I continued north from Seattle until I hit the Canadian border, and I continued onward to Vancouver! I had been to Vancouver before so I didn't spend too much time exploring the city, but it is a beautiful city surrounded by mountains and water.
I climbed the 2,000 feet up Grouse Mountain via the Grouse Grind. This was my 3rd time doing it and I completed it in about 61 minutes. My personal best is 52-55 minutes, though I don't remember exactly. At the top of Grouse Mountain I saw the grizzly bears and the World Famous Lumberjack Show before taking the cable car down to the base of the mountain for C$10.
I got an Airbnb in North Vancouver for about C$40 and strolled along English Bay before dusk. Then I visited a small restaurant called Wang's Shanghai near Burnaby and had one of my favorite (cheap) meals - dan dan noodles and xiao long bao (soup dumplings). They only take cash but it was less than C$15. Yum!
Dusk in English Bay, Vancouver, BC
The next day, I visited the Queen Elizabeth Gardens and also the steam-powered clock in Yaletown before driving out of Vancouver. In that moment leaving the city I felt a bit of sadness, because all along my road trip, I was venturing further north, further away from home, and into another country! But now I had reached the point where it was time to turn and begin heading south, eventually back to Las Vegas. I was unemployed at the time and didn't know what the future would hold for me, and as long as I was heading away from Vegas it felt like time stood still. But as long as I was heading back towards home, then home (and all of the responsibilities associated with it) would be on the horizon, too. Fortunately, I still had many exciting places left to visit that were on the long road back home!
As I was driving southeast on the Trans Canada Highway, I needed to find a place to camp for the night before it got dark, so I got off near Chiliwack. I passed a river with a kayak slalom course, which I had never seen before. But it looked like it would be a fun sport to try! I found a campsite that was not free, but it was full. Fortunately, the guy working there told me that there logging roads I could drive down and camp along the side. So I drove a mile down the road to a small area next to the road where I set up my tent. I wasn't sure if logging trucks would be coming and going, and fortunately there were none.
The next morning I continued northeast along the Trans Canada Highway to Merritt, BC and turned east towards Kelowna. This beautiful region along Lake Okanagan is Canada's premier region for wine and several types of fruit. I stopped at a vineyard located on a hill alongside the lake for a wine tasting. Continuing south through Penticton, a town built in between two lakes which must be a popular place in the summer, I passed farms and orchards growing all sorts of fruit. Before long, I was back at the US border.
Vineyard near Kelowna Grove of cherry trees Cherry tree