TravelStream™ news feed for member jcarter on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/jcarter en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:07:30 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jcarter/4/1221352680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jcarter/4/1221352680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jcarter/4/1221352680/tpod.html Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:07:30 -0500 B.C. The do-over.

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Golden, British Columbia, Canada

Another beautiful day. So far the weather has been great. Today we left Kelowna for Golden B.C. Before we left Kelowna, we took a walk through the waterfront area, where a dragon boat festival was taking place. Lots of paddlers. Then it was off to Revelstoke for lunch. Driving along hwy 97 we passed through some small towns, but kept going admiring the view along the way. It seems that every time we turned a corner there was another beautiful view and especially true if you turned around to look in the opposite direction. When we arrived at Revelstoke on Saturday, the town seemed somewhat deserted and not many restaurants were in fact open. We would later find out that there was a soccer tournament on and thats why town was not busy. After lunch, we hit the hwy to Golden.
Hwy 97 ended and we got on the Trans Canada, heading east. We stopped at Glacier National Park to take in the spectacular views of the high peaks and glaciers. An hour and a half later we would stop at the Sportsman Motel in Golden and call it a day.
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Banff, Alberta, Canada

Its a misty morning when we leave Golden. We head on to Trans Canada hwy and up the mountains and get to a point where the mist had lifted and we can see the town of Golden below and the mountain peaks above with a cloud in the middle. A very interesting site. Golden is a small town with a variety of restaurants, bars and gas stations along the hwy, but the business section in town is much smaller. The railway runs along side the town and must be one of its biggest employers.
I am looking forward to visiting Lake Louise, but enjoy the sights along the way, stopping far too many times to take pictures. When we finally get to Lake Louise, it takes us half an hour to find a place to park as the lots are full and many cars are cruising along looking for a parking spot. Its hard to believe we're in the off season.
Lake Louise is beautiful. The water is calm and a rich teal blue colour. The hotel rises out of the trees at one end and the glacier at the other. Its a sight to behold. We walk along the trail at one side of the lake hoping to be able to get to the other end of the lake, but it ends about 3/4 of the way and turns into the forest. I want to go canoeing on the lake, but Les wants to move on, so we head back to the car and on to Moraine Lake just a few miles away.

Moraine Lake is very busy, with cars overflowing the lots so be pull to the side of the road and move the no parking sign behind our car. Its a half mile walk to the parking lot and cars still keep coming. The views along the road to the lake are spectacular and i frustrate les with my frequent stops to take pictures. Moraine lake is smaller than expected, but the water is also a beautiful azure colour. Les tells me the water is much lower than last time he was here. There's a big pile of boulders at one end of the lake and I elect not to climb it, and head to the gift store. Having no luck in finding my souvineer, we head back to the car. Next stop Banff.

As we head into Banff, i am on the lookout for all the wild animals that you hear about. Sadly, i see nothing. Banff is really one big tourist town and its jam packed with people. We stop for lunch at a food court of all things and then i head to the gondola ride up sulphur mountain while Les prowls the shopping distance.

After a fairly long line up i get into a gondola and head up the mountians with 2 Albertans who seem to be nervous of the heights. When get to the top, the view platforms are jammed with people. There is a walkway to another higher peak, but i don't have enough time to do it and get back to town to pick up les. The views are great and i get to take some pictures. One of the things that catch my eye are the don't feed the goats signs, so i scour the hillside looking for animals, but again nothing. So I head to the long line down and ride down the mountain with a couple of germans. Germans and English & Ozzies seem to be everywhere on my travels, which seems to be along way from home, although i am sure they are enjoying it.

Next stop Les' apartment in Calgary.
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Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

We left early to head to Kelowna, but the drive through the rockies would be the highlight of the day. Highway 99, to Lillooet was just amazing. You have to keep your eyes on the road, but the views caused us to find a place to pull over several times.
The scenery changes from jagged mountains with snow still on them in September, to lush green rolling hills to farms in the valleys and then to desert looking mountains with no trees and tumbleweed.
The best views to be had were on hwy 99 to Lillooet. Past that point the scenery was less impressive. We stopped in Cache Creek for lunch at this little diner that looked busy. Its called Hungry Herbie's. I would recomment you pass by. The food was less than impressive.
We finally made it to Kelowna late in the afternoon and found a nice hotel downtown and by the time we wandered the town core, it was time to eat. After checking more than a dozen choices we settled for the one across the street. The next morning we went for a walk to the towns waterfront where a huge dragonboat festival was underway. Kelowna is a beautiful town, and their waterfront is immaculate.
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Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

