A brief getaway in Flat Cloud season. Into fog and out and in again.

We were overdue for a little excursion. Alas, the days of long trips with our beloved motor home are over. We had wonderful times with it, but it is enjoying its retirement as guest cabin. 

Why wait till the days are short? My bad. When the days were long I was so busy and happy in the gardens I didn't feel like going anywhere. Old Dutch kindly indulged my obsession.
With the gardens mainly done and the forecast promising another week of sunshine I finally felt the itch.

Sunshine my foot. I should have known better. The weather has been stagnating, which means low cloud and fog at this time of year. Click on link for illustration. As usual, Nakusp gets it first and worst. We had some beautiful days last week, with the birches turning and the bracken gold on the land.

Friday it took the valley cloud to mid afternoon to lift. Saturday the sun valiantly tried to break through around 3, but failed to make it. That was it for sun in and around Nakusp until the weather changes.

We left Sunday morning in thick fog. It has hung on till now, Friday. Knowing it might be better elsewhere we left anyway. Sure enough, the mountain tops were visible on the East-West road between New Denver and Kaslo. 

We took the ferry across Kootenay Lake, always a treat. It was sunny there, where the lake is widest. Later there was some cloud, but with a beautiful silvery light. We stopped at a viewpoint to take pictures. 

Below, the same place facing South.

The most logical stop for the night was Creston. We waved a nostalgic greeting to the pull-out that was our first overnight stop on several motor home trips. It is just past the gas station, before you get to Creston, overlooking the valley. 
We had time to kill and drove some dirt roads through the plain. In geological terms this place just stopped being a lake yesterday. It is as flat as Holland, but surrounded by mountains.

 This part of the valley is vital to locavores: it is the only major grain producing area in the Kootenays. 

We lucked onto a nice cheap motel at the edge of downtown. Dinner was a Chinese smorg a block away. Even mediocre Chinese is redeemed by a choice of crisp vegetable dishes. 
To top the day, we had noticed a movie theater featuring "Gravity". We had no idea what it was about, but the kids had been making a fuss of it, so in we went. It was worth it for the many views of Earth from space, so different on a big screen! All in all a good day.

The plan from here was a loop East to Cranbrook, then on to Radium Hot Springs, North to Golden and back home. Not an epic journey, just a brief getaway. We pass the turnoff to Radium so often on our trips to Calgary. It is a beautiful wide valley and we had not traveled it for years.
We expected the day to start in low cloud or fog, and so it was.

 We also expected to see clearing as we approached Cranbrook, and so it was. See the cloud against the mountain in the background.
We had not counted on returning low cloud. Boring!

 The Moyie river, cause of the fog, was barely visible at times.

I lost track of when we finally emerged into sunshine, but never mind that. Chris had noticed an interesting side road between Skookumchuk and Canal Flats. You just have to love those names. Driving this road, to White Swan provincial park, was the highlight of the outing. We climbed up into a world of blue sky, golden trees and wide mountain views.

The trees were peaking, that stage where you expect to see them glow in the dark.

 One more for good measure. It was glorious! Most of the road is a well maintained gravel road. 

The main map makes no mention of it, but the special map on geological features showed Lusier Hot Springs. It consists of a series of shallow natural rock pools right next to the river.  Access is free. There is a parking place and an easy walkway down to it, but no change facilities.To our surprise it was quite busy!

We had brought our hot springs gear down, but chickened out at the prospect of the cold, barefoot trip over the rocks into the pools.  On to civilized Fairmont we went, after a quick peek at the campground by Alces lake.

We are picky about hot springs. Fairmont has one large pool that was too cold when we first came in. I thought it was meant for swimming, like the large pool at the lower level of Halcyon Hot Springs that is only open in summer. It is on the left below. It warmed up later. The pool on the right had a nice temperature for soaking, a bit warmer than the large pool in Nakusp. It was shallow, like our hot one that I never go into. I felt like,"where's the water?"

Later the larger pool warmed up, it turned out to be the main pool. The shallow one was what passed for hot locally. 

I am not dissing this resort, it has beautiful grounds and great views.

But I still like the temperatures in our own Nakusp Hot Springs best of all.

