It was a really "BIG" day

This morning Katie, Corson, RoxAnne and I took a tour of the Boeing aircraft plant.  The facility is home to the 747, 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner production lines and is the world's "BIGGEST" building by volume.   We saw all these planes in different stages of construction.  They were being built for various customers worldwide.  They had between 12,000 to 18,000 employees working at the plant at any given time.  Our tour guide was very informative and even talked about some of the future designs that Boeing is developing.  It was very interesting that the planes, such as the 787 Dreamliners, use carbon fiber for the body of the aircraft.  This material is lighter than aluminum, but also stronger.

RoxAnne, Katie, Corson and me at the Boeing tour

After leaving the Boeing plant we decided to go to the Crystal Mountain Resort and ride the gondola to the top of the mountain to get a closer look at Mount Rainier.  We arrived at the ski resort and bought tickets to ride the gondola.  It was a really "BIG" ride.  When we arrived at the top of the mountain we could see a vast range of mountains.  The "BIGGEST" was Mount Rainier, but we also were able to see Mount St. Helen.  From to top of the gondola, we were also able to see a very active forest fire.  It was a "BIG" fire that had already burned about 12,000 acres.  They had over 350 firefighters trying to extinguish the fire, along with helicopter support.

Mount Rainier from the Crystal Mountain Ski Resort

Forest Fire burning over 12000 acres

After leaving the resort, we decided to explore inside Mount Rainier National.  Mount Rainier is the highest mountain in the state of Washington and has a summit elevation of 14,411 ft.  It is also considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.  Because of its large amount of glacial ice, Mt. Rainier could produce massive water and mud flows that could threaten the southern sections of the Seattle metropolitan area. 

Mount Rainier with Reflection Lake in the foreground

We have Visitors

Katie and Corson flew to Seattle today to spend a few days with us.  We picked them up at the airport around 3:00 this afternoon.  We were so excited to see them.  RoxAnne cooked us a great meal this evening, including meat loaf, corn on the cob, kale salad and roasted potatoes.  Both Katie and Corson had a long day and were very tired when they arrived.  Tomorrow we have some exciting things planned.

Corson and Katie on the plane ready to leave Pittsburgh.

Corson crashed on the couch when he arrived at the camper

This campground is more like a parking lot.  I've been to many campgrounds and this one has the tightest spaces that I've ever seen.

It's a Snow Day

We traveled to the end of State Road 542 today.  The road goes through the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and terminates at a parking lot at an elevation of 5210 ft.  The area is called Artist Point.  There were many glacier fed rivers and streams along the way, along with some water falls.  The trees were mostly western hemlock, western red cedar, and douglas fir.  Some were ginormous and most were encrusted with moss.  Along the road we were able to see some good views of Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker.  The bad thing was that it was another smoky day from the forest fires and everything appeared hazy.

Walking along the Horseshoe Bend Trail.  Here, the Nooksack River, which gets its start from the glaciers of Mount Shuksan, powers its way through everything and anything in its path. 

The water at Nooksack Falls drops 88 ft.

"Picture Lake" with Mount Shuksan in the background.  Mount Shuksan has a top elevation of 9131 ft.

RoxAnne and Annie playing in the snow at "Artist Point".  Ironically, the outside temp was actually pretty warm.  Probably in the low 80's.

A view of Mount Baker from Artist Point.  Mount Baker has a top elevation of 10781 ft.

Blackberry Pie

We found a huge patch of blackberries behind our camper and spent some time picking enough for a pie.  I hope to pick more tomorrow.  We went shopping this afternoon and had a propane fire this evening.  It is so dry here that wood fires are banned.

Blackberries for a Pie

North Cascades National Park

We visited the North Cascades National Park today.  There are jagged mountains peaks everywhere and many of them are covered by glaciers.  In fact, there are more than 300 glaciers in the park. Where there are glaciers, there are also many streams, waterfalls and lakes.  We had a very nice day, which included some hiking, picture taking and eating our lunch overlooking a glacier lake.

