Day 7 – 8/8 Hope, BC to Vancouver, BC
The rest area west of Hope seems to be a bit of an informal campground. When I woke up, there were RVs, adventure vans, and campers scattered around. After getting up, Jack and I headed back through Hope to go to the Flying J for a shower, then continued west toward Vancouver.
Our first real stop was Chilliwack, BC, which has an almost storybook-looking downtown. The buildings and shops are arranged around a beautiful little center area, with murals, artwork, and monuments scattered throughout. It was definitely worth stopping and walking around for a while.
From there we went to Derby Reach Regional Park, where I found exactly what I was looking for—a picnic table beside the river where I could sit, write, and work with some of my photographs. The temperature was a perfect 22°C, and Jack was perfectly content hanging out with me. After spending so much time driving over the past several days, it was nice just to sit there for a while and not be going anywhere.
Then it was time for Vancouver.
Vancouver has certainly not failed to remind me of home when it comes to traffic. Ah, sitting on the highway on a Saturday, apparently for no reason other than somebody decided it was a great day for roadwork and lane closures. I know this experience well.
The city itself was much bigger than I expected. It’s actually very Miamiesque, with pockets of large buildings separated by water over a huge area and, yes… lotsa bridges.
I drove out to Horseshoe Bay, which was definitely touristy but also beautiful. The mountains seem to disappear right into the bay, while ferries nearly the size of cruise ships come and go from the terminal. Jack and I hung out there for a while, got something to eat, and watched everything going on around the harbor.
From Horseshoe Bay we continued north on the winding coastal Route 99 toward Squamish. The road hugs the coastline with mountains rising around it, making the drive itself part of the destination.
That evening we headed back into Vancouver and explored Yaletown. Lots of shops, restaurants, and bars and, after the relative solitude of much of this trip, lots of people. Jack and I walked around for a while and took in the city before finally getting back into the Tahoe.
And, naturally, we drove again.
I eventually found a Flying J where we could spend the night. This one was somewhat secluded in an industrial area—not exactly the most scenic ending to the day, but after walking around Chilliwack, hanging out along the river, exploring Horseshoe Bay, driving the coast to Squamish, and walking through Vancouver, I was ready to call it a night.
🐶 Jack’s Notes
He left me alone in the car forever and ever to the end of time while he “took a shower” Then he came back and surprise – we drove again for ever and ever. Then we walked for a few seconds stopping every now and then while he pointed his camera at stuff. This town smelled wonderful – just wonderful. And the people; so friendly, they kept opening doors for me to enter delicious smelling places but dad wouldn’t let me go in there and eat everything I could smell. Then we drove again for ever and ever.
We stopped again, Horseshoe Bay he said, and at the restaurant they made me sit on the other side of the railing from him and I realized they hate dogs – even though they were tricking me into believing they liked dogs by leaving a bowl of water. So… I barked, and barked, and barked and I know he knew what I wanted so to placate me he fed me the tiniest most microscopic bits of scraps of french fries.
After we drove and went to a really big city with a lot of smells and we walked for hours. It was glorious. This city he called Vancouver smelled wonderful. After – guess what we did? If you said driving, ding, ding. We drove to a place where we spent the night and it was oh so comfortable and cozy.
— Jack 🐾
