Steve & Rosemary Blasdale

Mission Hill Winery

Posted on May 25, 2025 by SteveJune 19, 2025

25th May 2025

Today was a hot day (27C). We went out for brunch at Bliss Bakery in Peachland, followed by a walk and wander around the artisan market. Peachland was a cute location right on the water. In the bakery we bought some dark rye bread for our trip. It turned out to be the best bread we had in Canada. Orca speedboats!

Back in the car, Peter drove us to Kelowna itself and the Waterfront Park where there were fish, Herons, Turtles and Ospreys. I should have taken the long lens with me, always the case, wrong lens.

In the evening, we left their house to walk up to the Mission Hill Family Estate Winery. The winery buildings and the restaurant were of concrete, sculpted into an Italian style, there was even a bell tower, with its bell cast in Europe, and a Henry Moore sculpture on display. Lovely surroundings which transported you to a different time & space.

We were there for a wine tasting followed by a gourmet meal with paired wines! Well done, Anne! During the tasting, we heard about the problems of growing grapes in the region; early frosts can devastate the grape crop. To continue production, grapes are sometimes imported from New Zealand.

Our starter of asparagus and tomato tart was light & flavourful. There was a choice of halibut or lamb to follow. Both yummy. Majari chocolate cheesecake & blue honeywuckle berries for dessert. You get the picture. The food and wines really were excellent. The owner is trying for a Michelin star. Our table overlooked Okanagan Lake. Unfortunately the wind was strong when we were seated (it’s on a terrace), so mesh blinds were down. But, towards dessert, the wind did abate, so the blinds went up to give us a clear view of the lake. What a wonderful resource to have on your doorstep! There were many elegantly dressed women visiting, compared with the rather scruffy men.

In the Winery shop there was a book about the history of the BOAC airline (odd choice for a Canadian winery?), which even had a picture of the BOAC Junior Jet Club book, just like mine. I should have bought the book.

Walked up, well repleted. We were met by Anne & Peter two black cats. One is rather cranky, hisseing & muttering at us when we try to stroke it. A shock for cat-loving R!

I really should have included a floorplan of A&P’s house, to explain what happened to me that evening. One long side of the entrance hall is open at half wall-height to another room. On coming to bed, I told R, already in bed, that I was v worried cos I couldn’t see myself in the large mirror in the hall. Had I turned into a vampire, perchance?? “What mirror in the hall?” “The long one on the side.” “That’s an opening to another room!” Not a vampire, then.

Onward Travel to West Kelowna

Posted on May 24, 2025 by SteveJune 18, 2025

24th May 2025

Yes, the showers definitely had stinky water, and the 4 minutes of hot water was rather too short a period of time. R had to rush back to the van, for more money, before racing back to finish showering off the conditioner.

Today we head on down south to see R’s niece & her chap in West Kelowna. I had planned a couple of stops on route. The first was the rail heritage site at Kamloops. Turns out not open to the public and was firmly closed. A woman nearby said it was never open.

Fueled up with $100 of petrol and headed south. Next stop was the Falkland Museum and Heritage Park. It looked decidedly closed as we drove past.

The final planned stop was the Historic O’Keefe Ranch. Again, not open, apparently starting to open on the 7^th June. At least the restaurant was open, where we had a coffee and a slither of cheesecake.

We lucked out at the Swan Lake Nature reserve where there was an Osprey and her chick. Even managed to get some shots of her coming in to land on her nest. Fabulous. Ospreys seem to be quite numerous in Canada. Unfortunately, we walked through some rather boggy, wet ground.

We backtracked a little and drove down the west side of Okanagan Lake. A windy narrow road, with everyone exceeding the speed limit. Apparently, it claims a life every year as a vehicle goes into the lake. No Armco barriers to protect you from a watery fate.

We arrive at Anne & Peter’s for supper, parking on the road. Their drive was too steep. Our CruiseCanada van lowered the tone of the road. We arrived saying we needed to wash our feet before we could come in. Feet washed & dried, we entered their house

They had a deer living part-time in the garden, presumably keeping out of the sun, along with quails.

