From Vancouver to Calgary: A Roadtrip

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When: 31st Aug - 4th Sep

What: Vancouver to Calgary

Highlights: camping, enjoying fresh-water beaches, Okanagan valley views, first jet ski experience, interesting people at a hostel



Friday, Aug 31st

We did a quick round of packing previous night and in the morning. It is a wonderful truth that we have definitely slowed down with S. And she definitely makes everything so much more worthwhile. G was not somewhat happy to know that we had 1 extra(food) bag. It added to the weight, but slowly we got used to driving with it. Or,maybe we forgot about it totally. 😊

My south-indian cuisine craving took us to HSB on Broadway. After a carb-filled belly, we embarked on this 4+ hr drive to Kelowna.

S fell asleep as soon as we were outside the city. And woke up only at Meritt, 2+ hrs later. At Chilliwak, I saw the first Coldstone creamery in more than 2 years and was excited. But so untimely that I was full.

We stopped by Meritt visitor center to do some reading.

Meritt was so different than Vancouver. It was hot, windy and dry. It definitely reminded me of Calgary.

In almost an hour, we reached West Kelowna, heart of the Okanagan valley. The GPS showed that we would cross the lake and it was interesting to see a neat bridge across the huge Okanagan Lake(though the bridge is built where the lake narrowed down in width). The beach areas on both sides of the bridge seemed promising.

We checked in to Willow Creek campground in the heart of the Lakeshore. It was not a great space, but almost empty when we arrived. G was glad that we came in 1 day early. He hoped that more people would come by tomorrow, but it didn't seem like that. We strategically fixed on site#79 and set up the tent.

S helped with some lifting, shifting and definitely jumping once everything was set up. It was a quiet evening with the full moon.



Saturday, Sep 1st

We sprouted out for some adventure at Dockside Rentals closeby. We tried to rent out a jet ski for the hour. I was super glad to know that S and G could come along in the same machine. 😊

And super duper glad when G let me drive it. It was a crazy experience getting out of the dock at 5mph. I am really not known for my slow pace. To add to it, the jet ski does not steer without throttle. I was kind of glad to be in the open waters. I could not see the land below the water and I didn't honestly care...until...I passed by some big boat that sent ripples to the waters I was cruising. It was some feeling and I instantly took my fingers off the throttle. And the machine almost stopped. Obviously, this is my first time at it. That stop made me look deeper. I have a life jacket. But I am not a swimmer. I felt vulnerable but great. It was my time to go all in and that's what I did. That moment I got my one drop of spirituality!!!😊

I was enjoying it afterwards and I hit 40mph at one point. G and S were done with it as they were getting bored sitting behind. S almost slept on me being sandwiched between us. Her legs started to ache and I realized G missed his chance to drive. Next time, we should probably rent 2 or take turns.

Back on land, S woke up as expected and played endlessly on the sand. We decided to take it easy and hit the waterfront. The visitor center gave 4 hrs of free parking nearby. We later learnt that it is always free over the weekends!!!

It was getting windy by the minute and the lake created waves. We just looked around the area and the place reminded of Victoria to G. No bells rang in my ears though.

S walked a lot and climbed up the sea dragon on land. They were setting up stage for "music in the park" but the genre of music wasn't appealing. So we left. S was getting tired and she skipped her nap too. The architecture around the city was great and we looked around.

Ironically, there was a Coldstone attached to Tim Hortons. And we indulged.

We got back to the campground for a shock. People were everywhere. Loud music and kids playing. Felt like a different place altogether. Felt a little weird for people living next door as I saw a huge apartment building next door.

Sunday, Sep 2nd

G researched and came up with a Kangaroo farm in the Lake country. S was ecstatic to see a rooster. She was super-thrilled when he cried cock-a-doodle-doo more than once. Don't roosters crow at dawn like in comic books?

We saw goats and some buge carps(fishes) in the creek nearby. I hear there are even salmon runs in the fall.

When we entered the actual farm, it was quite interesting to see the Emu. And I seldon knew that they could be petted. But before we could get in there, someone was holding a baby wallaby and S wanted to hold it too. I was so surprised at how well she could hold the baby. She even told me "shhhh...its sleeping. Don't disturb".



We had missed the opportunity to visit an Emu/Ostrich farm near Solvang, Southern California.

