Rover and Dover Adventures

  We woke up to the sounds of campers starting up and heading out.  Eventually, we too climbed out of the camper and started the day.  On our trip to the bathroom we were startled to see a pile of bear scat at a campsite behind us.  Whoa - they weren’t kidding that there are bears here! Back at camp, we had some “artistic” (the boys used the spoon to draw with the batter) pancakes and eggs.  While I cleaned up from breakfast Amy wandered over to the check in area to ask about places to hike.  They gave her some advice (initially in French!) and also gave her some bear spray to borrow.  Double whoa. From camp, we tried to hike to the hoodoos.  It was unmarked and fairly hard to follow.  There were also a lot of trails along the hike that didn’t make the map, making it extra hard to orient yourself.  Amy and I decided that, unlike the US, Canadian parks start on the assumption you know what you are doing and so don’t give you quite as much guidance.  I guess they don’t know that us dumb

We had overnighted in Kamloops at the Paul Lake Provincial Park.  It was a great campsite and felt back in the woods, but the bathrooms there were the roughest we had experienced on the trip.  This was likely due to the heat, but the odors of those places alone made us glad we were heading out.  Phew However, before we left the area, we did want to see a little of the park so, despite the resistance from the troops, we did a hike up to Gibralter Rock.  It was a fairly easy trail until the end which brought us up to the top of the rock and left us with a great scenic view of the lake and surrounding area.  It was worth the hike, even if some may not agree. Once back to camp, we began the LONG day of driving as we continued across the Canadian Rockies.  To help make the day go a little easier, we started with the Canadian special - Tim Hortons.  Robinson got a cookie, Seb and I got Timbits (donut holes), and Amy got an iced coffee - finally treats for everybody While yesterday’s drive wa

After a busy day exploring Vancouver yesterday, today was set for a LONG day of driving as we left the coast on the journey to re-cross the Rockies.  We had to prepare ourselves for the drive, but I think we are ready! This time we would be crossing them on the Canadian side which were described as the US Rockies on steroids.  Let’s hope Rover is up to the challenge! Breakfast was, how did you know, oatmeal - this time with some cereal as an alternative.  After eating, we did a little walking around the park and found that now that it was the weekend, there were a LOT of folks willing to don their drysuits and head into the ocean.   As we packed up camp, a train went by.  It was the Rocky Mountaineer and, with some later research, we discovered that it was a tourist railroad that went from Vancouver to Banff.  It would have been nice to ride that, but we’re going to drive almost the same route and we get to stop whenever we want! We started our drive and, while Google continued to reco

We started our day with the sound of the railroad going by and what sounded like a metal recycling plant dropping steel all over.  So, Sebastian, Amy, and I were all up early.  Robinson somehow managed to sleep through it and slept in a bit.  We made some pancakes and eggs (and leftover) pizza puffs for breakfast, but Amy stuck with her usual oatmeal.  And from there, we set out to explore Vancouver. It turns out that our ASTC membership extended beyond the country border so we headed for Science World!  On the way there we found out that even in Canada, there’s traffic.  But it wasn’t terrible and we got to the museum almost as it was opening.  However, we got distracted because there was a big park that the boys wanted to explore.  It had a fun zip line, but also a great view of the Olympic stadium and village across the water! Science World had something for nearly all of us.  Highlights included A view of the harbor where various groups were training for dragon boat races Rotating