DAY 1, Tuesday June 20:
We board our comfortable bus at Braithwaite Community Centre and at 9:00 am we start on our one hour drive to visit Free Spirit Nursery in Langley. This nursery is owned and operated by plantsman Lambert Vrijmoed and his garden designer wife Marjanne and has won many local awards in recent years for their superb garden designs. Lambert has worked with noted Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf. Their nursery consists of display and demonstration gardens with featured plants available for purchase. We will enjoy a two hour, guided walking tour of the gardens.
Another hour’s drive will bring us to Minter Gardens for a 1:15 pm lunch at the cafeteria. After lunch there will be plenty of time to tour the garden as we are spending the night at Harrison Hotsprings Resort, a 15 minute drive away.
Overnight: Harrison Hotsprings Resort - Lunch and Dinner

DAY 2, Wednesday June 21: Relics of the Kettle Valley Railway; exploring the Nicola Valley
After breakfast we head out to the Quintette Tunnels in Hope. These five tunnels, just outside of Hope, are one of the engineering marvels on the Kettle Railway. Designed by engineer Andrew McCulloch, the tunnels were built from 1911 to 1916 and completed the Kettle Valley railway. It was McCulloch’s greatest challenge to find a way through the Coquihalla gorge, where the river had cut a 300-foot deep horseshoe channel into a wall of solid granite. There was barely enough room for the river and certainly no extra room for a railway.

There is a large information display just past the last tunnel with the story and photos of how McCulloch and several fellow engineers surveyed the canyon from small woven baskets suspended down into the canyon by ropes from the cliff tops above. After several weeks, McCulloch engineered a perfect alignment of five tunnels at Othello Station. (Actually there are only four tunnels - the third was partially ‘daylighted,’ giving the illusion of five.)

The area is impressive enough to get Hollywood’s attention - it was used in filming First Blood (Rambo), Shoot to Kill, and Far from Home: adventures of Yellow Dog.

Brookmere, Kingsmere to Merritt via the Kane Valley
Just past the Coquihalla Highway summit, the Brookmere exit leads to the tiny hamlet of Brookmere, once a station on the Kettle Valley Railway. It consisted of a round house, a turntable, water tower and station house. The water tower still stands and the station house is now a private home. Although the rails have been lifted, the right of way is still clearly defined and is now a mountain bicycle route in summertime, a cross country ski and snowmobile route in winter.

Following the Coldwater River downstream from Brookmere, back roads lead through idyllic ranching and logging country to Merritt via Kane Valley. Wildflowers and birdlife are abundant but the forest has been badly affected by the mountain pine beetle. We could stop periodically for photography of the wildflowers, lakes and stunningly beautiful scenery of the aspen parkland.

Weather permitting we will stop to have our bagged lunch besides one of the lakes or perhaps the Coldwater River. There are many beautiful spots to choose from.

Early afternoon we drive past the Baillie House and Coldwater Hotel in downtown Merritt on our way to Nicola Ranch Community. This ranch is an old gazetted community. Some of the old building have been renovated and are now being used as employee houses. We stop at the gift store and take a leisurely walk around this old community.

Quilchena Hotel was established in 1908 and is one of the Valley’s most historic buildings. Not far from Nicola Lake, the resort offers visitors a multitude of outdoor experiences: guided trail rides, tennis, swimming, fishing, hiking and a scenic 9-hole golf course. With an early check-in and late June sunsets, golfers could easily play a round in the late afternoon. The restaurant is superb.
Overnight: Quilchena Hotel. Breakfast, Boxed Lunch and Dinner

DAY 3, Thursday June 22: The historic Douglas Lake Ranch
We depart around 10:30 for a short,1/2 hour drive to the largest working ranch in British Columbia. Incredibly beautiful scenery with abundant wildflowers and birdlife, including rare white pelicans (nearly always present). Plus a visit to the historic general store (“Our store carries a wide selection of groceries, fresh produce, clothing, souvenirs, western tack, farm fresh eggs, and of course, cuts from our famous beef.” )

Our guided tour starts at the Home Ranch at 11:30 am and features the company town, General Store, calving barn, quarter horse barn, feedlot and silage storing area.
After lunch, we board our bus and head out to Vancouver, a 3 1/2 hour, comfortable ride back home.
Breakfast and Lunch.