Travelin' Road Show

Monday, September 16, 2013

Monday Sept 16th - Radium Hot Springs, BC to Banff, Alberta

Monday Sept 16th - Radium Hot Springs, BC to Banff, Alberta

On the road again

Beautiful scenery

Up and packed slowly. Leisurely 2 hour drive to Banff. We went over the Kootenay pass at 1724 metres... we cheered as we go to the top and headed down. Through the Kootenays and through the Rockies and into Banff, stopping at a couple of viewpoints and marveling at how very beautiful this country is. We got to Banff early afternoon and camped in site 245 at the Banff village trailer court. Headed down into Banff and walked from one end to the other. Did some at Safeway and headed back to camp to make some dinner, a specialty of Derek-2 ... homemade Cheesy Macaroni and sausages. Yumm!! We played 'password' again and Lina and I were defeated (again) now 2-0 for the guys... Hmmmm!!!

Whoo hoo!!!... another province!!!

Welcome to Alberta

Banff... what can we say??

Happy to be here!!! -- Together!!

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Sunday Sept 15th - Windemere Fall Fair

Sunday Sept 15th - Windemere, BC Fall Fair

Before

After

Fall Fair Windemere, BC

Invermere, BC

What a fun day we had today... we heard from the visitor's centre yesterday that Windemere was having its annual Fall Fair today, so we set of after a lazy breakfast and drove down to Windemere (about 20 minute drive). After some trouble we finally found the fair and we had a great time. Watched a guy take a piece of a tree trunk and, using only a chain saw, he sculptured it into quite an interesting piece of artwork ( see picture ). It was auctioned of for over $200. We got sucked in to buying some healthy sounding bee pollen (only to discover later that the reason they didn't give samples out was because it tastes like cr---p. But may be it is an acquired taste. Will get our friend Hillary to taste it... she might like it!!! If she doesn't... well there is no hope!!! Derek bought Janice a lovely necklace and he got a huge tub of whipped honey for his morning toast! After skipping the 'wife-tossing' contest (no comments please.. LOL)... we headed on our way, stopping at Invermere for a walk round the town (where else can you find a dollar store with 50% off everything in the store)!!! We also found and ice cream parlour and sat outside enjoying homemade ice-cream.
We stopped at the store and picked up some groceries and wine and beer before heading back to camp
. We all went for a swim and hot tub before dinner. We then relaxed outside and marveled at the clear skies and the stars.

Ice Cream in Invermere

Inukshuk - Invermere, BC

Site #13 Radium Valley Vacation Resort

AAHH!!! Great end to a great Day

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Fri and Sat Sept 13 and 14 - Creston to Radium Hot Springs, BC

Friday Sept 13 - Creston to Radium Hot Springs

Good morning campers

After a relaxed breakfast we went into Creston for gas and found the best sign ever... LOL

Can't help feeling sorry for the Livestock!!!!!!!!!

Still a little confused about times, we headed out about 10:00am or 11:00am , depending on whose watch we used, and started out to Radium Hot Springs. Another Beautiful drive and Derek and Janice split the driving evenly today. It was a shorter drive and we stopped along the way to enjoy some great scenery. After a bit of confusion in Radium Hot Springs we found Radium Valley Vacation RV Resort and checked in. Quite the place.. it is a resort with condo homes and purchased RV lots. However the facilities are great and we got a lovely site with views of mountains. The two Dereks went for a swim in the pool, and we cooked up some pasta and sauce for dinner, walked around the resort and then watched some TV before bed. Great day again. We are totally enjoying have our two traveling companions sharing our journey with us from Vancouver to Calgary.

Columbia Lake

Derek-2 and Lin reading the info board

Derek-2 and Lin - our travel companions

JUST WOW!!!!

Arrived at Radiium

View from our site at sunset

Saturday Sept 14th - Radium HotSprings

Oh Yes.... warm and relaxing

Today we had another lazy breakfast and then set out for the Hot Springs in the Kootenay National Park. We purchased an annual National Park Pass so we have flexibility and can enjoy many more Parks across Canada.

The Pools at the Hot Springs were superb and we all enjoyed a great soak in the hot water, followed by a dip in the cool pool, followed by another soak in the hot pool... We all felt refreshed and relaxed as we headed out, and drove through a bit more of the park and stopped for a short walk at Olive Lake... such a beautiful crystal clear emerald green lake. Quite breathtaking. We then realized we were hungry and noticed it was getting on for 3pm so we raced into town and had a (big) lunch in town. Feeling full, but satiated, we picked up some supplies and then relaxed back at the resort, chatting with neighbours and catching up on blogs/emails etc.

Beautiful Olive Lake

See the logs under the water

Quote from 1887-ditto

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Wed and Thur Sept 11/12 - Osoyoos to Creston

Wednesday Sept 11 2013

Final Wine tasting in Okanagan. Sigh!

