Day 32
I let the dog out in the morning in an opened area next to the hotel I let him off leash and he went wild chasing after the rabbits. It took me a long time to be able to call him back. After eating breakfast we headed back on the road. We didn’t drive fare that day. We stayed at an RV park called Kilton hill campground in Swift River run by a very nice family, they were marked as closed but do accept people travelling through. This was the first time that we were able to facetime people in the bus, it was very exciting because we could show them around the bus.
13th
Day 33
We drove into Alberta. Stopping in Medicine Hat to walk the dog in a park that was in a fairly big valley or locally called a cooly. Continuing our drive to Lethbridge where we stayed at a hotel. We did not like this city very much we found it really sketchy there were signs in our hotel room door telling us to stay in well lite locations and to not go anywhere that looked sketchy. The air also smelt like cow poo which was not very nice.
14th
Day 34
We started driving through the mountains today is was very exciting but we got close to them when it was dark so we sadly didn’t get to see them very well. We got to Fernie pretty late so we made dinner then went to bed.
15th
Day 35
Today when we woke up we saw the mountains and they were beautiful and the Fernie RV Resort where we were staying, was very well kept, the road was well plowed, the washrooms were very clean and had heated floors. So I looked on AllTrails and found that there was a trail up Fernie mountain so we walked it. It was like a 3km hike to the trailhead then we started hiking up there was so much snow in Fernie and once we got higher up in the mountains there was about another foot. The hike was switchbacks the whole way up and at some points, it was just straight up. The trail was decently packed down but very narrow if you step off the trail at all you would lose your whole lag. It took us 2 hours to hike up because of the deep snow. We didn't hike all the way to the top because the trail that was packed down ended. We hiked to a viewpoint of the south Sisters Mountains and Bat Mountian. We got back down just as it was getting dark.
16th
Day 36
We didn’t do much, half of the day it was snowing a lot. We walked to Canadian tire and the grocery store, they are very close to the Resort. Later we went cross country skiing at the golf course across the road.
17th
Day 37
We left Fernie and headed to Creston. We stayed at this RV park called Pair-a-dice, it was packed with permanent residences. The owner was friendly and they had very clean washrooms and showers.
18th
Day 38
Avery and I walked to get wood at 7elevine and we stop by a cute little cafe on the way called Retro Cafe it is run by a very nice French couple. Once we got back we decided to go get some lunch there the food was super good and had very filling portions. When we got back to the bus we got ready to go cross country skiing down the walking trail because it had been snowing all morning so there was enough snow on the ground. After dinner, we went for a walk to look at Christmas lights when we were looking at some lights a guy came out of his house and said that we should be careful because there was a cougar sighting in the area. When we were walking back we saw a pack of coyotes that were watching us from a distance.
19th
Day 39
We drove down 3A to the Ferrie. On the way, we had no service practically the who time watch was a little annoying because I couldn’t know what time we would arrive at the Ferrie. We made it just as they were about to board. It was a 40-minute ride and we got to see the sunset with a mountain view it was beautiful. We arrived in Nelson when it was dark when we were going over the Orange bridge we got to see Nelson all lit up. We stayed at Alpine Inn it was walking distance to downtown so my mom and I walked to go get dinner and the downtown was supper cut, the whole town was built on a foot of mountains. It was a downhill walk to downtown so on the way back it was uphill with groceries. I loved this town so much it is beautiful, everywhere you look there are mountains and one of BC's best ski hills White Water is right behind the town.
20th
Day 40
After eating breakfast we went for a walk up to one of the mountains the whole way there was up. The streets in Nelson are super steep you have to put the peddle to the floor to make it up.
Once we got to the trailhead we could already see downtown in the distance and there were still houses. We walked on a logging trail that was also a walking and biking trail. It did switchbacks up the whole way. We passed a couple of clearings where we could see some nice views. We were high up and it was getting very cold because the sun was on the other side of the mountain. About halfway up the trail became a narrow snowshoe trail. When we got to the top of the biggest clearing the snowshoe trail ended the view was beautiful. We headed back down because we were cold and we also didn't have snowshoes. Once back chilled for a bit before walking to the grocery store to get dinner.
21st
Day 41
We drove to Big White for Christmas. Well driving we drove through our first avalanche gates and a lot of mountains. It was some serious mountain driving, there were runaway roads for when the trucks couldn’t stop and they were all used. We arrived at Big White when it was dark, we booked to stay at Inn at Big White.
22ed
Day 42
We didn’t go skiing the first day because I still needed to buy some skis. So after I walked the dog and we ate we walk to the village which was right beside our hotel to go get me some skis. We ended up getting me all-mountain ski. We got the Atomic they were designed by the artist Bent Chetler. The design was so beautiful I had to get them. Turns out that this was the only design he did this year. We then went skating by the day parking and lounge. The bus was too tall for the underground parking we had to park the bus all the way down at the day parking lot. But there is a gondola that we could take down there. After skating we took the gondola back up had a little break then we went cross country skiing. The trails had a lot of steep hills. Avery walked because she does not like cross-county skiing. We started when it was dark, but it was very bright because of the tubbing hill lights. The gondola closed at 8 so we had to get back by then.
