Last summer we attempted a Rockies trip in the RV, but had to abandon halfway through because my mom fell and broke her arm. We rerouted to Seattle to care for her and missed several Canadian and American national parks as a result. This year, we decided to reboot the trip, following almost the identical route.
Part 1 focuses on getting from our home in Southern California to Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.
First stop: Valencia, CA. We loaded up the car, pulled our RV out of storage, and camped for the night just off I-5 at Valencia Travel Village. It just so happened to be Hank’s birthday on this day, so we celebrated at Islands Restaurant–and of course we had to have Kona Pie for dessert! Yum!!!
We enjoyed a brisk morning walk with a pause to enjoy the view in the adirondack chairs at the campground.
Then we took off for our longest driving day (at least in terms of miles), which brought us to Lodi, CA, for a 1-night stay, our second stop.
After we discovered a cracked windshield on our car that we tow behind our RV, we headed out for dinner in Stockton with my college friends Larry and Nina–a delicious Thai meal out by the pool. The weather was very mild for the San Joaquin Valley at this time of year–and we enjoyed being outside after all day on the road.
While driving up I-5 can be boring and hot, once we got above Redding and saw Lake Shasta and Mt. Shasta, we were all smiles (Lassen Peak, our southernmost mountain in the Cascade Range) was just a bit too far away for a good shot).
Third stop, the Yreka RV Park, where we have not stayed before. With good WiFi at the campground, Hank was able to make arrangements for our windshield repair three days from now in Washington State. Don’t we love the internet for things like that!
And we had our first good critter sightings (not counting the red-tailed hawks we saw along the freeway–too hard to get photos of those). Those California quail did not want to pose for us, but Hank persevered and got these shots!
Shortly after leaving Yreka, we crossed into Oregon as we completed our drive through the Siskiyou Mountains. The rivers and mountains of central Oregon are such a treat. We love the Cascade Range and enjoyed views of Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Hood before we rolled into Salem for our fourth stop.
As we journeyed north through Portland, we crossed the Columbia River that divides Oregon and Washington, and we had one of our best views of Mt. St. Helen’s, another infamous peak in the Cascade Range.
After glimpses of Washington’s capital building in Olympia and one of our favorite mountains, Mt. Rainier, we arrived at our fifth stop, where we parked outside Ron and Merrie’s house (my brother and sister-in-law).
While in the greater Seattle area, we visited with my mom, Sue, bringing some homemade Armenian food (which she really enjoyed) to the Adult Family Home where she lives. Merrie cut Mom’s hair and I put in some gel to make it curl, but Mom still isn’t happy that it has gone gray–oh well. Maybe we can get someone to come to her home and color her hair again.
We ended our time in the Seattle area with a wonderful lunch hosted by Merrie and Ron, and joined by friends Dave and Kathy. And our car has a brand new windshield, thanks to Safelite and Hank’s persistence!
We headed out after our great lunch to one of our favorite campgrounds and sixth stop, the Oostema Farmstead in northern Washington just a few miles south of the Canadian border. This is a working farm where they grow raspberries, selll chicken eggs, and raise Wagyu beef cattle. They also have several RV sites with hookups, and we love the views and the peacefulness of this location near the North Cascades (with peekaboo views of Mt. Baker). After 5 straight days of RV driving for Hank, it was nice to put our feet up and relax for an extra day. And good news! The newborn calf that Hank’s sister Judy named two years ago (named Loretta after Loretta Lynn) was front and center in the pasture–she’s not little anymore! No word on what happened to Hank the steer 🙁
On our day off from driving, we explored the greater Lynden-Everson area on our new e-bikes. What a game changer those e-bikes are! The rows of berry bushes and the pastures full of cows are such a nice contrast to our city life. And the views of the mountains all around us were wonderful.
In the afternoon, we hopped on the e-bikes again and went looking for the bald eagle we had seen two years ago. We found it, though it didn’t want to pose out in the open. We also found tons of different kinds of wildflowers, which I attempted to identify with Google Lens, but I don’t guarantee that the captions are accurate. Feel free to correct me in the comments! This was a very relaxing day before heading into Canada.
We were so fortunate during our last evening at the farm to get to see a newborn calf barely an hour old. What a treat! And we enjoyed some amazing wagyu beef and bacon! Thank you to the Oostema family for sharing your treasures with us.
