For us, this story began a couple years ago when we first moved to Kamloops, BC. Back then, we spent every weekend driving around the valley seeing everything it had to offer. As chance would dictate, one day we stumbled onto a little used road on the western outskirts of the city that lead past a group of some hauntingly empty buildings. With giant Do Not Enter and Private Property signs posted all along its gates, our curiosity was instantly piqued.

From what we could tell, the place was much more than just the few scattered buildings we could see. There was a large road that went between what looked like a hospital, some old apartments and numerous smaller buildings. In the distance, glimpses of other large buildings could also be seen. Just how far this little, eerily empty, town extended was a mystery to Micki and me.

With no one in sight, we talked of parking the car and wandering down its vacant streets. Besides for the large signs warning us away, the fact that we had our two young children with us and knew absolutely nothing about the place kept us in our car. To be honest, I’ll be man enough to say the place was so quiet it was almost disturbing. Intrigued about its origin as much as its fate we left the place that day not even knowing its name.

Over the following weeks its history and abandonment were constant topics of discussion. Without knowing it’s name, searches on the Internet were only so helpful and it wasn’t until Micki was talking with one of her co-workers that the mystery of the place started unraveling.

The place was called quite simply Tranquille and, in some circles, was also once known as Padova City. We learned that it was the home of the massive King Edward VII Tuberculosis Sanatorium that was opened in the early 1900s and ran until the late 50s before becoming a mental facility for the next 25 years. Since the 1800s, the land has changed hands numerous times from simple farmers and gold prospectors to the government and now back to a group of people hoping to see it rise out of the ashes once more as an eco-friendly, self sustaining community.

Click here to check out local tours in Kamloops with Viator.

Containing over 40 buildings, including a fire hall, a cafeteria, a large scale laundromat, numerous large dormitories and three hospitals including the Old Main Hospital, the Sage Hospital and the Greaves Hospital it’s easy to see that this place was once a veritable city. You can also find a school, their own steam plant, a gymnasium, several caretaker buildings as well as numerous turn of the century abandoned homes on the property. Coupled with their own cemetery and a slew of farm and processing buildings still linked by serviceable roads all of it comes together to form Tranquille.

When we learned that there are kilometers of underground tunnels linking the majority of the buildings together, it left it perfectly clear that at one point this was more than just a community. It was a thriving micro center that employed and staffed hundreds and provided goods and services for all around British Columbia. With the farm as its core, Tranquille once flourished enough that it was literally a self sustaining city at the turn of the century. When the government permanently shut down the doors in 1984, a way of life for a lot of the people around Kamloops shut down as well.

Besides for the opportunity to stock up on some locally grown produce and to get lost in the corn maze, what attracted us to Tranquille Farm Fresh that beautiful fall morning was the historical tour we were signed up for. When we heard Tranquille was leading groups of people through the old community we knew we had to sign up. As we climbed onto the trailer for the sold out 90 minute driving tour, we could hear the excitement in all the guests’ voices. It seems we weren’t the only ones who longed to know more about the history of the place. Everyone was anxious to drive down its forgotten roads and to imagine what life was like all those years ago.

The tour didn’t disappoint and Tim, an on site development manager who has recently finished remodeling one of the old houses into a modern energy efficient home with his wife Annette, did a great job both entertaining and telling us the story that is Tranquille. It is a story of romance, betrayal, government bureaucracy, fame, fortune, politics and intrigue.

From its early days as the prosperous farm home of the Fortune’s and the Cooney’s to the days of the gold rush and well into the sanatorium and government years, the place has enough history to fill volumes. Though a lot of that history has been lost over the years, Tim and Annette are making a valiant attempt to restore what once was lost. They’re documenting everything they can and are quick to lend an ear if someone has any of their own history of the place to share.

We were also pleasantly surprised to hear that Tranquille hasn’t just been gathering dust these past 30 years. Movies, such as the recent A-Team remake and part of Harrison Ford’s movie, Firewall, were both filmed in Tranquille. The decaying site was also used as the backdrop for some eerie shows like MTV’s Fear, and the mini series Alice with their own take on the Alice in Wonderland story.

