Clinton to Blue River to Jasper

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We had aimed to get up early to leave Clinton as we had a three and half hour drive to our next stop at Blue River. After the beers the night before we woke up a little later than planned, we checked out then decided to have breakfast at the onsite cafe. Steph had eggs on toast and I had buttermilk pancake with sausage and poached eggs. It was whilst we were munching away that we noticed the local from the night before who had paid for our beers was sitting there with two other guys who had been in the pub the night before! Not sure if he noticed us or not but they soon left and then we finished up and headed off. It was my turn to drive today. We decided in the end to drive north from Clinton rather than back south and across to Kamloops.

It was the day of the Liverpool final and my brother was under strict instruction to text me during the game as I'd have no wifi. This plan was great apart from the fact we lost phone signal 20mins into the game and didn't get any back again for 48 hours!! As we drove north and then east there was nothing for miles apart from a couple of lakes. The weather was a lot worse now with lots of cloud and the odd drizzle of rain. We managed to stop off at a gas station which had free wifi an hour after the game had finished where I was disappointed to find Liverpool had lost 3-1. We then powered on and reached Blue River about 4.30. On the way I noticed some really low cloud before the mountain tops. We thought it was smoke at first but as we got closer to Blue River noticed it was in fact cloud. There were mountains around with snow on the top and lots of low level cloud.

We checked into the motel, dumped our bags in the room before going for a coffee in the communal lounge area. The motel had a small jacuzzi off the lounge in a room. We decided to go for a spa so got changed and headed back to the jacuzzi. On the way in a youngish guy went in ahead of us. We got chatting in the jacuzzi. He was an environmental scientist and was working around Blue River. There was some construction going on where a pipe was being laid and he had to advise them on the environmental issues and impact on the area. He told us he went fishing in the area and Steph asked him about bears. He carries bear spray and says he has seen bear scat (poo) but not any bears. We chatted for a while about travelling and our plans etc. He told us that there was only one restaurant in the area which was at the next motel along and it was essentially a truck stop!

We got ready to head to the restaurant after the jacuzzi expecting a basic meal and I think Steph was expecting chips! But when we got there the menu was pretty large with a Greek section and lots of vegetarian choice. Steph chose spanakopita and I chose Greek ribs. The meal portions were huge with lemon potatoes, Greek salad and rice and were delicious. We both agreed that it was only second to the Mongolian grill meal we had, had in whistler. The atmosphere was a little strange with lots of workmen in there eating alone. Once finished we walked back to our motel being 'bear aware!' Once back in the motel we turned the tv on to find the news just breaking about the missing Egyptair plane. Something always seems to happen with planes when we go away. The last time when we did Route 66 in 2014 a couple of weeks before the Malaysian Airline had gone missing. :-(

The next morning there was still no further news about the missing plane. We got up and went to the communal lounge where there was free continental breakfast included. It was surprisingly busy! We got bagels, toast, coffee and orange juice before checking out and loading the car up for the drive to Jasper. The drive was scheduled to take 2.5 hours and it was Stephs turn to drive. As we drove further north the temperature dropped and it rained on and off. As we got closer to Jasper we crossed the province line from British Columbia to Alberta where we had a time change to an hour ahead. We also came to the national park toll booth where we had to pay the park fee of $90 for our five days we would be spending in the national parks. The money goes towards the upkeep of the parks.

We carried on following the sat nav until we entered Jasper and then as it was early we headed up to Pyramid Lake. The road toward the lake is known for wildlife but we only spotted one deer the whole way there and back! The view was supposed to be really pretty but I think the cloudy rainy weather spoiled it! We headed back down into Jasper and by this time it was about 2.30 so we tried to check in early and luckily they had a room available. We unloaded the car and had some chill time in the room before walking into town. Turns out we managed to pick the motel that's right at the end of town! We stopped at a bakery for a hot chocolate and sandwich/pie. We then walked back as we were both tired. I had a two hour nap while Steph watched some tv. We decided to drive into town for dinner and ended up in a Greek style restaurant. It was a little dark and dingy inside and felt like the sort of place Gordon Ramsay would go in to fix! The meal actually turned out nice. Steph had vegetarian lasagne and I had steak and shrimp! Once we finished we walked back to the car and it was freezing cold! We were pleased to have bought our ski jackets with us and I had a hat which Steph tried to steal! We stopped off for her to buy a hat as we are planning on going up in the mountain gondola tram tomorrow where it will probably be colder. As we walked back to the car we saw people wrapped up warm like us but also others wearing t shirts and shorts!! Once back at our motel we watched some to and cracked open the big bottle of beer that we bought back in Squamish a few days ago.

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