An Eventful Road Trip through the Canadian Rockies

Gomez Ekim 17, 2022

From Park City, Utah, we proceeded north to visit friends and my daughter and family at their home in Calgary, Alberta. From there we turned west toward on the road to Vancouver, British Columbia stopping in Kelowna to visit more friends from the Viewpoint snowbird community.

the Bullwhacking Statue in Helena

Park City, Utah to Helena, Montana

Driving to Helena, Montana took seven hours but it was all through freeways so the trip was largely uneventful. But the capital of Montana, 31,000 in population, proved to be quite a lovely stop. In search of a nice place to dine, we were led to the Last Chance Gulch Walking Mall, right in the heart of downtown Helena. Lucca’s, the best Italian restaurant, was fully booked so we opted for Bella Roma.

After dinner, we walked the Mall that was lighted by large yellow bulbs just like San Diego's gas district. Victorian buildings that have been converted into shops and hotels lined the entire strip. The highlight at the back near the restaurant was the Gazebo. At the middle stands the interesting Bullwhacker Statue. At the entrance, we shied away from the Homemade Ice Cream Shop because we were full...and there was a long line.

with the grandbabies in Calgary, Alberta

Calgary, Alberta

From Helena, it took us seven hours to reach Calgary, with a 30-minute duty-free and border time included. We go to Calgary every year to visit with the family. This time, we also got to visit with two friends, one from my BIR days in the Philippines who was also babysitting a grandson (Filipinos make up the fourth-largest minority in Canada, after the Chinese, the First Nations, and the South Asians).

The other is a couple from the Viewpoint snowbird community. Their unit was right in front of ours. Their Calgary home is a 3BR penthouse at a condominium building in the upscale Valley Ridge Golf and Country Club area in the outskirts of Calgary. It is at the last exit of the Trans-Canada Highway right before reaching Banff and all the beautiful national parks of the Canadian Rockies.

Calgary, Alberta to Kelowna, BC

the scene of the second accident

Up to this time, we have had such good luck. But it changed on the road trip to Kelowna. On July 17, we headed out west, bright and early at 8 am, on the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian Rockies. The trip was supposed to have been for eight hours. When we had just three hours left, deep into the Rockies, we came upon a non-moving line of vehicles on our side of the two-lane mountain highway.

Mountain View Cabins

Thirty minutes later, a highway patrol vehicle was going around telling every vehicle that it would take at least 4 hours to open the road where there was a fatal collision (I found out later that the fatality and three others injured were Filipinos). It was already 2 pm. It meant arriving at Kelowna well way into the night. We turned back and found the Mountain View Cabins about thirty minutes before Golden, BC.

the Canadian tin man

There were about twelve rustic cabins a mile up from the highway through the dirt road called Forde Station Road. Since there were no dining facilities, just simple cabins each with two wooden double beds and a bathroom, we drove to the town of Golden. Upon the suggestion of the owner, we took the back roads, 100 meters from the Cabins, opposite the direction of the highway which might be busy from vehicles turning back. That proved to be a great suggestion. Although a bit bumpy, the drive gave us interesting finds, including the more than life-size tin man hoisting a Canadian flag and a cool house almost completely covered by mounds of grass to keep it cool.

At Golden, we came upon a Wednesday Farmer’s Market and bought special mountain truffles to take to our Kelowna friends. Then our day ended with a dinner of mountain bison burger for Bill and ginger chicken spring rolls for me at the Island Restaurant, a mountain cabin bar/grill beside the Kicking River Horse River, emerald-hued from large amounts of mountain snow melts.

the cool mound house

Back at the cabin, there was no cable TV, no wifi, and no phone so I fell asleep early. We woke up at 4:30 am. It felt good to be able to hit the road an hour earlier than we had planned. Now, what are the odds that there would be another line of vehicles at exactly the same place we were stopped the day before? We thought that the highway people had not managed to reopen the highway. It turned out that another, but non-fatal, accident occurred at 6:43 am two miles ahead.

the Three Valley Gap Chateau

About an hour later, the road was cleared and alternating lanes were allowed to go. Past the site of the second day’s accident, it was smooth going again. Just west of Eagle Summit Pass, about twenty-seven kilometers from Revelstoke, the site of the first day’s accident, stands a striking complex tucked into the Monashee Mountains and the Three Valley Lake. The red Three-Valley Lake Chateau has 200 rooms and the Three Valley Gap Ghost Town includes First Nations’ heritage buildings, an antique car museum, and an antique rail car exhibit. We wished we had time to stop.

Kelowna, BC

Okanagan Lake from their cabin

At about lunchtime, we reached the Sampahluchee Golf and Country Club, an hour before Kelowna, where Bill and the two husbands/friends had lunch and played golf. The wives lunched and rested at their cabin on the Okanagan Lake, deep and 90 miles long. It waters the whole valley that produces the best fruits and vegetables for western Canada. We sat around the end of their long dock where our friends had built a cute 8-ft. lighthouse. When the men returned, we drove in a caravan on the northern part of the road around the lake. It was a scenic ride into Kelowna.

I wondered about the cluster of high-rise buildings that were huddled in the middle of the lake connected by a lovely floating bridge to the road that we were traversing. It turned out to be the city itself. We stayed at one of the couples’ houses. Delightfully designed, it is highlighted by a very private backyard of the pool, hot tub, and patio, separated from everything else by a cool running stream and a woodsy little hill. The other couple’s home, up in the hills overlooking the lake, should be another stunner.

The Okanagan Valley has truly become a retirement haven, especially with its great micro-climate. A visit there is worth the eventful road trip. I even found my special writing place there...where I can churn out all this chatter.

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