Kelowna, BC - Tuesday, June 21

We left early today, planning to stop for breakfast on the road. It turned out we were closer to Kamloops than we thought and good restaurants on Highway 5 are a thing of the past. Most were closed and the open one had only two cars in the parking lot. We have found this to be a bad sign. We decided to stop at the Costco in Kamloops for water and a few items. We also planned on a cheap gas stop. We were surprised to find that Costco in Canada only accepts MasterCard or debt cards with a chip. We did our shopping with cash but the gas station only uses cards so gas was another stop. Breakfast was a Costco hot dog. Yum Yum. 

We headed south on Highway 97 to Vernon where I listened to Karen (not always a good idea) and stopped at the Visitors Center. A few minutes later, with a map of the local wineries in hand, we set off into the hills on the Wine Tour route to Kelowna. We only stopped at two wineries so it could have been a lot worse. Two hours later, with Karen in good spirits, we completed the 50-mile drive to a beautiful campground, The Orchard Hill RV Park, near Kelowna. With only one of the nine sites available, we were glad to have a spot for the night. It’s a self-register campground so we grabbed the last site and dropped our fees in the bucket. As we walked out, a forty-foot bus with tow pulled up and the driver informed us his wife had called and booked the site a few minutes earlier. This didn’t look like it was going to end on a happy note. As we were discussing the situation, the owner of the park arrived and straightened everything out. The other party had booked a site at the orchard next door. The names are similar and being a bit older than me he was a little confused. I know my day is coming soon. Fortunately, we all found a peaceful spot in the orchard to spend our night. As I am writing this a small deer walked by, maybe twenty feet away. She stopped to look our way and then continued into the field.     

Grey Monk Estate Winery

Surrounded by fruit trees

Cherries ripening at Orchard Hill RV Park

Our evening guest

Kamloops, BC - Monday, June 20

Again we are having trouble finding a WiFi connection so we are a few days behind in posting.

During the night it rained heavily but this morning the mist lifted and the skies cleared. We stopped for a great breakfast in Jasper and then wandered the streets for a bit. This is a beautiful little town inside the park, surrounded by towering peaks of the Rockies. 

We headed west out of the park and immediately came across a huge elk beside the road. A bit further down the road Karen spotted a mountain lion stalking a female elk in an open field. We couldn’t find a place to pull off or turn around so we are not sure of the outcome of this encounter. Highway 16 into British Columbia is very scenic. We stopped at the view point for Mt. Robson, a majestic peak with a glacier. The sun stayed bright all day and the drive was very nice. We did stop a few times for road construction but we have had worse roads on this trip. Again, we covered more miles than originally planned and stopped at Chinook Cove Golf and RV Park around 3:00 PM. We were surprised to find the RV park full. We took a spot in the overrun section. With 15-amp power it was enough to charge our computers and heat some dinner. The full service area of the park is beautiful with green grass and full hookups. They offer a stay and play package for golfers that seems to be very popular. We will make do with our location, even though we feel like we are “white trash”. Tomorrow we will pass through Kamloops and find a place in Kelowna to spend a couple nights. Karen is looking forward to the wine tour. Charlie and I hope to hang out at the doggy swim area near town.   

Jasper, AB

Mt. Robson

         Views along the way:

Chinook Cove Golf and RV

Charlie resting at our campsite - notice OUR grass

Jasper Naional Park, AB - Sunday, June 19

The clouds returned overnight with rain, thunder, and lightening but this morning is clear. We will drive south on Highway 40 today. Jasper National Park is about 240 miles away. Along the way we encountered a deer with a fawn and a moose with a calf. We were going to check out the Provincial Parks on the way but about half way into the drive the sky turned black and ominous so we kept moving. About 2:00pm, we entered Jasper National Park. Since we are old, we received the senior discount and paid for one day in the park. On our drive into the park, we found a tour bus and a dozen cars parked in the middle of the road. That is always a sign of wildlife. Today it was two bull elk with large velvet covered racks grazing and lying beside the road. I can just hear one of them saying to the other “Let’s go down by the road and stop a bunch of cars. For real fun we could even chase the tourists a bit.” We made a quick stop, wove through the traffic, and moved down the road.

From our camping books, Wapiti Campground, inside the park looked like a good place to stay. They have full service sites but they were all taken by the time we arrived. We took a no service site near the river and will “rough it” tonight. We heard a little thunder as we set up for the night so Charlie headed for his safe site between the front seats. It’s good to have a brave dog to take care of us old folks. After some rain, the sun came out as we relaxed with no modern conveniences.  We are about as far off the grid as we can get. Next trip we need to remember to bring real books, not digital books on the computer. Tomorrow we will look for breakfast in Jasper (two miles away), check out the shops and museum before heading into British Columbia.

 Views from Wapiti Campground: