About Me

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

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!

28 comments:

Kay L. Davies said...

Fabulous post from my point of view, Leslie. Gotta love cruise ships, and ferries, and islands, and water, and even bears.
I grew up in Kelowna, and I always loved Penticton for having two lakes, especially that beautiful beach on Lake Skaha.
Sigh.
Thanks!
-- K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Roger Owen Green said...

It must be lovely. As noted, never been in that region. Tho I was tickled when I saw a BC license plate sometime on a drive from Albany, NY to either Virginia or North Carolina - a rare find on the east coast of the US.

But I WAS disturbed by one image - a root beer float with SOFT ice cream? Sacrilege!

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Sylvia K said...

Terrific post for the B Day, Leslie! And I learned some things I didn't know about your part of the world! I hope your week is going well! Enjoy!

Sylvia
ABC Team

Nanka said...

Loved everything except shooing the bear with a stick part :) brrr!!

Beverley Baird said...

What a great post! So much about your berautiful province! I did use it but only gave it a few lines! lol
I would love to move there - my one trip there just made me want to go back! maybe next year we'll take a return trip.
Have a great week Leslie!

photowannabe said...

Your description of this beautiful area makes me want to return. Its been so many years since I saw just a bit of it. Great post. You should work for the Travel bureau.

Gigi Ann said...

I'm afraid I wouldn't be around long enough to shoo that bear away. I would be in the bedroom with the windows and doors locked. hehe

Anna said...

British Columbia sounds a gloriously beautiful place to live though I'm not sure about the bears :)

Wanda said...

Beautiful photos Leslie...I felt like I was on a tour with you. Thanks for the trip, and those bears are amazing animals.

Rune Eide said...

I have been only to Vancouver, but I would glad pay the rest of the state an extended visit :-)

Carver said...

Wonderful post about British Columbia, somewhere I've never been but would love to visit. Great shots and I love the ones of the bears.

Tumblewords: said...

Wonderful! I remember visiting many of those sites when I was younger. My dad, too, always kept us safe from the bears. :) And cleaned the fish we caught from the Campbell River.

Hildred said...

Wonderful that you have chosen B.C> for your B word, as we both know it is the most beautiful of provinces and has such a variety of climate and industry and wonderful country. In the midst of winter though I still think of sunny Alberta.

Chubskulit Rose said...

Gorgeous!

B for Broken Plate, come and see.

Cezar and Léia said...

So adorable and emotive story,you write so well and I feel almost I could be there with you seeing your pictures!
I'm impressed by the story about the bear and your brave dad! Cool!
Léia - Bonjour Luxembourg

Unknown said...

A blog bountiful with info on BC! Have only once had the great pleasure bo BE in BC -- especially loved Victoria.
HelenMac, ABC Team

Jane and Chris said...

Gorgeous! I notice the bears in your pics are grizzlys which we do not have here in Ontario. Do you have black bears out west?
Jane x

Joy said...

It indeed lives up to its name of beautiful BC. Such variety.

Barbara said...

Brilliant post! I like the stories of the bears!

Bradley Hsi said...

Have not visit your blog for some time, love the lay out. Hope can visit your beautiful BC one day!

jabblog said...

It certainly is Beautiful! Maybe one day I'll visit my niece in Vancouver. She spends the summers with her children on Hornby Island.

Amanda said...

Some fantastic Bs. Bears are scary!

Shrinky said...

Oh Leslie, what spectacular scenery, I can't imagine a prettier place to live. Such a lovely post, I have never been to Canada, perhaps one day, eh? (Wistful sigh..)

Casdok said...

Makes the UK feel very small!

Barbara said...

Great post, it sounds such a wonderful place. Love the idea of the ice-cream etc at midnight! Can I just ask what root beer is? I've heard it spoken of but that's about it!

Liz Hinds said...

And a beautiful place it is too, leslie!

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

It does look beautiful. Maybe I'll get there some day.

Carola said...

Beautiful British Columbia!
That's it. You are lucky to live there.