Today in Cache Creek...

Playing catch-up again (oops!) Thursday we got up bright and early, had breakfast and walked up to the corner of Denman and Comox to wait for the Vancouver Whale Watch bus to pick us up. So we waited. And waited. AND waited. No sign of the bus. It got to about 10.15 local time and we thought we’d better give them a call to see if anything was up. Unfortunately, it was – due to the high winds forecast for where we would have gone to watch the whales, the tour operators couldn’t safely take folk out in their boats. As we were heading off on our road trip the next day, we couldn’t rebook for Saturday. A real bummer, but it’s something we can do should we come back again in the future.

So instead we caught the streetcar downtown and headed for Canada Place again, this time to catch the Seabus over to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver. $3.25 each for the streetcar and Seabus, one way – good value, we think. Lonsdale Quay has a smaller version of the Granville Island public market with extra shops, which were worth a look round. After fish and chips (halibut, no less!) and a bit more of a stroll, we caught the Seabus back and walked up Howe Street to the junction with Robson, had a look round in Chapters bookstore (no luck there for the book Helen was looking for), then walked further up Robson to catch the streetcar back to our hotel, via an ice-cream parlour called Mondo Gelato, which sold regular ice-cream, sorbets and soy ice-cream. We both partook of a few flavours, all of which were extremely yummy. Not sure about the green tea ice cream though!! Thursday night found us at a First Nations restaurant, the Lilliget Feast House, which we’d promised ourselves we’d visit before we came across here. We were not disappointed!

Friday we got on the road as soon as we could after breakfast (at Hilary’s Caffe Café again!) and headed west along Hwy #1 to Grouse Mountain. There we paid our money and took a cable car ride nearly to the top of the mountain. Great views of Vancouver and the surrounding countryside. Lots of chainsaw carvings. There was an enclosure with two orphan grizzly bears, but the must've been sheltering from the heat 'cos we couldn't see them at all. So we wandered around for a bit, had a 'dog. Once back down we got back into the car (a Chrysler Sebring Touring, for those who want to know) and started on our way to Chilliwack. Driving the outskirts of Vancouver was very very slow, but once we had travelled about 60KM things picked up and I was able to use cruise control (once I'd worked it out). Eventually turned off to Chilliwack and was able to find the Rainbow Motel with little difficulty. Checked in, had a sleep, did some photo things and then went for dinner at the Canton Garden Chinese eatery across the road. Good food, cheerful servers. Back to the Motel and to sleep.

Yesterday we started off by visiting a dog show! The Mt Cheam Canine Association (we reckon Cheam is pronounced Kee-um rather than the English version!) were holding their annual show which was open to the public. All sorts of dogs from Chihuahuas to Alaskan malamutes – the English bulldogs had already been shown by the time we got there, which Mary was naturally disappointed about – being preened and prepared. We watched a couple of finals – working dog puppies & shelties. After that we drove up to Bridal Falls Provincial Park to have a look at the eponymous falls, which are dinky compared to Niagara but still very picturesque. I walked right up to the foot of the falls to take photos – Mary was a bit wary of the climb so she went about halfway up. After that we drove to Harrison Hot Springs and had a stroll around in the terrific sunny weather. There had been a sand sculpture competition going and the sculptures were still up, so we had a look at them – unfortunately it was through the fence as they were charging C$8/person to get right up close and personal. But we got good pictures anyway. Once we’d had our fill – rather, once we had been burned to a crisp by the sun – we ambled back to Chilliwack, stopping at the Luckakuck Mall to buy a book for my sister. Once back, the laundry was done and then we went off to Friendly Mike’s Pub on Young Road. I had a steak dinner and Mary had pasta. All very good…apart from the fact that we were there on karaoke night!! Let’s just say that if you ever meet a grey, balding, older small Canadian gentleman called Ron who hails from Chilliwack and sings in karaoke contests, either run a fair distance or buy yourself some industrial ear protectors!! It was all I could do to stop laughing out loud.

Today we’re in Cache Creek, a few hundred miles north- east of Vancouver. Mostly been driving today, with the occasional stop for food, photos, stretch our legs – oh, and a journey there and back on the Hell’s Gate Airtram, which takes you across the Fraser River and gives a bird’s eye view of the Canadian Pacific and Canadian Northern Railways – which mostly seem to carry freight, and lots of it! The countryside has changed as we’ve driven east and north, from green fields and mountainous, wooded valleys, to dry desert and scrub. Great strata exposed on the rock faces on either side of the highway – we took quite a lot of pictures. Checked into the Best Value Desert Inn here in Cache Creek for a night – dinner at a place nearby – and we’ll be turning in shortly as we’ve got another long drive ahead of us tomorrow – possibly to Kamloops or Golden Arm – final decision to be made in the morning.