Kamloops

Good day everyone! Jon and I had a driving day. We drove about 4 hours from Golden to Kamloops. It took 4 hours because there was lots of traffic. It was interesting to see the landscape change from forest-filled to desert-like within the same province. We stopped by Tim Hortons to get a cheese bagel with herb and garlic cream cheese and 6 strawberry powdered donuts.


We arrived in Kamloops at around 3pm. We didn`t make reservations for a motel but we had an idea of which ones we wanted to go to, the cheapest one. When we went to our first choice, we asked the receptionist for the cheapest room. She asked us how much we wanted to pay for it. It was a wonderful bargaining opportunity but I wasn`t expecting this as an answer. So I asked her how much she wanted. She said $55. We took it because the expedia price was $65.

We took a nap because Hi Athabasca threw off our sleeping schedule. Then we woke up and drove downtown. We had dinner at Boston Pizza which we thought was a safe choice. We ordered cheese toast, honey garlic wings, and 2 pasta entrees. The cheese toast and wings were not bad. Jon liked his pasta dish (chipotle, mushroom, and bacon penne). Mine was not so good (shrimp and feta penne). It came to $55. This was our first restaurant experience on the whole trip. We thought it would be a nice way to end our 2 months. However, my tummy isn’t feeling well right now.
We’ll watch a movie tonight. We’ll be home tomorrow at around 4pm. See you soon! Good night!

To remember our trip, we made up a list of highlights:

Best Memory:
J and L: Too many good ones

Worst Memory:
J: When we had to throw away our lunch (Pizza Hut Pizza and muffins) at Six Flags because we were caught by the security guard
L: Using a port-a-potty at night

Best Asian Moment:
J: When Lily had to put tissues on her feet to protect her blisters (Kingston, ON)
L: When Jon said “I’m not embarrassed by you but proud of you for walking around with your shirt tucked into your pants. Your pants into your socks. Your socks into your shoes and you chin strap behind your ears.” I did exactly that when a big bug flew up my pants.

Best Hike:
J: Spirit Sand Dunes at Spruce Woods Provincial Park – was able to walk on sand
L: Hoodoo Hike at Yoho National Park – was difficult but satisfying once we finished

Best Landscape:
J and L: Jasper – had lots of mountains, glaciers, milky rivers and blue lakes

Best Province/State:
J and L: Newfoundland – had unique landscape and lots of friendly people

Best Food:
J and L: Aunt Delia’s food in Edmonton – had lots of delicious Chinese and Filipino food

Best Fast Food Restaurant:
J: Arby’s – was delicious
L: Tim Horton’s – love hot chocolate, mini strawberry powdered timbits, and single toasted 12 grain bagels with herb and garlic cream cheese.

Best Snack Food:
J: Fruitips blackcurrant flavour
L: Ketchup chips

Best Big Thing:
J: Dinosaur at Drumheller
L: Copy of Van Gogh’s painting in Altona

Best Artist:
J: Neil Young
L: Slash

Best Deal:
J and L: Lethbridge Hostel- we paid $4.94 to rent the whole top floor of someone’s house

Worst Accommodation:
J: Winner is Hi Winnipeg- looked like a jail and was below freezing
L: Winner is Hi Athabasca – bed was uncomfortable, had to use port-a-potties in the dark, had no running water, had to use water pump to collect water to brush my teeth

Worst Hostel:
J: Hi-Winnipeg
L: Hi-Athabasca

Worst Motel:
J: There weren’t any that were that bad.
L: Glenboro – everything smelt and tasted like rust

Worst Dormitory:
J and L: Either Thunder Bay or Quebec City – they were both old, Thunder Bay had sketchy showers and one of them didn’t have hot water, Quebec City had light, lime, milky green coloured furniture and possibly on the walls too and it was surrounded by grumpy French people

Best Accommodation (not including relatives/friends houses):
J and L: Winner is Deerfoot Inn in Calgary [Thanks Andrew] – had free chocolate cookies (which Jon ate most of) and bottle of water, flat screen tv, swimming pool with a slide and hot tub, and casino

Best Hostel:
J and L: Dreamcatcher Hostel in Golden, BC– was new, spacious, felt like home, nice owners, had ensuite bathroom

Best Motel:
J: Econolodge for $35 in Milwaukee – was cheap
L: Restland Motel in Clarenville, Nfld - had free hot breakfast

Best Dormitory:
J and L: U of Calgary – was big because we think we got the handicap suite