Prince Rupert: not sure how it got this name?

We took off for Prince Rupert without any delays. In fact we left a couple minutes early. Getting to places early and leaving early seems to be a theme amongst the Canadians! It was a pretty ride on a comfortable train. Lots of friendly interesting people on the train. Oddly this train ride (Jasper to Prince Rupert) cost 1/10 of the cost of the ride from Vancouver to Banff. This, however, was a very small group….only about 20 people!

Ron, the conductor was from Manitoba, others were from New Zealand, England, the Netherlands, many spots in Canada, China? (Communication issues…). But no one from the US or Mexico! One woman told me she would not go to the US until they began recognizing women’s rights. Many expressed concern about gun violence in the US. None brought up the drug cartel oddly.

I did learn that Baileys is called Moo Juice in Winnipeg and it seemed on the west coast of Canadá seemed many referred to it as “a little love”. Regardless, Ron had none to put in our coffee…. Much to the dismay of the many Canadians. I was just sad that Ron did not say, “all aboard!” (Because I had my own stash)

A strange feature of this route was the requirement to stop in Prince George… for the night. We were strictly counseled to stay together as a group and walk directly to our hotels. Apparently they call it the meth capital of BC. Last year they had 8 homicides. We walked an older solo female traveler from the Netherlands to her hotel and she asked us to come back for her in the morning. She spoke English well but had some difficulties with word confusion. She asked if it was true Mexicans went to church with “kanish”. We had no idea what she was saying until she stopped and knelt down….on the sidewalk. Knees! Then she said she had trouble with her kanish… and pointed to her brace. I wondered how often do I do this with my Spanish? …mucho I beto.

The train was had a few minor delays and while we had hoped to get to Prince Rupert about 8 we got there at nine. While we were a little disappointed to be late we were greatly relieved when we learned from shopkeepers and cabdrivers that usually it comes in closer to midnight. Nine was considered very early!

We were dropped of at a little house perched on a big rock just a 100 yards from PJs convenience store that is open 24/7 and served great spicy potatoes and fried chicken according to our cab driver. Guess what we had for dinner?

The next day we learned that Grizzly bear tours had ended 2 months earlier and orca trips had been booked out for the next 2 months. So we had a couple nice days of hiking, shopping (end of season sales), haircuts, museums and sipping coffee on the chaise by the window. Best of all, Heather and Annie drove down from Kitimat for lunch. I am not sure why but it’s surprising in Canada to be in (or hear about) these remote towns that have all the needed resources plus fast food, dance classes, and sometimes even pickleball (definitely hockey though). Plus with additional excitement of grizzly bears in your yard. We learned that the train is required to continue the route because there is no other access to some of the towns other than rail, but it certainly must run with a deficit with only about 20 passengers.

We generally try to avoid spots where cruise ships come in but this could not be avoided at Prince Rupert as it is part of the inside passage. They clear customs in Canada before moving on to Alaska. We felt like locals as we gave the cruisers directions and restaurant recommendations.

We felt lucky to have experienced a bit of sunshine in Prince Rupert before slumping into our 5 am cab ride to the ferry. There is a unique beauty here. The light (when the clouds) is a rich golden color.

Such a nice ferry but views limited due to some pretty torrential rain initially. The rain did not keep a humpback from breaching. They did have some decent food, comfy recliners and a couple Tom Cruise movies. Check out “live, die, repeat”. We were not early to arrive this time. We hoped to get to Port Hardie at 11:30 but did not get into our hotel room until about 2:30…. A very long day when starting with a 5 AM cab. advice: take lots of knitting.

These Italian Greyhounds hang out at the hair salon.. I want one.