Day 22 - (08/09) Lynden, WA ... Day 1

The light rain we had most of the night had stopped by the time we got up at 6:30am. The plan was to start early and stop when we got to Kamloops, BC. It's a fairly long drive through unknown territory and we could easily get back to the US by Tuesday. So much for plans ... it didn't turn out that way.

We were hitched and moving by 7:30am. We saw these mule deer on the way out of the campground.


We stopped at The Bear Paw Bakery in Jasper for sustinence. It came in the form of coffee and HUGE, just-out-of-the oven cinnamon rolls. We considered crawling back under the covers, but decided to hit the road instead.

The route took us through magnificent mountains, over passes and into deep valleys. Unfortunately it rained and we were in clouds most of the time. There were no scenic stops and we gained an hour (now in Pacific Time) when we entered British Columbia. We got to Kamloops much sooner than expected and decided to press on.

Though it took about 45 minutes to get through Customs, we were able to settle in at the Lynden, WA KOA Campground by 6:30pm. Lynden is on the outskirts of Bellingham, WA.

We had a nice dinner at the Fairway Cafe and went to bed. It was a long, tiring day.

FYI

Travel in Canada is expensive. Here are a few examples:

• We paid between $3.63 and $4.31 per gallon for gas.
• $11.99 for a 1lb canister of propane campstove fuel.
• $2.75 for a Coke
• $3.00 for a coffee (not Starbucks ... just a coffee)
• 1 day's wireless surcharge equalled Verizon's wireless fee for a month.
  

Map Tracks
Start: Jasper, Alberta

North from Wapiti Campground on Alberta 93 to Jasper, Alberta

Northwest on Trans-Canada Highway 16 to Tete Jaune Cache, British Columbia

Southwest on British Columbia 5 to Hope, British Columbia

West on Trans-Canada 1 to Abbotsford, British Columbia

Entered the US at Abbotsford border crossing

South on Washington 9 to Washington 542

West on Washington 542 to the Lynden KOA Campground

End: 471 miles @ Lynden, Washington