I checked the car out this morning and the oil level is clean and a little over the full range. No leaks found so I believe we’ll be okay driving.

Greetings and salutations from the town of Nelson in British Columbia, Canada. Today is a National Holiday Truth and Reconciliation Day. A lot of places will be closed today.

The mountains here are very different from the Rocky Mountains. We crossed the jagged edges of towering majestic peaks to a beautiful range of rounded mountains called the Purcell Mountains.

This morning we are in the Selkirk Mountains, which are part of the older Cascade Mountains system that extends into Oregon and Washington States.

This range includes many inactive and active volcanoes like Mount St. Helens and Mount Hood. These mountains are covered in huge pine forests and much darker rock formations. The Cascade Mountains form some of the most beautiful landscapes in Canada.

Our true first stop was an hour down the road and was well worth the trip. The original Brilliant Suspension Bridge was built by the Doukhobor community in 1913 and is now a walking bridge just upstream from the 1966 bridge. It replaced the suspension bridge for highway traffic. The Brilliant Suspension Bridge is now a National Historic Site.

We drove through some beautiful views and mountains with flowing rivers.

We spent some time viewing murals and artwork in the sculpture capital of Castlecar Canada. Some really nice pieces and there were tons more. We saw a parade of people in support of Canada’s Day of Truth and Reconciliation.

We stop by Christina Lake and took a walk about. Again Heather said she would push me down and run. I had no response but okay. (I have no bacon)

We had the best lunch. Today’s shout out is for Jinger. She wants us to bring her a sandwich and some baked goods! It’s a long way to Tennessee and as good as it is, the temptation would be to much and you might just get a few crumbs.

After lunch the cars navigation system was messing up and we actually did make a wrong turn. We ended up on 30 miles of rough mountain roads climbing way up high in a 2026 Chrysler Pacifica. Not built for the off road but took us through some scary and sketchy passes. If we were to see a moose 🫎 that’s where he/she would be. Mom and Dad have a Pacifica and take our advice. Stick to the pavement even though it can climb like a mountain goat 🐐 on steroids!

We made it to our Villa here in Osoyoos British Columbia, Canada. We are staying at the Sandy Beach Resort. Very nice digs. Private beach and we have a private patio. We went to a grocery store and picked up stuff to cook for dinner. Baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese. Heather had beef and barley soup and I had canned spaghetti with meatballs. Not to shabby for dinner on the road. We also picked up milk and cereal for breakfast with bottled Starbucks Mocha drink.

Tomorrow is our last drive day and we will have completed our drive across Canada once we touch the Straight of George connecting to the waters of the Pacific Ocean. We spend one full day on Friday in Vancouver before our train departure to Seattle Washington early Saturday morning. We are excited and saddened at the same time.

A Elk walks into a church. The pastor asks, “Have you found Jesus?”
The Elk says, “No, but I think I saw him at the Tim Hortons.”

“I’ve been lost so many times that my GPS doesn’t even say ‘Recalculating’ anymore—it goes silent for a moment, let’s me make another wrong decision, then says “You’ve been lost here before!” Then takes me the longest way….off the beaten path…through the woods… over majestic mountains… past the point of no return… sharp turns… boulders… hawks and buzzards… logging trucks… streams and rivers… chasms and cliffs… unrelenting uneven terrain…and no Grandma’s house to stop and doctor your aggravated back muscles and or hemorrhoids! And as you start to give up it says “Turn left at the next fallen tree.” You’re back on pavement! Yeppers just sayin’!