How hard can it be to plan a route? Well, for us, it seems to be a challenge.
In planning our route to get to Prince George, we knew that it would include riding  the length of Vancouver Island with the overnight ferry connecting Prince Rupert and Port Hardy, plus we wanted to include the Rockies. It has always been our dream to ride the iconic Icefields Parkway between Jasper and Lake Louise with a tour through the Kootenays and the Okanagen in BC.   However, logistics got in the way of making this happen....or perhaps  more accurately, the complications of travelling in the year of COVID happened. Mary Ellen was reluctant to ride the 750 km from Rupert to Prince George, as well as the 350 km stretch from PG to Jasper as these stretches of highway have sections of 150 km or more without services or cell coverage and the potential of many big trucks and grizzlies. A good option for us was to take the train on these sections, but due to the restrictions of COVID times, the train is not accepting bikes...and then, when we looked into renting a truck to transport our bike, the costs were prohibitive,  so... back to the drawing board. 

This is now the official plan. We will ride from our home on Salt Spring Island to Port Hardy and take the ferry to Prince Rupert. Then we’ll hire a U-Haul truck to transport our tandem and us to Prince George...have a visit with Mary Ellen’s sister and then ride south on the more direct route, through the Fraser Canyon to Abbotsford to visit Barry’s brother, and then make our way home. 
All in all, we think we have a good route. We’ll be away for about a month.

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Next year, we will ride the Rockies and the Icefield Parkway.. But, earlier in the season before bad weather comes to the mountains and hopefully at a less complicated time.