Exotic.
Not a word that was high on the list of adjectives of places that I wanted to visit this summer vacation. Over the past 12 months I’ve traveled to many exotic places, eaten exotic food, spoken with exotic people and worn exotic clothes. Nope, this vacation was going to be different. This year I decided to discover the Great North: Canadian’s west coast (British Columbia) and Alaska. So, the day after classes ended in late July, I woke up at 4am, few hours before my flight was scheduled to leave, hurriedly packed my bags and settled nicely into my window seat on the ChinaEastern (entertainmentless) flight to Vancouver (Canada) via Shanghai (China).
Not a word that was high on the list of adjectives of places that I wanted to visit this summer vacation. Over the past 12 months I’ve traveled to many exotic places, eaten exotic food, spoken with exotic people and worn exotic clothes. Nope, this vacation was going to be different. This year I decided to discover the Great North: Canadian’s west coast (British Columbia) and Alaska. So, the day after classes ended in late July, I woke up at 4am, few hours before my flight was scheduled to leave, hurriedly packed my bags and settled nicely into my window seat on the ChinaEastern (entertainmentless) flight to Vancouver (Canada) via Shanghai (China).
Weeks before the 2008 Olympics, the Chinese in Shanghai didn’t seem to very excited about becoming part of the world stage. At least, that is how it appeared in the Shanghai airport. In my 3-hour stopover I was intrigued with the Olympic characters painted around the airport. Something just didn’t seem right; something was missing. Chinese souvenirs were abundant but Olympic gearwas hard to find. 
The shop staff were decked out in their traditional Chinese wear, but did not don any Olympic clothing or pins. They were quiet, and actually, the whole airport seemed to be asleep, hardly the way China has ever been described, especially at one o’clock in the afternoon shortly before the arrival of thousands of international athletes.
Well, a long 11-hour flight later, from one Olympic city to another I was still surrounded by the Olympic theme and eager to get out into the wilderness. Within a few hours, my German friend Markus and I met up at our rental car office and headed out along the Sea to Sky highway in a shiny black Ford Focus, ready to begin our Rocky Mountain road trip. Squamish seemed like a good place to begin and we finally arrived in the dark after 24 hours of sleepless travel,exhausted and every so ready to close our eyes. However, without a reservation, finding vacancy seemed to be a little more difficult than we anticipated. After contemplating sleeping in a parking lot, a local told us about a small campsite nearby. We found it, literally threw down our tent, and closed our eyes for a good long sleep…
The hot summer sun finally dragged me out of my cocoon and after a few hours of driving up highway 99, past Whistler and Pemberton, listening to the beats of Sirius satellite, we stopped atJoffre Lakes. Packs on backs, we left our car for the night and hiked past the Lower and Middle Lakes, 6km up to the pristine Upper Lake. Our eyes googled at the surrounding beauty of the glacier lake that would host us for the night. The large ice glacier hung above us like a cloud in the sky; it’s melting ice trickling into the turquoise water that shimmered in the sun. Yup, this would definitely do for the night.
Over the next few days, we drove past Kamloops, campedamongst the elite in Chase, crossed the Rogers Pass, drove through Banff National Park, and finally arrived in Calgary to reunite with high school and Japan friends. Calgary was booming and I was shocked to see how trendy these “cowboys” were. Where did all the cowboy hats and boots go?
Back on the road to Banff National Park and up along the infamous Icefields Parkway we went. Our first overnight stop was in Lake Louise. Hiking along the shoreline of the renowned Lake Louise,we followed the trail up to Lake Agnes, then up and around the Beehive. The view from the top of the Beehive was infinite and the Chateau looked like a Barbie Playhouse from high above. Around the back of the mountain, we hiked to the Six Glaciers then finally, as the sun set and our fingers and toes began to freeze, we warmed up in the Chateau with hot apple cider.The drive along the Icefields Parkway, a UNESCO World Heritage designated site, was magnificent. Clean, clear roads, surrounded by
mountains, rivers and turquoise blue lakes. Our final destination, Jasper, was where I dropped Markus off for his Trans-Canada train ride to Toronto and where I realized that I was on my own for a few days with 1000 kms ahead of me to make it back to Vancouver. So, back in the Ford Focus I jumped, pumped up the radio, and sang my way back to Kamloops, where I camped all alone for the night.The rain stayed away as I hiked through Manning Park (all the 
while wondering when I was going to meet up with a bear as Bryce had on one of his solitary hikes) and discovered the site of Rambo’s First Blood movie in Hope, BC. As I arrived in Chilliwack, the rain started to come down hard and I just couldn’t stomach another wet night in a tent. So off to a historic B&B I went to camp in style.
while wondering when I was going to meet up with a bear as Bryce had on one of his solitary hikes) and discovered the site of Rambo’s First Blood movie in Hope, BC. As I arrived in Chilliwack, the rain started to come down hard and I just couldn’t stomach another wet night in a tent. So off to a historic B&B I went to camp in style.
