B is for Beautiful British Columbia

British Columbia (BC) is the westernmost province in Canada, four times the size of Great Britain with less than one-tenth of the population. It's a very mountainous region with a number of major ranges running mostly north/south from the coast to the border between BC and Alberta. Whether backpacking in the majestic forests or Coast Mountains, or kayaking through the many groups of islands, getting off the beaten path is sure to lead to a memorable trip. The most convenient way to get to much of BC is by air. However, this can be quite expensive, sometimes even more expensive than to fly to Europe! Vancouver is the regional hub for most air service within BC and floatplanes are a convenient way of accessing many coastal locations. (from Wikitravel) As a born and bred BC'er, I've seen lots of the province throughout my lifetime, but certainly far from all. Also, I've lived most of my life in the burbs of Vancouver. When I was about six years old, we travelled to the eastern border of the province to the Kootenay region. One night, a bear entered the campsite and woke the campers by rattling around in the garbage cans. My Dad, brave soul, told us all to stay put, no matter what, and we waited as he shooed the bear away by chasing it with a big stick. We watched, transfixed, as the shadow of the bear and my Dad raced past our tent!
Another summer, we had our summer vacation in the Okanagan region where it gets extremely hot! Instead of tenting that year, we stayed at a motel in the center of Penticton, but it was so hot that none of us could sleep. One night, my Dad had had enough of the heat and went out at midnight and bought A & W root beer and vanilla ice cream for us to make floats!As a university student, I travelled the old PGE Railway up and down from Vancouver to Prince George, where my parents had moved, about four times a year to stay with them during Christmas and summer breaks. My Mom had bought a small wooden ornament of the famous "Welcome to Prince George" sign and always kept it on top of one of her kitchen cupboards, where later on, D1 used to comment on how Mr. PG would watch over her. She now has that ornament as a memory of her Grandma and now it watches over her little boy. I don't go to Vancouver Island very often as the ferries can be quite expensive, but I have been to Victoria (our capital city) a few times and have also been to the west coast of the Island and up the east coast as far as Campbell River. Fishing is a major industry along the coast of BC and, on the Island, there are lots of fishing lodges, some very luxurious. You can also watch the cruise ships pass on their way to Alaska.I also had the privilege of spending a year in the wilderness area of BC in the small town of Bella Coola, where I taught school. My house happened to be right in the path of the bears' route through the woods and my puppy was always very cautious when she was outside. We saw lots of bears that year and learned very quickly where to take a walk and when! One day, D2 and I decided to explore an area along the river, but we both got really nervous about coming upon a bear, so gave up our silly idea very quickly! We determined it would be much better to just watch them forage around the dump where we took our garbage every week. In summary, there are bounteous things to see and do in the province of British Columbia and it's a beautiful place to live. We have a desert, cowboy country, mountains, lakes, an ocean, and temperatures that range beyond the minuses to over 100F throughout the year. It's famous for its natural beauty, the outdoor lifestyle, and even movie making. So be sure to come and visit, as we say on our cars' license plates, Beautiful British Columbia! Come and join the team at ABC Wednesday, the brainchild of Mrs. Nesbitt, during this our 8th round! Click here to check out contributors and please feel free to comment and remember you can start at any point!