30th July Road to Grand forks
Sadly leaving Toad Rock we hit one of those hot hot days I’m not really getting used to. We rode past Christina Lake and it was the first time a lake gave us no reprieve from the heat which was a whopping 41degrees. Although the scenery was beautiful, I hardly looked at it. Unfortunately, this time I really struggled clearly either not drinking enough water or too much water and not enough electrolytes, but boy by the time we got to the hotel I was just out of it and felt completely drained. All I could do was sit in the air-conditioned room, watch TV and recover.
In the morning however we had a nice ride through some lovely scenery and quaint little towns where we stopped for coffee and met more friendly people. In Salmo we stopped at the Dragonfly Café for coffee and the walls was covered with the most beautiful photos and paintings from local artists. Art is something there is no short supply of in Canada. There are murals in every town and artwork from local artists displayed in even the smallest one moose town. I just love it
31st July Vernon
Heading to Vernon and another scorcher of a day. On days like this I end up missing a lot as I find it hard to stop to take pictures or visit small museums etc, just wanting to be on the road and get to our destination. Once we arrived at the airBnB though we were in for a great surprise.
Although most airBnBs seem to be as expensive than hotels many are good value for money and just fantastic and this one in Vernon, hosted by Rick, was one of those gems. What a stunning, large, spotlessly clean, gorgeous place. Rick was also a super host and we had some great chat sitting out on the terrace once it cooled down. His wife also makes great banana muffins. The place had a giant TV and while escaping the extreme heat we watched the Grey Man on Netflix. I haven’t watched a movie in ages and it was so much fun just curling up on the couch drink coffee and indulge in a Netflix.
We ate breakfast on the terrace and were entertained by a myriad of birds. Beautiful blue headed mountain birds, some small little sparrows and doves including a ring neck dove. My best was the very brief visit by a hummingbird one of my favourite birds. The funniest was the red breasted bird who found some worms in the garden. He had quite a job getting the worms out and I could only imagine the poor worm gripping the roots of the grass and holding on for dear life, but worms are no match for hungry birds. We were then visited by a mommy quail and her six little babies- The all came to shower in the sprinkler system and then have feast on the bugs they scratched out of the flower beds. Mommy quail then flew up to the bird feeder where she sat proudly and alertly watching her little brood, but with no fear of us. I could have watched them all day, but we needed to head out.
1st Revelstoke
Driving to Revelstoke was a lot better as the weather had started to get cooler. We did however have to wait 2.5hrs for a ferry as it was the last day of a public holiday and the queue was so long we had to wait for the 3rd ferry to get on. It was however not a total waste as we got to meet some nice people and got a great tip for Vancouver Island where we’ll be in a few days. Everyone was really friendly and jovial with no one complaining about the wait just all taking it in their stride and making a fuss of all the friendly dogs.
Finally Revelstoke
Butterflies and Flat Tyres 