On the Road: Adventures from Hawaii to British Columbia, Canada
This blog post was originally posted on our Patreon on June 14, 2023. If you’d like to support our trip to all 63 US National Parks and beyond, we’d love for you to take a look at what we offer on Patreon (postcards, t-shirts, behind-the-scenes trip planning, and so much more). You can find that here.
Hey, y’all!
We currently have a strong enough cell signal to sit down and share an update!
We are at the start of the ALASKAN HIGHWAY. It’s been a crazy few months getting to this point, but we wanted to thank you all for being a part of it.
We spent the last week driving a lot. After a super fun trip to the Big Island of Hawaii with Katie’s family to visit our 18th National Park of the Year, we made it back to Portland, OR, and to Clifford, our lovely van.
After seeing some friends for dinner, we made the drive to Olympic National Park to hang out with Joey’s mom (and her dog and cat) for a day. It was wonderful to see them all since it’s been almost 2 months since we left Colorado to start this massive road trip.
From Olympic National Park we made our way to a ferry crossing that would get us closer to the Canada/USA border but not before a stop in Forks, Washington… aka the place in the Twilight books/movies.
We hung out on the border of Canada/USA for two days, bouncing between highway rest stops and the single coffee shop in town, getting some work done because once we crossed into Canada, our on-board wireless set-up was no longer going to work.
We knew the crossing was going to be eventful because no matter where we go, a giant red van is going to get attention. It was a smooth process; the Canadian Border Agents were super tough at first with lots of questions. The van was then inspected, and we were asked to sit in a waiting room until we were cleared to leave. From there, those tough Canadian border agents became super friendly and complimentary of our van build. We were free to go.
Before we started the drive, we needed to select a new audiobook (we love audiobooks) and settled on “Fairy Tale” by Stephen King. We’re almost 10 out of 24 hours in, and the voice acting and the story so far have been so good!
We then left for Vancouver, BC, to do some final preparations, which we definitely failed at. Joey wanted a haircut, but he did not get one. We needed gas cans since the Alaskan Highway is super long without stops, but the 4×4 truck shop was closed. We wanted coffee from this great place downtown (Revolver Coffee), and parking was insane—$5 an hour—and we needed two spots since we were so large. The worst part was that the coffee was only so-so. Joey thinks Canadians do Cafe Americanos wrong; instead of adding more shots of espresso with a bigger cup, it actually becomes weaker. So a 20oz Americano in America usually has 4 shots of espresso, but in Canada, it’s 2 shots. Why make it more expensive for less flavor?! Any Canadian baristas out there to confirm?
We had nowhere to camp in Vancouver, BC, so we decided to start our journey up the Sea-to-Sky Highway, which was absolutely breathtaking. We heard getting campsites was relatively easy along the highway, but that could not have been farther from the truth. Our original plan was to spend 2 days traveling the 80 miles from Vancouver, BC, to Squamish, BC, but we were left without any camping options, so we stopped in Squamish, grabbed ice cream, and drove past everything that we had originally planned. We found a nice campsite in Alice Lake Provincial Park.
We left bright and early the next morning towards Whistler, BC, a mecca of mountain biking, hiking, and skiing. Joey was in absolute awe and wanted to do everything. We will definitely be back to spend a week here (in every season).
From Whistler, BC, we made the drive to Nairn Falls Provincial Park, where we experienced Canadian bugs for the first time. In our short 2-mile hike, we acquired a few souvenirs in the form of bug bites. Lovely hike, lots of people off trail. Somewhat frustrating experience.
We stopped at a massive log jam at Duffey Lake Provincial Park and flew the drone for a hot second.
We made it to Seton Lake after a very steep and long drive through mountain passes. This was the first time we started to smell the brakes of Clifford the Transit, so we pulled off and let them cool off. We wanted to hike the Seton Lake lookout trail, but we could not find the trailhead, so we walked around the base of the lake for a bit before heading off.
Chasm Canyon was next on our list—a short pull-off right off the highway with a really cool view. If you happen to be in the area (seriously, why would you be in the area?), it’s worth the visit.
We continued onto 108 Mile Heritage House (but it was closed), so we walked around for a little bit before making a plan on where to stay that night.
We stayed at Lac La Hache Provincial Park a few kilometers away that night. It was a nice campsite, but not the same deep and dark forest that we experienced at Alice Lake Provincial Park.
We left early, knowing we had a long day of driving ahead of us (that seems to be the theme with Canada).
We made it to Prince George, BC, for a stop at the Central BC Railroad and Forestry Museum. WE RODE A MINI TRAIN!! And explored the massive outdoor museum. So much fun—Joey is now a train guy!
We left Prince George after our first stop at McDonald’s in Canada. The Diet Coke was basically frozen—it was perfect.
The next stop was Bijoux Falls with the shortest hike ever. Literally, the shortest hike ever. You could see the falls from the parking lot.
Off to Chetwynd, BC, to see the famous chainsaw carvings. We walked around for a bit and tried to pick favorites, but it was impossible. So much talent. Katie is going to apply next year to show off her artistry.
We are now in Dawson Creek, BC (not sure if it’s related to the show or not), but we will be here for the next day or two, preparing for our drive on the Alaskan Highway towards Anchorage.
Wow, thanks for reading this far! It’s been a huge blog post, but we wanted to update y’all on where we’ve been and where we are off to!
