Wednesday, May 16, 2001, 6:40 a.m. - Mile 4083.8 - Christina Lake, BC
My car has slept outside in the rain for the first time since I've owned it and most likely for the first time ever. I wipe the droplets off of the rear window and just leave the key in the motel room. That's easier for the people running it than waking them up to give them the key.
Even though it's not raining, it's cold and wet, so I leave the top up as I pull out. I stop for breakfast before going too far. This time I use a credit card so I don't have to deal with money conversion. The meal costs about $8.00, but who can be sure? After breakfast I put the top down and head west. It's cold but clear out.
9:00 a.m. - Mile 4177.8 - Osoyoos, BC
I stop for gas and put in 41.23 liters and pay $35.00 CDN for it. It takes until I get back home to figure out how many gallons I put in and at what price. As I drive along, I can't remember the constant for converting liters to gallons. For some reason 3.84 sticks in my mind, but I'm not sure that's right. Later I remember that I've looked at more than a thousand one gallon milk jugs and they all say 3.78 liters. It takes me about two days to remember this simple fact.
As I drive westward, I notice that the trees in the tops of the mountains have fresh snow on them. It's cold, but not cold enough to make me put the top up.
On some of these roads, it can be very hard to pass. If you get stuck behind a truck on some of the downgrades, you could be stuck there for a long time. They don't put in passing lanes going down hill, and the trucks have to go quite slowly to be able to slow down enough for the turns. There are many runaway truck lanes, usually right before a sharp turn.
11:10 a.m. - Mile 4310.4 - Highway 3
We manage to hit a 20 minute wait while a road crew removes loose rocks from the hillside ahead. They climb up the hill with ropes and knock down anything they can get loose. Hopefully this will prevent the rocks from coming down by themselves later in the year. I get out and talk to the people in other cars and to the flagperson. There is a fine mist coming out of the sky, not enough to raise the top while moving, but I put the top up while stopped. I put it back down again when it is time to let us through.
Fortunately, there are only three cars in front of me in the line and I'm able to get by them at the first 2-lane passing zone we come to. That leaves me clear roads for a long time, which is nice. I'm not really travelling much faster than the other cars, but at least I get to keep my own pace. Eventually a red Corvette that had passed me earlier catches up and goes by. I don't know how he gets away with driving as much faster than me as he does, but I don't mind someone going quickly ahead of me to catch any potential radar traps. I never see him again, so he must have made it okay.Mile 4343.9 - Hope, BC
I'm trying to figure out how to cross the river so that I can take Highway 7 instead of TransCanada 1 to Vancouver. The signs indicate four exits for the town, but it seems that the first one actually goes through the town. After driving around a bit, I finally stop for lunch, then ask someone how to find the bridge. They indicate I should go back eastward to Hope and I'll find the bridge. It starts raining again and I have to put the top up.
Before leaving the restaurant parking lot, I have a closer look at my tires. The fronts are down to the wear bars on the inside, but the rears are still in pretty good shape. These tires should get me back home safely, but I'll have to shop for some new ones as soon as I'm back.
The mountains on the south side of Hope are rugged and green with many small waterfalls coming down. It's hard to capture the feeling with a camera, but I try anyway.12:40 p.m. - Mile 4350.0 - Bridge across river
I finally find the bridge across the river and to Highway 7 is much more interesting than the freeway. It's a nice country road for most of the way west. At mile 4378.1 the rain finally stops enough that I can put the top down.
I keep seeing the most beautiful flowers in the yards here and I don't remember seeing anything like that anywhere that I've lived. I later find out that they are Rhododendrons. I've got to find out if you can grow them in the San Francisco Bay Area.2:35 p.m. - Mile 4427.4 - Highway 7 west
Occasionally I stumble onto something strange as I travel. I see my first reference to Foot and Mouth disease along the roadside.
There are also many very beautiful sights along the road, like this waterfall.
It appears that I've entered the suburbs of Vancouver. I eventually stop for gas and a map of the city. Vancouver is just another large city and I don't enjoy trying to get across it. In my ignorance, I agreed to meet my wife in Richmond, which is just south of Vancouver and where the Vancouver airport is located. That means driving all the way across the city during rush hour. Since I don't know my way around here, almost all of the driving is on surface streets. The city seems very large when you drive across it that way. This and the mountains in Colorado are the only parts of the trip that I would definitely change if I were to do it over.4:20 p.m. - Mile 4455.7 - Richmond, BC
I finally make it to the motel, which is not in a real scenic part of town. My wife, who loves to sight see has gone into the city and doesn't make it back until 8:00. I later wish I had met her in Victoria, which is much more beautiful and that much further along as well. Maybe next time I'll get this part right.
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Copyright (c), 2001 by Scott R. Nelson
Page last updated July 9, 2001
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