July 18, 2013 Thursday
Day 11
We headed north and west this morning, leaving Jasper National Park. For today's trip we have about 360 miles to go on Trans Canada Highway/ Hwy 16 to Birch Bay Resort Campground on Francois Lake in BC.
Crossing the border into BC, we are now on Pacific time. We entered Mount Robson Park and drove by beautiful Yellowhead Lake, Moose Lake, then along the Fraser River for most of the way. Mount Robson is the highest point in the Canadian Rockies at 3,954 meters. The views on our drive today include miles and miles of velvet green marshy meadows, waterfalls, lakes & rivers, fir and spruce forests, the white bark trunks and silvery-green leaves on quaking aspens, wild flowers in all shades of white, yellow, purple, pink, orange and red, hayfields, horse & cattle farms and as we said good-bye to the the jagged snowcapped peaks of the Canadian Rockies, we began to view the Cariboo Mountains, driving through moose country.
Gas prices have hit an all time high for us on this trip at $2 per liter Canadian. We chose not to pay $2, so we drove on and eventually filled up paying $1.37 per liter Canadian. Ouch!
I wish I could have gotten pics for these funny billboards we saw on the road;
"Giver a Yank Towing Service"
A speed limit sign saying:
"50 km When Children on Highway"
When we arrived at our campsite on Francois Lake, in BC we were in awe! Our camper is 30 feet from the waters edge & this is the most beautiful campsite yet. I could stay here a week. It is 30 km from town, way out in the boonies. The lake is gorgeous . . . 86 miles long. We sat outside at the shoreline in our chairs, for a few hours, enjoying the lake. Perfect temperature, slight breeze, no bugs, wow! We sipped wine and had a light dinner of chicken salad, & fruit (apricots, cherries, plums). It will be good sleeping with the windows open, listening to the lake and the wind through the trees.
This trip is fantastic and we are cherishing every minute, plus it is so wonderful to share it together. We really like to do a lot of the same things, so that is good!
We hope everyone is doing well.
Wildlife Sightings
Mule Deer (buck crossing Hwy 16)
363.4 miles today
3,873 so far