A place called Hope
Today we drove East and the North from Vancouver to Hat Creek, with a few stops along the way. The road we took follows two rivers, primarily the Fraser, but we turned to the Thompson which is a tributary of the Fraser.
Stop at Neufeld Farm Market in Abbotsford
Our first stop was to a farm stand in Abbotsford. We needed to pick up some more fruit and we saw a sign. Abbotsford is the self-proclaimed raspberry capital of Canada. Unfortunately it was a bit early for raspberries so we had to settle for local strawberries. That was no sacrifice!
Our next stop was in the town of Hope. Hope is known for two things: a large number of chainsaw-carved wood statues along the Main Street and the location for the climax in Rambo: Cold Blood. We were much more interested in the wood carvings.
Some chainsaw carvings in Hope, including one of Rambo
Following Hope, Canada Highway 1 winded through the northern part of the Cascade Mountain Range. The road follows the rail lines as well as the river. There were 7 tunnels including one of the longest in North America.
A couple of the tunnels on Highway 1 including China Bar which was the longest.
We are camping tonight in Hat Creek. It was a stop on the stagecoach route to the Barkerville gold camps. It is currently being run by the Shuswap Nation, but they have a museum set up as a living history museum from the early 1900s when it was a stagecoach stop. There is also a small display for the First Nation tribe.
For dinner, Greg used our portable butane grill to make the Alberta Prime Ribeye steaks we bought yesterday at Granville Island, along with the asparagus we bought today in Abbotsford. We’re eating well, at least while we have these great groceries.
