Canada/West 2022:
Day 16 - Bay View

	Thursday, August 25, 2022: We had a long driving day ahead of us, so we were up at 5:30 AM, packing camp, ...
	... and out on the road by 6 AM.
	We drove out of the southern end of Mount Robson Park a few minutes after leaving camp. The clouds were tinged with pink as the sun continued to rise.
	We followed Yellowhead Highway south on Highway 5, and stopped for gas, ice, and breakfast in the town of Valemount.
	Our route ran beside train tracks for many miles, and we saw many freight trains carrying shipping containers.
	There's enough logging in the area to warrant a special road sign. Cool.
	The Petro-Canada station in Blue River had a statue of a black bear fighting a grizzly bear. We were in grizzly bear country after all, and we had just seen a black bear and her cubs yesterday.
	This stretch of Yellowhead Highway is part of the Lakes and Trails Circle Route, a scenic loop that runs for more than 1,000 kilometers.
	We passed numerous construction staging areas, with sections of what appeared to be pipeline being built.
	You have to admit that the Yellowhead Highway logo is very distinctive.
	Oooh. Look at the bears on the wildlife sign. Oh, please, let us see more bears. Please.
	You would think that the horse in this sign would be running considering that this is bear country.
	This is also logging country.
	A little after 10 AM, we reached the town of Kamloops, which touts itself as "Canada's Tournament Capital." Considering that it hosts more than 100 tournaments each year, we can see how they got their nickname.
	It was very pretty, with the North Thompson River running alongside the train tracks and the highway.
	Look at all of those pink Ocean Network Express (ONE) containers.
	We joined up with Trans-Canada Highway 1 briefly as we apparently headed every direction except east.
	Alas, our time with the Trans-Canada Highway was brief, but don't worry, we'll see it again before we leave Canada.
	We were through the Rocky Mountains, and it was clear skies and sun as we continued south and west.
	On the outskirts of Merritt we stopped at McDonald's for our last serving of poutine. Oh, how we will miss you.
	The bare granite peaks along the Coquihalla Range are named for animals. This is Nak Peak, with Yak Peak, Thar Peak, and Guanaco Peak nearby.  A nak is a female yak, and a thar is a Himalayan wild goat. The more you know...
	One of the fascinating things about driving through mountains in massive snowfall regions is getting to drive through snow sheds. Ahead is the Great Bear Snow Shed, a massive concrete tunnel that allows avalanches to safely pass over the highway.
	On the outskirts of the town of Hope, we joined back up with Trans-Canada Highway 1, headed toward Vancouver.
	But first, a stop at Guildford Town Centre, in the suburb of Surrey. Why, you ask?
	Because they have a LEGO Store, of course!
	Debbie had now reached the point in her Pick & Build experience where she was looking for unique and interesting pieces.
	We filled a single large cup and purchased the Everyone is Awesome set, which was on sale. She already has this set, but since the grandkids love to play with it, she wanted to have a backup. Plus you get so many minifigs with this set, how can you not get it?
	We headed deeper into Vancouver, taking the King George Bridge ...
	... across the Fraser River. That's Sapperton, in New Westminster.
	Even the buses are polite in Canada, ...
	... apologizing for not being in service. Aww.
	That's the Vancouver skyline in the distance.
	Maersk!
	Around 3:30 PM, we arrived at the Richmond Centre Mall, the westernmost limit of our trip.
	We parked and headed inside to the LEGO Store.
	Baby shark, do do duh do do, baby shark, .... Sorry.
	Their Pick & Build wall was different than the others that we had seen, with only four rows of bins, no giant "Pick & Build" sign, and no fake bins toward the ceiling. We think this is because this is a temporary location, but we're not certain.
	We thought long and hard about getting this World Map set, but decided against it. We still had a lot of driving before we were home, and were worried that it would be damaged with the little storage space we had remaining in the van.
	One full LEGO cup later, we headed out of the mall ...
	... toward the US border.
	We entered the queue just after 4:30 PM, ...
	... and moved fairly quickly toward the checkpoint.
	Forty minutes later, we were through the checkpoint and back in the United States.
	As we headed south, Debbie started looking for Mount Baker, which was hidden in the haze to the east.
	Just after 6:00 PM, we could see ocean. We were getting close to our campground.
	That's Padilla Bay, which means we are almost at ...
	... Bay View State Park, one of our favorite campgrounds. We had stayed here last year in our RV, ...
	... in this very spot, which is the very best and most coveted spot in the campground. Alas, someone else had it booked this time, ...
	... so we proceeded to the campsite we had reserved, which was on the eastern edge of the interior loop.
	There were wild blackberries all around our campsite. Hey, this is western Washington. There are wild blackberries everywhere. Debbie ate a few when Tom wasn't looking.
	The shower building had coin operated showers, and we had enough coins to each have a 4 1/2 minute shower.
	We got the tent set up, ...
	... and backed the van all the way up to the tent to provide as much shade as possible.
	We showered and then had cocktails and cheese and crackers in the tent.
	The sun went down over the bay, ...
	... and we watched the stars come out through the skylight in our tent. Day 17 >