On the road

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After picking ourselves up a Budget hire car and stuffing it as full as a Turkey, Marilyn, Richard, Jono and I set off for a long day of driving.

We drove the “scenic way” to the Rockies. Past Whistler up through Pemberton, Lillooet, Marble Canyon, Kamloops… and a whole pile of other towns that kept us busy from about 8:30am to 1am.

The actual travel part of travel is the least fun. Actually, unpacking is probably even less fun. But we saw some awesome places on the way, snapped them up and consumed them as we blew exhaust-fuelled kisses on our way past. One of them was Joffre Lake, making it my third visit! It never stops being amazing though. It was strange to stand infront of the same Lake that only a month or so ago I went swimming in with my sister. It now looked almost ready to ice over. Clouds hung low over the mountains, making it impossible to see the glacier behind, which didn’t matter as we were about to experience a wonderland of mountains and glaciers.

Marble Canyon was also amazing. For most of it we were driving between huge chossy walls that seemed prone to shed boulders as though they were skin cells. But then we found A Perfect Cliff. We had to stop on the side of the road and admire it. I let my eyes climb several routes. It was a lump of fine limestone, probably taller than Squamish. Richard and Marilyn seemed to tolerate our awe very diplomatically, but they eventually persuaded us that we had a long way ahead.

The landscape after Marble Canyon got a little less dramatic for a while. With dry and barren hills dotting big barren flats of farmland, it almost felt like Australia, except we were driving on the wrong side of the road. And occasionally we’d see a sign about Moose crossing or drive past a big old-fashioned Canadian style barn. (Big and round topped with red roofs and little attic windows.)

We stopped at a very kitsch, very North American roadside diner called Legends for dinner. It was 50’s/60’s all over. I seriously kept expecting Fonz to walk around the corner. Richard made friends with the bear holding up the bar. I only had a veggie burger and fries, but still had a belly ache afterwards. I enjoyed the kitschiness though. I drove after dinner, feeling fat and sleepy though, and finding it hard in the rain and dark. Then a big scary truck got frustrated with my slowness and drove right up close behind me (almost touching!) and flashed his lights, marking the end of my driving shift. Richard took over and got us safely to our lodge. Called the Banff boundary inn, it was a total deal that Jono and Richard managed to get us. For just over $500 a week, we had a two bedroom unit with a bath (and a bathroom of course), spare toilet, kitchen, lounge room, TV, DVD, Cable TV and an out door hot tub right in the Rockies.

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