about 5 PM running errands and grocery shopping at Hillside Shopping Centre, another massive shopping mall. Again … with thousands of parking spots, and all occupied ! And crowded stores, and food court, and walkways, etc.
And while the shopping centre’s web page advertises the mall as “dog friendly”, according to a clerk at the mall information desk, it is not ! So … we brought Apollo with us today, expecting he could accompany us in the mall, even if not allowed in the grocery stores, but … he spent most of the day in the car. And behaved well. Good boy, Apollo.
Before our late morning walk with Apollo, all the way around the BC Legislature grounds, I checked the minivan’s tire pressures again, having needed to adjust them in Swift Current. Or Medicine Hat. Or some other God forsaken prairie town in the middle of a blizzard … I don’t remember. The tires needed adjustment again today. First stop was Kal Tire, where a service technician saw me pull up to their air hose sticking out through a hole in a service bay door, and promptly ran out to offer me assistance. Thank you very much, Kal Tire. (And … eat shit, Canadian Tire in Medicine Hat !) Next stop was Victoria Car Wash. Great car wash service, great price ! And … thank goodness for our new GPS navigation system. It makes getting around from place to place in a new city pretty darn easy.
Once at Hillside Shopping Mall it was difficult to figure out exactly where within the mall we needed to go (food court, Dollarama, Wal-Mart, Thrifty Foods) and where was the best area to park. Or more precisely … try to find a parking spot ! We had lunch in the food court, Joanne chose pizza from a local pizzeria, and I had a steak and avocado rice bowl from Subway. I surmise that it was the steak meat that was the likely cause of the severe gastro-intestinal distress (aka food poisoning !) I have been experiencing for the last four hours, starting at 4 PM ! ! ! ! !
**** ! I sort of accepted that happening repeatedly last winter in Mexico. But for it to happen in Victoria, BC on our first full day here really pisses me off !
Once we arrived back at Royal Scot (our hotel) we unloaded our purchases at the hotel’s covered breezeway / outside door nearest our room, then Joanne worked on putting everything away while I took the car to the underground parkade. Coming back to our room I met an elderly couple from a room down the hall from us, with their puppy Daisy. I approached them to ask if they might be interested in a mutual exchange of pet sitting services to minimize the amount of time we or they need to leave our dogs alone in the hotel rooms. Yes, yes, they are, but … they’re only here until the end of this week. DARN ! Nevertheless I brought Apollo out of our room to meet their Daisy, a ten month old Border Collie & Australian Shepherd mix. There’s a picture of her in the dictionary, under the definition of “high strung” ! HA HA HA ! She promptly snapped at Apollo’s ear, fortunately getting nothing but a mouthful of fur. Sorry, Apollo !
Around 11 PM the hotel’s fire alarm went off. We put on heavy sweaters, harnessed and leashed Apollo, and went outdoors. The fire truck seemed to take a long time to get here, considering we are half a block from the BC Legislature Building, the Fairmont Empress Hotel, the Inner Harbour … the epicentre of Victoria. It took the firemen about half an hour to deal with a small kitchen fire in one of the suites.
Tuesday ; This morning we went for a leisurely walk about four blocks to the Thrifty Foods Supermarket in our neighbourhood. I waited outside the store with Apollo while Joanne went inside to check out the store and buy a couple of grocery items. Then she waited outside with Apollo while I went inside to buy some antihistamine at the store’s pharmacy. Apollo was a very good dog, waiting patiently, soliciting attention from friendly passersby. Joanne wanted to check out two thrift stores in the building next door to the supermarket. While she waited with Apollo I went into the clothing thrift store, browsed, and bought a pair of pants. Then I waited with Apollo while she went into the other / non-clothing thrift store and browsed, buying nothing.
Right after having lunch at “home” (in our suite) I went out to run some errands I have been eagerly awaiting for the opportunity to do. First I drove to Lugaro Jewellers, the authorized Rolex dealer in downtown Victoria, where I dropped off my Rolex watch for its regular (every five to ten years) servicing. I have had it serviced about every seven years since I bought it in 1987. I last had it serviced about seven years ago in Yuma, Arizona.
From Lugaro Jewelers I went to Dentex Paintless Dent Repair, a PDR auto service shop in downtown Victoria. I got an estimate, and made an appointment to drop the car off tomorrow afternoon for dent repair service on Thursday. Last year, while we spent the winter in Mexico, my car was dented while in the Dugald Estates parkade. But not by another vehicle, it was dented by having a ladder fall against it, or perhaps being bumped hard by a heavy tool box, or something like that. So, thanks to some unethical workman or (?) I’m going to be out three hundred and thirty-nine bucks ! Thanks a lot, mystery asshole ! As soon as the repair is completed I will cancel the appointment that I have for next April at a paintless dent repair shop in Winnipeg. When I called them last April for an appointment, they had a one year backlog / waiting list ! ? !
When I returned “home” I took a nap with Apollo while Joanne went to the hotel’s laundromat and did laundry. And while waiting for washer and dryer cycles to finish she checked out the hotel’s many amenities ; library and games room, shuffleboard and pool table room, swimming pool, hot tub, sauna rooms, fitness centre, etc.
Around 6 PM we went for a long leisurely walk, mostly to see the BC Legislative Building’s Christmas lighting, but also to wander around the Inner Harbour area, the Fairmont Hotel Empress, and Confederation Fountain, admiring all the Christmas light displays. And … for Apollo to pee about six thousand times … <rolling my eyes>. After about an hour of wandering around we became chilly so we returned home to prepare supper.
Wednesday ; Temperature +8° C this afternoon, mix of sun and clouds, a pleasant day. The afternoons are pleasant, the evenings are chilly.
This morning we went for a walk to The Empress, to take some photos at the “Meet Me Under The Mistletoe” display advertised in the tourist information regarding Christmas in downtown Victoria. We had some difficulty finding it. We asked an elaborately dressed doorman. He didn’t know where it was. HMPH ! We wandered around aimlessly looking for it until Joanne asked an employee who was outside, looking like she was on a rest or lunch break. She wasn’t sure, but told us where it had been located last year. We followed her directions, and found it. About fifty feet from the doorman ! Somewhat hidden in an alcove, but still … ! I suppose it’s likely he did not give up a job as a rocket scientist to become an Empress Hotel doorman !
We took photos under The Empress’s mistletoe. We crossed the street and wandered around the Inner Harbour for awhile, until it seemed that Apollo was getting cold, so we wandered back to our suite to have lunch.
After lunch I drove the minivan to the Paintless Dent Repair business and left it there to be repaired tomorrow morning. I phoned the Royal Scot (our all suites hotel) and asked for their shuttle driver to pick me up and return me “home”.
I napped with Apollo. At about 5:30 PM we took him for his evening walk, then at 6 PM Joanne and I went to the swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, and fitness centre. While Joanne exercised in the swimming pool I exercised in the fitness centre, then joined Joanne in the swimming pool for some pool exercises. We soaked in the hot tub. AHHHHH ! Joanne went into the women’s sauna. The men’s sauna was out of order, so I showered and dressed and returned to our suite. Where I found … <ahem> … a little dog … barking ! ! ! Bad dog, Apollo ! ! ! He was so overjoyed at my return that he was oblivious to my scolding. <sigh> We were hopeful that he was comfortable enough here already that he would remain quiet in our suite while left alone for only an hour. But … NOOOOO !
Joanne prepared supper to be ready at 8 AM, just in time to sit down in front of the TV and eat while watching Survivor.
DSK
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