Westward to Prince Rupert
Saturday, October 31:
What a delightful surprise, the beauty of the Skeena River valley from Smithers to Prince Rupert, and on a beautiful day. The mountain views are on a par with the Icefields Highway route from Banff to Jasper, but with the bonus of the old farmsteads and First Nations cultural sites.
At Hazelton we detoured a few minutes into the historical old town. It was of course an important indigenous people's village, and then developed as the head of navigation for settlers and gold prospectors on the Skeena.
We finally arrived in Prince Rupert, as our main destination, late in the afternoon. Our daughter in law Michelle's house is set on top of a small promontory amongst the very hilly residential part of town, which gives it lovely views in three directions. Wooded hills to the east, the typically small and older houses to the south, and a peekaboo view of the rugged inlet to the west.
After a few hugs with granddaughter Nyah and her mom, Michelle, and settling in, we joined Michelle's cousin and her kids trick or treating. Such a great way to meet her family here.
Some of you may not be aware that Michelle only connected with her birth family here in Rupert in her 20s, but she has been quite thoroughly taken into the quite large and well known Boyle family here in town. It is one of the main reasons she moved here to take up a teaching job after many years teaching in international schools. 22 year old Nyah has now moved here from Amsterdam and is working in the local Cowpuccino Cafe while enrolling in some college courses.
Sunday, November 1:
After a very relaxed morning, we went for a walk along the waterfront "Rushbrook trail". Amongst the first people we encountered was another Michelle cousin, and then a variety of dog walkers, almost half of whom Michelle knew, some as fellow dog lovers, and some as school colleague or school parent.
And... of course we are now getting more typical Prince Rupert weather!
And then to the Cowpuccino Café where Nyah was on duty for an evening singer event. She was pretty good blues singer on tour from Winnipeg, DebraLynn Neufeld. Fun to see Nyah running the place! That is Michelle's auntie Dale with us.
Monday, November 2: We headed back down to the waterfront for a snoop around the tourist shops. it was very quiet... hard to imagine what it would be like with a couple of thousand cruise ship tourists wandering around!
We did get a good taste of a Prince Rupert wind and rain storm, with gusts probably close to 80 km/h... so we pretty much sheltered home for the afternoon. Fire trucks and Hydro had to come by for an arcing transformer for a bit of excitement.
Tuesday November 3: A relaxed last day in PR. Bill took Nyah out in her grandpa's pickup truck for some driving practice. A bit of deja vu from the various kids he had taught. We're be doing some more shops this afternoon before heading to the ferry this evening.... but it's time to get this one sent off.
See you all soon.
Very interesting, with great pictures, as usual. Lucky it was rain and not snow. So you'll be coming back down on the Island?
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