has moved to a foreign country
Before we headed out to the coast and took the ferry to Vancouver Island we spent a week or so in Jasper National Park. We climbed a few peaks, bathed in hot springs and had beer in downtown Jasper. Here are photos from our adventures.
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| Jasper National Park |
After hiking three quarters of an hour through forest we reached the Bear Falls. Andy had a cold and did not think it was very much fun at all. It was a sunny day but on this side of the river there was shade and quite chilly. I was afraid we had gone there for nothing, expecting a lot and having to hike back disappointed.
We sat down on the rocks, had a snack and watched the water fall. My tactic was to look at one spot and wait. If you have ever tried looking at running water for a long time you would have noticed that it screws up your vision. Everything starts moving when you look at something else afterwards. I looked for a long time and was almost ready to give up. But then there was the first one. The first salmon that tried to get up the water fall. He just suddenly jumped out of the water and up what looked impossible to climb.
Our hopes had been to catch a bear hunting for fish in the stream but the bears were nowhere to be found this day. But looking at the fish as they tried to get upstream was definitely worth the effort. There was salmon and trout as far as we know. Some were a lot larger than I had imagined. My guess is that they were around 60 cm and others maybe only 20 cm. It turned out to be very amusing to watch them fighting against the raging water. At this spot they tried to pass a step that was about 1 meter high. It did not look like any of them made it but they probably did. In some cases though it was obvious that they were washed down the falls and had to start all over again.
A number of years ago the water in the river was reduced due to upstream industry. It made this waterfall impossible to climb and the amount of fish was also reduced. Luckily they decided to do something about it and built a staircase for the fish. Now the numbers are back to where they were before.
We stayed at the falls for an hour or two, spotting one fish after the other jumping more or less successfully through the water. After a while though the cold got to us and we hiked back through the beautiful forest.
Last time any of us saw the ocean was as we were driving to San Diego in the beginning of January 2011. Now, one and a half years later, we are finally looking at the ocean again. This time it is on the Canadian west coast.
We boarded a ferry in Prince Rupert that would take us to Port Hardy in the northern part of Vancouver Island. Although the ferry goes between islands most of the way we caught a glimpse of the ocean at a couple of occasions.
The ferry ride was about 15 hours long and started 7.30 in the morning. For convenience sake we got a cabin with sea view. It had beds, a desk and the best shower we have had during the whole trip. We believe the ship is build in Germany because the shower was European style with a shower head you can actually remove.
The past few days had been rainy and cold so it was very appreciated to be able to relax in the warm cabin when we were not outside looking at the views. We are now looking forward to some warmer temperatures and will travel south until it becomes comfortable again. 🙂
The first half of the day we spent in the cabin because the weather was not very nice but it got better the further south we got. In the afternoon we passed by a couple of inhabited islands. As the sun came out it was suddenly nice to be outside and enjoy the sea air.
Small island close to Bella Bella
The town Bella Bella
No! If our camping trip was a day or two I could accept eating canned food just for the convenience. But if you are out for a longer time food is quite important. Some might think we eat canned ravioli or go to McDonald’s or some other delicious restaurant every day. I must admit that I have been to more fast food restaurants during the past 3 months than in the past few years. Maybe we have had fast food 5-10 times and usually only when we drive most part of the day and in the rare occasion when there is nothing else to be found (I promise, we stayed in a town in Montana where we really could not find any alternative). Most days though we cook and eat food that are very much like what we would eat at home. The only part missing is whatever we would cook in an oven.
We have spent quite a lot of time at campgrounds which is a great place for people watching and studying of food habits. Although people might eat differently while camping and at home, in many cases I don’t think it differs that much. There is a lot of barbecue-ing going on, obviously. This is the most common food for families on holiday that are probably not too far from home judging of the amount of gear they bring. There are chairs, day tents, tents for sleeping, tables, coolers, boxes of food or what ever they contain (4th of July weekend was particularly amusing with all the decoration). We are often surprised that they actually fit everything in the car, it is like the trunk has no bottom.
4th of July decorated camp site
Being outdoors a fire is absolutely necessary but usually a grill is brought along for the food part of the experience. The fire is more for the atmosphere and make everything stink of smoke (very few seem to know how to make a fire that does not smoke the neighbors out, if they care at all). To that the large (or the huge pack of smaller) chips bag is standard. The drink of choice is beer which often has its own cooler or small bottles of water. Why one can not buy a large container of water and fill small bottles or glasses we have not understood. The beer is usually consumed by the husband while the kids are playing and the wife is doing something that looks like preparing food or decorating/cleaning the camp site. I feel like the odd one here since I am usually the one with the beer and Andy is cooking. 🙂
The chair to the right is where I was having a beer while Andy was working
If barbecue is not on the menu the family would go visit a restaurant and the typical European tourist would eat a noodle soup. For the tourist, who has flown from somewhere and did not have the chance to pack up half the house, Â a soup or pasta out of a can would mean least trouble for the cheapest food. I bet many of them have stolen salt and pepper at McDonald’s to save the couple of dollars it would cost in the store.
As for the Asians I think they are the best off. We have seen rice cookers and absolutely delicious looking and smelling food. They usually stay true to their type of food. Which I can really understand because Asian food is so much better than North American food.
It is not like we are in the wilderness for weeks at a time. Usually we pass by a store every other day and have the possibility to get fresh groceries. The same day as we shop we normally pick up some meat or chicken that will not spoil until cooked. We have a cool box where we put ice and the things we need to keep cold. This works very well. We just have to make sure everything is well sealed since ice do melt and we end up with a lot of water in the bottom of the box.
So let me show you our mobile kitchen. The left most image is the cool box where we store the important cheese, chocolate and beer. The mid image is the seasoning box featuring soy sauce, olive oil, bouillon and other spices. To the right the utensils box with cutlery, glasses, cups and knives.
 
 
This is what it can look like while having breakfast.
Here are some examples of what we eat.
Rice noodles with beef
Asparagus and mushroom risotto with smoked ham
Chicken quesadillas
I do understand why so many visit Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. It is a very beautiful area that features the highest concentration of geysers in the world, many exciting wild animals and incredible views. Everything is also very convenient and you do not have to walk very far from your car to see it all. This makes it a handy place to visit for families and people that might not be very fit for different reasons.
Unfortunately as we were there it was over crowded, it was difficult to find parking spaces and it was hard to move around in your own pace. Since we are not very fond of mass tourism we got a bit stressed and did not stay long in the park.
We did not see any bears or wolves but we did catch a glimpse of bison, elk and deer. Some of our photos you can see below.
After a bit more than a week of hiking in the mountains we treated ourselves to a couple of nights in downtown Denver. Last year we also visited Denver but stayed a bit outside of town in a crappy motel. Then I promised myself that next time we come here we will stay in a nice hotel downtown. We both like this city very much, it has everything we were missing in Phoenix. It has a very nice city center with an abundance of restaurants, cafés and shops.
After some research I found a boutique hotel called the Magnolia just one block off the 16th Street pedestrian mall. The hotel is located in an old bank building built in 1910 and they have kept some of its old style. There is a free bus going up and down 16th Street so it is very easy to get to any restaurant or shop of your choice.
Everything we needed was included, breakfast and wifi. Parking was unfortunately additional like any other nice downtown hotel. There was a parking garage just next door which was better deal than using the hotel valet parking. A bonus though was the complimentary wine and beer in the early evening and the late evening milk and cookies (!).
The room was very spacious with a kitchen, living room and bedroom. The bedroom even had a walk-in closet. Basically it was probably bigger than my apartment in Stockholm…
We can warmly recommend this hotel which made our stay in Denver a very enjoyable one. We spent a couple of days just enjoying the hotel and the fact that we could walk to everything we needed.