It seems Tranquille attracts people from all over the world. That list includes paranormal investigators. Looking around the grounds and the current condition of the majority of the buildings easily leads you to believe in the hundreds of ghost stories surrounding the place. As a result, Tranquille is a magnet for any ghost hunter worth their weight in salt. Whether there is any truth to the stories remains unproven.

In truth, that is the saddest part about taking the tour down those empty streets. The neglect and disrepair of so many of the buildings as well as the lost history is almost overwhelming. Whispers of an age gone by and the thousands of people that once called this place home echo in every shattered window and vandalized building.

Over the past 25 years Tranquille has hosted its share of vagabonds, destructive teenage revelers and modern day treasure hunters who have looted the best these historical buildings had to offer. Most that remains are only the decaying skeletons of a town that has seen better days.

On a happier note, as all things end, so do all things begin and it is here that this story truly starts. Going back to its roots, Tranquille is opening its doors to the world once more. Beginning just like it did in the 1800s they’re taking measures to grow this little lakeside community one step at a time. As before, they’re building on the core of what was Tranquille, that of a farming community. Though that hasn’t changed, they’re hoping to attract a slightly more upscale market and re-envisioning the area as Tranquille on the Lake – a master planned sustainable community centered on urban farming.

Just like all urban, clean living communities, the folks at the newly renamed site are ensuring that the village’s regrowth is focused on sustainability and as a center for people to not only live and work but also as a place to grow and learn. They’ve already coupled up with engineers and master planners to ensure that as many of the original buildings and homes can be re-purposed and re-used. They’re forging alliances with universities and colleges like TRU so that education and learning remain at the forefront of Tranquille Farm Fresh. It is an exciting chapter in the Tranquille story and I’m anxious to see how it unfolds.

I strongly recommend that if you have the chance, take a tour of Tranquille and get a flavor of what it once was, what it is today and what it one day may become. It’s a fascinating journey as rich in local legends and myths as it is in truth.

Tours happen Saturdays and Sundays and fill up fast. To guarantee your spot, please book in advance. You can contact the people at Tranquille Farm Fresh on their website.

UPDATE!: Check out the Tranquille Farm Fresh page to see if they’re currently offering any public tours of the Tranquille site. 

Click here to check out local tours in Kamloops with Viator.

Special thanks to Tim and Annette McLeod for giving us a tour of Tranquille and letting us satiate our two year curiosity. Good luck to everyone working on the project and we look forward to seeing Tranquille on the Lake flourish in the years to come.

Looking for somewhere to stay?

Check out these hotels in Kamloops.

Tranquille is located at 4600 Tranquille Road, approximately three km west of the airport in Kamloops, British Columbia.

View Tranquille Farm Fresh, Kamloops, BC in a larger map

Tranquille Farm Fresh has a fascinating history, with roots in the gold rush, days as a former tuberculosis sanatorium, and even an incarnation as a mental institution. It’s such an interesting story that we’ve written an in-depth article about Tranquille’s past and the abandoned buildings that remain.

Tranquille’s restored calf barn holds tables covered with fresh produce like blueberries, plums, tomatoes, pumpkins, kale, freshly pulled carrots, chilis, beets and home grown herbs. As well as a ton of fresh produce, we bought a batch of mint and made some mouthwatering, fresh mojitos when we got home. There’s even honey made on site from bees we saw buzzing industriously around the local hives.

Local chef Colin from Edesia Catered Events serves up farm fresh creations fresh off the grill. Charles wolfed down his delicious sausage breakfast slider, and I loved my slider with freshly grilled veggies (a deal at less than $3 each) and the kids couldn’t resist freshly grilled corn with honey and cracked black pepper. Edesia, aptly named after the Roman goddess of feasts, caters events around Kamloops and can be found here most Saturdays.