After a few days in Vancouver, we were really looking forward to hitting the road and driving the Sea to Sky hwy to Whister. It was a beautifully sunny day, so we headed to the rental car company and picked up our Pontiac G6. Not a bad car, we'll take it back to Calgary.
Setting up the gps, we head off through Stanley Park, over the Lions Gate bridge to the Sea to Sky hwy. We were very excited to drive it and it was a very windy hwy, but there was so much construction, 4 laning for the upcoming Olympics, that it wasn't a pleasant drive. We had one 30 minute stop before hitting Sqaumish, waiting for the road to open. We decide to stop there for lunch. Our gps lists lots of different restaurant choices, but upon driving into this little town surrounded by mountains, quite a few are empty. After wandering all through the business section, we find a little bistro and sit outside looking at "the chief" as we ate. A great view, and i'm told there are tours up to the top of this mountain with a huge cliff face you can peer over if you get close to the edge. After lunch, we head for Whistler.
When we finally get there, we search for an affordable hotel as its surprisingly busy. After asking a few, we sit down at a couresty internet terminal and book another hotel at $50 less than the hotel we were sitting in and using their internet.
We find our hotel and look for something to do. I book "skyline" zipline tour for that afternoon.
I meet with 2other tourists and we are driving to Grouse Mountain and introduced our selves to the art of ziplining. Its a series of lines that criss cross a valley, with different lengths and drops. The speeds reach upto 100kl/hr. the longest run is 1600 ft and takes about 10 seconds. We all had a great time and i got to know the other two, a couple from England who unbelievably come from my hometown in England. It turns out that Richard and Tina are heading to Vancouver and will stay in the hotel directly beside the one we stayed in. Even more strange is the route they took to get to Whistler is the same that we will be using to get to Calgary, where they started the trip, and I end it.
Wierd.
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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Even tho my leg was still sore and i was limping, it was off to see Stanley Park on bright and sunny morning. Yesterday, we attempted it, but it was unseasonally cold that morning.
I had loaded up on Advil, and off I limped through the business section until we got to Robson St heading towards the park. Just before we got to it, i suggested bike rental because Les had decided to do a 4 hour gym session at UBC later that morning. At my present pace, it would take forever on foot.
On the bike, we wissed around the outside of the penninsula in just under 2 hours. After that Les returned his bike and headed to UBC, I continued my tour.
One thing that is remarkable about Stanley Park is the trees or lack of them after the storm a couple of years ago. Most of the big trees facing the ocean were destroyed. As we biked around, parks crews were still busy repairing the sea wall which was heavily damaged during that storm. Never the less, the views were magnificient.
On one side of the park is the ocean and Burrard Bay on the other, where the port of Vancouver is. The Lions Gate bridge crosses the bay to North Vancouver. You can see many ships both in the harbour and anchored in the Pacific. Its a shame none were passing under the bridge as we were touring the park. Stanley Park is a wonderful place and i envy those who get to use it regularly.

I headed back to the hotel after lunch at an outdoor cafe and just watched ppl walk by. After a short nap, i walked a couple of blocks to False creek and walked the entire length to BC Place and the Casino. New condos were going up all over the place, and the sea wall was just amazing. I stopped into the Casino because mother nature was calling and there were no toilets anywhere along the seawall, so i took advantage and went in. I was hoping to win one of the cars outside so i hit the slots and after half an hour i was up $50, so i decided to leave. My leg was once again bothering me, so i went down to the docks and hoped to get a ride in a water bus back to the other end of False Creek. After about 10min, i was picked up, and went for a ride up the creek stopping at various places to pick up and drop off passengers.

When i finally made it back to the hotel, Les was waiting to go out for dinner with a friend of his in school here in Vancouver. Adam was taking his doctorate at UBC, and we traded ideas on politics over indian food for a couple of hours. Then Adam headed back to his dorm, and I back to my hotel to rest my leg.
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Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Its a 2 hour layover, and there's nothing to do here in the airport. The only thing open is a small lunch counter/bar with a couple of ppl in it. Even the duty free is closed. I waited to eat at the airport, to avoid the pre made sandwiches on the plane, thinking i'd have more choices at the airport. Sadly, this is the most pathetic international airport i've been in. I can hardly wait on the next plane.
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I'm off and rsunning to make up the last part of last years trip around the world that got cut short in Shanghai due to a typhoon that made me miss my trip to Vancouver and the Rockies.
My trip will include a connection in Winnipeg and return from Calgary. The forecast looks great.
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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

dday 1

Vancouver is a massive city. It seams the entire city centre is highrise buidlings. it

looks more like a smaller shanghai than toronto. There are no small buildings. while its a big city,the traffic seems less busy than you would expect.