A few km up the mountain is Fairmont Lodge and ski resort.

 The lodge looks like a pleasant intimate place to stay. 

We were hoping for views of the Columbia valley on the way down, but they were both rare and too hazy. This one was near the ski resort.

This one was on the way down from Fairmont Hot Springs. 

That's our own Columbia down there, here interspersed with smallish lakes and swamps.

We spent the night in the Best Western hotel in Invermere, with beer and home-made pizza in the bar. A decent hot breakfast in a pleasant coffee shop was included the next day.

We had expected low cloud the next morning, but not this much for this long. 

We had been looking forward to the stretch from Radium to Golden, but it was a total foggy loss. Next, a chilly stroll through downtown Golden. It will be a nice place to visit on future breaks on the way to or from Calgary, so much better than that horrid fast-food strip along the highway.

Above, path and foot bridge over the Kicking Horse river. Below, mural at the aboriginal cultural center.

After lunch it was still foggy, disgusting. It must have been close to an hour past Golden before we finally broke into blue sky and the usual mountain splendor. 

It didn't last long. Well before the descent into Revelstoke we saw the first sign of impending gloom creeping towards us.

The road took us underneath it and that was it. Goodbye sun, goodbye sky, only the weather gods know when we will be allowed a glimpse again.

Above: Almost home, the road South of the ferry.

It has been like this for days. We are either inside the valley cloud or just below it. I am getting cranky. Honest rain is one thing, stagnant spoiled good weather always makes me feel cheated. I used to think I might eventually leave Nakusp for this reason alone, but the place is too much home now. Maybe I should investigate a SAD lamp. 

Another Grad, another coast trip.

 Originally posted to Multiply June 30 2010

Son Alex had lost his geology job in the economic downturn, and cleverly used the enforced idleness for some upgrading. He added an intense one-year course in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to his BSc.

GIS folks make sense out of the mass of data that surveyors and satellites deliver. It has a wide range of applications in many fields. Serious nerd work. Alex can now make computers sing and dance and knows even more stuff his old backwoods mother doesn't have a clue about. 


The course (at BCIT in Burnaby) came with a graduation ceremony with all the trimmings. Alex had missed his college grad, because when it happened he was already working way up North, so we all showed up for this one.


Entering Metro Vancouver is always a treat. Approaching the Port Mann bridge.

It is too bad one can't just stop on the bridge and gaze at the spectacular view. The barrier even makes it hard to take pictures, but I stubbornly keep trying. Pictures taken through the side window are not the same quality as those taken through the front.


The day before happened to be Chris' birthday, so the kids treated us to a lavish dinner at the Korean Barbecue place, quite an experience!

The next day we faced two dilemmas: how to spend the morning till the ceremony at 1.30 and how to get there. We had been warned parking might be a problem. Our normal accommodation had not been available. We were staying at some distance from the sky train and were not sure which buses go where. We solved both problems by hiking to the site, approximately 10 km. This gave us the chance to walk through Deer Lake park. 

I have always been intrigued by those Burnaby lakes, but they are hard to get to with the car if you don't know the city.

Notice the pair of loons in the water! On the way out of the park we saw a sign with: "Warning, coyotes!" Good thing too, some predator needs to cull the geese.

We had not brought enough food or drink, so the salmon berries along the trail were welcome.

The ceremony was the usual pomp and circumstance with dignitaries decked out in crazy fifteenth-century hats. The grads entered the auditorium to the strains of  "Land of hope and glory". A lovely melody, but an odd choice considering the vast majority of students is of Asian origin. The chorus brings memories of my dear anglophile Dad. He loved listening to the radio broadcast of the last seasonal Prom concert in the Royal Albert Hall.

This song was one of the traditional highlights, right up there with 'Rule Britannia!', which he lustily belted along with. We digress.

We will have to wait for the official photo to get decent pictures of the moment on stage, but there was plenty of photo-opping afterwards.

Nienke took this one with the timer.