We woke to a cloudy but beautiful sunrise, and we crossed the border into British Columbia (Canada) without any problems. BC really is beautiful, and we enjoyed our drive through the southern and eastern part of the province.
Then the rains came, really for the first time on this trip, so our last 60 miles was more challenging. As we drove along and crossed the North Thompson River, extremely swollen from all the rain, we wondered what our campground along the river would be like.
Fortunately, the campsites at the North Thompson River Provincial Park sit well above the river, so we were not in danger of being flooded out. The campsites are beautiful here, with lots of trees and a view of the river, so we settled down to a peaceful afternoon and evening, waiting for the rain to stop.
After dinner, we enjoyed a soothing hike along the river, noting once again how high and fast the water was moving. Parts of the trail were blocked off because they were underwater!
We thought the next day would be our last 200 miles into Jasper National Park, but the highway we were on had flooded and was closed in both directions with no available detour. After waiting for awhile with the truckers (we figured they would know first what was going on), we learned that the highway might not open up for a couple of days. So….we backtracked and took a different route through the mountains, stopping for the night at a campground in the town of Revelstoke, BC, our eighth stop on our journey north.
This added several hundred miles to our route and one more night before reaching Jasper, but it was a beautiful drive along the Trans-Canada Highway.
To reward Hank for his marathon driving day, we ate dinner at a local hangout in Revelstoke, The Village Idiot. Great pub food, and you can decide which of us qualifies. Revelstoke is a cute ski town on the Columbia River, and we were glad we got to experience it for one (unplanned) night.
We began our extra day of driving with gorgeous views of the mountains in Mount Revelstoke National Park, Glacier National Park of Canada, and the surrounding peaks. Even though we had to change our route to get to Jasper, the rerouted drives were so gorgeous that it wasn’t much of a sacrifice. We crossed through one portion of the Rockies over Rogers Pass, then drove through Yoho National Park, crossed into Alberta, and drove through a portion of Banff National Park before officially beginning the Icefields Parkway. There were a million beautiful views, but here were a few highlights.
So after 2,100 miles and 9 nights on the road, we arrived at our first big stop of our 2025 Rockies Reboot trip, Jasper National Park! That will be featured in the next blog post, with pictures showing the devastating wildfire from last summer along with lots of wildlife (we hope).
The Kona Mud Pie looked amazing and I’m sure it tasted amazing as well. Definitely brings back memories from Kona. We had a slice in 2017 or 18 when we visited and in 2010 on our visit but before that is was 1992 when our son was born- so that is 3 times in 33 years, which is not enough.
Loved the California Quails! Had no idea they existed or are so colorful. I grew up hunting quail in the thick Minnesota woods. Basic brown and you had to be very quick to get a shot off before they were away and behind brush so thick that the small shot would not get through.
Looking forward to actually seeing you in July!
Kent, looking forward to your visit in July. We’ll hunt down some Kona pie instead of CA quail!
what a great reboot. love all the pics. your trip looks absolutely amazing.
Thanks, Dee! We are having a great time, even with some of the challenges. God’s creation is so beautiful and varied!
So glad you can make this trip after last year’s unexpected stop to help your mom. I love seeing her. Please tell her that she looks absolutely terrific. What a smile she has! And I love all the pix. I think my favorites were of the beautiful farm. That baby calf was kind of magical. I’ll look forward to reading and seeing more as you venture on.
I will tell my mom what you said, though she might not remember you 🙁 The farm is such a fun place–we’ve been there 4 times and we always enjoy it, especially seeing the babies.
Wow — I’m so thrilled you both got to reboot your epic road trip! The photos are absolutely stunning — those views of Mt. Shasta, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Rainier are breathtaking and brought back so many memories from my own adventures through Oregon and Washington. But those California quails you spotted? Incredible! I’ve never seen them look quite so striking — such beautiful birds. And the wildlife shots were amazing — I especially loved seeing the bald eagle you visited again after two years. It’s so heartening to know it’s still there and thriving. What a magical journey you two are on! Can’t wait to follow along as you make your way through Jasper National Park — keep the updates coming!
Thanks, Carlen. I think the sunlight was hitting those quail just right. The rest of the time they looked more brown. We are having a great time with all the wildlife we encounter. That’s always a highlight of our travels. Thanks for reading!