Today was a day to take things a little easier, ready for the big drive tomorrow. Janice stayed home to do the blog and rest her ankle and the other three musketeers headed off the Desert Cultural Centre for a quick tour and interpretive walk, after which they enjoyed a presentation on snakes (lots of snakes here). After a quick lunch we all headed to town and Janice got her wish of a last visit to her FAVOURITE winery (as far as the red wines go) … Young and Wyse …. Just the best red wines that they tried in the Okanagan…. GO if you can. It is run by a couple. Michelle Young and Steve Wyse…. Very talented wine maker/oenologist. Cab Sauv. is amazing, as is the Merlot.

After the winery we headed in to town for a quick visit to Home Hardware, Gas fill up and a few bits for the trip tomorrow. Sad to leave the Okanagan, but so grateful to have had the opportunity to explore it with close friends and enjoy fabulous weather.

Thursday Sept 12th - Osoyoos, Okanagan to Creston

The Rig ready to roll out of Nk"Mip RV Park

Viewpoint over Kootenay Valley

We were up and on the road with a packed lunch by 9:15am… And of we went, climbing easily out of Osoyoos and up into the mountains (Selkirk) and then into the Kootenays The drive to Creston BC was magnificent and Janice managed to drive for a couple of hours, her ankle being much improved. We stopped at a couple of viewpoints along the way and ate our sandwiches on the go, Arriving at Mountain Park Campground and RV Park mid-afternoon. We checked the internet to find that the time was one hour different and so we adjusted ourselves by eating dinner at 6pm “local” time, only to discover that by some freak of local ingenuity the valley had voted NOT to join in daylight savings time, so the time had not in fact changed…. But it was different 45 km further along the road… confused yet??? We were!!!

Had a great fire that night. Sunken fire-pit. Nice!

Derek-2 striking a pose

More Views of site

Again, Janice stayed at the site while the other three went on a short hike. She was happily humming away making supper when Derek came flying in the door demanding paper towels, compresses etc etc. Apparently, Lin was tramping along the trail heading back with her head down, focusing on the ground and did not see a fallen branch overhead across the path and cut her head, which resulted in an impressive blood-letting, putting the two Derek’s into a bit of a panic. After some TLC and cleaning up she seemed fine… Thank goodness… it could have been pretty nasty. We lit a wood fire after supper and played a game of password. I will not say who won but a rematch is definitely on the cards… we laughed until we cried a few times. What a great day.

And Again

And again (see wood carving.. all over campground)

Unidentified guest hanging on to rig

SOLD!!!!

Out on the walk after setting up camp

Derek -2 practicing his balance in the stream

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Tuesday Sept 10th - MissionHill, Lunch at Volcanic, Myra Canyon

Tue Sept 10^th – Mission Hill, Volcanic Winery, Myra Canyon Rail trail
NB: To save confusion our friends are Derek and Lin... so now we have 2 Dereks.. both with the same last name (no relation)

Yummy Tickleberry's ice cream

Well… what a day…. Very long and huge fun. We started out toward Kelowna with stops along the way to look at houses etc in Summerland and a stop In Peachland to enjoy the lake views (and see a Sycamore/Maple cross tree).. plus s top at the famous Tickleberry's for an ice cream treat. We then drove to Mission Hill winery to show Derek and Lin this amazingly and beautiful building with it’s bell tower and fabulous architecture and views. We then went to Volcanic winery for a great lunch of gourmet smoked salmon and an angus burger with homemade vegetable chips. While it wasn’t as good as the first time Derek and I went, it was still good and we would recommend it as a lunch stop for anyone coming to the area who does not want to break the bank at Quails Gate or Mission Hill restaurants.

Unidentified visitor outside Tickleberry's

Derek (the other Derek) in Peachland

Fruit from Sycamore/Maple tree

At Mission Hill Winery

We left there and headed through downtown Kelowna and eventually, after a little bit of re-direction we made it to the Myra Station end of the Myra Canyon rail trail so we could see the trestles and enjoy the views. This section of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail (look it up…. Amazing and great walking/cycling) has several old trestles which have been re-constructed after a devastating forest fire in 2003. Janice managed to walk with her hiking sticks and we went a few kilometres to walk across a few of the trestles and through one of the tunnels. The drive up to the start point was pretty hair-raising.. but very much worth the trouble. After the walk we decide to go a different route home which turned out to start with a a 25 kilometre dirt road that wound through First Nation’s land and had us all bouncing around in our seats, wondering if we were actually going to see civilization again… quite the experience.. which had us silently questioning the GPS!!!!

Lin and gimp ringin the bell at the mission

Mission Hill Winery

However we did make it and our perseverance was rewarded toward the end of the dirt road, with the sighting of a young bear lazily eating at the edge of the forest at dusk…. Very exciting for us all!! The drive back became a bit of an ordeal but Derek got us all safely back tot camp before 10pm and we had another fire with some cheese, crackers and a nightcap. What a wonderful day… so much fun.