We said farewell to beautiful Vancouver, BC. We really enjoyed our stay. This large bustling city is Canada's second most populous city and it is also the most densely populated. There are only 800,000 residents within the city limits proper but if you take into account all the surrounding communities you have about 2.8 million residents. The total population of the country is only 36 million. Even though this city has the reputation as the most densely populated, it is still very livable compared to many US cities. You have to keep in mind that the State of California has more residents than the entire Canadian nation. The city was very clean and the city managers are really environmentally minded. Canadians in general seem to treasure their natural resources - after all that is what supports the country economically.
We slept in a bit this morning and we didn't hit the road until about 10:00 am. The GPS said that our route would take us 4 hours and 50 minutes. But due to a few stops and one wrong turn, it ended up taking us about 6 hours to get to our over-night stop. We are staying at Cottonwood Cove RV Resort that is situated on the shores of Shuswap lake in the small town of Lee Creek, BC. It is a really beautiful resort that is made up of private owner sites and rental sites. There are great boating facilities and many of the sites have great views right out onto the lake. Some owners are able to anchor their boats just off shore of their camp site. It is really nicely done. We are arriving a the end of their summer season. Schools are back in session, so there are only a handful of retired folks like us here and a few folks that full time up here.
Our ride up went pretty smooth. From Burnaby, we were able to hop right on the Trans Canada Hwy 1 (TC1) and headed east. when we got to the town of Hope we could opt to stay on TC1 or take Hwy 3 to Hwy5. The latter choice is a much better, wider divided Hwy. Initially, we stayed on TC1 but when we stopped at a roadside store, we realized we would be better off doubling back to head up Hwy 5. Once there, we began to wind our way up the mountains. Our elevation is still not that high, we hit one summit at about 4000' and then came back down the other side. Lake Shuswap sits at about 1200'. We had been averaging just a little under 11 mpg in our motorhome but after going up and down the mountains we are down to 10.2 mpg. That's actually better than I expected our 38' motorhome to do while pulling out tow car behind us. So far we really love the ride. It is very smooth and it's nice to be able to actually listen to the radio and have a conversation while rolling down the road. Unfortunately, we are having a few problems with our new motorhome that we will have to have addressed under warranty. The most frustrating being that the residential refrigerator in the motorhome is not getting cold enough. The freezer is plenty cold, but the fridge part isn't. So we've had to throw a block of ice in there. When it melts, we put it up in the freezer. We purchased two dish pans, so that we could rotate them to keep things cold. Since I'm not eating these days, it isn't too inconvenient.
We pulled in at 4:00 pm and got settled in. We took a quick walk around the park to get a feel for the layout. Then, Elisa announced that she was starving. The host at the office had told us about a nice restaurant at nearby Talking Rock Resort at Quaaout Lodge and Spa. This lovely resort is operated by the Shuswap Lake Band of Indians. It includes a hotel, restaurant, golf course and conference center. It is very nicely done. Elisa had some cedar plank grilled salmon that was topped with fennel slaw and served with a mustard sauce that complemented the dish. It was also served with some sautéed with maple glazed canadian bacon and vegetables of potatoes, broccoli and squash. She really enjoyed it, but the portions were on the small side. It's a good thing since she is dieting right now. I had a cup of their salmon chowder. This was a very nice place. Here we thought we were in the middle of nowhere and we find upscale dining. One other thing - if you are going to live in this part of Canada you had better like salmon. It seems to be served with everything, especially this time of the year.
When we got back, we took a walk around the park to get some steps in and Elisa took some great photos that I've posted here.
More later.