Pinegrove Campsite

Posted on May 23, 2025 by SteveJune 18, 2025

23rd May 2025

We dumped the tanks at the allotted place in the Campsite. R went to pay for the dump. The campsite manager was quite surprised, she said she would never have known. Just as R was saying how delighted she was seeing the hummingbird, two arrived at the manager’s hummingbird feeders whereupon a large cat came out of the manager’s cottage, ignoring the hummingbirds.

Today it was quite a short drive, the intention being to stop at sights on the way. Actually, there were few of these. Stopped at the metropolis of Clearwater where we bought lunch and provisions for the evening. Nice stop at the North Thompson River Provincial Park, where we sat by the river eating our lunch and watching the trains go by on the other side. Very well laid out area, including a camping ground, and lots of men with STIHL strimmers, neatening the area up for the summer. By the by, there are masses of dandelions along the roads. R’s brother, just like their dad, hates them and dug several out of his lawn when we stayed. Some roads would have been a major challenge for him.

We continued the drive at a sedate 85kph and made the campsite, Pinegrove Campground and RV park. Smallish campsite, very pleasant staff. Road quite near, and train line on the other side, but annoyingly out of view.

As is usual, we had our own picnic bench where we could lay out supper.

The showers had a warning notice about the stinky, but harmless, water, and yes, the water truly was stinky. It was some Sulphur mineral in the water which caused the smell.

R again spotted a cat. He was staying in a large RV, but was flaunting the regulations about being on a leash “at all times”. Or did that apply only to dogs?

Washing was performed, at what seems the standard $7 CAN price.

Canoe River Campsite Encore

Posted on May 22, 2025 by SteveJune 18, 2025

22nd May 2025

Cold morning, while Rosemary went for a shower, I sneaked on the heating. The day warmed up, then became overcast with rain showers.

Lazy day today, reading and writing stuff. We saw a humming bird, but alas it was not around long enough to get the camera on to it. It liked the van’s wing-mirror. Very small and when it flew near, there was indeed a humming sound from his wings. I had at first thought it was a very large, noisy insect.

Some of the small, dark red squirrels were around. They are much smaller than our grey squirrels.

On the track a little way away and above us, we watched several freight trains go by. The longest we counted was 216 trucks with two locomotives.

We were also privileged to see the Rocky Mountaineer train heading south to Kamloops. We waved and waved. Hope someone saw us.

Tonight was steak night with tomatoes, and mushrooms.

Canoe River Campsite

Posted on May 21, 2025 by SteveJune 17, 2025

21st May 2025

Today we left Whistler leaving behind the millions of marmots. I did take some photographs of them, plus some of a duck flying overhead, to show that there are some birds in Canada. Not many though. We headed off to the dump station and dumped our fould water tanks contents. Then into town to fill up with some petrol. Apparently, it is much cheaper here in Alberta than in BC, where extra tax is loaded on.

Headed west to BC, stopping at a few sites on route. We missed stopping at the border, and the time changed by an hour. Thankfully, our phones corrected themselves, but my camera does not, needing a manual adjustment.

We stopped at the eastern end of Moose Lake to take some photographs, A chap passed me a camera to take a photo of himself & his mate, asking if I knew how to use it. It was a film camera! We also met a couple, in a saloon car, who were driving from Ottawa.

Next stop was a café, where we could view Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Some coffee and a cake.

We stopped at some rapids on the Fraser River. This apparently is the highest point where Salmon come inland on this river. It is 500 miles from the coast. The rapids are used by rafters and kayakers, as was demonstrated to us. R met a man who was carrying a (fully harnessed) tabby cat, down to the river. Cat did not seem happy. Was it our presence or all the noise from the water?

Our route followed the train track from Hinton, through Jasper, to Kamloops. I suppose geography dictates this.

We stopped at a grocery shop in Valemount. Picked up gin in the liquor store, but this one didn’t sell mixers, so it was back to the grocery to buy tonic. (Next door.)

Campsite, Canoe River Campground, was a couple of miles down the road. A very large, wooded ground but spread out. Nice spot. Lit up the log fire. Burgers and asparagus for supper, with several canned ales.

