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We went to Tappen to spend Christmas with my parents. It was excellent. Family friends came over for Christmas dinner and we all had a good time. I know my parents are sorry they don't have grandchildren, but they seem to be resigned - which is good because I am nearly 60. This is what can happen if you put all your genetic eggs in one basket.
The horrible part of travelling to Tappen in the winter is the Coquihalla mountain pass. Argh. There aren't enough arghs to cover the amount of arghs needed to express all of the ARGH needed to be expressed. Argh. This is the highway televised as "The Highway from Hell" in the eponymously named reality show. Argh.
The trip up (higher elevation as you go to the interior) was notable for the semi which had careened down hill taking out the meridian barrier in various places and ending up jackknifed on the other side of the highway with the body pointing up hill and the cab bent back pointing downhill crushed against the remaining barrier bits. People heading down to the coast were diverted to the Fraser Canyon from Merritt, unless they had already passed the last u-turn place, in which case they were stuck there for several (four?) hours.
For Lorne the trip down was fun (not) from Merritt to the summit. It had not yet been plowed and there were four to eight inches to work through, depending on elevation and local microclimate. Yes, there were fools out there without winter tires, but they were mostly in the ditch, unfortunately not necessarily right way up.
For me the bus arrived late (problems with the Roger's Pass), and those of us embarking from Salmon Arm were sent from there to Kamloops in a chartered bus. Argh. Not the best driver; not confidence building. Once on the regular Greyhound from Kamloops on it was winter conditions, but the driver seemed to know his stuff, so one was able to relax from complete plank. It wasn't until we got to the lower mainland (mostly flat), that we discovered that he had never driven to Vancouver before - he gave up looking for Chilliwack and asked the bus passengers for directions. :)
So - we had an excellent Christmas - one of the best. Hate that road, though.
The horrible part of travelling to Tappen in the winter is the Coquihalla mountain pass. Argh. There aren't enough arghs to cover the amount of arghs needed to express all of the ARGH needed to be expressed. Argh. This is the highway televised as "The Highway from Hell" in the eponymously named reality show. Argh.
The trip up (higher elevation as you go to the interior) was notable for the semi which had careened down hill taking out the meridian barrier in various places and ending up jackknifed on the other side of the highway with the body pointing up hill and the cab bent back pointing downhill crushed against the remaining barrier bits. People heading down to the coast were diverted to the Fraser Canyon from Merritt, unless they had already passed the last u-turn place, in which case they were stuck there for several (four?) hours.
For Lorne the trip down was fun (not) from Merritt to the summit. It had not yet been plowed and there were four to eight inches to work through, depending on elevation and local microclimate. Yes, there were fools out there without winter tires, but they were mostly in the ditch, unfortunately not necessarily right way up.
For me the bus arrived late (problems with the Roger's Pass), and those of us embarking from Salmon Arm were sent from there to Kamloops in a chartered bus. Argh. Not the best driver; not confidence building. Once on the regular Greyhound from Kamloops on it was winter conditions, but the driver seemed to know his stuff, so one was able to relax from complete plank. It wasn't until we got to the lower mainland (mostly flat), that we discovered that he had never driven to Vancouver before - he gave up looking for Chilliwack and asked the bus passengers for directions. :)
So - we had an excellent Christmas - one of the best. Hate that road, though.