A Mountain Stream

Diablo Lake

Baker Mountain

Back in The USA

We made it back to the USA.  The trip started off great, although some of the mountains were a little scary as you travel down the hills.  Some of them were pretty steep and with the camper on the back of the truck you always worry that the brakes won't be able to slow you down.  We had a real easy time getting through the USA customs.  There was a long line in front of us, but then we spotted a sign that indicated that on Saturday's campers could go in the truck line.  There was only one truck ahead of us.  When we got to the gate the customs officer only asked us a few basic questions, then he waived us through.  We did run into some issues when we got closer to the campground.  As we were traveling down the road we saw a bunch of flashing red lights.  A fireman approached us and said that the road was closed and recommended an alternate route.  I backed the camper up in the middle of the road (not an easy task for me) and we turned around and went the alternate route.  About one mile into the alternate route, there was more flashing lights.  There was another accident and the road was closed.  The road was too narrow for me to turn around, so we just sat there for awhile till they finally opened the road.  As we got closer to the campground there was a detour due to a bridge being out.  That really confused us.  After a several hour delay, we finally made it to the campground.  After setting up the camper we took a short ride to the west till we hit water.  The beach we were at was right across from a group of islands, including the San Juan islands.

Kamloops RV Park

We left Fairmont Hot Springs this morning and drove most of the day till we stopped at an RV Park in Kamloops.  Speaking of driving, the average cost of diesel fuel is $1.15 per liter.  That is equivalent to $4.36 per gallon. Close to double the price of what it is in the US.  As we approached the Canadian Glacier National Park, it became extremely smoky.   There were a lot of forest fires in the area. We then proceeded through Rogers Pass and the smoke cleared and we could see glaciers.

Smoke in the Canadian Glacier National Park

A glacier inside the National Park

Through the park were "snow sheds".  These were tunnel like structures that were built to protect the road and the vehicles from avalanches during the winter. We drove through about 10 of them.

The Lakes of British Columbia

We spent about 5 hours today driving in remote sections of British Columbia.  When I mention remote, the roads were mostly one lane logging roads.  The one road we traveled till there was a sign that they were cutting trees ahead.  We stopped there and turned around.  The other road ended up having a "road closed" sign on it.  The sign stated that it was closed due to forest fire fighting activities.  Along the way we saw many pretty lakes and streams.  Tomorrow we leave Fairmont Hot Springs and go on a two day trip to Burlington, Washington.  We'll be back in the USA in two days. When we leave tomorrow we are heading north towards Golden, then west.  We'll be traveling through Canada's Glacier National Park.  Tomorrow evening we are planning to be at a campground in Camloops.

This is Columbia Lake.  It is 8.4 miles long and 1.2 miles wide. It is the headwaters for the Columbia River.  The Columbia River is the 4th largest river by volume in the US and it basically makes up the border between Washington and Oregon. It dumps into the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Oregon. We plan on camping there later in our trip.

Alces Lake

Whiteswan Lake

The White River

Another Hot Day

Was close to 90 degrees again today.  We spent most of the day in the pool.  We spent several hours talking to our camping neighbors in the pool.  They live in Edmonton and are here on holiday (vacation).  Both of their daughters were hockey players and went to school in Connecticut on hockey scholarships. They have driven through Wheeling and are very knowledgeable about the USA.  We asked a lot of questions about life in Canada.  Tonight we were sitting outside around our propane campfire and a skunk ran right by us and went underneath our camper. A minute later we saw it running across the road under another camper.  Hopefully no one gets sprayed.

Kids having fun diving into the pool

Hoodoo

Besides the campground being nestled between the Rocky Mountains and the Purcell Mountains, there are other rock formations nearby called Hoodoos.  The legendary sandstone cliffs are quite a sight.  You can hike to the top of the Hoodoos, but I didn't feel like taking the hike today.  The temperature today reached about 90 degrees with clear blue skies, so I opted to go swimming instead. We went out for breakfast this morning and our waitress said that there was a bear hanging out near the hot springs this morning.  Wish we could have seen it.

The Fairmont Hoodoos

We Didn't See the Eclipse

We had a partial eclipse up here in British Columbia, but not much of one.  We didn't have the special glasses, but those that did said that it wasn't all that impressive.  You couldn't even tell that one was occurring.  Besides that event, nothing special happened today.  Just another beautiful day surrounded by the mountains.  The flowers here at the hot springs are really gorgeous.

Joyride of a Lifetime

What an awesome day.  For the first time in my lifetime, I did a zipline.  The zipline went through the forests of the Fairmont Hot Springs.  The adventure included 6 ziplines.  The longest zipline was 1500 ft, while we were 200 ft above the ground.  We were zipping up to 50 mph.  The entire course took a little over 2 hours to complete. The course was exhilarating and the views were spectacular.  After the zipline, RoxAnne and I spent the afternoon in the Hot Springs till the Steeler game came on. It was really nice to have satellite TV to watch the game.

(See video at https://youtu.be/SDGXQA1KVbw)

Some people went without holding on to the rope.  I had a death grip the whole time.