Not many toilets on the site. The men’s loo was being rebuilt. The river runs along one edge of the campsite. They seem to be trying to reclaim some of the land back from the river.

Rainy Day in Jasper

Posted on May 20, 2025 by SteveJune 17, 2025

20th May 2025

Today was a pretty miserable day with rain. (This fell as snow on the hills, there was a definite whitening of the slopes.) We tried a morning walk to the other end of the campsite on a footpath which crosses the centre. This failed because at a third of the way across, some of the bridges across swampy land and streams had been burnt out last year by the fire and had yet to be replaced.

Back at the van, it started to rain. After a brief pause in the rain, I went for an afternoon walk along the river. I ended up walking up a 100m high hill, called Old Fort Point and managed more than 7K walking, 17,000 steps and 82 heart points. Total for the day 11K. From the top of the hill I could just see the van. Photo to prove it.

The river I had followed is the Athabasca River, which comes from the Columbia Icefield. This river flows North to the Arctic. An interesting fact was that a drop of water/snow falling on the Columbia Icefield could end up in the Arctic, Pacific or Atlantic Ocean. The river here, is a lovely glacial blue, and is used by kyakers and rafters

As soon as I was back it started to rain quite heavily. Evening came out sunny, so we we were able to eat outside.

Back at the van, we realise we must be careful with water. The grey water was almost flowing into the shower. (I reckon R is a bit gung ho with the washing-up water.)

One of our marmot friends seems to have made a bad decision, digging a new, starter home in the road just where car tracks go.

Tomorrow we move on, a short 90-minute drive, but a few stops along the way.

Jasper National Park Icefield

Posted on May 19, 2025 by SteveJune 17, 2025

19th May 2025

The day started off sunny as we drove in the direction of Banff. We were on our way to the Jasper National Park Icefield to see a glacier. It was more than an hour’s drive. We arrived in the nick of time. Not even time to buy a coffee. There was a short coach trip, across the road and up a dirt track to the base of the glacier. Here we transferred to an off-road vehicle, designed for travel on the ice and used in the arctic. We continued a little way up the Glacier Moraine and then down a steep hill to the Glacier. We disembarked to be herded into a small safe area. This is to ensure we do not fall into a crevasse and pop out in a stream at the bottom. You may laugh, but this did happen to an explorer here, and it seems to have happened recently to a skier. After 20 minutes on the Glacier, we returned to the transport, ground our way up the hill, and then onto the coach. Next stop was the Skywalk.

The Jasper Icefield Skywalk is a platform that overhangs the valley complete with a glass floor. It is meant to be scary, but it is not as scary as the Calgary Tower we subsequently visited which also had a piece of glass floor. I think this is because on the Calgary Tower you can see objects below that you can relate to, while on the Skywalk, scale is not so apparent in the rock formations below. There was an attendent there who kept the glass sparkling clean. They apparently change the top “sacrificial” layer of glass every year to maintain a clear view.

Back to the centre’s café for a Starbucks. We watched a film which showed interesting views of the mountain. But they had to wind a story into it of an old man and children who were in the mountains. A lost stone, picked up by the man, placed in the stream and picked up by the children. Why do they do this?

Outside it had started to snow, but thankfully very lightly.

Back we drove to Jasper, parked in a small carpark and bought some food also visiting a liquor store for gin and beer. We went to the campsite’s foul water dump, where we discharged our tanks. All went well.

Sausages for supper. Odd number in a pack. Five.

The campsite looks pretty empty now the weekend holiday is over. The smell of burning seemed more intense.

Some elk in the campsite. Our little furry animals, being sensible creatures, were not out in the cold weather. We had seen them this morning.

Whistler Campsite

Posted on May 18, 2025 by SteveJune 16, 2025

18th May 2025

Said our emotional goodbyes and headed on to Whistler. First stop was the Hinton supermarket, Freson Bros, a little like a Waitrose. They also did a good range of coffee cups, with pro Canadian slogans, see the pictures. We also filled with fuel.

