As the sun rose on a beautiful day, we were filled with anticipation mixed with sadness. Once we exit Canada, it feels as if the trip will be over. Of course, that is not true as we will cover lots of places we have never seen between here and Arizona. And besides, every day will be an adventure of some sort, right?
Looking at the Guidepost and talking with fellow travelers, it seems that Fraser Canyon is often avoided because the road is winding with lots of inclines to be pulled. But our philosophy for travel is that the road least taken is the road we like to take. We actually love the roads where seeing another traveler is rare. We feel a kind of freedom in the solitude. It allows us to suddenly stop if we see an animal or drive as slowly as we like and not hold up traffic. So, we decided to go through Fraser Canyon even though we needed to be in Seattle by mid afternoon.
The route took us through beautiful country unlike what we have experienced in Canada on this trip so far. No one was exaggerating about the roads. They snaked their way through the land dropping deep into the canyon floor, climbing upward, going through many tunnels through the mountains and ending in rolling hills as we approached the US/Canadian Border. We stopped many times to enjoy the scenery and of course take lots of pictures. There was no real hurry, we would get there when we got there.
Take a look at the Beautiful Fraser Canyon, British Columbia.
The canyon is a study in contrasts. On the one hand, it is a kind of high plains desert with sandy looking hills covered with sagebrush and other scrubby plants, but then on the other, it was an oasis of cultivated fields and livestock. It is amazing what irrigation can do to land that is otherwise barren.
Here you can truly see the contrasts. The lush fields give way to sandy terrain that rises to trees. In this case, there had been a fire and the trees were blackened sticks giving testimony to the heat that is both death and rebirth.
What goes up, must come down. The road hugged the canyon sides and turned and switched back again over and over. Deep in the canyon, a river rages -- as we soon saw as we came down this section.
Once on the canyon floor, we discovered that our road rode the banks of the river on one side while railroad tracks rode the other. As you can see, the rails cut through sections of the canyon wall much like our road would do further on. You can see the ventilation shafts that are cut in the wall not only for air but also for light. Several times as we traveled, we saw trains rushing along on the far side. It was an interesting sight.
After many miles, the rail tracks crossed over the river and ran parallel to the roadway. Imagine our surprise when a train suddenly rushed past us. It gave us an odd feeling to have the iron behemoth so close to us. As you can see, the road is two-way and the shoulders were narrow -- not much room for error in steering.
As we climbed upward once again, the tracks cross over again and moved up on the opposite wall. I must say, I was glad.
After several hours of travel, the road climbed into forest land. This was more like what we have seen in BC in preceding days travel. There was however, an interesting lack of fall color here. Once we crossed the border, we found little fall color in the Seattle area either.
The closer we got to the border crossing, the heavier the traffic became. At one stop, we met a couple who had just driven from where we were going. They told us that a bad wreck had occurred on the highway and the east bound lanes were gridlock. Luckily for us, we were going west bound. As we merged on the highway, wow, what a shock. After months of little traffic with the exception of the Anchorage area; it was a rude reminder of what we could expect going forward.
Okay, this was a funny sight. An older couple out for a pleasant ride? Perhaps.
We finally arrived in Seattle. My niece, Lisa and her husband, Paul live here as well as my Father’s only living brother and his family. I was glad to be here and looking forward to spending time with them. We had reservations at a KOA not far from where Lisa lives. We expected to get there by mid afternoon easily.
Best laid plans.... We arrived not exactly at rush hour, but tangled in traffic for a Seahawks game and another baseball game that was nearby. Seems our KOA was located on the route to the Seahawks stadium and was bumper to bumper. We inched forward at 20 mph and less. By then, Jim was quite tired as was I and the girls too. Instead of arriving mid afternoon, we arrived and finished set up at 7:30 p.m. Good grief! But no matter, we had a great time with Lisa and Paul. Paul is an Executive Chef so you know we ate well. In addition, I visited my Uncle Forest and cousin Liz and her partner, Craig. It was a good visit.
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