Still Having Fun

Today we basically did the same as yesterday.  We spent most of the day in the hot spring.  The water gets totally drained from the pool every night and then new water gets added.  In addition, new water is being added all day.  I guess that is why the water feels so clean.  I also took a little hike on a trail this evening.   I thought that I may see a bear.  I didn't, but I did see a group of deer. I kinda got lost and ended up a lot further from the campground than I expected.  Luckily, some nice young man stopped and asked me if I needed a ride.  I enthusiastically agreed.

Interesting what is in the hot springs water.  Radium surprised me.

Nice looking deer along the trail

Another Day of Soaking

We had to move to a different site today; otherwise, we didn't do much today except for spending more time in the hot mineral springs.  We like the new site and since we will be at this site for a whole week, we set up a little more permanently, such as setting up the satellite TV.

Our camper at the new site

The walking bridge from the Hot Springs to the campground

Sunset in British Columbia, Canada

Natural Mineral Hot Springs Pool

The weather was great today.  Blue skies and a high temp of about 85 degrees, with almost no humidity.  We did 4 loads of laundry this morning, then hit the Hot Springs pool.  The pool is separated into 3 distinct areas.  The hot pool had a temp of 103, then the cooler pool had a temp of about 90.  The third pool is for the diving boards, of which there are two of them.   The high dive is about 10 ft off the water and the low dive is about 4 ft off of the water.  Watching the kids (and some adults) dive was a lot of fun.  At one point they were having "belly smacker" contests. Some of the kids were doing double somersaults off of the high dive.  We spent just about the whole day in the pool, switching from the hot pool to the cooler pool, then back again.  We went back to the camper for supper, but then went back to the pool in the evening till it closed at 10:00.  

There are over 100 forest fires presently burning in British Columbia, so wood campfires are forbidden.  However, what are allowed are propane campfires.  The store at the campground had an excellent price on these propane units.  The price was better than what Amazon was selling them for and with the US dollar being worth much more than the Canadian dollar, we decided to purchase one. So tonight we had a campfire before retiring for the night.

The hot spring with the mountains in the background.  So breathtaking. 

The new propane campfire.  Sure is easier than a wood one.

Fairmont Hot Springs

We left Canmore, Alberta, Canada this morning and after crossing the Continental Divide and driving about 3 hours, ended up in Fairmont Hot Springs, British Columbia, Canada.  The drive was great, but we encountered a good bit of smoke from the forest fires in the area.  We saw a group of firefighters along the road and even a "dump tank" (a big portable above the ground swimming pool that firefighters use to store water).  I also had a scare when we pulled over at a rest stop and when I went to get back in my truck, the doors  were locked and my keys were in the ignition.  Luckily, RoxAnne had a spare set of keys in the camper.  Something bad happened to RoxAnne today.  She had a side of a tooth crack off.  When we got to the campground, we started calling some dentists.  Luckily, we found one that had a cancellation and they were able to fit her into their schedule this afternoon.  It was about 1-1/2 hours away, but the good news is that they were able to repair the tooth (at least temporarily).  Our campground is really nice.  It is nestled in the Rocky Mountains.  It has hot springs, along with many other amenities such as golfing, zip-lines, restaurants, horseback riding, etc.

The Rocky Mountains behind our camper

Johnston Canyon

Inside Banff National Park is Johnston Creek.  As the creek approaches the Bow River it flows through a large canyon that was formed by erosion as it cut through limestone rock.  The canyon features sheer canyon walls, as well as several waterfalls.  Today I hiked up through the canyon. The Canadian park system installed catwalks along the canyon walls, so it was a pretty easy hike.  This is the last day that we will be at our present campground.  Tomorrow we cross over the Canadian Rockies and travel from the eastern side of the mountains to the western side of the mountains.

Dog Days of Summer

We had a great time today visiting some dogs; actually about 190 of them.  We went to a kennel that raises dogs for "dog sledding".  In the winter you can take a tour with your own sled and set of dogs, but in the summer they let you hang out with the dogs at their kennel.  As we entered the kennel, they had all the female dogs running loose.  As soon as you entered the dogs approached you and wanted your affection.  Most of the time it was many more than one dog that wanted your attention at the same time.  They actually had 6 different breeds of sled dogs and they all were purebred.  They had Canadian Inuit Huskies, Seppala Siberians, but my favorite was the powerful Alaskan Malamute.  We also got to see a dog that just had some puppies about two weeks ago.  So cute.