Saturday 23 September
Well the weather luck has turned its back on us now! We woke to grey skies that gave was to drizzle and as we headed out of Jasper the rain started to come down with enthusiasm !
We had planned to stop at Mt Robson Provincial park and do a hike to the Overlander falls but walking in pouring rain isn’t remotely appealing so we drove on by.
When we arrived at the little town of Valemount I was keen to stop in at the Swiss Bakery which is considered a must visit in the area… but it was closed!
We stopped at a State Park visitor center to have our lunch and then continued on down to Kamloops. You do have a feeling on this drive of being on an unending slippery slide just going down, down and down for hours. Makes you realise how high the Rockies are. We paralleled the route of the railway pretty much the entire way.
Kamloops is a small city on the Thompson river and seems pretty prosperous . This is the midway point between the Rockies and Vancouver and gets many overnight visitors as well as being to stopover point for the VIA Rail and the Rocky Mountaneer railway.
We had a little time to fill before checking in to our hotel so we visited the nearby Mall for a little shopping. Unlike several of the American ones we’ve visited in recent years this one seemed busy and prosperous .
Our hotel is up the hill on the southern end of the city with a view back down to the city and river .
For dinner we walked up to the On The Rocks Pub and Grill, my halibut and chips were very good
Sunday 24 September
We were pleased to wake to brighter skies this morning and set out for the long drive to Seattle , about 5 hours drive.
Again the road went down and down the whole day, even when we passed through the area on the edge of the Cascade Range .
I’d planned for us to stop at Cocquihalla State Park to see the old railway tunnels which are a tourist attraction in the area. A pretty park where you can walk through the old tunnels…. But it was closed!
So onward we drove and eventually crossed the border back into the USA at a small town called Sumac. Easy passage , just a couple of questions and the border guard wished us a good day.
As we drove south we could see Mt Baker away off to the East. it is the northernmost active volcano in the Cascade range and looked very pretty with its white peaks.
Closer to Seattle we stopped in at a sizeable shopping mall and then a huge Outlet center for a little more retail therapy , we both did well but I’ll put it on record that Neil bought a lot more than I did!
We arrived at our hotel in Edmonds around 4.30 . Edmonds is a small town on the northern tip of the Seattle area, right on Puget Sound. We had chosen to stay here as we plan to catch the Edmonds-Kingston Ferry tomorrow which crossed the sound so we can visit Olympic National Park .
We had a really good meal at Arnies Seafood Restaurant which overlooks the Marina. As it’s Sunday we could take advantage of their excellent midweek 3 course special menu. 3 courses for $32 was a bargain! We both enjoyed a yummy seafood chowder and I had another tasty northwest Salmon. Neil’s pasta was chock full of clams, mussels, fish, Bay Shrimp and prawns. The chocolate mousse for dessert was great too, but Neil wasn’t a fan of his Key Lime Pie.
Back in the room we decided to do a preliminary”end of trip” pack so we can relax tomorrow night on our last night. Then to bed with the alarm set early so we can catch an early ferry tomorrow.