Groovy Wanderlust: Farewell Canada, Hello America

Heading west, towards Whistler (where the 2010 Winter Olympic Games were held), we took a few detours and decided to stop and hike Canada's "boardwalk trails" that are highlighted along the highway - two ancient forests, and a unique mountain wetland path...with a grizzly bear warning in the entrance way.

An ancient forest along the highway. Canada is doing its part to preserve natural wonder.


Mark was completely unfazed by this. I was having heart palpitations.

The forests were lush with layers of plant-life. Beautiful.

That night, we stayed at a campsite that was a glorified parking lot along the highway, but a redeeming quality is that next door there was an animal sanctuary for frail, old, and injured animals. We saw bald eagles, coyotes, bobcats, owls, elk, wolves and yes...a grizzly bear.

Driving through the mountains towards Whistler was an interesting (and sometimes scary) experience. The road is a two-lane road with hairpin turns - climbing and descending thousands of feet through miles and miles of mountain terrain.

Making our way through the terrain...

Our campsite in Whistler was on a mountaintop with spectacular views. Mark was in his glory having his morning coffee while overlooking the natural wonder.

Morning Joe : )

Nellie Belle on the mountaintop.

Whistler, Canada

We decided to drive through Vancouver since we had been there two years ago and were eager to get back into the USA. Since Victoria, British Columbia was on our itinerary we stayed in a sleepy town in northwest Washington, Anacortes. Once again, we were pleasantly surprised when we realized that our campsite was hosting an Indian Inter-Tribal Canoe Journey of over 20 nations from British Columbia, Alaska, and Washington. It's an annual event to honor the canoe journeys of the past. The owners of the site were the Swinomish Tribe and members were kind enough to invite us to their celebration.

Each tribe had original songs and dance routines that reflected their indigenous culture.

Tribe members create hats of woven cedar bark,
which are very common on the Northwest Coast.

The female dancers wore ornate, blanket capes that represented their Indian Nation.

The next day we hopped on a ferry and went to Victoria, British Columbia for the day. It was a mellow day for us - strolled through the city, ate lunch at a cafe built in 1898, walked some more, went back to the cafe for coffee and dessert (of course), and called it a day.