Reveling in Revelstoke

Saturday: left Rossland mid-morning heading for Revelstoke which has been recommended by many people. We ended up going through Nelson again and decided to stop at Ainsworth Hot Springs which was ‘sort of’ on the way. The hot springs were about the size and shape of a swimming pool (surprise!) with the addition of a horseshoe shaped cave pool. It is set on the side of a hill, at the bottom of which is an immense section of the Kootenay lake, by far the biggest lake I’ve ever seen and home to the Ogopogo (their equivalent of our Lochness monster, ie, doesn’t really exist but gets a few more tourists in). Dare I say it again but the views really are breathtaking!

Continuing our journey, we realized that the avalanche warning signs were more than just decoration; as we rounded a corner we saw a massive rock in the middle of our lane and the whole road littered with smaller rocks from the sheer rock face by the side of the road. We navigated our way through without problem but it was a reminder of the potential dangers, especially as the place was deserted and we would go for miles without seeing another vehicle. Maybe we will invest in a phone! We caught a ferry to get across the lake, then it was a race against the clock to reach Reveltsoke before nightfall (technically our headlights do work but their range is somewhat limited and the roads in these parts have not embraced the idea of catseyes).

Our current residence is not too bad. We have an 8 bed dorm all to ourselves plus we have a double bed – bonus!! We’re in the basement so is pretty quiet; looking out of our bedroom window we are at lawn level!

We’re sharing it with a couple of Aussies (natch) plus a few Germans who are as bitter as us about the irony of how much snow Europe is having. It’s about $10 a night more expensive than other places we’ve stayed and I am currently struggling to understand why. Never mind, still way cheaper than the alternatives.

We managed to have a Skype video chat with mum & dad (Marsh) yesterday which was great - so lovely to see and talk with them :o) And today we had a leisurely morning with time to skype-text Lady Chandler and Mikey. We love technology and free wi-fi!
As I write this now I am in the Revelstoke day lodge halfway up the mountain… I should be looking out of the window at people whizzing by on snowboards and skis but all I can see is mud and stone, it’s a sorry sight. Conditions are BAD! Most of the mountain is closed, but unsurprisingly Katy is up there somewhere… apparently the snow at the top of the mountain is still really good, but I begrudge paying full ticket price when you can only get to ~20% of the mountain.

As a consequence of the poor snow, we move on again tomorrow. We’re slowly making our way to Whistler; it’s around a six hour straight drive so we’ll probably take our time and do it over two days as there are a few interesting places to see on the way: Kamloops, Hells Gate and my particular favourite… Spuzzum! We might also call in at Chilliwak which is where I think Jerem-y came from (or at least got ‘pimped’) :o)