Aggie & John's Roadtrip 2008: Day Thirteen

Well we made it home in one piece and still talking together!! Who would have guessed that one? The trip home was a wonderful drive down the Fraser Canyon that included travelling through a variety of ecosystems and tourism regions.

We left Prince George in the morning and headed south on Highway 97 stopping in Quesnel long enough to get Tim's steeped tea and then carried on. We stopped again further south to do some shopping at a great little gift shop along the highway (Caribou wood shop?) - look for the signs advertising the wood furniture and honey! The gift shop had a great collection of BC made crafts and other products. They even sold CD's and since dad was getting a little tired of my music I picked up a Johnny Horton CD and we listed to music from my childhood including: The Battle of New Orleans, Sink the Bismark, and North to Alaska! We sang along and I think we listened to each song at least five times!

The next stop along the highway was at a point of interest! This allowed me to take some more pictures of the impacts of the pine beetle and our last father/daughter picture of the trip. As the last ferry of the day (9:30) was looming in the background we kept all our stops short but I think we were also tired and ready to sleep in our own beds (we'll dad got his own bed).

The scenery along the highway was amazing - you transition from pine covered mountains and

scrub brush to lush green forests. The mountains surround you for most of the trip and you travel along the Thompson River at one point and the Fraser at another. Many of the other rivers we travelled along were slow moving and meandered down the valleys - the rivers along the 97 south from Prince George do not!! It was easy to see why there were numerous whitewater rafting companies! Of course it was also obvious that economically this area was feeling the pinch too as there were numerous business no longer operating and/or houses and businesses for sale.

The only major stops of the day was for lunch - I remember that it was at the Red Carriage Inn but I cannot remember what the town was called!! We stopped long enough to have a quick lunch, talk to Grandma Forbes on the phone, and change into shorts! We had finally driven far enough south to find the sun and warmth again!! We also stopped in Clinton to stretch our legs, buy ice cream, and best yet...I was able find the perfect pottery coffee cup (tea only please)! I've been on the hunt for a while a was quite excite to find it!

We did see some wildlife on this leg of the trip - a number of deer and a small herd of California Big Horn Sheep. It was exciting to see some sheep but unfortunately there was no stopping to take pictures. Like many other road trip experiences the animals seemed to know where the road construction started!! I was also in the process of pass a couple of big rigs on the up-hill...there was no stopping! Dad was a little white knuckled at the passing (double lanes...no real danger) and I'm sure he would have liked to stop but again...NO STOPPING!

We our next destination was the Airtram at Hell's Gate - Unfortunately they close at 5:00 pm so despite our plan to head down to the fish ladders we were forced to move on! From there it was a quick stop at a gas station outside Hope and the long push to Horseshoe Bay.

We arrived at the ferry 20 minutes after the last ferry stopped loading - I don't know if it was full or not and I don't want to know as there is nothing worse than "just" missing a ferry!! We had dinner at the Boathouse - which was lovely as we could sit beside the ocean and enjoy the evening breeze.

At 9:30 we were loaded on the ferry and heading back to the island - the blurry picture is of the lights of Nanaimo as we headed into Departure Bay. Around 12:00 pm, two weeks after we'd left Deep Bay, we arrived back at the house. I took in the expensive gear (camera and computer) and left everything else in the truck! I was so tired that I managed to sleep through the sun coming up and shining in my face!