There are 719,000 kilometers of roads in British Columbia (BC). 65 of them are major numbered routes. Those are huge numbers considering I've only driven on 12 of them. I like exploring. I like adventures. I love road trips. But I have hardly scratched the surface of what BC has to offer.
One of the official taglines for our province is "Explore BC". I think there is even a social media account with that as their handle. But with British Columbia sitting on nearly one million square kilometers of arguably the most beautiful terrain in Canada, that's a lot of exploring to do.
When I was a child, we came to BC for summer holidays - like many people do. We loved it, and looked forward to it every year. Now, I live here. It was very surreal at first, and there are still some days where I can't believe I live where I do. But I want to see more. I want to get out more.
One of my 2020 goals that I carried forward into this year is just that. We have a infamous island on Okanagan Lake named "Rattlesnake Island". I've always wanted to go explore it. Today's new goal is similar, but different in that it has no defined location. I just want to drive, and somewhere along the way, take a "wrong" turn and end up travelling down a road I've never travelled on before.
Two years ago I experienced this. I got to drive Highway 3 between Hope and Princeton for the first time. It was one of the best drives I've had in a long time. And what made it so great is that it was new. I had never seen that part of the Cascade Range before.
Another road I've never driven on is Highway 97 from Cache Creek to Prince George. This is the road that would lead me in the right direction of my in-laws. It's been six years since we visited them for Christmas, but that year we flew. Since then, it's always been THEM driving this route to see us. Maybe this is the year the tables turn.
I don't know. It doesn't really matter. As I started by saying, there is 719,000 kilometers to choose from, and 53 numbered routes (let alone all the unnumbered roads) that I've never driven down. Maybe I could convince Ford Canada to loan me their Expedition again and load up the family and go Explore BC! Regardless, I need to get out of my comfort zone and go for a drive in a new direction. That's why the eleventh goal of my #2021Twenty is to drive down a road never travelled on before.