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Today got off to a rough start. I didn't much sleep last night as I was fretting over what needed to be packed. I was sure that I would forget something - and I did...my phone charger. Luckily I can also charge using USB so I'll survive.
Mum and I met up at Timmy's near Departure Bay - I wasn't too late - and proceeded to the ferry terminal with time to spare. It was cloudy for the ride over, but cleared a bit by the time we docked in Horseshoe Bay. My first incident with Bessie and hills was climbing out of Horseshoe Bay - needless to say, they don't get along. Bessie is our nickname for the '89 Prelude that we took on our trip. Once I got to the top of the hill and I got up to speed, she was fine. We made it through Vancouver without incident and carried on through the Lower Mainland towards Hope.
We stopped at Bridal Falls Provincial Park for lunch but decided to forego the walk to the falls. We have both seen the falls and I already have some pics of it from my trip to Edmonton with Kyra. We looked over the map and decided on Salmon Arm for the night - called Dad to reserve a room for us - then headed up the dreaded Coquihala.
Now comes my second fabulous experience with Bessie on a hill. I went up almost the whole way at 60km/h (40mph). Note to self...get a good run at a hill next time. We finally made it to Merritt - no toll on the Coke anymore :) - and stopped for coffee and gas.
After a short break we continued north up Hwy 5 to Kamloops, where we met up with the Trans-Canada and headed east. The afternoon was quite uneventful as we followed the Thompson Valley all the way to Salmon Arm. We arrived at the Best Western around 5:45pm PDT and after getting ourselves situated, headed out for dinner. As it turns out, Mum is also a big fan of East Side Mario's.
I had the Linguine Chicken Amatriciana, which is probably the first time I haven't ordered Tetrazzini, and Mum had the Seafood Linguine. In the couple years since I've been to ESM, they have jumped on the Californian band wagon and now their unlimited salad comes with mixed greens instead of iceberg lettuce. Oh well, this is the start of a great adventure and I plan to be less picky on this trip.
After dinner we took a nice walk around the marina. I was introduced to some new birds by Mum. We saw Western Grebes swimming next to the pier as well as an osprey high up on its roost with its baby. We also a Great Blue Heron wading near the shore and a family of Canada Geese paddling amongst the reeds. All in all it was a nice walk even though the clouds were threatening rain and the lighting was not the best for picture taking. Then we headed back to the hotel for a dip in the hot tub before turning in for the night. Now I'm just keeping an eye on the weather channel as it is calling for more snow around Calgary and in the foothills. Snow in the end of May - now I've seen everything. Hopefully there won't be too much as I am not looking forward to driving on snowy mountain roads - and I know that Mum won't volunteer to drive in it. I guess I'll know more in the morning, but for now it's bedtime.
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