Day 44 – Saturday July 1/17  - CANADA DAY 150

We started Canada Day with strawberry pancakes with maple syrup and peameal (also known as Canadian) bacon. The early morning rain had cleared so we drove a couple of kilometres to the Village of Valemount BC for their Canada Day Parade. By the start of the parade at 10 am it was sunny and 17 C. It was the quintessential small town parade – the police car, the fire truck, the ambulance, some local businesses, kids on small motorcycles and ATV’s. The horses bought up the rear. The library had a float, as did the local MLA. There was much candy thrown and fortunately we caught our fair share (although we gave most of it to kids nearby). Nancy managed to catch the eye of a businessman who threw her a Canada tee-shirt which she wore for the rest of the day. We also got 4 pins with the Canada 150 logo and “Valemount BC” on them. Terrific reminders of a friendly town. We felt it was significant that there were two women dressed in red and carrying red dresses with a sign that said “Don’t forget our Sisters” – a reference to the missing and murdered indigenous women. (photos)

Our campsite

Canada Day Breakfast

At the Valemount Canada Day Parade

At the Valemount Canada Day Parade

"Don't Forget Our Sisters"

We packed  a gourmet lunch of a variety of cheeses, smoked oysters, crackers, red wine and butter tarts and headed 120 km back to Jasper for our prearranged boat tour on Maligne Lake. En route we stopped at Mount Terry Fox and were once again reminded of the qualities of courage and altruism the fine young BC man embodied. A true Canadian hero. How fitting that a mountain peak in the Rockies is named for him. We were glad to be reminded of Terry again on Canada Day. (photo) 

We also were awed to see Mount Robson in all its glory. It is the tallest mountain in Canada - truly massive and magnificent. It was much more prominent on the eastward journey than it had been on the trip west yesterday. (Photo)

We by-passed the town of Jasper overflowing with tourists on Canada Day and headed to a picnic area a few kilometres outside of town on Lake Annette for our celebratory picnic lunch. A table in the shade with a view of the lake and of course mountains called to us. As we unpacked our food we unfortunately discovered that the crackers were back at Rocinante II. So we improvised. We ate smoked oysters, blue cheese, Boursin cheese and cheddar on potato chips. We also adapted carrot and celery sticks as vehicles for cheese. We enjoyed some red wine and finished by sharing a butter tart. 

As we were finishing a lady about our age asked if she could have a little rest at our table in the shade. Her name was Yvonne from St. Paul AB. She was clearly Francophone with very fluent English and we enjoyed chatting about family and the vagaries of life. Nancy felt a special kinship with her as her husband had died a number of years ago after a 3 year struggle with cancer. This conversation brought a few tears to Nancy’s eyes and she explained that her husband Jim had died 9 years ago today after 3 years of cancer battle. Interesting how The Universe sends little messages.

We had to leave Yvonne hurriedly as our alarm was telling us we had to hit the road in order to make our 4 pm boat tour 42 kilometres away.  We should have had enough time but the speed limit on the winding route was 60 km/h and some people were going even slower. Can you picture us? Running from the parking lot only to see the boat leave the dock. We went to the ticket office and explained our situation. One very helpful clerk suggested there might be two seats available on the 5:30 sailing. We decided to take our chances. We agreed to check back at 5:20. Meantime we went for a walk along the edge of the mountain lake. It was lovely and we enjoyed this bit of fresh air and exercise. (photo) 

At the appointed time we went back to the ticket agent. Her supervisor was less friendly and told us there was no room. So we forfeited our tickets. 

Nancy was quite upset at this reversal of plans but she managed to change her mood as we walked in a new direction along the lakeshore. We had planned to do a special toast while on the boat so we found a secluded dock and opened a small bottle of champagne to toast Canada and Jim. A special moment.

It was 6:30 when we made the return trip along the scenic road we had rushed along a couple of hours previously. This time we enjoyed the mountain and river vistas that greeted us at every turn. We went in to Japer for the town’s Canada Day Barbeque. We had a supper of hotdogs for Michael and a hamburger for Nancy. The fact that the local historical society was providing the meal as a fundraiser made it even better for Nancy whose mother was a devoted member of the Scarborough Historical Society. 

With an hour gained by the change in time zone we returned to our trailer about 9 pm. We took the opportunity to make lunch for tomorrow and to do some tidying before heading to the finale of our Canada Day Celebrations.

By 10 we were back in Valemount waiting for the fireworks. For a small village they put on quite a show! We were impressed with the number and quality of the fireworks. 

It was so much fun to ooohhh and aaahhh with the crowd of several hundred who were watching the fireworks with the unforgettable mountain backdrop. The spontaneous singing of O Canada was a perfect way to end our day.

There is no doubt that Canada has made mistakes over the last 150 years – very serious ones when it comes to indigenous people and these must be redressed. But there are things that we have done well. We saw some of those today in the friendliness and generosity of a small town, the commonalities we share despite our mother language, the example of a young hero. So today we are proud to honour Canada and to remember a fine man – Jim Chapple