Roadtrip from Vancouver to southernAlaska and back

This huge, glass tower offers rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows (our room was on a corner so, we had two sides full of windows) with a view toward downtown or the harbor (that's the one we got). The rooms are BIG and the beds, heavenly. Don't forget to drop by the spa and use the sauna and steam room (it's free), and you'll be all set to go to bed after a long day of sight-seeing and shopping in beautiful Vancouver. If you manage to stay during the fireworks festival, the hotel has a suite opened to all the guests on the highest floor of the property for one of the best view of the display in town. And you don't need to break the bank to stay there. If you do a little homework, you can find a room for US$100. Most the discount prices are around US$145. You can visit their website here.

After staying at the Sheraton Wall Center, I thought I would be spoiled for the rest of the trip. That's until we checked into the Pan Pacific, an all-suites hotel that looks more like a lodge than a hotel. Even during the summer, you get that warm feeling of going back into your cozy mountain lodge. We landed a studio for C$110, but that was in 1999. I checked the price for the summer of 2005, and it's at US$106. Not bad! The hotel also has one-and two-bedroom suites.

The studio was roomy and classy with a nice living room, a balcony (overlooking the pool and the mountain), a fully equipped kitchenette (which blew my mind because I’ve never seen that before, it was my first trip in North America), a four-person dining room table, a sofa-bed, and, the neatest of all - a queen-size Murphy bed. Now, where else would you find that in a hotel? But you realize you're in a high-end hotel when you check out the goodies in the bathroom - Aveda products!!! And the nice touch - lip blam, always useful after a day in the mountains regardless of the season. The hotel also has a pool and a hot-tub that I personally tested (strangely, it was deserted despite the beautiful weather).

Now, I wish I could, after a day spent "shushing" down the slopes in the winter, go back to my beautiful studio!

Once you get to the little town of Hyder (and maybe spot a grizzly or black bear feeding in the aptly named Salmon Creek), why not take a drive to have a view of Salmon Glacier? The first part of the road is OK... gravel, twisting around and around the mountain. You have a beautiful view of the valley and one of the arms of the glacier. Then, the road becomes more difficult and it's likely you will be your own as go to the summit. Behold the magnificent view of this blue glacier that stretches as far as the eye can see. At this point, I felt like a true adventurer! We were on our own... in a remote place, facing a glacier.

We carried on as far the road allowed us until we got to what seemed like an abandoned mine. Further down, one of the arms of the glacier was dying in a little pond of freezing cold water. We glanced at each other... it was not far, the slope was not that steep. Let's go touch the toes of the glacier. After 20 minutes, we were there. What an exhilarating feeling! Facing this wonder of nature. I even found an opening large enough for us to get into the glacier! It's just like being inside a fridge... except everything is bathed the most celestial of blue light... Looking at the stone touching the ice, you realize the strength of the ice, carving its way through the rocks... Impressive. A moment I'll never forget.

The start of the journey... the Sea to Sky Highway goes from Vancouver to the nearby mountain and the ski resort town of Whistler (where we'll be spending the night). The Highway meanders through the fjord-like peaks of the Howe Sound to Squamish, then head towards the mountains. And when the sun is shining like it did during our drive, the water sparkles and gives off a silvery light. Don't hesitate to stop on the way, as this is one of the most scenic roads in British Columbia. The drive is approximately 2 hours from Vancouver to Whistler.

Aaaah . . . Canada! Where the spaces are even bigger than the U.S., where the streets are clean and health care decent enough for a Western country. But, I am getting lost. British Columbia is the reason why I fell in love with Canada. The goal of our trip was to reach the Yukon but we underestimated the size of British Columbia! Nevertheless, we had one of the best road trips of our life!

From the vibrant metropolis of Vancouver to the pioneering feeling of Saint-George, to the solitude of the little communities along the Alaska highway . . . British Columbia is a destination for nature lover, from the coastal communities to the Canadian Rockies and the gateway to the Great North. It really is an enchantment. If you leave the area of Vancouver-Victoria, don't forget your hiking boots and get your eyes open, you'll never know when a bear may pop out.