Day 11 - Thursday 24 May 2012

LAC LE JEUNE, CANADA
　Weather: Overcast, occasional sunny patches.
　
After a 9am start, we were on the road again - heading to Lac Le Jeune near Kamloops. As 19 people left on the train last night, there were plenty of seats free so I sat near the back of the bus so, if someone yelled out "bear!" or "deer!" etc., I'd have a better chance of catching a glimpse.
　
About 5 minutes into our journey, the shout of "bear! bear!" filled the bus. I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a small black bear making his way across a clearing near the road side. As Victor, our driver, was going fast, he had travelled too far to reverse for us to take photos. But I was happy as I'd seen the bear.
　


Mount Robson

 Our first stop was at the foot of The Rockies' biggest mountain - Mount Robson. Unfortunately, the peak was under cloud but it was still pretty spectacular.
　
Five minutes after leaving Mount Robson, we spotted a coyote about to cross the road. He was actually looking right and left. I hope he didn't turn into road kill.
　


Ducth Lake

 Lunch was at a beautiful spot at Dutch Lake, Clearwater. We were the only ones there and it was great. This spot was apparently accidentally discovered by one of Trafalgar's Tour Directors who had made a wrong turn. Great find!!
　
Our next spot, was a waterfall at Spahats Creek. This waterfall is unusual as it comes out half way down from the top of a cliff in a spectacular canyon.
　


Waterfall at Spahats Creek

 Final stop was at a petrol station so Vic could fill up the bus. We had to get off the bus for safety reasons while he did this.
　
Then, we finally arrived at Lac Le Jeune at 4pm. And what a sight! The "hotel" is called The Lac Le Jeune Resort. And the word "resort" is pushing it a lot!!

Lac Le Jeune

This place was another accidental discoverery by a Trafalgar Tour Director. Apparently, only Trafalgar goes to this unique spot.
　
Pauline had told us that our hotel wouldn't have a telephone, television, or internet access. We were told it will be like going back in time. And she was correct. The small reception area is full of stuffed animals - moose, bear, beaver - all animals you could spot in West Canada. My room has a balcony looking out onto the lake.
　
Each room has two queen size beds and when I arrived into my room, there were two stuffed animals on the beds - one bed had a black bear and the other bed had a beaver. Nice touch I thought. Some of the others didn't agree.
　
The hotel sure is stuck in the 1950's - old, peeling wall paper, old taps, brown colour scheme - and my room had brown water. Of course, I didn't realise that the water was brown until after I drank it. Yuk!!!
　


Ralph, the red squirrel

 On the front verandah, the hotel has several bird feeders and several beautiful birds flew in to feed while we were looking on in awe. Even a red squirrel named Ralph and a chipmunk showed up to scare away the birds and eat the peanuts in the feeder.
　
Ralph has his own little shelf just inside the doorway of the hotel and, whenever they leave the door open, he makes his way up on the shelf and eats the peanuts that are there waiting for him.
　

Chickadee on Maureen's hand

At 5pm, one of the owners named Derick took a few of us on a walk along the lake and up to a beaver lodge. Didn't see any beavers but plenty of awesome birds. Derick gave some of us peanuts so, when you held your hand out, the chickadees would swoop in, take a peanut and fly off. They seemed to like Maureen a lot so all cameras were focused on her outstretched hand.
　
After our walk, it was time for our final dinner. It was, what Pauline called "A buffett barbeque". Victor described it as "the best food of the tour, as it's home cooking". It was basically a buffet of salads, hot foods including roast beef and ham, and a whole swagger of desserts.

The diners consisted of 33 of us, Pauline and Vic, an elderly couple who were friends of the owners and lived in Kamloops, and a honeymoon couple.
　
After our dinner, it was time for the reading of poems or limericks. Pauline had told us that we had to write a poem or limerick for this dinner. Only 5 people had done it. Lorna, an elderly lady who had been a teacher, had a whole bunch of poems - each one in relation to the activities and what was seen on each day of our trip.
　
Marilyn and I sat at a table with Maureen and Tony Green - a great couple from Essex, UK. I felt kind of bad as Dulcie and Steve were looking to sit with us. They ended up sitting on the table with Pauline and Victor which looked like the really fun table. We were lucky that Maureen had written a poem so she represented our table.
　
First prize went to Donna - one of a group of 8 people travelling together from LA. Now there is a strange woman. She hardly ever smiled throughout the tour. A widow, in her late fifties, she met her current boyfriend two years ago and left Florida for LA to be with him. She moved to LA because her boyfriend Michel, a French man, had his friends there. When we first met her, she said that she really misses Florida and hates LA. Then, after a few days and with Michel around, she said she just loved LA. Strange.
　
Anyway, after dinner some went onto the small bar area for some line dancing. Vic was in his element as he had the country music on his iPod and he could finally listen to it loud!

Then it was time for bed.

Tomorrow, we head back to Vancouver and the end of the tour.

Bar scene at Lac Le Jeune