The Emu didn't look like they could be petted or fed. And the two we tried didn't show any interest. They were full already. So S just left the food for them. I wanted to try my luck with another one and he/she was pretty interested. On first thought, I wasn't sure S would do it. It pecked on my hand and was so curious that he even pecked on the ring on my hand. He went a little further with S as she was his size😱 and pecked on her Rudraksh. S wasn't scared once he left her😊 alone.

S tried to pet an old dog just a little. He was too big and she didn't want to risk it.

The Kangaroos they have bite. So, we had to go in with a farm inmate. They were kind enough to answer all our questions. I had a burning question.

"Why do they have a kangaroo farm? What do they do with them?"

She replied, "They often help to maintain the local zoo's kangaroo population, but mostly it was started as a hobby so many years ago."

We left after a few hours to Wood Lake nearby. We cooked and had a picnic lunch. S was super happy as there was a huge play ground nearby. The Sun was hot and after lunch we spent some time by the shady lake shore. On our drive back, we saw quite a few farm-fresh fruit stands.

Back at the campground, me & S settled down inside the tent while G had to bike to the waterfront to check for last-minute souvenirs. Unfortunately, he didn't find any.

We decided to sleep in early as we had to leave Kelowna early next morning.



Monday, Sep 3rd

We managed to leave pretty early. On our drive leaving Kelowna, we stopped by a Flea Market. They had interesting items on sale and I was surprised to find items(Buddha's, wonderfully carved mirrors, cotton clothes) from as far as Indonesia. S befriended people there and we picked up some farm-fresh cherries. They are the best cherries I have ever tasted. And that's something knowing that I am not a big cherry lover.

S fell asleep in a little while. When she was up, we were almost at Golden. It was intriguing to see that I still remembered some of the landscape from 2 months ago. For sometime, it even felt that the past 2 months did not even exist. With rolling memories and blank sight, we landed in Golden, BC.

It was tricky to find The Backpacker's hostel though there was small sign. Once we got down to the train tracks, every building to the left looked the same. We finally found the place and was greeted by Tanya, the new owner. It was evident that she has already started some work on the run down place. We liked the place. It felt like home. S made herself comfortable with some board games started jumping on the bed. Tanya helps the local animal shelter by fostering some kittens. She had 4 boys and they all felt so warm. S even carried one, to my surprise!

Every time a kitten would make noise to gain attention, S would go, "That is Edward. This is Levantine." She was ecstatic to be in a hostel, though there were no bunk beds in our private room. As Tanya mentioned, the train goes by under no routine times.



We headed to the Pedestrian bridge and were shocked how low the water level was. Two months ago, it was close to flood situation. The current still seemed strong in some places though.

We looked up at a map and realized that the Columbia and Kicking Horse rivers meet here, in the city. So we walked up to the conference point. I was amazed how even rivers have distinct characteristics. The Columbia river was more green and Kicking horse river seemed more like glacier-fed(blue-green). We even saw a long Canadian Pacific Train when we were just below near the water. My idea of walking on the trains tracks was discouraged by Mr.you-know-who. Without much detest, we grabbed a small stone as souvenir for S and walked back. It was dark by then and downtown seemed ghostly. We headed back and shared our Okanagan fruits with fellow hostel-mates/owner.



We met a couple from Germany who were on a 5 month vacation. When you hear other's stories in hostels, ours always seem trivial/easy/simple. For eg, these 2 were doing this 5 month vacation across Canada and the US depending on the public transportation(aka Greyhound). They were planning to head to a farm in Vancouver island for a few weeks to save for their long (fairly)expensive Christmas-in-New York vacation.



S had a long night before falling asleep with me on a single sleeping bag. One can only imagine that physical discomfort.😞

Tuesday, Sep 4th

I had a short night and woke up to see the rest of the hostel quiet.

S was a champ and managed to make minimum sound even while having a shower. After leaving Tanya a note, we headed out to Subway for breakfast. Since S was extremely obedient in the morning, she earned a treat - a small donut. She was thankful! 😊

By now, we(definitely I) was ready to go home.

I took the steering and Banff had never seemed so close. We were in Canmore in 2 hours. We stopped at the Lions park just for S to have a break. In 1 hour, we reached home which was in a shape I had imagined. A quick clean made us more comfortable and we settled in and slept like babies.

G was gone the next morning. 😊 Back to Vancouver.

School, classes, routine here we come!

It was a wonderful 2 months and an enriching roadtrip back home.



~travelbuffs

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." from Mark Twain

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