Scenic Sunday in Kamloops

Kamloops, British Columbia is a very different place from where I live in Vancouver. Kamloops is about 4 hours drive north and is located in what is called the Interior of the province. It is cattle country and for years this small city was more like a frontier town.

[Panoramic shot of the North Shore, Kamloops]

I'm happy to say that in the past decade or so things have changed a lot. New commercial buildings have gone up aplenty. New areas of the city have seen significant residential development and there are new facilities and services to be used such as the new downtown library and the one that will open on April 19, 2010 on the north shore. There are also new hotels and restaurants.

[Photo of the newest hotel opened in February 2010]

If you are a golfer there are numerous golf resorts. If you are a mountain biker, the city is known for it's mountain bike trails. If you love the outdoors the entire region is known for fishing and camping. If you like hot weather you are also in luck as the summer temperatures can frequently get over 30ºCelsius. So you will likely want to hang out in one of the city's many beautiful parks just to stay cool and relax. Or you might participate in a community or national event like Canada's birthday on Canada Day, July 1st.

[Collage of photos taken at park on Canada Day 2009. 
Click on photo to enlarge]

Whatever you want to do, you will likely be able to do it in Kamloops. But you better hurry. Those real estate prices have been going up, up and up.

Here now are a few photos taken downtown in February 2010.

[Plaza Hotel, a landmark in the city centre]

[Zack's Coffee shop, a long time business in downtown core]

[City sidewalks are nice and wide downtown and planter pots await Spring]

[Traffic is not exceptionally heavy]

[Buildings downtown retain their history. Big malls are on the hill & across the river]

[This mall has undergone about 3 complete renovations in last 40 years]

[One of the local radio stations]

[Bus routes are extensive and run every 15-30 minutes depending on time of day]

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Day Trip to Kamloops, My World Tuesday

Driving to Kamloops, BC. We are at the highest elevation of the mountainous highway.

Passing by Merritt, BC.  One hour left to go before we get to Kamloops.

Today my brother, my cousin and I took a day drive to Kamloops to visit my mother.  We left around 7:45 a.m. and arrived in Kamloops at 12:30 p.m. after a leisurely drive and several stops. I only took a couple of photos along the way.  After stopping for some lunch we arrived to visit mom. She was waiting in the dining hall anxiously keeping watch for us and was so happy when we arrived.

We visited for a time in the dining hall and I showed her the shawls and dresses I had brought for her. She loved them all.  After visiting for awhile my brother went to pick up my niece who lives about a half hour from where mom now resides.  When he returned, we left my brother to visit my mom in private while I took my cousin for a look around the facilities and took my niece to see the new rose garden that is now open at the facility.

As soon as we opened the door to the garden, the fragrance of the roses was heavenly.  I took a few photos as the blossoms were so lovely.  There were about 6 or 7 varieties of roses in the garden but I took photos of these beautiful red blossoms only.

Afterwards, my cousin and I took mom to her room where we tried on her dresses as best we could given she was sitting in her wheelchair. My guess is that the staff will cut the new dresses up the back to make them easier to wear. Hopefully they won't wash them. I will have to retrieve them later and sew some seams up the back.  She loved both dresses but I think the red one particularly caught her eye.  While we were trying on her dresses my brother drove my niece back to her home.

We visited awhile longer with mom and took her back to the dining room for dinner before calling my nephew to come and meet his auntie for a quick visit. We visited with him briefly in the parking lot before we departed at 5:45 p.m. for the drive back to Vancouver. He usually wants a real quick visit so we were careful to take little of his time. This time he asked why the rush, lol. We may seem him this weekend when he makes a trip to the big city.  Soon he will be moving to my city permanently as he has given up his job to return to university and complete his Bachelor of Arts degree.

We made it home at approximately 9:45 p.m.  We were all very tired as none of us slept well last night but all in all we had a fruitful and pleasant visit.

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More Images of Kamloops

It's been a week or so now since I returned home from Kamloops. I didn't get a chance to post some of my photos when I was there. I am always too busy when there to do much sightseeing or blogging in the way I would like.

Hopefully these snap shots I captured on my errand days will give you a good sense of the area. Maybe I can get some photos of different areas next time. You can click on any of the photos to enlarge.

I also found this wonderful and short video tonight. I am not a mountain biker but Kamloops is a well known area for mountain biking so for those fans, you might really like this. I think it also gives a good view of the surrounding terrain. Isn't it beautiful?

Click here to learn more about the city and surrounding area.

Click here to visit some Kamloops webcams

Click here for a map to see where Kamloops is located.

Photo Journey to Kamloops

I recently went to visit my mother who lives about 4 and half hours north through the mountains. I thought it would be good to show you the scenery along the way.

The first 2 photos were taken about 1.5 hours into the journey. Truth be told I never seem to think about taking photos until I see this mountain range. The mountains are always spectacular but on this day they seemed to be outlined somehow in that the shape of them seemed more clearly defined than usual. Perhaps it was just my imagination. No matter how many times I travel this highway, things always look different to me.

This photo is taken on the highway going through Chilliwack, an agricultural area.

 

This photo is past the City of Hope. We are climbing up to the summit of the mountain range.  There used to be a toll bridge here for many years but it is now gone. Instead they are building a toll bridge closer to where I live.

I am always awed by this sheer rock face on the mountain no matter what the season.

There was very little traffic on the highway going up or coming home. It causes me to think that the price of gas has so many people deciding not to travel far these days. 
These photos show you how much snow has fallen this year. There is still plenty of it. In fact, a light snow fell on the drive north and more flurries fell on the return journey.

 

 

When we get to this flat stretch it means we are nearing the City of Merritt which is about 1 hour south of Kamloops.  For years Merritt has been known as the home of the Merritt Mountain Music Fest, a large country music festival held every summer.  This year it will be held July 19-22, 2012.

It is hard to see but if you look at the lower part of the photo you will see some of the buildings (homes and businesses) that make up part of Merritt.

We are now nearing the City of Kamlops; my destination.

We are missing the main town by driving down the side of a mountain into the North Shore.  This scene is always very pretty at night when the city lights are shining.

Normally  the weather would be very warm by now but it is still chilly by Kamloops standards. This is a view of the north shore of the city, Bachelor heights to the top left and the Kamloops Industrial Park and Raleigh in the far distance on the right. You keep driving on the Trans Canada Highway north beyond those mountains. You can read a bit more about that journey here.

Once I got to my destination I quickly set about doing the work mom requested to re-arrange her closet and her drawers, put a stacking shelf on her dresser to hold her products and locate several photos in her storage tubs. I was able to tape all her photos inside the picture frame and hang it up. I also managed to have dinner with my niece and visit mom for a bit. The journey home was quiet and easy. I arrived home in the wee hours of the morning.

I hope you enjoyed the journey with me.