3000 kilometres and many hikes later I finished my road trip back in Vancouver. Overwhelmed by the striking scenery, the cleanliness of all the national parks and the kindness of the people,I must say that British Colombia and the Icefields Parkway in Alberta together form the most refreshingly beautiful place I have ever visited.Back in Vancouver the pride parade was the focus of the weekend and when my mom joined me the next day we enjoyed watching the underwear dancers and the bright colours proudly displayed.
On a bright and sunny August 3rd, our cruise ship set out for a week tour of the Inside Passage of Alaska. I could feel the swish ofeach wave in our stateroom and tried to spend as much time outside on deck as possible. No problem on a cruise, right? Wrong! On a cruise to Alaska, even in summer, it’s cold. Beautiful, but cold! Wrapped in fleece, winter jackets and blankets we managed to spend some lovely afternoons reading, and inevitably eating from the incredible 24 hour buffet, on the outdoor decks watching the seals, sealions, otters, and dall porpoises swim by. Our ports of call each offered something truly Alaskan: Ketchikan is the salmon capitol of the world and home of Dolly’s, a local brothel shut down a mere 20 years ago: The Hubbard Glacier is the biggest glacier in
Alaska: Juneau’s humpback whale watching was outstanding: Sitka’s salmon run mesmerized us for hours.
However, it was in Juneau that we had the experience of a lifetime. Hiking along the Mendenhall Glacier Trail, a side trip that we decided to do to get away from all the people, we hiked an easy 5 km around the glacier. With time on our side, we decided to follow the Trail of Time, which crossed a creek and headed back to the main road. We could see the salmon jumping as they dashed up thecreek in the race to make it to the top, lay and milk their eggs, before turning bright red and heading to salmon heaven (ie, kicking the bucket). “Mom, stand there by the creek so I can get a good picture of you with the salmon,” I said to my mom. As my mom turned the corner I heard in a desperate cry, “Laura… there’s… a bear.” Just then, a big brown bear, with a wiggling pink salmon in his mouth, turned around and looked right at the two blonds 20 metres in front of him. He dropped the salmon and charged towards us, splashing through the water.
“Mom, get behind me,” I said. We backed away slowly, back behind the rock and out of sight. I could hear the bear
However, it was in Juneau that we had the experience of a lifetime. Hiking along the Mendenhall Glacier Trail, a side trip that we decided to do to get away from all the people, we hiked an easy 5 km around the glacier. With time on our side, we decided to follow the Trail of Time, which crossed a creek and headed back to the main road. We could see the salmon jumping as they dashed up thecreek in the race to make it to the top, lay and milk their eggs, before turning bright red and heading to salmon heaven (ie, kicking the bucket). “Mom, stand there by the creek so I can get a good picture of you with the salmon,” I said to my mom. As my mom turned the corner I heard in a desperate cry, “Laura… there’s… a bear.” Just then, a big brown bear, with a wiggling pink salmon in his mouth, turned around and looked right at the two blonds 20 metres in front of him. He dropped the salmon and charged towards us, splashing through the water.“Mom, get behind me,” I said. We backed away slowly, back behind the rock and out of sight. I could hear the bear splashing his way towards us. As I turned around to look for my mom I saw her bolting up the trail faster than Usain. I realized that I was alone and quickly caught up to my mom. In her salmon pink jacket, with her hoody up and her blue eyes bulging, that bear must have thought he had died and gone to bear heaven upon seeing my mom, aka the largest, juiciest salmon in Juneau. Well, we escaped unharmed and, unfortunately, unphotographed. Every Alaskanhas a bear story and now so do we. Even now, 3 weeks later, with every dark shadow my mom sees she thinks of that bear.
So now I am back home in Ontario, and writing from the deck at the cottage. The sun has been up for a few hours and it feels great to be on cottage time. I’ve had a great few weeks at home and have slept 8-10 hours every night! My days have gone by too quickly chilling with my ever-growing niece and nephew, kayaking up north, uncovering mysteries at the ROM, making myself sickon the Marineland rides. Many rounds of golf have been played with my dad and dancing “zumba” has been a staple activity with my mom. I’ve caught up with friends and shopped a little more for the next year.
Soon it’ll be time to pack up and head west again. I’ll stop in Shanghai for 5 days before returning to Japan, ready to start the new semester and return to “life as usual”.
