Sunday drive to Trail, Canada

Woke up Sunday early enough to watch the news programs until 10:00 and thought a back road trip up to Canada might be fun...since I'm not a football addict. 

Drove out of Colville on Aladdin road until we got to Deep Lake/Boundary Rd, which heads north to Canada. I guess 49 feet is considered deep up here in Washington because that is Deep Lakes maximum depth. Deep Lake is a beautiful lake but being 20 miles from Colville means a long drive to the only stores around...so living here must be tough. 

Here is the border crossing at Boundary, Washington from the road above. We are excited to be able to zip over to another country anytime we want...as long as we are back before the border closes, and they do close every evening!

As luck would have it, Donna must fit some kind of criminal profile because the Canadians (while being very polite and professional) had us sit in the office for a while as they did a searched our car. I know they did a thorough search because it took two of them 10 minutes. Maybe my Harley Davidson sweatshirt raised some flags like: I'm carrying weapons or meth for sale in Canada?

Within 100 yards of arriving into Canada you hit a one lane bridge over the Pend d'Orellie River (pond oh ray) which adds about 1/4 or so in volume to the Columbia River. I've noticed in the west that one lane bridges have red/green lights to regulate traffic...not here! You see someone coming, you wait...it's that simple...ha ha

The Canadians are upgrading their electric generating just before the border...get as much as you can when it is on your land seems to be the theme. The river starts deep in Idaho before flowing north to Canada and then south towards America  again before joining with the Columbia just one block from the international border.

Not sure if you can tell but the flow from the Pend d'Orellie River is very heavy even this late in the season. Some of those rapids behind Donna are 4 to 5 foot tall where it joins the mighty Columbia River.

The town of Trail, Canada was much larger then I had imagined...just don't visit it on Sunday because everything seemed to be closed except the local Wal-Mart.

Right dab in the middle of the town is Teck. Teck is a huge smelting plant, one of the largest...that produces zinc, lead and copper. Teck supposedly milled the gold medals for the Canadian Olympics a few years back. There is definitely an odor when you get out of the car, all attributed to the smelter. Teck is now being sued by the USA for polluting the Columbia River... for years.

This beautiful bridge connects the east and west side of Trail, separated by the Columbia River.

Coming back into the states at Boundary, Washington (this building is the whole town) was effortlessly this time...yeah!

Cool old cabin with fall as a background.

Northport, Washington is truly the last town on this particular road to Canada from the USA. There was a small boat launch and jetty, with a couple of people fishing on it, that offered a great reflection.

How awesome would it be to have a house sitting on your own private island in the middle of the Columbia River.

Well we made it back home...much to the delight of the dogs and deer. Now planning a future trip to Nelson, BC which we understand is another great town to visit.