Avery and I went for a swim in the outdoor pool when we got back it was very relaxing.
23ed
Day 43
Avery and I went skiing my new skis were very nice, but it would take me a while to get used to them. By the end of the day we were doing some blacks, there was so much powder and Avery and I have never skied in powder before we tried the far side of the mountain where most of the blacks and double black are, but it was a little too difficult for us so we headed back to the other side. This was our only clear day out of the 3 days that we skied and we could see mountain after mountain it looked like the stretched on forever.
24th
Day 44
Christmas Eve. Avery and skied all day with a couple of breaks till it closed at 3:30. After Avery and I took the gondola down just when it was about to close to go skating. When we were on it, it stoped and we thought that they may not had seen us get on so we thought they stoped it for the night and we thought that we would be stuck there all night but acouple minuts later it started back up. All the lights were off on the rink but there were lights near the rink so it wasn’t that dark. We walked back up on a snow-covered walking trail that is also a ski hill. Once we got back we rushed down to go in the hot tub before it closed.
25th
Day 45
Christmas Day
We all went sking today, Avery and I went for a couple of runs in the morning and then we met mom at the hill later. She skied with us for a couple hours then Avery and I went for a couple more runs before the hill closed. Later Avery and I went skating but we went earlier so we didn’t have to walk up afterwards. For our Christmas dinner, we had tacos and champagne and listened to Christmas music on the tv.
26th
Day 46
Mom and I took the gondola down to the bus. We had to unbury the bus, there was like 3 feet of snow on and around it. We borrowed a shovel from the hotel because the only shovel we had was a small, plastic one. After unburieing the bus, we drove it up and packed up. Before leaveing we went to the ski store to get my ski boots checked out. I was pritty sure that they were to big for me because I was having a very hard time controling my skis. It turned out that they were 3 sizes to big for me they said I could have seriecly destroyed my ankles if I continued using them. We ended up bothgetting new boots, we got them heat fitted to our feet and I also got customized inserts. Then we continued to Kelona, we stayed at a motel with a kitchen. We made dinner when we got there then we went for a walk. Kelona was having some crazzy cold front it was very cold outside it felt like we were still in the praries.
27th
Day 47
We walked to get groceries and Avery a new coat when we got back to the motel we made dinner then went for a nother walk through the suberbs.
28th
Day 48
We packed up and started driving. We drove down 97 through Okanagan Valley, it just looked like everywhere else that we drove but it is probaly beautiful in the summer. When we got to Penticton we took a left down a side road to go to Apex. When we got there everything was booked up they even had a trailer park but it had no more sites. They said that we could have stayed there and ran our generator but mom didn’t want to do that so sadly we contiued on our way. We ended up staying outside of Keremeos at River Valley RV Park the couple that owed it where very nice. We had to have a bucket of water because our pips would freeze if we used the water line.
29th
Day 49
We left in the late morning continuing down Crowsnest highway 3. We drove to Princton we got there late. Avery and I took the animals for a walk then I walked to the groshery store with mom to get dinner. I made Lavonia for dinner because the motel we had, had a kitchen.
30th
Day 50
The next day we decided to stay another night so we could go for a walk. In the morning my mom and I went for a short walk and we saw a bobcat hiding in a tree from Polar it was so close iI have never seen one the close in the wild. Later we went for a 8km walk down a riverside gravel trail. There was alot of snow on the trail but it was fairly packed down by snowmobel.
31st
Day 51
Then the next day we went to the grocery store before heading to Manning Park. I booked us a site at the campgound 2 days before. We arrived there at like 4 so we got to see a beautiful sunset. There was a lot of snow and here it felt like we were in a winter wonderland the snowbanks were up to my head. Well, Avery and I were cutting up wood we got to see the shuttle bus that takes you up to the mountain get stuck. It was trying to turn around at a very sharp corner to let people out at a spot that they don’t usely stop at, but it got stuck in the ditch. It took them like an hour to get it out. The service was realy bad at the campground I could only get one bar at the window in the bus and like 2 to 3 outside. The showers were free but when we got there they were not working right. The water was not warm at all Avery and I tried to have one the water was too cold, but they did start getting warmer the next day. We walked down to the loudge because it was new Year's Eve to see if there were any fireworks or somthing but they already went off at 9. There was a well-lit skating rink but we didn't take our skates down with us. The walk was not long and it was beautiful we could see the stairs very brightly because there was no light polution.
