Some of you may recall our 2024 Osoyoos Wine Tour. That’s when a group of CCBC and Club Southern Alberta (CSA) directors began talking about organizing this Epic drive. This 15-day tour brought multiple club members together at many different points of the trip.
It wasn’t only BMWCCBC and BMWCSA that joined, Ralph and Teri from the Oregon Chapter joined us and Rafael and Cristina from Argentina joined our cruise around our beautiful province.
Many in the Alberta group spent their first night in Kamloops after traversing the vast Rocky Mountains past Banff through Rogers Pass and Revelstoke into the Northern BC Interior. Many in this group enjoyed the trip to the lower mainland via the old Hwy1 and got to experience our tunnel system and meandering highways with many stops along the way.
Arrival in Vancouver
The group arrived in Burnaby and Vancouver where club members got to visit our fair city and we got together to view Auto West’s Classic Garage Private Collection; and we also drove a magnificent route on the North Shore of Vancouver passing through Deep Cove, Mt. Seymour, and Cypress Mountain with an opportunity to take pictures of Vancouver from above. The jewel event of this leg was a private dinner hosted exclusively for our clubs at Isetta Café in West Vancouver.
A Weekend in Whistler
The next day the infused group headed up to Whistler BC via the Sea to Sky Highway where we stayed at the Pan Pacific Mountainside. Trips to the Audain Museum, the indigenous Cultural Centre, the Peak-to-Peak Gondola, hikes, lots of shopping, and far too much time at the Dubh Linn Gate Pub created a very memorable weekend.
The Duffey Lake Road Adventure
The driving roads over the next week were a drivers’ dream come true. The Duffey Lake Road with stops at Seaton Lake, and then passing Lillooet where the terrain goes from alpine to semi-arid desert, and lunch at the Hat Creek Ranch were very memorable.
From Hat Creek Ranch the group split up, some taking 97C through Ashcroft with stops for trains and pictures of the Highland Valley Copper mine and on to Logan Lake; while the other group took Hwy 1 past Savona to take the wild and seldom used Tunkwa Lake Road before arriving in Logan Lake. Dave’s group was faster than mine.
From Logan Lake everyone travelled back to Kamloops for a night of rest, and one of the largest “Bloody Caesar’s” that any of us have seen.
While the organizers put together some great routes for us to follow, having Dave Beddows along on the trip allows you to find roads that have you smiling uncontrollably; shouting at the scenery; grabbing your steering wheel for the next chicane or sweeping curve; and ultimately growing to love your BMW more than ever.
Westside Road and Kelowna
Leaving Kamloops, we took Barnhartvale Road, which on its own is spectacular, but couldn’t match the sheer beauty of what was to come. Onto Hwy 97 and a diversion to bring us through Armstrong along Salmon River Road, then down to Vernon and a switch over to Westside Rd on Lake Okanagan.
Westside Road is an absolute gem that I have always loved. So now we’re in Kelowna for three nights. Take it easy, right? Not!
A tour of and meeting with the General Manager of Kelowna BMW; a trip to August Motorcars to see some of the finest vehicles ever created; a four winery wine tour with Sip Happens; and an extravagant dinner with over forty-five guests at the Gasthaus in Peachland. A few of the group even sneaked in a drive down to Area 27 to see the amazing track and the races that were happening that day.
Kelowna to Nelson was where I challenged my humble 128i and where it provided as many smiles as driving my M Coupe. Hwy 6 through the Monashee Mountain Range to the Fauquier/Needles ferry, is a drive that all car enthusiasts should do. With little traffic on the roads my little Sedona Red baby BMW was challenged like it has never been challenged before. Smiles for days!!!
After the ferry we continued up Hwy 6 to Nakusp for lunch. From there Dave found us other special roads after he and Nataliia absconded to some hot spring towns, only to meet us two days later.
Anyone ever heard of Pass Creek Rd and Blewett Rd.? If you missed it, you blew it. Twistys and original power generators for the province to experience, which leads you right into wonderful Nelson.
What a gem of a town, Nelson. Like time stopped. Old town vibes with centuries old buildings and shops and murals that express the town’s vibrant life.
One last scenic “Dave’s Drive” included a circle tour of Kootenay lake on Saturday taking us to the Balfour Ferry (Canada’s longest free ferry) across to 3A and hugging the shoreline for one hundred kms. A stop at the Glass House and a lunch stop in Sirdar, with a train coming through the roof of the restaurant.
On our way to the Columbia Brewing factory Dave took us on a back road like no other, and one poor guy on a motor bike was shocked when he left his buddies and took off in front of us and soon realized that these BMWs meant business. He had to pull over or miss the next turn – we pushed him to his limits.
Finally driving up and over the Kootenay Pass with a view of mountains that seem to go on forever is breathtaking.
Our final group dinner held at Marzano Restaurant was truly memorable. With about thirty people remaining we shared stories and cemented friendships and cheered on each other’s achievements. A wonderful presentation to our friends from Argentina celebrating the furthest anyone had come for either of our clubs to join in our passion.
The last day was the road home to Vancouver, Kamloops, Calgary or Oregon for those remaining. Even the good old Hwy3 Crowsnest Highway is a gem for which we are spoiled in BC.
Life is too short to drive boring cars, and not make new friends.
Scenes from the Journey
