GOOD SOURCES in B.C. (OUTSIDE OF VANCOUVER AND THE ISLANDS)

---- rewarding the good --------

While I have limited knowledge of most of these businesses, I list them if they are 
much better than average for the area and I have not noticed any warning signs.

(I do not strive to keep this list up to date.)


KELOWNA B.C. (in the Okanagan Valley)

Ditto's copy place opposite the former Western Star truck plant provides a wide range
of services, including enginering-oriented copying, computer time rental with
Internet access, desks with phones, and a meeting room. Officially it is at 2070 Harvey but
access may be better off Enterprise Way. 868-9213. Phone to see if it is still in business - the Western Star plant closed.

The drive-in burger joint on the south side of the main road off the bridge from Westbank et al is good.


PRINCE GEORGE, BC (since the roads and rails join here, everyone must know where it is)

Sketchley Automotive has good diagnostic capability, and is a B.C. safety inspection
facility. Located in an industrial park over the bridge on the main highway north from
the plateau.

The public swimming pool on the plateau west of the highway is a nice facility.

QUESNEL (on the Cariboo highway)

Years ago in the north end of Quesnel, a motel had picture windows to see the drive-in
movie behind it. Clever - put the little kids to bed and watch the movie and..... Why, we could bring drive-in theatres back to life with that design. :-)


REVELSTOKE (on the Trans-Canada highway between Salmon Arm and Golden)

The train museum is worthwhile, if you like such things.


GOLDEN (on the Trans-Canada highway between Revelstoke and Banff)

50s theme diners are always good, right? ;-)


HOPE (everyone knows some Hope don't they?)

Tucked alongside the new Coquahalla highway, on the north side of it, is an older street with motels and a good grocery store.

Those interested in railway history, scenery, and civil engineering should visit the old railway tunnels northeast of town. You can get there from town past a lake whose name I forget, or by watching for an exit off the Coquahalla highway on the northerly side of a river bridge. Yes, those Shakespeare character/play name signs along the highway are old railway points, named by one of the key technical people who designed and built it. (The better railway was never built - an 8 mile tunnel envisionned by the entrepreneur J.J.Hill of Great Northern fame. While the short tunnels near Hope were a success, the track east from there was unreliable and dangerous due to the extreme snowfall in those mountains. Keep that in mind as you drive the Coquahalla in winter - that long hill is in the same geography, where moisture-laden air from the Pacific hits the mountains.)


THE YELLOWHEAD

To and from Edmonton in the summer I recommend the route NE from Kamloops, up through Blue River and Jasper. Out of Kamloops past Wells Gray Park there is significant settlement and the road is somewhat curvy to drive at night, but the section up through Blue River to Tete Jaune Junction may be the best road in the province - generally open and not overly busy. Nice views in the mountain valleys east of Jasper, and fairly good open road onward to Edmonton.

There's a park service visitors centre on the B.C. side of the pass to Jasper, near Mount Robson. For obscure history, note the Lucerne campground - named for a railway service centre nearby, also used as an internment camp in the infamous persecution of persons of Japanese genetic background during World War II. The town is long gone, but the museum in Valemont has some history - if you find a map of Lucerne townsite let me know please.


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Copyright Keith Sketchley          2007.09.09 (1335PST)
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