1st of January
Day 52
In the morning my mom and I went for a walk. The trails were very well packeted down but if you went off the trail at all you would fall up to your waist in snow. We saw some birds that were very friendly they landed on my hand even though I didn’t have any food. The sky was clear and we could see some pointy mountains they were beautiful. After we eat Avery and I went to go get our ski bindings sized to fit our new boots. We were going to take the shuttle up to the hill but as we were walking to it, it drove by. So we decided to start walking because it would be coming back up in like 45 mins. It passed up coming back down but it didn’t stop because it could not turn around. So we continued walking and it finally came back when we were almost at the hill and we just made it before the rental shop closed. When it was dark Avery and I trudged up a hill in with our new ski boots to ski down in the powder we only did it 2 times because it was a lot of work.
2ed
Day 53
After making breakfast we walked to the rainbow bridge on the trails that is where we saw and fed the birds the day before because Avery didn’t come with us before. Mom and I did some cross country skiing later it snowed a lot so I wasn't really able to skate ski. The hydro went out at the whole resort ,but luckily after we made dinner. The generator that they had at the rv campground wasn't working so they didn't charge us for the time it was out.
3ed
Day 54
The hydro was still out. We packed everything up then went for a walk on the trails there before leaving. We headed to Hope and got stuck in stopped traffic for half an hour so I made us some s'more sandwiches. We stayed at a motel called Holiday Motel and RV Resort in a room with a kitchen. We stayed there for 1 night.
4th
Day 55
We decided to go back to Manning park to do some skiing. We stayed at the campground again. Before heading up to the campground we skated on the rink for like an hour. it was a small rink but well maintained. The hydro went out that night before we went to bed again and they still didn’t get the generator working.
5th
Day56
Avery and I woke up early to get ready to go skiing. There was still no hydro so I went out and put the generator on so we could make breakfast. We just made it to the bus on time. The hill was only opened for day skiing so we had like 3 hours to ski. Everything at the top of the hill is run by generators so they didn’t have any problems running with no hydro. It snowed all week so there was a lot of powder on the hills. It was our first time sking with our new ski boots, I was so much easier to control my skis. It was also our first time on powder, there was powder when we were at Big White but it was a very well-used hill. We got to ski in fresh powder I found it a little had to turn and got stuck a couple of times but it was so much fun. Avery had a harder time in the powder though because her ski are shorter. We took the last bus down at 5 then made dinner.
6th
Day 57
We went skiing again we left at the earlier bus so we could ski longer. It was colder today so we took lots of bracks to warm up. We were allowed to sit in the rental building. Later when we got back we ate then went to bed.
7th
Day 58
We packed up the bus and then drove to the parking lot of the trails then went for a short hike. In the morning highway, 3 was closed for avelanch so we cheaked out the closer after our walk to see if we could go yet but it was still closed and would be updated at 5 so we went down to the lodge to wait. There was alot of day skiers that were waiting too. When the update came through that it wouldn’t be opened till tomorrow. The hotel loby was packed with people tring to get a room. They wouldnt let anyone book a room till they called all the guest that were coming tonight to not come. We waited till after everyone that was sking to get a room before we did because we could go back to the campground if we needed to.
8th
The next day it still wasn’t open so we had to wait we took the dog for a walk well waiting and it finely opened at 3 so we headed to Hope. Everything in Hope was booked up so we headed to Chilliwack. We stayed at the Quality Inn across from the malls.
9th
Day 59
The next day we did laundry and Avery and I walked to Value Village.
10th
Day 61
We had to walk to the bank it was downtown it took us half an hour one way after the bank we went to a cafe for a drink and a little treat. On the way back we stopped by winners. Then we stopped by the grocery store to get dinner.
11th
Day 62
We drove to Vancouver to Capilano River RV Park. We walked to the beach after eating as we were walking there we could start smelling salt and we were all so excited. At the beach, we had a beautiful view of the Lion Gate Bridge and downtown Vancouver.
12th
Day 63
We had a chill day the west Vancouver mall was right beside us so we did some window shopping. There was an indoor hot tube at the RV park so we went in it before dinner.
13th
Day 64
Avery and I went skiing at Cypress Moutain we took a shuttle up to the hill at 10:30 that was the only time the shuttle near us went by. It is mainly for the workers but you could still get on there just only at 10:30. It was so close to the campground very convenient. We brought lunch because we were going to be skiing for a long time. The conditions were very wet and the snow was sticky. For the first half the hill of our time the hill was in a cloud till the temperature started to drop then they were less thick. We missed the first shuttle down at 7:30 so we had to wait till 10:30 for the last one down. We got back at 11 then ate and went to bed.
14th
Day 65
We went skiing again. We did the park more this time and I was able to land my first 360° on my short skis. I didn’t get a video of it sadly.
Go to my YouTube channel to watch more video of our adventures. Click the Orange righting to go to my YouTube channel.
See you in the next post.
-Skylar
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