Not nearly as far North as our trip in 2003, we went on a trip north starting the August long weekend. Early in the year we had discussions with Richard and Grace as to what we could do after Grace's annual pharmacist get together was over. This year it was planned for a trip to Vernon. Richard was asking if we wanted to go and continue the road trip after the Vernon part was over. We looked at a map, and it came to mind that maybe we should go north. Actually the route first thrown out as part of the brainstorming was to travel from Vernon, over to Banff, up the Rockies' highway to Jasper, then east to Prince George. Then I through out the idea of continuing east from Prince George out to the coast, then down the ferry, ultimately back to Vancouver (a large part by Ferry). I had been thinking the last few years it would be nice to see the area around Smithers where my dad had been born and grown up. Maybe they would be willing to travel up and show us around that area while we passed through?

I passed the idea by my parents, who seemed to like the idea. I checked in to the ferry, and was taken back by how expensive it was. Over the following months my parents really took to the idea of going north. They also found out there was a Telkwa reunion where my dad had gone to school on the August long weekend. The idea in their minds changed shape over time. Initially it was to go up and show us around in late August. Then it shaped to be they would go up for the reunion at the start of August, then go up again (twice) to show us around in late August, then it changed shape that they would go up for the reunion and wouldn't go up when we were thinking of passing through in late August. Due to that change, our plans changed in reaction and decided we would go up as an extension to Grace's annual reunion, happening in Vernon in late August, but we would instead go up when my parents had decided to go meaning we would go up by ourselves in early August. Then since the Beaver Lodge family reunion wasn't happening in 2010, my brother decided they too would go up for their summer vacation.

We headed off Saturday morning of the August long weekend heading North along highway 99. It is only a few kilometres longer to go through Whistler and Pemberton than going the absolute shortest way through Cache Creek. We enjoyed our drive North, through Squamish, then through Whistler, then at a nice park in Pemberton for lunch. Our SUV was totally overloaded, both the cargo box and the back fully filled. We had our tent so that we could (for the most part) stay in campgrounds. As we left Pemberton I started to worry about the pace we were making, as I had originally planned we would be to Green Lake (or somewhere thereabouts) for the first night. Instead, we stayed in a BC Hydro campground called Seton Dam Campground, just before highway 12 comes up to join highway 99, which is about 70 kilomtres before highway 99 joins with highway 97 (just a few kilometres north of Cache Creek). If you've never stayed in a BC Hydro campspot, we highly recommend it as we learned they are always free. In the morning before hitting the road we walked over to Seton Lake which the dam is attached to.

Not far down the road, we stopped in Lillooet and walked across what is called The Old Bridge, a bridge built in 1913 and in use until 1981. For lunch, we stopped at Marble Canyon Provincial Park, one of the original campspots I had thought we might stay on the night of day 1. Since I was getting very apprehensive about our pace after lunch, we pushed quite hard. As we drove through 100 mile house, smoke from forest fires was very bad. For most of our trip we were chased by smoke from fires. In the coming week we would often arive in an area in good clear skies, then over the following days it would turn cloudy due to smoke. On this day specifically for dinner we kept driving after getting some A&W burgers in Quesnel. We were planning to camp in Ten Mile Lake Provincial Campground just North of Quesnel. As we pulled into the campground and got one of the last campspots a big storm came up and it started to rain. We jumped out and started to get the tent material out, and it was blowing harder and harder and raining cats and dogs. Maybe 2 minutes in we decided this was crazy being one of the rainiest storms we've ever been in. We shoved the stuff back into the truck, and drove out of the campground and headed south again to Quesnel. As we reached Quesnel the rain started to slow down. We checked in at the Quesnel Airport Inn and RV Park, a motel on the North side of Quesnel, just as the storm ended and it again turned nice. The proprietor joked that locals knew it would be nice again within an hour. We had a pleasant stay, and had fun in the big play area out back in the RV park.

Day 3 we got serious about driving. We headed North, and turned left on highway 16 at Prince George. We planned to stop in at Dahl Lake for lunch, but never saw any signs for it so instead just stopped at a rest stop on the side of the road. We reached Tyhee Lake campground just out of Telkwa late in the afternoon. We set up our tent in the same campground as my parents, as they had already been there for a few days for their reunion. The next day we all got in our SUV and were shown around by Glen's dad a few places he had grown up. We drove a backroad to Granisle on Babine Lake. On the drive there we actually somewhat regretted taking the backroad as it was a logging road and we got a few chips in the windshield due to logging trucks going fast (although thankfully once back Broco autoglass had a deal on where chip repairs were done for free). We got a few pins and other paraphernalia from the visitor centre in Granisle. We learned from the girl working there that the population is about 300. The school she goes to goes from K - 12, and has at the start of the year about 20 students in total. We then stopped for lunch at the beautiful Red Bluff Provincial Park, and then Kayla and I went for a swim. That afternoon even before we got back to our campspot Glen's brother's Jim's family showed up and checked into the campspot just next door. We spent time together over the next day. The next day we looked around more. We saw a bear while having lunch at Round Lake, a lake where my Dad spent a few years living, and then also out to Quick, including the Quick Bridge, the city that my Dad lived at for most of his growing up, and the bridge featuring in many of his anecdotes. That afternoon we went out to Moricetown and watched some pretty wild and dangerous native fishing.

The next day we all went our separate speeds and destinations leaving Telkwa. We decided on a whim that we would head north to see Fort St. James as we headed back to Prince George. We set up our tent in Paarens Provincial Park on Stuart Lake, just outside of Fort St. James. The next day, Friday, we went to a National Historic Site, Fort St. James, a historical recreation of the original fur trading post. We had fun trading furs for candies, walking on stilts, and eating some yummy fresh baked goods out of an original wood burning oven. We spent a bit of time at the beach at our campground. We spent a second night, based on the idea that it is not an area we can easily get to, so we might as well take advantage of the fact we were so far north.

Saturday morning we got up and got on the road and drove and drove. We had lunch at the mall in Prince George, dinner in Williams Lake at a Denny's, and kept driving that evening until we arrived late Saturday night in Cache Creek and stayed in the Bonaparte motel.

On Sunday, we had an enjoyable breakfast then got on the road and stopped in at the Othello tunnels just outside hope and hiked through the tunnels, and had our lunch while hiking. We by chance saw some friends there who we hadn't seen for a year since they had had their own little boy so we visited with them for a while. We got home late afternoon.



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