As well as the market, the folks at Tranquille have set up a corn maze this year as a way to reintroduce the historic Tranquille property to the public. The field maze is set up a stone’s throw from the historic buildings on site and the market area. Over three and a half kilometers of pathways cut through the towering corn stalks, with clues and a free map given to you at the entrance to help guide your way.

We had a blast in the maze, with Charles all business trying to get us to follow the map, and the kids and me running around delightfully lost. Somewhere in the maze, we stumbled on a wild crabapple tree, loaded with red fruit. I’m not ashamed to say that we filled our stomachs with the the tart apples.

There’s much more going on at Tranquille than the farmer’s market and maze alone. The entire area is an exercise in bringing a once active community back to life. Over time, the folks at Tranquille on The Lake plan to create a sustainable community centered around this urban farm and market.

Right now there’s a great historic tour that takes you by the abandoned buildings on site that once hosted places such as the King Edward Tuberculosis Sanatorium and the Tranquille Training Institution. The Tranquille/Padova City tour is led by Tranquille’s knowledgeable development manager, Tim McLeod.

UPDATE!: Tranquille Farm Fresh is now offering public tours of the Tranquille tunnels. 

I’ve heard it said that the best way to know a city is to visit a farmer’s market. If this is the case, then the people of Kamloops are both friendly and happy.

More Info

Website for Tranquille Farm Fresh.

More on the sustainable community planned at Tranquille on the Lake.

You can find Edesia Catered Events on Facebook.

Check out Agritourism at Tourism Kamloops for more information on Kamloops’a growing agritourism community, including farm visits and ranch stays.

Dates, times and locations for farmers markets in Kamloops.

Tranquille Farm Fresh is located at 4600 Tranquille Road, approximately three km west of the airport in Kamloops, BC.

This winter we decided to make it a work season. We usually enjoy celebrating Canada’s coldest season simply by not being here. Hockey lovers, skiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers, cross country skiing lovers and all those other winter pastime people are pretty much crazy in our minds. Sure, if you’re stuck here anyway you should make the most of it and provided the weather is nice all of those can be quite enjoyable. We however, would much rather be just about anywhere else during the season of snowstorms, windchill warning days and “the greyness” as we like to call it.

Kamloops actually gets a lot of sunshine compared to Vancouver and the lower mainland however we’ve found this winter to be abnormally bad. To be honest it’s the main reason we don’t live in Vancouver or the coast right now. No matter the temperature, if we can’t see the sun we don’t do well. Vancouverites will usually disagree and say that the warmer temperature is worth it and you usually only need a light jacket (correction, rain jacket) to get around most of the year. Though I could go on about that all day, this post isn’t about that.

As I was saying earlier Micki and I decided that we would stay in Kamloops for the winter this year. Cole is really enjoying his friends in Grade 1 and we decided to put some money away for our next awe-inspiring adventure. Micki had a nice contract in place and we rented a nice house in a nice part of town. Kamloops is great in that it has almost every amenity and store you could want but due to it’s size you can pretty much get anywhere in under 20 minutes. Kamloops also has the distinction that it has water access, is surrounded by mountains and that we can get to 4 different lakes within 30 minutes door to door in the summer. It’s also on the Coquihala and is only 3 hours from Vancouver and less than 2 to Kelowna.

Since we were trapped here for the winter and Micki’s contract was scheduled until May we decided that a short warm vacation was in order. I’ve posted about our love of the quickie all inclusive 1 or 2 week all inclusive vacation before and we were thinking that we would just do one this year. There’s nothing we love more than spending months on the road really getting to know a place and it’s people however this year we didn’t have the time or luxury. It’s almost sad that when our bank account is at it’s highest we’re landlocked to a desk.

I shudder to think what other travel bloggers think of all inclusive resorts but frankly I just don’t care. After months of making meals, cleaning up after 2 young kids and generally following a boring pattern of day to day living the thought of premade meals and buffets with something everyone can agree on without having to lift a finger or spend an extra dime sounded quite appealing. It wasn’t our 6 month travel plan of last winter but it would go a long way to making winter living tolerable. Besides, all you can drink fruity alcohol concoctions is a reason in itself for all inclusive travelling and my poor liver has been unemployed for far too long.

