This years holiday is a two-week road trip on my own. The actual purpose is to be in Edmonton on July 3, for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). The test is the official certification of Japanese language ability, and there are 5 levels: N5 (beginner) to N1 (fluent). I passed N5 in 2019, but since then the test has been cancelled due to COVID. And because of that, the school in Vancouver that offered it has stopped doing so. So now, the only place in Western Canada to take the test is at the University of Alberta.
Well, I thought, I may as well make a road-trip out of it. I've always wanted to travel the Gold Rush Trail in BC, and I haven't been to Jasper since I was a kid. The plan is to head north from Vancouver up the Gold Rush Trail, stopping in Lillooet, Clinton near Cache Creek, historic Barkerville, Prince George, and then a few days in Edmonton. On the way back, a few days in Jasper, and a stop in Revelstoke on the way back to Vancouver.
Except for a couple of long days, each day will only require a few hours of driving, allowing me to stop and look at something whenever I feel like it. There's nothing like a long road trip to explore your thoughts. And, hopefully I'll get some drawing or painting done. It's much nicer driving when you're not under any real schedule. As soon as I got on the highway, I saw cars speeding and weaving between lanes, trying to pass and get ahead. I remember those days, when having a car pass you was like some kind of personal insult. It occurred to me: when you're young, you're in a rush to go nowhere, when you're old, you know the destination so you take your time.
Today I left Vancouver in the morning, and stopped at a café in Hope for an hour or so, to continue studying from a JLPT practice book. I'll have to make some time for that every day until the test.
From there I continued up the old Number One highway, stopping at Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park to eat a packed lunch. Just past the Alexandra Bridge I stopped to look at an information sign near the Historic Alexandra Lodge, and the owner of the lodge was outside. We chatted for a bit about history of the area and the lodge. He said the first floor of the lodge itself dates back to 1891. He's currently fixing up the property.
I continued on, and then stopped at Tuckkwiowhum Heritage Village. It's a nicely laid-out park with examples of wood dwellings, food caches, etc., and it was nice to walk around.
However, everything else there - the gallery and restaurant for example - are currently closed. Perhaps still because of COVID.
I continued up the Number One Highway to Lytton, the village that was destroyed by fire last year, and it was shocking to see the thoroughness of the devastation. There's really nothing left. I drove through Lytton to get to Highway 12 that goes to Lillooet. At Lillooet, Highway 12 intersects Highway 99, which comes from Whistler. The whole loop from Vancouver to Whistler to Lillooet to Hope and back to Vancouver is called the Coast Mountain Circle and is almost 700 km.
I've never been on Highway 12 between Lytton and Lillooet before, and the scenery is spectacular. The area is very dry, covered in grass and Ponderosa pine, and the green and brown sides of the mountains rise steeply above the Fraser River valley.
When I got to Lillooet I checked into the hotel, ate a supper from the food I'd packed, and walked down the street to the Reynolds Hotel Pub for a beer while I did more Japanese review. One the way back the sun caught the mountains on the eastern side of the valley.
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