Summer Vacation 2007, pt. 6 -- last one

JASPER

Gerry came home early on our last day there. We were able to plot out a course home that would shave a whole day on our journey. Instead of going back through Banff and through Idaho, he suggested we head due west through Jasper. I'm so glad we did so. It was an amazing ride.

Jasper was such a great drive. We're definitely going to camp there next time instead of Banff. It was there that we saw moose chowing down on some vegetation not 3 yards away from our car (what is that, about 2.7 meters?) and we saw a bear come up to the guard rail, consider crossing traffic, and decide to turn back and swim a little more in the lake. I don't even have to tell you how beautiful it was. I have no good words to express how much awe we experienced going through there.

THE QUEST FOR A BED

Gerry gave us a list of hotels for us to consider on our journey. He suggested we telephone along the way so we could arrange for accommodation the one night we'd have to sleep over. We made amazing time so when we got to the town Gerry had suggested we get a hotel in, it was only 7pm. My husband decided to keep driving a little bit longer.

We realized our error at around 10 pm and the cities were scarce and the hotels few and far between. We stopped at one little lodge that said that they had a room for about $140, but they only had 1 full sized bed in it and a couch. And by the way, it is a smoking room but the upside is that there was a jacuzzi. I didn't think I wanted to sleep in a jacuzzi while breathing in stale cigarette smoke. 5 people on a full sized bed didn't seem like it would be remotely restful. Might be better to stay in the car. I just wanted to sleep.

So we were on to the next town, Avola. When we stopped in front of the hotel, we didn't think that it was open for business because of the utter lack of cars out front. But there was a cheery neon "open" sign in an upstairs window, so my husband got out to check. While he was in the office, I soaked in the ambiance. Right next door was the Rednecks Roadhouse. I didn't know that Canadians had rednecks. I thought that was a purely United States American kind of phenomenon popularized by Jeff Foxworthy. Who knew? But that establishment too had only 2 cars out front of it. I was getting a little worried, but when my husband was taking more than a few minutes in that office, I knew we would be spending the night.

He got a suite.

In the suite, there were 2 double beds and 1 queen bed. There was a kitchenette and full sized refrigerator for our use. The kitchenette was fully equipped with china, pots, pans and utensils. There was no satellite television, but we were welcome to check out DVD's at the front office for no extra charge. There was room service which was provided by the Rednecks Roadhouse. How convenient! Out back, there was a kids' wading pool and also a hot tub. How great is that!

Imagining a 4 star hotel right now? Thinking there were satin sheets and mints on the pillows?

You would be wrong.

It was kind of like the Bates Motel because they were both built in the 1960's. The stairs were very rickety and I thought that I might break though a floor board because I was carrying the 30# baby with me. My husband walked on tiptoes so the extra vibration of his footfalls wouldn't shake the foundation and cause the whole structure to implode. We did wake the kids and ate a dinner of hotdog buns and canned chili which had been heated in the kitchenette. Nice not to use a camp stove.

The beds were as promised, but they also seemed to have been the original beds and bedding purchased to furnish the hotel back in the 1960's. I was thankful that each child would have their own sleeping area. Hubby and the toddler got the big bed, I got one of the doubles which I later ended up sharing with the middle kid, and our eldest got the other double bed to himself.

BACK TO THE USA

We awoke early because hubby wanted to get back to the US as soon as possible. We had hoped to grab breakfast before we left Avola but we were out of luck. Hubby announced that after a quick look at the surrounding eateries, "Rednecks Roadhouse is closed.
Gas Food Store Gas is closed. And sadly, Restaurant is closed." We'd have to get our food elsewhere.

Now I would be remiss not to add that it was really beautiful there. There should be a better tourist economy for little Avola, because check this out.
Plus, the Avola Mountain Motel a.k.a. Bayside Pacific Inn has this great promotion. As we were the only people who stayed there that we could see, we're probably shoe ins for this prize.


3 hours on the road later, the kids completely hepped up on candy, we finally stopped and asked some guy who was trimming the hedges next to the Tim Hortons where a good place to eat was. He suggested a Waffle Haus that served these amazing Belgian Waffles. It was a nice place to eat and we were glad for it. Hubby was not handling the lack of food and caffeine very well.

We stopped in Chilliwack and bought some corn at a stand at a gas station. My sister-in-law laughed at me when I pronouced Chilliwack like this -- Chilly-whack. How else are you supposed to pronounce that? She said it should be more like -- chill-lou-whack. But if it is chill-lou-whack, I say change it to be spelled Chillouwhack, right? Anyway, Chilliwack is known for its corn. It was pretty tasty when we cooked it up at home.

We had more fun at the border crossing -- again brought to us courtesy of my husband whose brain had been completely fried after driving for 2 days straight. The border agent asked my husband where he was born.

And my husband stumbled.

He said, "Oh, I was born in... uh, where was that again? Oh, ummm..."

I gave him, "Thousand Oaks, remember?"

Then he said, "Oh, right, Ventura County. Man, I just couldn't remember that!"

I was again thinking that I would be holding my husband while he cried crouched in the corner of the shower about how the cavity search had been so rough. "Couldn't they have used lubricant?"

But the crossing agent was super cool. He laughed and said that somebody who was trying to sneak into the country would *NEVER* forget which county they had been born in. They'd have memorized that. He figured, rightly, that my husband belonged in the USA.

I was glad that I didn't raid Cindy & Gerry's freezer for some moose sausage and moose roast. I had considered it, but the crossing agent did ask if we had raw meat in the cooler and I wonder if he'd have confiscated it. That would have made me cry like a baby.

We made it to Alderwood mall in Lynnwood, WA early enough to return our broken Yakima Skybox. It was pretty nice to get that $500 back in our pockets, even though they pretty much said screw you on the sleeping bag that we lost. Supposedly they forwarded our request for payment for our lost sleeping bag to Yakima, but I doubt that we'll be getting that back.

Anyway, since we're back in the states, I figure I'll stop regaling you with stories about our Canadian/Idahoan vacation. Thanks for reading.

Peace out.