Career Break Central

It was now early September and we were beginning the final leg of our North American tour. It was time to start visiting some BC towns to evaluate them as potential relocation sites upon our return. We decided to check out Golden, Kelowna, Kamloops and Squamish in that order. I’ll tell you about our visits and then you can vote to help us decide.

Golden

We spent our first night in BC in Golden at an average campground which would have had spectacular views if it weren’t for the smoky haze from the forest fires south of us. At first, we weren’t overly excited about this fledgling resort town. Then we drove around a new mountainside timberframe subdivision and visited the Visitors Centre and were pleasantly surprised by how much this tiny town has to offer. With a massive highway project due to be completed by 2010 that will provide a 4-lane highway all the way to Calgary (2hr 15min drive), Golden will no longer be unattainably remote and is on the verge of becoming the next resort boomtown. The recreation possibilities are endless with hiking, mountainbiking, skiing and snowboarding in champagne powder at Kicking Horse Resort, hanggliding, whitewater rafting and only a 20 minute drive to Banff National Park. They have excellent schools (with French Immersion), no doctor shortage, an active population and a strong sense of community spirit. Housing prices are fairly reasonable and we were very tempted to buy a spectacular mountainview lot for only $125,000 on the spot (the same lot would cost triple that elsewhere in the Rockies). The sign at the entrance to town declares that Golden is the Town of Opportunity and I’m sure that’s true if you’re in a tourism related field. Unfortunately, there are only two pharmacies in town and both are fully staffed, so my employment opportunities would be limited. Claude would also have to be very creative to find a niche for himself, but he always likes a challenge. In the end, we both agreed that we had had a visceral reaction to the place and that its remoteness was both terrifying and appealing.

Kelowna

Next, we headed for the Okanagan Valley. On the way, we stopped at very special place near Revelstoke called The Enchanted Forest. For $6 each, we spent a few hours exploring an ancient forest with trees several hundred years old. It was home to dozens of charming sculptures of fairy tale figures, all handmade by a single woman. The kids had as much fun as if they had been at Disneyland! We stopped that night near Vernon and hit Kelowna early the next morning. As excited as we were by the possibility of living in the Okanagan Valley with its dry climate and recreation opportunities afforded by the lake and nearby mountains, we were unimpressed by Kelowna with its congested, city atmosphere. Neither of us felt a pull to live there and, after driving around some neighbourhoods and gasping at the price of houses, we headed north for Kamloops.

Kamloops

Now this is a charming city, smaller than Kelowna and well laid out. It offers good skiing and mountainbiking at Sun Peaks as well as lots of hiking nearby. The people were extremely friendly and welcoming and everyone was eager to tell us why we needed to live there. The economy is strong and there were plenty of employment opportunities for both of us. Kamloops simply had a nice homey feel about it. The only thing missing was a lake for windsurfing (although we were assured the Lake Shuswap was only a short drive away).

Next, we decided to head northwest and take the less-travelled route along the Fraser River through Lilloett to Whistler and Squamish. We camped in Lilloett right on the banks of the river and, when Alexa found out that this area had been part og the Gold Rush, she spent hours combing the beach for it. Once, I had to grab her to keep her from jumping into the fast-moving water when she was convinced she had seen the glint of gold on the bottom. She ended up with a collection of rocks of varying shades of yellow and proudly displayed her treasure to everyone for days. The winding mountain roads provided us with some more breathtaking views of BC’s wilderness, although we had to stop a few times to keep our brakes from burning up on the descent into Whistler. We spent the day and night in Whistler, just soaking up the pure decadence of the place. Alexa proved her skill as a gymnast when she tried the bungee trampoline and attempted feats that made me nauseated just watching her. I also had fun roaming the marketplace and found some beautiful framed photographs of, ironically, Nova Scotia’s south shore. It was late in the season and the photographer sold me two of his display photos of Hell’s Point for less than it would cost me to get them framed. Claude said it was cheating to buy pictures of Nova Scotia in Whistler, but I don’t care – they remind me of home and I like them! After paying our highest price yet for a campsite ($55), we headed for Squamish the next morning.

Squamish

As we made our way south on the Sea to Sky highway, the scenery kept getting more and more spectacular. The ocean sparkled deep blue in the sunlight and beautiful islands rose green and lush off the coast. The combination of sun, sea and sky was magical. By the time we made it to Squamish, I was already in love. Of course, the first place we had to visit was the Windsurfing Spit. We followed the signs faithfully and ended up on a 4km stretch of unpaved road that felt like it had been graded by a bulldozer. As every loose object in the RV rattled and danced into chaos, I read aloud through chattering teeth, the Visitors Guide that described the million dollar major enhancements that had recently been made to the Spit in recognition of its worldclass status. I guess paving the road wasn’t a high priority – that’ll come later. Finally we made it and all I can say is that I’d hate to have seen it before it was enhanced. At least they had a Portapotty with a sign inside that proclaimed “Please, no doggy doo in the can or we lose our toilet privileges!”
The view from the Spit was spectacular with the Stawamus Chief rising formidably as a backdrop to the town. Claude gazed longingly at the windsurfers and kiteboarders who were rigging their sails before we began our jackhammer ride back to town. As for the rest of Squamish, we both thought it was a charming little town (just our size) and was the perfect distance from Whistler (1/2hr) and Vancouver (45min). I stopped in at the local Shoppers Drug Mart and the staff there were so nice! They informed me that there is no one doing relief pharmacy in the area and that there is a desparate need for it. Squamish has just about everything we’re looking for with respect to recreation and employment opportunities and we both fell in love with the place. I can definitely see us settling here.

OK, so now it’s time for the rest of you to weigh in with your opinions. If you’ve lived in, visited or even read about any of these places, we want to know what you think. Keeping in mind the following priorities, let us know where you think we belong:

1. Recreation
2. Quality of Life
3. Weather
4. Education/Employment Opportunities
5. Gut Feeling

So here’s the final kicker, as much as we are drawn to BC, we may not even relocate there. We’re also strongly considering Quebec’s Eastern Townships or the Ottawa area. Both have strong recreation and employment possibilities and would allow us to see a whole lot more of our families and friends back East. The best part about living in Quebec would be that the kids would have a much better chance at being fully bilingual and would have the chance to grow up with their 8 francophone cousins. Getting licensed there would be a challenge for me but it is possible. As you can see, we have a tough decision to make and we are no closer to making it than when we left Belleville. We need your help!

This entry was posted on Friday, October 13th, 2006 at 3:41 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.