Find your way here the first weekend in August, the Canadian Labour Day, for the Kaslo Jazz Etc. Summer Music Festival. www.kaslojazzfest.com Started by one of my oldest friends, an expatriate Texan from Houston, in 1991 or '92. Can't remember which year. My buddy got the idea from one of his annual trips to Texas, when he went to the Texas Jazz Festival in Corpus Christi, free at the time, and started thinking it would be cool to do that in Kaslo. The festival site is in a natural amphitheatre at the head of the small bay. You're looking out from it in the pictures... the mountains rise straight up from behind Kaslo Bay Park and the acoustics are amazing. I make a post like this at least once a year and try to do it far enough ahead of time so that folks could plan a visit. We rent a car in Spokane, Washington and drive north to a small border crossing and on up to Nelson. From there, you go on a lakeside road that ends in the last village on that side of Kootenay Lake. There's fishing, if you're interested. "Kootenay Lake offers year round fishing. Over 100 miles long and from 2 to 6 miles wide, it is known the world over for its trout. The lake's record catch is a 35lb 12oz Gerrard Rainbow Trout. The Gerrard is indigenous to Kootenay Lake, but has been transplanted all over the world. Dolly Varden and Kokanee are plentiful in Kootenay lake as well and there is also a small population of whitefish. The world's largest recorded Kokanee - almost 10 pounds- was caught here." http://kaslovisitorguide.com/index.php?section=Fishing The lake and the surrounding area remind me of the Swiss Alps and the fjords of Norway, two places I've been to a few times. Spectacular! The Festival! KASLO JAZZ Etc. FESTIVAL- ONE OF THE TOP TEN OUTDOOR FESTIVALS- USA TODAY “Big mountains, small village, floating stage- the vibe of Kaslo is intimately amazing,” Clynes says. “With pristine wilderness as a backdrop, the musicians are perched on the edge of Kootenay Lake while onlookers swim around the stage, dance in the sand or recline on blankets laid in a natural, green amphitheater. Booths offer ethnic food and a beer garden. There’s no restrictions on BYO picnics, so plenty of checkered quilts and tablecloths dot the ground.” - USA Today (I can't believe Jimi got his festival in freakin' USA Today!!! ) All sorts of things to buy. Organic fruit smoothies to die for, crafts, etc.. Loads of hippies live in Kaslo. Half the town council are old school hippies and very friendly. One of them let us borrow his motor boat to look at the Indian hieroglyphics along the cliff across the lake. There's a big mountain right behind the festival site. You can drive to the top and take in the incredible views. Hot springs all over the immediate area, where you can soak and enjoy with privacy. You just need to know where they are (not hard to find out). Also, a public pool (small fee) not far away that is fed from hot springs coming out of a cave. You can swim into the cave... groovy! Nelson is the nearest town of any size. A college town with good places to eat and tons of art galleries (have something on our wall from there). For the guys, there are Canadian babes all over the place! I went with another old friend up there several years ago and had to leave my sweetie at home. Went to the festival wrap party (find out where it is and go. someone will tell you) and ended up dancing with 3 foxy chicks at the same time. More chicks than guys! There is a limit to how many tickets they can sell per day (3 day festival), which is somewhere around a 1000 to 1200 (maybe 1500? don't think it's that many), so if you want to go, you might want to consider buying tickets at least a month or so in advance. That's a guess. E-mail the festival and find out, if you want. Oh, and it's Jazz, Etc. because they also have World Music and blues. Very cool! A good link for information on the area: http://kaslovisitorguide.com/index.php
My guess is he would be starting on the west coast, coming from Australia. Lots of driving, but what a wonderful trip. I bolded some of my must sees from your list, but you did a great job of hitting the highlights. Maybe he could take the southern route out of Sante Fe and hit Carlsbad caverns. Then take I10 into San Antonio, skipping Dallas entirely. I would like to see a list of Australia's highlights, my husband and I would like to take a 3 week trip over there once we get the last kid out of the house.
Nah, just Australian. It's hard to shear a sheep, drink a Fosters, hold your gigantic knife and type at the same time.
Vegas New York Miami Seattle Vancouver Victoria Toronto San Francisco are obviously must see. I guess you are ruling out Mexico?
rimrocker's suggested itinerary: (Follow this and you'll find yourself experiencing most of what the US has to offer.) (From Seattle) Do the Vancouver/Victoria thing Olympic National Park (via ferry) Crater Lake National Park (via Portland and the Oregon coast) Yosemite National Park (via Lassen National Park) Sequoia National Park Grand Canyon National Park (north rim, via Las Vegas and Bryce Canyon National Park) Mesa Verde National Park Arches National Park (via Moab) Rocky Mountain National Park (via Grand Junction, Denver, Boulder) Yellowstone National Park (via Grand Tetons National Park) Glacier National Park After Glacier, go into Canada and do the Banff/Edmonton/Calgary trip From there, swing over to Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, and Memphis. Work your way NE to NY City and Boston. Come down the east coast and check out Cape Hatteras National Park. Find Florida and go see the Kennedy Space Center. Go to the Keys if you have time and there are no hurricans forecast. Wind your way across the Gulf coast through Mobile and New Orleans. Hit Houston, San Antonio, and Austin then head west through the Hill Country towards Big Bend. Stop in Tucson to visit Saguaro National Park and then through Phoenix to LA. Up the coast through San Fran and back to Seattle.
