DAY 17, Tuesday, July 30th

While I was sitting in McDonald's, drinking my Senior Coffee and finishing up my last blog post, Jim was walking around visiting with anybody who would give him the time of day.  One of the workers asked him where we were from and he said Missouri.  Her eyes lit up and she said "Missouri Star Quilt!!!"  She and her friends order from there all the time.  I'll admit I love their material, but it is expensive and then pay for shipping to Canada?  Anyway, for that particilar Canadian, Missouri = Missouri Star Quilt.

Goodbye Mtn Fun RV Park - Heading to Whistler, BC, home of the 1965 Winter Olympics.  Along the way we had this cute black bear wave at us as he ran in front of the car.  Thanks to quick reflexes on Jim's part, he made it across the road safely.  As expected, Whistler was very commercialized.  The Peak 2 Peak Gondola connects Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain.  Until 2017 it was the longest free span between ropeway towers.   It was pretty amazing looking over the town of Whistler, other mountains, and the tops of impossibly tall pine trees.  Across the way was an open gondola carrying car after car of mountain bikes, followed by cars of teenagers and young adults heading for the top of the mountains so they could ride down the ski slopes.  It was heart stopping to watch.  But then, I soon discovered this was going to be an all around heart stopping day. 

Whistler from the Gondola

Whistler looked like what I would envision a Swiss Village to look like

We drove along Hwy. 99 up Mount Currie to Lillooet, through Grizzlie Bear Country and Indian Reservations.  The drive was made up of mile after mile of steep, harrowing grades with sheer drop offs.  Such beauty by so scary.  My heart alternated between  my throat and settling in my stomach.  I was white knuckling it all the way - and I wasn't even driving.  Right now Jim is my hero, since he got us safely down from that mountain!  We stayed in a deep canyon in CA Recreation area.  As one might suspect, an adult drink or two was part of the "coming down from the mountain" process once we stopped. 

Photos taken from bug spattered windshield - there were very places to pull off the road

Lesson learned:  This is from a random sign tacked to a tree along the way - "Sometimes when you follow the masses, the M is silent.

DAY 18, Wednesday, July 31st

Thankfully today was a day of pleasant, winding roads dropping down into farm country, winding beside a series of lake shorelines.  It was a car windows open, bluegrass music kind of drive.
The real icing on the cake was a scenic picnic area at Lake Tobiano.  The sign said "Live, Rest, and Play".  I need to look up Tobiano and see if that is what the word means.  Is it Indian?  So many questions.  We overnighted at Silver Sage Campground.

Lesson learned:  An easy day following a nail biting day is very much appreciated (Thanks God!)

DAY 19, Thursday, August 1st

We are now in a popular recreation site of Clearwater at the edge of Well Gray Provincial Park, home of many waterfalls.  We plan on spending a few days here.

Another take on what people think of Missouri... Jim was checking out at a store and was asked the inevitable question, "where are you from".  He answered, "Missouri, do you know where that is?"  The answer:  "Oh Sure.  And then the guy started singing, "Way down upon the Missouri River..."  Hmmm... close enough.

Lesson learned:  It would have been very helpful if we had bothered to learn the metric system before we headed out on this trip.