Beautiful British Columbia is proudly proclaimed on the license plates of B.C. drivers, and with good reason it would seem. British Columbia is one scenic place to visit. Our first stop was Stanley Park, just a short ride from our motel. You circle counter clockwise around the park and then each turn is filled with one great view after another.

There is something about cities built right on the water that make them special. The combination of mountains, water, boats, architecture and people, draw you to their doors. Vancouver is such a city. And as you drive or walk around the city, you see that Vancouver has attracted many young people to its bright lights. Much more so than any other big city I've been in lately. Vancouver seems to be filled with those between the ages of 20 and 35, and their youthful energy seems to radiate from the city streets. It's a fun place to visit.

One of the things we noticed about Stanley Park was the amount of people using it. There were runners, bicyclist (who have the right away over cars), roller blader's, cars, tour buses, motorcyclists, and rowers, all enjoying the sunny summer skies over Vancouver. What a great place to spend a Sunday and I will include a photo sampling of the views from the park (photos 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8).

We were parked for a couple of pictures when we were approached by a fellow motorcyclist named "Wolf" who wondered where we had come from and where we were headed. He has a Harley but has ridden a lot of different bikes. He is headed down to California sometime soon and I tried to give him some suggestions about where to visit, Yosemite, Avenue of the Giant's Redwoods, etc. Wolf once owned a GL1200 Goldwing and put over 200,000 miles on it without any problems, but like everybody else, he wanted a Harley. He and his friends and family were very nice people and reinforced what I have come to believe is a truism; you meet the nicest people on motorcycles.

We continued on around the park stopping for more pictures (photos 9,10,11, & 12) before heading out on Canadian Hwy 1 East towards Hope, B.C. our next gas stop. Oh yeah, that's me in front of Lion's Gate Bridge (photo 13). Can you say "Helmet Head" boys and girls?

After leaving Stanley Park, I went through one of those exercises that visitors to big cities must go through to get out of the city. First you go down one road and then another while trying not to get run over by those who seem to actually know where they're going. I felt like a mouse that smelled cheese down this corridor and then down another. After thirty minutes or so, we finally made it out of town. Canadian Rockies here we come.

I was somewhat surprised when we finally headed east; the scenery quickly became rather ordinary. Lots of nice trees but the surrounding countryside was mainly small farms and fields, usually flat but never more than small rolling meadows. Then about 50 miles out of Vancouver, you start to see mountains ahead and to the south. Grand mountains that whisper, "Good things are coming to those who wait." In another twenty miles or so, just after the town of Hope, the scenery starts to become genuinely dramatic.

You find yourself down in a deep valley; so deep at times that the sun does not shine directly down onto the roadway, but is instead in shadows while sunny skies, filled with cotton ball clouds, rest overhead. The road wanders back and forth and allows you to make good time while enjoying those leaning turns we all wait for. This is turning out to be a very good ride (photos 14,15,16).

Up ahead, the mountains are covered with a thick rich growth of trees with small falls making their presence known from time to time. As with most of the roads that are in valleys, there was a small river or stream running along side the road. Whenever I see the mountains getting close together, I start to look for a river or stream to be close by. This pretty much lasted until we reached Princeton, where we pulled in for the night.

We grabbed a local Best Western, tried to figure out the difference in money, gave up and went on faith. After cleaning up a little we went "downtown" to see the sights (photos 17,18, & 19), and get something to eat. We found a great little restaurant called the Belaire Family Restaurant located in a former private residence, where the cook should be forbidden to ever leave town. I had a salmon dish and Linda had an excellent chicken dish and the place was packed. This in a town with fewer people than can be found in most California shopping malls. They are obviously doing something right. The waitress was a peach and was efficiently keeping everyone served and taken care of.

On the walk back to the motel, we passed by the local Veterans Memorial, which listed all of those in town who had died in WW1, WWII, and Korea (photo 20). We tend to forget that Canada had a presence in Korea also since it was a United Nations action.

Great day, great ride, great dinner, I want to live here.