So that all being said, we started our search for the best deal. Around that time we had been talking with some friends from Calgary about going on a joint holiday together. They were some of our closest friends while we lived in Calgary and to be honest we haven’t spent nearly enough time with them these past few years. As all great adventures start, this one started with a “Hey, we should all go to Hawaii” post a few months previous on Facebook. We didn’t think they were serious but it turned out they were ready and willing to go.

When we touched base next it became a plan of sorts to head out together towards the end of January. As a group we discussed other possible locations but it sounded like we were the only ones wanting to do a Mexican or Caribbean all inclusive holiday. After a few more days our dreams of being served free Margarita’s by a pool evaporated. In it’s place was the one location we had all originally commented on, Hawaii.

Micki had been there years before she had ever met me but for everyone else we were Hawaiian newbies. It’s always been on my list of places to see (and hell maybe even a possible future home) however I always thought I’d go for a few months, check out a few of the islands and then decide how much I liked the place. That definitely wasn’t happening on this trip though it was an excellent double opportunity to “get my feet wet” as the saying goes.

Within a few weeks we had agreed that we were heading to Waikiki. Definitely not the best place to get a true island feel but for the 10 days that we were going it would serve quite nicely as a base for touring the island of O’ahu. One of the nicest things about Waikiki and Honolulu was that it was direct flight from Bellingham, Washington. Bellingham is actually a little closer to us than the Vancouver airport and it has the added benefit that we don’t need to pass through TSA with the kids which is always a hassle. Instead, we could cross the border hours before take off in the comfort of our SUV. That really appealed to all of us. Unfortunately, things never go quite as smoothly as planned while travelling…

The first problem was that Micki’s contract ended somewhat abruptly right before Christmas. She had another 4 months to go however the company decided to let go of any contractors not working on mission critical projects. Unfortunately, she was working with several teams at the time and was therefore not in the right group. Financially it wasn’t a big deal for us however we had to make the call whether a short, rather expensive vacation for the amount of days travelling was worth it. It wasn’t so much that we didn’t want to go to Hawaii but now we had the opportunity to go for a much longer time for not a lot of extra money.

One of the first things we learnt while travelling was that the longer you go, the cheaper it is relative to staying home. Of course it costs more when you include lost income but for the most part, rent, food and transportation are the biggest costs while you travel. Whether you stay for a week or a month the airfare doesn’t really change. Insurance will cost a little more but if you’re fit and healthy insurance doesn’t cost that much to begin with. The cost of staying in a nice hotel for a week is fairly similar to renting a decent condo for a month and the condo has the added plus that you can make your own meals. The cost of eating 3 restaurant meals a day for a week is probably more than self catering in a condo for a month and even if the price was more you would still need to eat regardless if you were on vacation or at home.

We got an amazing price for all of us to fly out of Bellingham but right from the start we knew that this would be one of our most expensive trips minute for minute. When every minute that Micki took off equalled a minute of not getting paid it made sense to do a quick,  adventure packed, expensive mini vacation since we would be getting the most for our buck. Once the gravy train was derailed though, 10 days in paradise looked like a money losing proposition.

In the end, we opted to keep to the plan anyway. There were just too many reasons to change it at that point. The biggest were that we were looking forward to spending time with our friends, it would have cost a premium to change our flight plan, we would have had to do something with our cat for the month, the place we’re renting in Kamloops is costing us decent coin to begin with, etc, etc, etc…

By booking a few months in advance, we ignored one of our principal traveling mantra’s. To never book too early or lock ourselves in too tightly. I know a lot of people think differently and plan months and sometimes even years in advance. A lot of time they’ll quote you how much they saved by booking early or how it guaranteed them so and so and how it gave them such piece of mind not having to worry about it. Knowing that we’re locked into something so far in advance has the opposite effect on us. We see it as a limitation. By booking too early we’re forcing ourselves into committing to a set agenda that may or may not be relevant in two or 6 months from then. More often than not changing or cancelling a reservation can have serious costs associated with it.

