Down Memory Lane at 100kmh…

I took the long way around from Kelowna to Abbotsford today, and as usual, I wished that I had more time. I’d really forgotten how much time I used to spend along the Hope-Princeton Highway and the southern Okanagan, but as location after location triggered memories I stopped quite a few times. Old cars always turn my head, and Parson’s Fruit Stand at Keremeos has some particularly good photo ops.

Antique car in a Keremeos, BC, orchard

Over the years I’ve taken many photos of St. Ann’s Catholic Church at Chuchuwayha, located just east of Hedley.

St. Ann's Catholic Church at Chuchuwayha, BC

I just couldn’t resist a detour up the Hedley Nickel Plate Road…

Hedley Nickel Plate Road, BC

…where the views are stunning…

Hedley Nickel Plate Road, BC

…and the residents such as this marmot are quite friendly.

Marmot along the Hedley Nickel Plate Road, BC

One of the mines that I used to love exploring was the Hedley Mascot, located high above the village.

The historic Hedley Mascot Mine, BC

The Engineers Road, built in 1861, has been a favourite stopping place for my family and I since about 1955.

The historic Engineers Road along BC's Hope-Princeton Highway.

The massive Hope Slide came down as a result of 2 earthquakes in 1965 – my first look at it was about a month later. Somewhere under that rock is a fuel tanker that was never found (and 4 people who were also never found).

The Hope Slide along BC's Hope-Princeton Highway.

Today (May 17th), Dave and Jan, friends of mine since high school, took me exploring, including stops at a couple of antique-car collectors’ yards. Back in the 1970s I gathered quite a number of Studebakers 🙂

One of the stops was Fort Langley, for lunch at the Fort Pub and to see what’s become of a community that I was very involved in. It’s hugely gratifying to see that our dreams for downtown revitalization worked better than we ever imagined possible. Among my projects was the restoration of this CNR train station (I was Project Manager).

Fort Langley CNR train station

Over the next couple of days, I continued on through Vancouver to Whistler…