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Summary
Canada has long been dominated by its neighbour to the south. In fact in 1812 the Americans invaded Canada in order to take the whole of North America for themselves. The Canadians fought back, repelled the invaders and pushed on to Washington where they burned down the White House. I didn't know this fascinating bit of history but the Canadians are, quite rightly, very proud of it.
Canada seems to be doing very well for itself at the moment. They have a young, dynamic prime minister who seems to be very popular. They have great infrastructure - the roads and railways are very good. The people seem prosperous - housing looks very good, cars are big and new, Residential Vehicles (RVs) are huge and everyone seems to enjoy the outdoor life. The climate is great, proper summers and wintery winters. There were four different climate zones in BC so you could always find a nice day somewhere. The natural world is epic, fabulous mountain scenery and astonishing wildlife. Business seemed to be doing particularly well. Anyone who has been to BC will have been impressed with the freight trains. Susan counted one at 200 wagons long and trains this size pass by every 15 minutes or so.
But the best resource is the people themselves. Everywhere we went we were welcomed, assisted and everyone was keen to chat about our trip and our impressions of their country. They were outgoing and interested in the world beyond their borders. Brexit, in particular, and the possibility of a Trump presidency were hot topics of conversation.
We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of our trip. We met some very lovely hosts in our B&Bs. Thanks to Lynn in Banff, Evelyn in Cranbrook, Linda in Nelson, Rolf in Kelowna, Heather and Steve in Revelstoke, Bob in Golden, Frank in Wells Gray National Park. Special thanks to Linda in Vancouver for renting her fabulous penthouse apartment for a week.
But most of all we are grateful to cousin Donna who joined us in Vancouver, took us to Whistler, put us up in her home in Qualicum and organised the highlight of our trip to Telegraph Cove. You did a great job and we will be back.
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