An immigrant moment: I keep under-estimating the formality of these occasions. Many family-of-grads folks were milling around dressed to the hilt. I felt quite under dressed. My most presentable outfit was vaguely smelling of Korean barbecue after the night before and had to be replaced with something more casual. Besides we were somewhat sweaty and bedraggled after our epic hike. Alex made up for it by being resplendent in a suit.

And there we leave him for now. A smart, handsome and kind young man who is finding his way in life. 

 Postscript: the training led to a job as a mapmaker for a small mining company, just what he had in mind. Eventually it too ended. 

Read all about it at Alex' own blog, http://nothernlites.blogspot.com

Flames and Flowers

Originally posted to Multiply on March 21, 2010

We missed the main Olympics, but on our latest weekend trip to see the offspring we got to see the flame, yeah! It had been rekindled for the Paralympics.

No trip to the coast would be complete without a visit to the Dutch Cheese maker between Cherry Ville and Lumby. We stocked up on a whole wheel of Gouda, which will be gone by the next trip at the end of summer. Grass-fed real food. It still does not taste quite like Dutch Gouda. I finally figured out it has to do with the grass. Ask any wine maker how important the terrain is!

Daughter's household is car-free by choice, so she is a master at getting the most out of public transit. She was a great guide. Some trains have this great seat right in front.

The journey started with a sky train trip to Waterfront, a beautiful old railway station that has a new lease on life as urban transit hub. Daughter took this picture of the hall.

The cauldron was just West of there on the harbour.

Below: containership getting ready to deliver its Walmart-bound goodies from China. Or whatever.

Funny, I had always pictured the flames near the Science Center on False Creek. The cauldron was fenced off, alas, but there was a viewing area with a huge ramp leading to it.

I am childish enough to request a "yes, we were really here!" picture.

The next 2 pictures are taken from the same place, but looking in a different direction.

Looking down the ramp, notice the barge with Olympic rings!

The rings again, and standing with your back to the cauldron you see this. The treed area is part of Stanley park.

It was still pretty busy and the crowds were being hustled along. Is this an example of Quebec language use or a poor translation? Flâner in regular French means strolling, not loitering. As in Yves Montand's song "J'aime flâner sur les grands boulevards". I guess strolling was too slow. MOVE, you camera-toting-posing-with-the-flames multitudes!

Back on level ground we see the viewing platform behind one of the many volunteers who made the games possible. All over town and suburbs people were proudly sporting their bright blue jackets, still basking in the after-glow.

Cauldron duly admired and documented, DD noted that we had 20 minutes left on our transfer to catch sky train in the direction of the next adventure: a visit to Granville Island Market by water taxi. This was my favorite part of the whole day. I love being on water, especially in a tiny boat.

View East towards the science centre. We are traveling from Yaletown West towards Granville Island.

Top picture: some weird architecture, below it floating homes.

I finally got the bridge to stand still long enough for a decent picture!

The vessel, on Granville Island.

I had never been on Granville Island yet. Our downtown expedition usually takes us to English Bay to smell the salt water.

Granville Island is a great place to shop for serious foodies, a little world of its own. Best enjoyed by oneself, with money in pocket, or with one like-minded female companion. By the time the four of us got there we were a bit tired and more than a bit hungry. There were no tables available in the food court and it was cold outside. DD remembered a fish place. We had to wait for a table at Tony's but it was worth it. Fortified by the best fish and chips and clam chowder ever we followed our intrepid guide in the direction of her home. We first made our way to a free trolley that took us back to sky train. I love good public transit!

This is the Fraser River seen from the train near New Westminster.

Meanwhile it was spring there. Here are some images of random urban greenery and abundant flowery pinkness.

Son Alex is temporarily living in the same area, so we had the the whole family there. This doesn't happen very often. B.C. may be the best place on Earth to live, but when it comes to maintaining family ties it can be too big for its own good. The kids may think it is just right, :). I had hoped for a vigorous session of Catan, but alas, the man was too swamped with exams to stay long. He did make a special contribution to dinner, in honor of the date.

A cake in honor of international Pi day. Pi, as in, that thing that has something to do with circles. I knew it once, but math doesn't stick. Fragments of Greek poetry can be dragged up, but science doesn't come easy.

It is hard to see at this angle, but the top clearly said 3.14. All in all, a good day.