CANADA

CANADA

  After returning to Portland, we spent a couple of days preparing for our Canada road trip.  Following church in Sunday, we head East on I-84.  We turned off at Biggs Junction and graded North towards Osoyoos, BC for our first night.  It was a gorgeous two-bedroom suite on the lake at the beginning of the Okanagan Valley.  We headed for a restaurant.  Ron and I had steaks.  Wished we hadn't.

   Leaving our beach suite in Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada, we headed north along the beautiful Okanagan Valley and the long, Okanagan Lake.  This plush valley is filled with orchards of fruit trees.  We could see Cherries growing in orchards all along the highway.  We pulled in to one of the several fruit stands on the highway and purchased a few snacks, including the amazingly large, dark Bing Cherries.  They tasted incredibly sweet!  Very delicious!

   Refueling the Sienna was easier than paying the $1.23 per Litre gas price.  I hear it's even more costly in Banff!  Road construction plagued us for more miles than we wanted.  Construction traffic delays were common.  Only after we left British Columbia and entered Alberta Province did the construction end.  The highway was much better, as well!

  It was cool to see several animal crossing overpasses along this highway, also the under-highway passageways for smaller animals like  bears, deer and smaller.  I had heard about these bridges and underpasses for animals but had not actually seen them like this.

Canada certainly leads the world in this protection for migrating animals. Highway crossing is very dangerous for both man and animals.  I have been teaching about these bridges in Outdoor School.

   It was amazing to begin entering the high mountains along the Canadian Rockies and the Great Divide.  The sky was almost as blue as the Okanagan Lake!  Patches of snow clung to the steep peaks with higher peaks still covered.     

   We drove through the lower tip of the Banff National Park to get to our condo at Worldmark Resort in Canmore, Alberta, where we will spend the next three nights.