Friday, July 21 to Saturday, July 22, 2023 (Coquitlam and then home to Puntledge RV Park, Courtenay, BC)

Friday (July 21) morning Suzanne fed us her delicious muffins for breakfast, we showered, got packed up and were on the road heading south just after 9:00 a.m. Instead of taking the "connector" over to the Coquihalla highway and south from there, we decided to take the southern route. We made our way down highway 97...got caught up for a bit at the landslide construction near Summerland....

There had been WWII bombers (a Boeing B-17 and a North American B-25 Mitchell) from the Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum on tour flying around for a few days giving rides from Penticton. You can ride as a waist gunner for $475, or in the bombardier/navigator glass nose position for $850 in this B-17!

We went through Penticton...this is where the tubers get out after floating down the canal that runs from Okanagan Lake to Skaha Lake...

Just past Kaleden, we turned onto highway 3A  towards Keremeos and the Crowsnest Highway (highway 3). Looks like a previous wildfire has gone thru the area...

We stopped at a fruit stand in Keremeos, picked up some fresh BC cherries and peaches (yum!) and continued west on highway 3...

Similkameen River...

After driving through Princeton, we come to a portion of the highway 3 known as the 'Hope-Princeton Highway'...where there are several significant ascents through the Cascade Mountains. In other words, lots of climbs and descents as the highway winds its way through the mountains.

Steve looked in the rear-view mirror and said we have a motorcycle gang coming up behind us...little did he know at the time that he was right! The roar of 8 motorcycles zoomed past us...the Hells Angels from Quebec! We later found out that there was a big 40th anniversary of the Hells Angels being held in Langley, BC. Apparently BC has the largest number of Hells Angels in Canada...lucky us!

We ended up between two of their support vehicles for awhile...

We're through Hope now and approaching Chilliwack where we will be stopping to visit my oldest brother and his wife...

We arrived at Doug and Jean's place at 2:00 and enjoyed a fabulous visit with them. Jean had also made us lunch but unfortunately we had just eaten a late lunch in Hope. Sorry, Jean! It has been a long time since we last saw each other! We must get together more often!

It was going onto 4:00 by the time we left Doug and Jean's...and then had the "horrible" part of the highway from Chilliwack into Coquitlam. I say horrible because there is just so much traffic and there are usually slow-downs, whether it be from accidents or just pure volume! 

We arrived at Chris and Angela's just after 5:00. Chris was working from home today, so he was home and shortly after we arrived, Angela and Isaac got home. Isaac was so happy to see us...nothing like big hugs from our little guy!

Our ferry back to Vancouver Island wasn't until 5:45 p.m on Saturday  (July 22), so we enjoyed a relaxing day with them. This is our little Super Mario!...

Chris, Angela and Isaac are coming to Courtenay for a visit in August and pitching a tent on the grass behind us. It has been a long time since Chris had put his tent up, so with us there to help, we (well, Chris and Steve for the most part) put it up...yup, all the parts are still there! Then we took it down...it's ready for their trip!

We said goodbye to them at about 4:00...giving us plenty of time to get out the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. Thanks for letting us sleep in your bed again Isaac! Looking forward to seeing you all next month!

Leaving the ferry terminal...

We had an uneventful 2 hour ferry ride to Duke Point, just south of Nanaimo, and then drive home. It was about 9:30 when we pulled into Puntledge RV Park...home, sweet, home! 

Here is the route we took over our 3 week road trip...

We loved our 3 weeks away visiting family and friends, but are so happy to be home and sleeping in our own bed!