We arrived back in Calgary and were greeted with the delicate pitter patter of rain. A welcome sound, as the last couple of days we had encountered a fair amount of snow in Yellowknife. This was our first time being in Calgary and we had fun exploring. Ironically, everything seems to be centred around what looked suspiciously like a CN Tower (or perhaps a Seattle needle?).
After walking around we decided to have something to eat and came across 8th Avenue, which appeared to have a good selection of restaurants and cafés upon it. We settled on a sports bar and were sure to sample a locally produced beer from Canmore to get in touch with the area's flavour. We were only in Calgary a single night, but we’d have to say that it looks to be a really great place to live in Canada.
Our plan for the next couple of days was to navigate the mountain passes and make our way to British Columbia. We had heard that in the winter, which was rapidly approaching, this could be risky due to constantly changing – and sometimes treacherous – weather conditions. Not helping was the fact that our car was not equipped with snow tires. There were two main mountain passes that we needed to make before arriving in Vancouver. We decided to risk it on the first one and wait a day for the second, in the hopes that the weather would change for the better (fingers crossed).
We left Calgary in the early morning and headed up past Banff, along the Bow Valley scenic drive where there were supposed to be Grizzly bears (who were, surprise, surprise, hibernating) and then we continued up to Lake Louise. We discovered that there had been a fair amount of snow up there, but it was no problem for us and it proved to add to the atmosphere of the place. The mountain was beautiful - it was like something out of Switzerland or perhaps Hollywood's version of Santa's Magical Wonderland. The resort hotel was over the top, in all things, including the price that we paid for our - essentially cafeteria - lunch.
After taking a dozen or so pictures of the mountain and the lake, we decided to risk the first mountain crossing. As we approached the top of the pass it was starting to get somewhat dire – by our standards – with a steady snow falling down. We also found that we needed go 'through' the mountain under specially constructed snow sheds (essentially tunnels) which were built to protect vehicles from potential avalanches which can occur later in the season. Driving in these sheds was like a calm in between the storm. Eventually the scariest areas were behind us and the weather gradually improved as we made our way back down the other side of the mountain to the beautiful calm of Kelowna, in the Okanagan Valley. This was on Halloween night and there were a few firecrackers and some oddly dressed monsters, but we were soon able to settled down inside our budget Super 8 accommodation, being both exhausted and relieved after the day’s travel.
The weather forecast for the second crossing, the Coquihalla pass, was not looking good for the next day. The pass would in fact, be on the receiving end of a large amount of snow. This did not worry us too much as we were planning to use the day to explore the valley and wine district in full sunshine. Our plan was to pick three vineyards, have dinner and call it a day. The Red Rooster vineyard had some very nice wine, so did the place directly next to it called Ruby Blues. Paige, who we had stayed with in Yellowknife and who knew the area, suggested that we should checkout the Dirty Laundry Vineyard. Click on this link to discover where this particular vineyard got its name!
As this vineyard was our last, we bought some cheese, crackers and pâté to go with the wine we had purchased, to make up a sort of picnic. We decided to choose a different place to stay at tonight and we were glad that we did. The suite at the Cove Lakeside Resort itself dwarfed our meagre Super 8 accommodations, in fact it was bigger than our condo back in Toronto! Melissa squealed as she went into one of the bathrooms, for there amidst the bathtub and shower, was a closet concealing a brand new washing machine and a dryer. Happy days! We both munched on our picnic in front of the fireplace in the living room, our spirits livened both by the wine and also by the happy humming of the washing machine in the other room.
Checking the weather in the morning, we discovered that the Coquihalla pass would be fine to travel through (whew!). Indeed, it was quite uneventful and we arrived in Vancouver mid-afternoon for a two-night stay. We had previously lived in Vancouver briefly and had enjoyed it very much, so we were keen to reacquaint ourselves with this bustling city. First up - Sushi! Vancouver is, by our experience, the best place to enjoy a fine sushi meal. We decided to go to Minami restaurant in Yaletown and we were not disappointed. In fact, we pretty much ate nothing but sushi during our stay there! The next delicacy that Colin was excited to reacquaint himself with was Blenz coffee. Blenz is a chain in Vancouver that makes a delightful mug of Cafe Mocha (espresso mixed with hot chocolate). At Blenz, they use real chocolate which is melted and mixed in with a blender. All we can say is, if you are ever in town, you should definitely give them a try!
The weather was perfect the next day, allowing us to explore around the water front, stroll up Granville street and do a little window shopping in this very walkable city. Two days is not nearly enough time to enjoy the gusto of this vibrant, cosmopolitan town, but sadly there was much more for us to explore on the Tumbleweed's adventure list.
Next Up: West Coast Thinking in Seattle and Portland
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