Vancouver is built against the back drop of the rockies and the pacific ocean. One the the nicest features is False Creek, which is really a huge bay that nearly divides the city in half. Around the bay is the biggest collection of condos i've ever seen in Canada. Its a great view day or night.

On my first day, Les-who lives in Calgary,and met me in Vancouver- walked virtually alls
around the city, starting with a walk to Englih Bay,but we retreat due to the weather. We
stopped at Dennys for breakfast in the Davie area in Vancouver before heading to Granvile Island, in the middle of False Creek. Its an island first used for heavy industry, but is transistioning into an arts and entertainment venue. its odd to
see concreate trucks, cars and tourist buses all trying to share the roads on this little
island.

False creek is the home of hundreds of yachts, moored at the many marinas that line the
shores of False Creek. The wealth in this area is quite evident.

After crossing the Granville bridge and descending to Granville Island, we tour the area
markets, theatres before continuing our walk along the False Creek to the Pacific Ocean. We walked under the Burrard bridge and followthe park trails to the Maritime muesum and space museum.

The water front areas all have beautiful parks and pathways for walkers and bicycles. We
then trekked up to the Burrand bridge and followed the road all the way through to Burrard Bay the home of Canada Place. This area is the business and financial area in Vancouver.

The actual Canada Place is really a hotel and cruise ship terminal. Not very interesting
really. From there we trekked to East Hastings, the poor side of town. I stopped at CC
Marijana store and saw all sort of ppl smoking int the lounge. also, to be bought, bongs
and tshirts etc. the owner of the store is facing extradition to US for selling his seeds
mail order into the US. Walking farther down Hastings, the buildings became run down and
ghetto like. Also the people in the streets clearly appeared to be financially lacking.
Whether they were the working poor, dis-abled or drug addicts, it was a sad site to see.

From there it was off to China town, where we toured a few stored selling all sorts of
unkown items and a traditional chinese garden.
by this time, sadly, i twisted my leg and limped back to the hotel which was miles away.
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Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

We've done some shopping and a little gambling and Saw a few shows including Sigfried and Roy. Honestly, i didn't like the show that much or the way we were hearding in to the theatre like cattle. But i did win nearly a $1000 at one of the slots, so tommorrow i'm off to the Harley Store which is great i hear, to buy some stuff before i go. I hear we're heading back to a huge snow storm, and i miss the sun already.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jcarter/6/1209164580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jcarter/6/1209164580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jcarter/6/1209164580/tpod.html Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:17:04 -0400 Vegas baby!

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Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States

Yesterday was one of the longest days ever! We must be stupid Canadian tourists, because who decides to go to the Grand Canyon wearing shorts and a t shirt. Sure it was nice when we left, but after hours of driving some of the most boring roads, we kept climbing higher and higher until it was freezing.
For awhile we toughed it out, left the top down and drove with the heater on, but the winds picked up and about an hour of driving left, we stopped to put the top up.
We did cross the state line at the hoover dam, which was amazing to see up close. The security was somewhat tighter, although i'm not sure how'd they stop someone, when you just slow down at the checkpoint. You just got to look honest.
Needless to say, we got there, passing a few tourist stores along the way. We should have stopped for a sweatshirt before we got into the park, but we thought they'd have something inside the park. We were wrong. Before we even looked at the gorge, we went to the gift store, but the only clothing they had were t shirts. So off we ran to the lookout and stayed there for 10 minutes before we headed back. We were just too cold and the only ones there in tshirts.
On the way back, we stop at one of those souvineer stores and pick up some warm clothes.
We stopped at a little place called King or something for some food at fast food chain we don't have here in Canada. The food was aweful. The place was dirty. We ate it anyway. Seems like the trip took 12 hours or so, something the rental car guy didn't tell us about. All we got for our efforts was sunburned foreheads while the rest of us froze.
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