Even the place names are exotic! Somewhere in the Kootenay mountains we recrossed the continental divide and we are now going downhill again! Everything from here flows to the Pacific. And that is where we are heading again.
Through the spectacular Rocky Mountains of Banff, Kootenay & Glacier National Parks. The views from the car are spectacular and we only wish we had brought our crampons and ice axes! (no, of course we don't!). But we do need to get out and wander in this magnificent place. And so far the weather is holding.
Peppered with some lovely small towns providing great coffee stops and retail therapy opportunities it is a very easy place to pass the time while meandering west. We consumed lots of coffee but as usual our retail therapy consisted of entering one shop and leaving again within about 2 minutes. Even I was shocked!
Yesterday we took a short break in Radium Hot Springs - yeah, I know, a break from what exactly? Holidaying? 39ºC natural pool on the outskirts of the town that has been inviting visitors for about a century. A short dip, but reinvigorating for all that.
Then into Radium itself to a quirky guest house with a rather fine pub just a 5 minute walk away. Where, at last, I get a Greek salad (accompanied by a rather large burger but don't tell anyone), and watch the Oilers tie it up against the Kings. Which for anyone at home means absolutely nothing!
Big showdown tonight, I'll be watching from a bar in Revelstoke - The Flames have the chance to close out the Stars and progress to the next round of the NHL play offs. With family members in the Flames and the Oilers camps I can't really lose if they both go through and then play each other! Meanwhile the view from the pub as I don't drink!
We are definitely in meander mode now. Only a few hours driving today through the Kootenays, the Bugaboos and the Selkirks broadly along the route of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which opened up this part of western Canada to European settlers and of course largely screwed the indigenous people. I was delighted to see at Revelstoke Railway Museum an explicit acknowledgement of this and a determination to promote reflection on the cultural impact of the railway as well as its impact on the economy and tourism. Nareesa inspecting the menu in the old CPR dining car.
We are now less than 600km from Vancouver and it is possible to imagine a time when we are not in a rental car, not in a different hotel most nights and perhaps not even drinking every night. Well, all except the last one maybe.
But first we will have a couple of nights in the Okanagen Valley, home I believe to many of Canada's best wineries and fruit growers. Yes, the not drinking might have to wait, but at least I will eat lots of fruit!
In the meantime there is the lovely city (village) of Revelstoke to explore. Art in Alleys, Cafes on Main Street and pubs on corners. All looks good to me. Last few pics...
Hot lips Sulaiman.
Tomorrow's coffee stop?
So, still quite a lot of snow over Rogers Pass
Actually not the quirky guest house of our night in Radium. Next door - this looked too mad or too expensive or both - even for us.
Downtown Revelstoke
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