2012 Rolling Over the 100K - Part 2 of 10

2012 Rolling Over the 100K

Part 2 of 10

The Port Mann Bridge

Hope BC

Christina Lake Park

The Port Mann Bridge

Cruising east along the Trans-Canada highway out of Vancouver and into the lower mainland brings you through the growing cities of Surrey, Langley, Abbottsford and Chilliwack. For the most part its rather uneventful as would driving along any Canadian or American Interstate, except for one thing, the majestic three billion dollar Port Mann Bridge spanning the Fraser River. I have to catch my breath every time I cross that unfinished bridge due to its towering height and strikingly beautiful architecture. It is very nearly completed. Tolls will help pay the cost. The Port Mann bridge rivals the great Sunshine Causeway connecting St. Petersburg to Sarasota on Florida's west coast. It is truly magnificent.

Hope, BC

Hope BC is a hub connecting arterial highways going north, east, west and south. Its a very pretty place nestled between rivers and mountains. Its where Sylvester Stallone was filmed in the making of First Blood. From what I've read about this, he made quite an impression on the local folks and he was very friendly with them. I have often taken the wrong highway leading out of Hope ending up being in places I didn't plan to be. This time however I was prepared. I committed Highway signposts like Princeton, Osoyoos and Grand Forks to memory to make sure I didn't end up too far north in Penticton or Kilowna by mistake. Highway 3 was the key to getting East. Osoyoos always amazes me. It straddles a lake at the bottom of a valley. I stopped briefly at a Safeway supermarket for a chicken salad sandwich and a soft drink and before you know it I was all refreshed again and ready to continue. When climbing out of the town I stopped to take a photo from a posted viewpoint where I met some visitors from Northern England. Being from there myself they were amazed at how well I knew the area where they were from. We even talked a little about the escapades of the Coronation Street gang before I headed-off. When they asked where I was going, I said “Ottawa, Ontario”. One of my former countrymen said, “Blimey Lad! Your crazy! That's a hell of a long way!”. I agreed with them and snapped the throttle of my Harley to continue climbing the steep incline.

Christina Lake Park

I made good time that day and I decided to rest for the night at Christina Lake RV Park. I made it very clear to the part-time person in the office that I wanted no snacks, no camp-fire, no laundry facilities and no noise. All I wanted was a quiet out-of-the way spot where I could set up my tent and get some sleep. Nothing more! I'd worry about getting some breakfast on the road the next morning. “No Problem” she assured me and she pointed to a vacant camping spot with no-one on either side of me. Behind me was a thin wire fence with some vacant benches and what looked like a giant fire place that was not used. How nice! At midnight, however, I was awakened by soft singing. About a dozen boys and girls had lit a giant campfire and were having a sing-song not twenty feet on the other side of the thin wire fence. Some songs were religious in nature. If I hadn't have been so tired I would have probably enjoyed it but there was no way I could get back to sleep. They left about 2:00am but about four of then stayed behind talking amongst themselves until around 4:00am. I fell asleep around 5:00am. I woke up at 6:00am and promptly left the camp-ground not too quietly.