We lived in Spokane as a family in 1973 from January to July while the conceptual design for the wastewater treatment plant was finalized. This is the condo we rented.

We couldn’t remember the address but we found it by dead recogning. When the conceptual design was accepted by the State, I returned for 10 months to complete the detailed design. This is where I lived as a bachelor.

After the design was completed, I returned to Boston and until today never saw the completed product. It was exciting to visit the treatment plant after some 40 years. With changing standards and developing treatment processes the plant has been modified and upgraded but it was rewarding to realized that all of this was support by the soundness of the original design.

This is a picture of the treatment plant taken from the bluff above. The site which is in a large state park.

The long narrow site dictated a unique process layout. Actually the flow does a u-turn. This is a picture taken from atop the sludge digesters.

Prior to visiting the treatment plant Louise had lunch with four engineers from Bovay Engineers who worked on the plant design. Bovay were the primary firm with CDM supporting them. It was great to see these good people after all these years. They had arranged the plant tour and two were able to accompany us. Im sorry we didn’t take a picture of the group.

After the tour Louise and I visited the 1974 Worlds Fair site. The fair with its theme “Man and His Environment” was the stimulus for the treatment plant.

We have spent an entire day in Spokane. Much has changed in 40 years but it appears that the basic goodness has remained.

Our B&B in Kelowna was by far the best we have ever stayed in.

Today we visited four vineyards. At that rate it would take two months to visit all the vineyards in the Okanagan Valley. The wine was excellent, the only problem is because of laws dating back to the time of Prohibition none of it can be imported into the states. They can send it to China, and I understand they ship a lot, but none to us.

The first vineyard was Mission Hill.

This vineyard is owned by a relatively young man. When I inquired about his background I was told he was a self-made man who started out selling wine from his car. He bought a struggling vineyard before the boom in the valley and grew by reinvesting. Today he sits on top of an alcohol empire which included Mikes Hard Lemonade his cash cow.

These are some pictures of the grounds and cellars.

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In the gift shop we saw a cookbook you could live by.

The next vineyard was Quail’s Gate. It too was located on the west side of the lake.

Also a beautiful place.

The lake is the focus of everything. Unlike much of Canada the area is booming attracting a lot of retirees who have sufficient means. There are some beautiful homes taking advantage of the lake which rarely freezes because of its depth.

The last two vineyards were on the east shore. Cedar Creek an established operation was purchased by Mission Hill a year ago.

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Like many other vineyards it is a prime wedding venue. This year they did 48. It rarely rains between Memorial Day and Labor Day, outdoor planning is easy.

The last vineyard was Summit Pyramid vineyard located very close to our B&B.

The owner here believes in the power of the pyramid and has placed a large piece of Quartz at the pyramid’s apex and all wine is cellared in the pyramid for a period of time.

All in all it was a great day. A day unlike those that preceded it. We would not have stopped here if it wasn’t for Charlie Wallis’ suggestion. Thank you Charlie.

There was frost on the windshield this morning, 30 degrees and perfectly clear. We knew we had about a 270 mile drive and anticipated it was going to be ho-hum. That shows how much we know.

We took Rte. 1 West which goes through Yoho National Park. Yoho is an Indian word for “Awe”. The park was aptly named.

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The park is located in the Columbia Mountain Range just west of the Rockies. The range is older and is made up of harder rock. It’s peaks tend to be sharper because the don’t erode as easily. Some of the road cuts were unbelievable.

Travels through the valley we came upon thick fog. The result of a temperature inversion.

Driving further west and in the vicinity of Revelstoke we came upon a lake with magnificent light. These are some of the pictures Louise took.

Driving west and then turning south we transitioned from mountains to valley. The Okanagan Valley is broad and full of lakes and other water bodies. This is a view from our B&B. We are off tomorrow to explore the local vineyards.

We woke up this morning to the best weather of our parks visit. Bright sun, blue skies, and white puffy skies.

We took the Bow Valley Parkway, route 1A, to Lake Louise. This road follows the Bow River and was the route of the railroad. We saw some beautiful scenery from soaring peaks to gentle meadows.

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We arrived in Lake Louise after noontime, checked in our bungalow, and headed to Lake Louise.

It was everything we had expected and more. We could bore you with 10 more photos of the lake.

We had to do something special, so we has a late lunch at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. The menu featured a coffee drink Princess Louise. This is our view at lunch.

We walked around the hotel and back past the lake front.

We then checked out Lake Louise Village. On our way back to our bungalow we saw a sign leading to Moraine Lake and we took it and were we pleasantly surprise both along the road an at the lake.

