Following our at-home-pickup-service, we pause for morning coffee at beautiful Minter Gardens, and then travel the Hope-Princeton Highway (Highway 3), stopping for lunch in Manning Park. After further stops in Princeton and Keremeos, we continue over the Richter Pass to Osoyoos. Our home tonight is the Best Western Sunrise Inn.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Today, following morning stops in Greenwood and Grand Forks, we reach the 5000 foot Blueberry Paulson summit of Bonanza Pass and continue to Castlegar, at the confluence of the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers. After a tour and lunch at Castlegar's Doukhobor Village Museum, we'll drive across the Columbia's Hugh Keenleyside Dam which holds back the Arrow Reservoir, extending 144 miles north to Revelstoke. Leaving Castlegar we enjoy a scenic drive along the Kootenay River, past a series of hydro electric dams en-route to Nelson, perched on the slopes of the Selkirk Mountains, on the west arm of Kootenay Lake. Our home for three nights, with rooms overlooking the lake, is Nelson's Prestige Lakeside Resort. This evening is at leisure.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

This morning, just west of Nelson we turn north on Highway 6, and enter the pretty Slocan River Valley, passing small farms and following the river through Winlaw and Slocan to Slocan Lake, a 25 mile long jewel in the Selkirk Mountains. We're now in the heart of the Silvery Slocan, where BC's largest deposits of silver-lead were mined in towns like Slocan, Silverton, New Denver, and Sandon. At 400 feet above the lake, we travel the famous Cape Horn stretch of the highway, which once clung to the mountainside as a single lane, but has now been re-constructed to a regular two-lane highway. Continuing through Silverton to New Denver, we visit the Nikkei Internment Memorial which presents the history of the Japanese in the valley. From New Denver we travel east on Highway 31A, and detour into the ghost town of Sandon, before continuing to picturesque Kaslo, which sits between the Purcell and Selkirk Mountains, on the west shore of Kootenay Lake. Our Kaslo visit includes some downtown browsing and a tour of the SS Moyie, the grand old lady of the lake, the last commercial sternwheeler to serve in British Columbia. Departing Kaslo, we complete our scenic circle, following the shore of Kootenay Lake back to Nelson. This evening is at leisure.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Founded by prospectors in the late 1880's, Nelson's history lives on with its carefully restored heritage buildings. This morning begins with a ride on historic Streetcar 23, followed by a tour of the city. This afternoon and evening are at leisure, to stroll the downtown with its many shops and restaurants, or just relax and enjoy your lakefront hotel room..

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

This morning we return to Kaslo and begin an interesting backroad journey via Meadow Creek, and Trout Lake to Galena Bay, and on to Nakusp. Departing Kaslo, we travel north to our morning stop at Meadow Creek on the west shore of Kootenay Lake. From Meadow Creek we stop at the Duncan Dam, and the continue by gravel road through Goat Range Provincial Park, to Gerrard at the south end of Trout Lake, following the route of the former Arrowhead & Kootenay Railway, built in 1903 to connect Trout Lake with steamships at Lardeau on Kootenay Lake. Enjoying views from the road, high above beautiful Trout Lake, we continue northwest to our lunch stop in the Town of Trout Lake, and return to paved highway. After lunch we reach Galena Bay, and follow the east shore of Upper Arrow Lake to our overnight stop in picturesque Nakusp at the Kuskanax Lodge. This evening is at leisure.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

This morning we travel south from Nakusp to Fauquier, where we cross the Lower Arrow Lake to the former townsite of Needles (flooded in 1965 by the Keenleyside Dam). We continue northwest through rugged mountain wilderness, across the headwaters of the Kettle River and the 3900 foot summit of the Monashee Pass, through Cherryville to our lunch stop in Lumby. Following lunch we continue through Coldstream and Vernon, to our afternoon stops at Swan Lake Nurseryland (fruit, vegetables, and a bit of everything), at Armstrong’s Village Cheese Factory (cheese and ice cream) and the Log Barn (fruit, vegetables, sausage, ice cream). Travelling north from Armstrong, we reach Shuswap country and check in at Salmon Arm's Prestige Harbourfront Resort. We enjoy our farewell dinner and an evening at leisure.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Departing Salmon Arm we make a morning stop in Kamloops, and then follow scenic Highway 5A, along Nicola Lake to our lunch stop in Merritt. From Merritt we travel southwest over the Coquihalla Highway to the Fraser Valley and home.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch