Falls into spring: day one.

Sharon and I have just returned from a road trip in the Festiva and we had no breakdowns!!! Here's an account of our venture into the springtime Okanagan Valley.

Friday, April 28

We got started a little later than first planned but get started we did. Our route would take us west from Calgary along the Trans-Canada Highway through Canmore, past Banff and Lake Louise then over the Kicking Horse Pass (highest spot on the Trans-Canada at 1643m / 5390ft.) int British Columbia. These are familiar roads as we follow this same route at least once each year heading to our favorite summer vacation spot at Mabel Lake Resort.

Snowy mountains between Banff and Lake Louise.

After a brief stop at the information center at Field BC we continued on our way westward through Golden, over the Rogers Pass and on to Revelstoke. We experienced a couple of delays due to construction but that was to be expected considering the time of year. There is still a lot of snow up high and evidence of avalanches could still be seen, especially in Rogers' Pass.

Through the "twisty bits" into Golden BC

Westward from Golden. Snow on the peaks in the distance.

Remnants of an avalanche in the Rogers Pass

Along the shores of Mara Lake

After a coffee stop in Revelstoke we returned to the highway to our destination for the night, Vernon BC. Drove past Three Valley Gap, past the Enchanted Forest, through Sicamous, down the shores of Mara Lake (more twisty bits!), through Enderby (the turnoff spot for Mabel Lake) then to our hotel for the night. The closer we got to Vernon the greener the surroundings became, something we were looking forward to after leaving a cool, overcast and brown Calgary.

Party cloudy skies and green grass greet us as we approach Vernon.

One of the things we like to do when traveling is visit local thrift stores. You never know what kind of treasures are there to be discovered. Went directly to the Salvation Army Store, one of Sharon's favorites, once we arrived in Vernon then checked into the hotel. Went for a walk to another thrift store, picked up some groceries for our supper after that then returned to the hotel were we spent a lovely evening relaxing, reading and watching a show or two.