The Rimrock in Banff was elegant as is tonight’s accommodation in a different sort of way. It has a Vermont Castings-like gas fired stove and indoor plumbing.

It is located half way between Lake Louise and the village. Take a look around.

We are staying at the Rimrock Resort Hotel. Probably the most upscale hotel of the trip. I would call it “Mountain Elegant”. All the staff are uniformed. All the guests, regardless of their age, look like they just got off a hiking trail or a mountain bike. We ate in the lobby lounge last night entertained quietly by an “oldies” singer and guitar player. Between a couple of songs he asked what are first time visitors to Rimrock called. Answer – “first timers”. He then asked what are people called who have stayed multiple times called? Answer – “rich”.

We are first timers and staying in a standard room, this is a view from our window.

Local hot springs attracted people to the Banff area throughout history. Just above our hotel are the Sulphur Mountain Hot Springs.
This is a picture of their outdoor hot pool.

Outside of town there is a drive called the “Lake Minnewanka Loop”. A guide suggested we might see some wild sheep there. We took it. This is Lake Minnewanka.

And these are the sheep.

Returning to Banff we stopped at the Banff Springs Hotel. If I described the Rimrock as elegant, I can’t think of a word or phrase to describe the Banff Springs Hotel. It is just that much grander. Built by the Canadian National Railroad, it and sister hotels underwrote the construction of the railroad through thr Rockies. As one of the supporters said, “We can’t take the scenery to the people so we must bring the people”

We returned to town for a late lunch at our now favorite lunch stop, the Bear Paw Tavern. They had the Sox-Jays on TV and a Giant football game. I relaxed when I saw a Pats score of thirty something to something teen.

After lunch we went to the Whyte Museum which gave a wonderful overview of mans history in this area. A well spent hour.

Woke up this morning to the first unpleasant weather of the trip – cold, light rain, and 20 mph winds. It took the excursion to the Icefields off the table. Looking at people who were going we saw that we just didn’t have the clothes for it. Alternatively we spent time in the interpretative center. We learned that what is called the Icefields is an interlocking system of some 30 glaciers covering some 150 sq. miles and at some points reaching a thickness of 365 meters, 1200 ft. The Athabasca glacier closest to the Icefields Parkway has shrunk 1.7 km since 1870. Markers are placed along the access road showing its location in various years. This is the marker from the year Louise and I were born.

As we drove south to Banff the rain intensified. The rain impacted the beauty of the landscape but not the majesty! We were able to obtain some good shots.



Continuing south we came to Bow Summit the highest point along the Parkway.

Driving into the Summit’s parking lot we noticed snow in the forest, and the creation of some recent visitor.

Peyto Lake, the bluest lake in the Rockies, is at the base of Bow Summit

Driving past Lake Louise we arrived at Banff.

We spent the day in the section of the park between the town of Jasper and the Icefields. The following map shows the area.

We woke up to an overcast sky with low clouds. This caused us to take a ride to Maligne Lake rather than a gondola ride. The lake is the largest in the Canadian Rockies some 22 km long but only a kilometer wide.

This is a model of the lake.

On our way to Milagne Lake we stopped at Medicine Lake. It was so-named by the Indians because despite not having an outlet, it dried up in the late summer, therefore “Bad Medicine”. As it turns out the lake leaks through its fissured bottom. When inflow doesn’t match leakage it dries up.
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After the trip to the lake we returned to Jasper grabbed some sandwiches to go and jumped on the Icefields Parkway. We took picture after picture. Here are a couple.

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There are two notable falls along the highway, Athabasca Falls and Sumwapta falls. The following are pictures of each.


After another handful of stops we came to the beginning of the Icefields where we are staying tonight. The elevation of our hotel is 6,400 ft.

A long driving day today, 275 miles from Sun Peaks to Jasper. We were on Route 5  following the North Thompson River most of the way. The valley supported farms and the mountains supported logging. We stopped in Avola for lunch. We were attracted by their Bermashave-like signs along the highway.

We were the only customers. The owner and cook were very chatty, and the burgers were outstanding.

Geeting closer to Jasper we started to see tall and often snow covered mountains. The first mountain we stopped at was dedicated to Terry Fox a young man who lost a leg to cancer and began a run across Canada.

Shortly after we came upon Mt Robson, the tallest mountain in British Columbia at 3,954 meters. Unfortunately the peak today was hidden by clouds.

Turning onto Route 16 we saw more snow capped peaks, then came upon Moose Lake shinning pale green typical of the mountain lake because of the water’s calcite concentration.

Shortly after we crossed into Alberta, lost an hour as we entered the Mountain time zone, and paid for our 4 day National Park’s Pass.