We next stopped and admired the river Athabasca / Jasper Lake. One huge plain of wet sand. Next stop was Maligne Canyon, but alas the actual canyon was still sealed off after last year’s fire. Stopped at a viewing spot where we could look over all the burnt trees. Very sad. On the outskirts of Jasper, there were large parks of trailer type accommodation. Not sure if they were for workers trying to tidy up after the fires or for displaced residents.

In Jasper we went to pick up our National Park passes. We should have stopped at the entrance to the park with our temporary pass, but unfortunately, we were confused and slid through in the wrong lane. I am fearful we may have picked up a fine, although nothing has come through yet. I dropped R off up to pick up the pre-ordered passes. I drove around, so that I did not have to pay for parking, nor, more importantly, work out how to do so.

Then we drove to Whistler’s Campsite. It showed the aftermath of the dreadful forest fires. Burnt trunks and ground, with just the odd tree standing. We had an off-grid pitch (for those boring campers who wanted electric hookup, there was a huge area for them as well). I love the basics; not sure R does. Let us see how the van’s solar panel keeps the fridge and lights going for the next few days. Actually, thinking about it, the van was fine for three nights parked in Hinton. There was a toilet and shower block very nearby, which also, to R’s delight (!), had two washing-up sinks. The block caters for around 20-30 pitches. More utility blocks around the campsite cater for other clusters of pitches. The whole site is pretty well-organized.

Come evening everybody seemed to be lighting their fire pits. Pitch fees include firewood, which must be bought at each campsite to avoid disease.

We now started to sleep above the cab, leaving the table erected. The first time, R needed my help & guidance to get into bed, but from then on was very adept at getting up and down. She reckoned she couldn’t have done it before her new hip. The second “step” was higher than her waist, so I suppose using it presented difficulties.

R fell in love with our pitch neighbours. Lots of marmots ( Hoary ones? ), sitting up on their hind legs on look out, squeaking, digging and other such cute activities.

Hinton and around about

Posted on May 17, 2025 by SteveJune 16, 2025

17th May 2025

Today, there was no driving for us, Stephen (R’s brother) took us all on a tour of the sites around Hinton. First up was the Solomon Lookout to view the Black Cat Mountain. There were good views of the mountains, and down below the valley. As luck would have it, there was a long goods train passing up the valley.

Why Black Cat Mountain? One mountain side had once been spectacular, but there had been the inevitable forest fire, and when the forest regenerated, the trees were a different colour to the surrounding ones. They created an image which looked like a high backed, scared black cat. Years later, like now, you need a particularly good imagination to see it.

Then on to Switzer Provincial Park, where there is a lake. Some trees showed evidence of claw damage. Here there were some birds flying around. I managed to get a photo of a dark-eyed Junco, an American Tree Sparrow, a Yellow Rumped Warbler and of course a Canada Goose.

Back at Hinton we stopped at a café for coffee, before going on to the Northern Rockies Museum of Culture and Heritage.

Back at Steve & Marilynn’s, we had a chicken BBQ supper. Bit too chilly to sit out on their deck, so we ended up eating indoors, after BIL Steve had braved the elements to be chef-of-the-day.

Hinton and Beaver Boardwalk

Posted on May 16, 2025 by SteveJune 16, 2025

16/05/2025

A tour of the house now meant R could picture Steve and Marilynn at home.

Much talking & reminiscing.

A short walk from their home is the Beaver Boardwalk. The very boardwalk which Michael Portillo walked on a few years ago on his Canadian train trip! Since then, the boardwalk had started to fall into disrepair but was now being renewed. We didn’t see any beavers, but did see their home, their dam, and various trees which had been chewed down. Not only is there the boardwalk, but there are miles and miles of tracks through the forest. An incredibly special place.

We discovered the local squirrels chatter rather like a petrol engine starting up. We also discovered that many Canadian squirrels are small & red! (Later we were told by others that Canadian folklore says it is the nasty European grey squirrels who cause problems!)

We sat on their rather splendid deck watching the local birds & squirrels.

Supper out at a local diner, specializing in European foods, including Greek. R had souvlaki, while I ate prawns.

The weather had started out dry but was rather wet when we exited the restaurant. A drive around the town seeing the sights of Hinton after dark.