Canada: The story behind the story on Nelson, British Columbia

We’ve had so much response to our story on Nelson that we thought we’d give you an extra look at some pictures from there and fill you in on the backstory of my quarter-century quest to visit.

That tale begins with a road trip I took with my buddy Rick back in 1986. The prime destination was the World Expo in Vancouver, and that was fine. But as we steered the VW van through the forests of British Columbia and Alberta, we kept hearing about this great little town called Nelson.

Unfortunately, we ran out of time and never made it there. And so I carried Nelson around in my back pocket – this great little Canadian town I’d really like to see one day. Everybody has a place or two like this, right – that place you’ve always meant to check out?

For 25 years I carried Nelson around. And then this summer, my family had the chance to make another Northwest road trip. Nelson wasn’t exactly on the way between Seattle and Portland – in fact, it was about 1,000 miles out of the way. But we built the trip around it anyway. (You just head northeast from Seattle via Chelan. Then after Nelson, you head south to Portland via Walla Walla and Hood River.)

Finally, I got to see Nelson, write about it, and take a few pictures. Fortunately, my wife, Mary Frances, and our daughter, Grace, liked the place as much as I did.