Aug 13, 2011 - The Road Trip - in search of Oso Negro

We decided it was time for a change of scenery and hey, we're retired, we can pack up and go where we want to, when we want to. So we did. And no, despite the title, we weren't looking for black bears. The first place we always think of going on a BC road trip is Nelson, a hip little mountain town on Kootenay Lake. There are 3 reasons we like Nelson: great cycling, dinner at the All Seasons Cafe (great food on a great patio) and Oso Negro coffee (the best coffee and a wonderfully landscaped garden to drink it in). We stayed 2 nights, this...

Jun 19, 2011 - Nelson/Castlegar

@@@@@@@ Adia had worked hard to locate a suitable place for us all to stay in the Castlegar/Nelson area. She wanted us all to be together if possible, and it had to be a place that would accept pets. She is very attached to George and really wanted to have him at her wedding. She found a lovely heritage home with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, a large kitchen and outdoor patio. The best thing was that we only had to pay for the number of rooms that were occupied for each of the four nights that the house was reserved. We decided to leave...

Jun 30, 2010 - Nelson

Today we headed into the town of Nelson. Our first stop was Safeway’s to pick up some of those fruit and veggies we were not allowed to bring in. We thought we would get cash back but the checker said our card said we were from the states and could not get cash back PANIC! All we wanted was to get some Canadian money so we went to the truck where Darwin called our bank and figured it all out. All is well we just visited the ATM machine and volia we have some of the Queens money. We then ventured to the the visitor’s center where they told...

Jun 29, 2010 - Kootney Bay

We left Farragut Park at 7:00 am and headed for Canada. It took us about one hour and forty-five minutes. As we got closer Linda was snapping pictures of all the signs saying Canada . The scenery on the way was beautiful, lush green forestry. As we arrived at the small border crossing we were amazed at what we did not have to do. From reading on RV net we expected the Border patrol to go in and look through our trailer for things we were not to bring especially food. WOW! Were we surprised. All we did was pull up to the little guard window...

May 29, 2009 - Canada!

Friday, May 29th (day 19): Selkrik Loop into Canada! It was GREAT day, but EXHAUSTING! We left Bonners Ferry about 8:30 (our time, early for us) and drove north to the border (about 25 miles), passing through beautiful fields in a valley bordered by pine-covered forests and, yes, snow on the peaks. Apparently, they had a late, wet spring, and now it’s 80 degrees and everything’s melting like crazy. All the creeks and rivers we saw were swollen and muddy. In addition, the Kootenay river is controlled by a dam upstream and the water is set...

Sep 18, 2007 - Nelson BC

We are in Nelson BC. It's been a wonderful couple of days. We are enjoying spending time with Allan, Alex and their kids. Nicole and Maeya have become fast friends. They are the exact same age, size and get along great. We spent a day on a beautiful sandy beach on the Kootney Lake. We also say a Salmon spawning, which was really neat. It's really a cool town. We are heading west today...back to Vancouver area.

Jul 2, 2007 - Winthrop Washington to Nelson BC

I started this morning with a ride up a local dirt backroad to the top of the hills overlooking the valley that Winthrop is nestled in. It was a pleasant way to start the day and the veiw was very nice. I then headed into Winthrop, had a quick breakfast, took a walk down mainstreet then headed east on highway 20 to Omak on highway 97. This road was once again a very good motorcycling road and a pleasure to ride. I headed north on 97 to Tonaskey then north east on the backroad to Havillah. This is a narrow, winding but paved road with zero...

Aug 26, 2006 - Travelers Meeting

There were great presentations throughout Friday night, all day Saturday and into Saturday evening. We met a lot of great people, made some new friends and gained a wealth of new knowledge. These meetings are very laid back and the campground was very nice. Sunday morning we had breakfast with the group, packed up and headed to the City of Nelson for a look around before catching the ferry back to Kootenay Bay.

Jul 29, 2006 - Hippy Happy Nelson

Nelson itself is cited as one of the 'highlights of British Columbia'. In it's own way it's a fairly nice place, fully of 'historic' buildings from over a hundred years ago (so old ; ) ) but really it seems to be somewhere where those folks who couldn't quite bear to leave the 60s behind have all ended up. Every other shop is selling books advising on how you can 'heal your soul' or sell you some sort of ancient charms with mystical powers to cure every ailment known to man. And you shouldn't even THINK of eating anywhere here unless you...

Mar 5, 2006 - Beautiful British Columbia

After leaving Vancouver we did a 2 week tour of B.C.'s Interior. Between the Monashee and Selkirk range is Rossland, an awesome playground for outdoor enthusiasts. We skiied at Red Mountain and spent some time exploring the backcountry out of Rossland. From there we followed the storm cycle (snow) that was moving east and headed to Nelson, another great mountain town. We enjoyed the views of the Kootenay Lake, skiied at Whitewater resort and more Alpine touring at Kootenay Pass. Winding roads and a ferry crossing took us to Balfour, Kaslo,...

Oct 19, 2004 - To Nelson.

After a free pancake breakfast we got on the road to Nelson. The drive was OK (we are getting used to mountains and taking them for granted now). The only mishap was missing a turning and not realising until we arrived at the US border (not as bad as it sounds, it was only 10km out of our way). Nelson is the nicest town we have been to in Canada so far (along with Whistler). It is where the film Roxanne was set. We had lunch in the town before going for a walk up one of the surrounding mountains which gave great views over Nelson. In the...