There is HOPE (there really is ;-)

So tired of Vancouver's mad rush of tailgating just before noisily passing on the left or the right, just to be further ahead in line at the next red light (which won't be more than 45 seconds away), I am driving further and further into 'the countryside'.  By now I have discovered that large parts of Surrey & Langley are just vast expanses of car dealerships ( Creeping along the Langley Bypass in heavy traffic and seeing only car dealerships along the sides of the road is one of the most depressing things I've witnessed in a looong time).  After passing through the stretch between Mission and Maple Ridge last year, I am staying far away from that too.  What was a beautiful drive through the country only 20 years ago, now is a crawl through an exhaust-laden maze of bypasses and gas stations.  The Fraser Valley has become a giant strip mall !  Looking at 'camp grounds' in Cultus Lake, I had to laugh it was so sad.  In a forest that looked a little like it was located right below a Tunguska event (not many lateral branches on those 'trees'), tents and cars were crammed together on a barren forest floor like sardines, only separated by those 'trees'.  I was never really a 'camper' but I used to be neutral on the subject.  But how anyone would even consider pitching a tent RIGHT NEXT to their car's hood, and within 2 meters of their campground neighbour's empty beer cans, is beyond me.

So I am driven even further away from the city.  To Hope.  But not to Hope proper; a tiny bit outside of Hope. The Hope Holiday Motel & RV Resort. Sounds fancy but isn't. But the smallish rooms in small wood structures set right against a mini version of the Chief in Squamish has all the stuff I want and can't get in Vancouver. It is set back 2 blocks from the 'major' road, the Hope-Flood Road.  The mountain including Sasquatch Caves starts right behind the bathroom window. TV, coffee maker, fridge, microwave are all there.  A friendly Asian manager makes you feel welcome. On this rainy afternoon, he offers to uncover the swimming pool if I feel like a dip. All this for a low price you can only dream of in Vancouver.

And the distance from the road is doing its magic: I haven't slept this well in a long time ;-)

A note added a few days later:  on the return trip from Kelowna to Vancouver, two noses independently judged that the area of 'fresh air' ends somewhere between Hope and Chilliwack.  To spell it out in sad detail: Taking a car from Hope to Kelowna, one can actually smell trees, soil, cow manure, etc etc, with a few short interruptions (i.e. Merrit).  On the way to Vancouver, this abundance of smells vanishes between Hope and Chilliwack, to be replaced with what Vancouver calls air.