You should came here, in Quebec City, son much more attractive than Vancouver or Montreal or Toronto, we have the oldest street in America, amazing remparts, and when you go to the old quebec, you can see real house from 1700-1800 years. And if you like shopping, you have the biggest commercial center in East Canada .
And don't forget, you have a canon ball stuck in a tree. Seriously though.............Quebec city is beautiful. Those other cities don't suck, and they will hold your interest longer, but I agree..........Quebec City is the prettiest city in North America.
You sound like you're going to skip Chicago. Don't. We're the realest city in the country baby. Trust me--especially if you're coming in the summer and you can avoid the winters.
Really impressed with the reply so far. Thanks a lot guys. I can see how you were confused when i said just the major cities in canada... what i meant was, i want to see all the great places in the US (major cities AND country) but i only wanted to limit my time in Canada (just the major cities/tourist attractions/must sees)
Sorry for my confusion. It is a holiday weekend, but it is the Civic Holiday. (always the first Monday of August unless another civil or provincial holiday exists on a different date, in which case the local holiday is used) In British Columia, it is British Columbia Day [statutory holiday, first Monday of August]. That makes it a 3 day weekend in Canada. http://www.calendar-updates.com/info/holidays/canada/civic.aspx You are absolutely right. As they say today, my bad! Don't remember when I got that confused, but it is a holiday weekend!
I like you list but I'm not sure Minneapolis or St Louis has enough to offer to merit the drive. Wave at the arch in St Louis but don't stop to make the trip up - IMO. If you like baseball, you could check out some teams and stadiums along the way. Or if you like rollercoasters, Sandusky Ohio has one of the mega parks of all rollercoasters. Florida has a lot to do and see. Miami, Kennedy, Orlando theme parks (Islands of Adventure is one of my favorites), Tampa/St Pete (decent beaches and Busch Gardens Theme Park has some great coasters), Panama City (real nice beaches and water). The keys are ok but that is a long ride down to Key West for some food and drinks - not much else to do unless you can get a boat and get in some good fishing or you are in lobster season. To sum it up, FL has a lot to do and I give that and California the most time to explore. On beaches - the east coast is ok but nothing great. Daytona you can drive on. Miami is known for what's on the beach and not the beach itself though it does have a decent beach and Miami's has quite a night life. As I stated, the Keys really don't have beaches. But the gulf coast has some nice beaches from Naples, FL to Siesta Key, FL. Then from north Tampa to south of Panama City it's more swamp than sand. But then it gets REAL nice from Panama City through Gulf Shores, AL. The Destin FL area (in the middle) has some of the whitest beaches and clearest water in the US - though it's really crowded that time of year and lodging can be pricey. Then the closer you get to New Orleans you will notice the beaches become less desirable. The other side of the Mississippi river has a definate smell and some rank water.
OK, there's a lot to see. Here's my list of things you should see: Yellowstone. Bryce/Zion/Arches. Yosemite. Tetons. Santa Fe/Bandalere is kinda cool. Also white sands/Roswell. New York. Just a great City. Gotta wonder central park. New Orleans/Swamp Tour/Bourbon Street. San Fran, drive to santa barbara and napa. Windsurfing in the Columbia River Gorge. Great Seafood in Seattle. Kinda Vancouver's sibling. Vancouver is cooler though. Gotta do the whale watching too. They're immense. Miami/South Beach. Boston or Chicago -- have to go to wrigley field or fenway to see a baseball game. Also great Local Flavor in both places. Hoover Dam/Grand Canyon/Vegas. Drive Independence Pass. It's a beautiful drive, and for most people the adrenaline will be flowing too. If you're on a rockets board, you gotta appreciate Texas. Some things I'd suggest: BBQ: Salt Lick/Rudy's/Kreuz/Elgin... can't do just one. Gotta experience variety. Gruene Town Hall or whatever it's called. Possibly float down gaudalupe too. Does Boystown belong on this list? Through Middle America, there's chicago, madison's actually very pretty, there's the badlands..... OK, **** it. I've got nothing. Somewhere you should go to a Bull riding competition and you should go to a monster truck rally. That's america baby! There's a ton of other places, but I'll stop there.
Excellent work, though I would skip the Dakotas, shorten DC, add Olympic Penninsula or the San Juan Islands, Yosemite, the Sequoias, and a little more Colorado. Prob should mention Santa Barbara/Montecito during that PCH stretch from SF to LA.
St. Louis has the Cahokia Mounds, the Black Madonna Shrine, Our Lady of The Snows and the Cardinals. Even though I'm an Astros fan...I had a great time attending a Cards game at Busch Stadium. Everyone with 5 miles of the ballpark was wearing red. Also...they have some good music festivals there underneath the Gateway Arch beside the Mississippi River. Great list rimrocker.