For the most part this mantra has proven effective for us. There were a few times  (like looking for a place to sleep around Christmas holidays in New Zealand a few years back that almost left us sleeping in our car for a few days) where it would have lessened our stress if we’d booked ahead but on the whole I think we’ve done well. Of course, you have to realize that we’re not pack animals. Usually when the herd heads right we head left. If we were planning to hit Mardi Gras or someplace specific at a time when we knew it would be crazy busy we would of course book ahead. Hawaii in late January would have been busy but not on the scale of too busy if you get my meaning.

So now that we had confirmed our travel plans, there wasn’t much more to do than wait for our trip to get here and do a little reading on all O’ahu had to offer. It was shaping up to be a nice trip and we were looking forward to sitting on a beach and having a long catch up with good friends. The biggest hurdle we had yet to face was the Coquihalla.

For any of you that aren’t familiar with this area, the Coquihalla is a section of highway created years ago to speed the travel of those wanting to get to the west coast a little quicker. Because it wasn’t considered a necessary highway and basically took you a similar route as Highway #1 (the Trans Canada highway) when they built the road they chose to finance it’s construction using tolls. Though toll highways are fairly common in the states, there aren’t that many in Western Canada. Though the  toll was removed a few years ago, the Coquihalla is still there and is the quickest way west. In winter, it’s also known as one of the most dangerous routes in Canada.

We knew from what we’ve read and from people we’ve met that the road can get a little treacherous in the winter time. With that in mind we watched the weather network religiously the week leading up to our departure. There was bad weather coming a few days before and a few days after but up until we left we were to have a nice ride to Bellingham. We were always ready to leave a day earlier if it looked like the weather would go sour but thanks to 3 different weather sites we would be in the clear.

That was totally true right until the point we woke up to see a winter wonderland the morning of our departure. Well, it would have been a winter wonderland scene if we could have seen farther than the end of our driveway. Kamloops was in a full on blizzard! Everything was booked by now and we needed to leave regardless of the weather if we even had a hope of making our flight. With that in mind, we got the car and kids ready (as well as a ton of extra winter wear in case things went sour) and took off. That was minutes after I severely twisted my knee on the ice while chatting up our neighbor less than a minute from pulling out of the driveway.

Between the blizzard and my swollen knee it was an interesting departure. Now as I look back I see similarities between this and our crazy Philippine departure a few years ago. That time we got t-boned on the way to the airport during a freak blizzard that wasn’t supposed to exist either. That is an epic post I should talk about someday but getting back to this trip I’ll just say that we made it to Bellingham in one piece with an extra hour to spare.

It was a nightmare of a drive I have to say though. We literally saw two accidents happen right before our eyes as well as at least 4 other vehicles sitting in a snowbank. We hit snow, ice, sleet, black ice, freezing rain, driving rain, regular rain and even hail in those 3 and a half hours it took to get to the border. At one point we were literally pushing snow with our bumper. I’m glad we took the 4×4 and not our car otherwise I’m doubtful we would have made it.

I’ll be posting our adventures in Hawaii and Waikiki in the next few posts but I’ll leave you with a few lessons I learnt from this adventure:

1. Never book too early or over commit yourself without knowing all the costs.

2. Don’t drive the Coquihalla during a snowstorm.

3. Never trust a weather forecaster

We’re now in full swing getting ready for our trip. Less than two weeks and we begin our first leg in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

It’s amazing how much work goes into planning a trip like this for our little family of four.

There are vaccinations to get, storage for our truck and belongings, travel insurance, adding parking insurance to the truck, doctors, dentists and optometrists appointments, organizing our condo rental in Playa (we had to transfer US cash to an Italian couple’s American bank account for a rental in Mexico from a Canadian bank… I get confused just reading that….), buying our plane tickets, checking visa requirements, letting our credit cards know we’re gone, and on and on.