We leave Lakeshore this morning after a good breakfast and a long chat with Louise and Andy after a long last look at the garden, watching the monarch butterflies fluttering around.. I never did get a picture of one in focus.
On the news this morning, the US Supreme Court judgement on same sex marriage. We have tea, it is still on the news, no change of subject. I have my shower, shave and get ready, still the subject has not changed. I open up my computer and on the BBC News web site I see that over on the other side of the world there is carnage. Tourists killed in Tunisia, bombing in Kuwait and murder in France, all committed by so called Islamic terrorists. What will end this madness. We talk with our hosts about this, about the insular nature of their neighbours to the south. We talk of the worlds refugee and migration problems, of changes in Canada and the UK. Of the health services in our countries, both free at the point of use, but with differences. We wonder how much longer this will be affordable, due to technical changes in medicine and the ageing of the population. OK enough of all that.
Our destination today is Revelstoke, not too far. We stop at the grocery shop again and get provisions for a picnic. As we leave Kelowna we experience heavy traffic heading north. The temperature is increasing all the time 34° now, but thankfully we have efficient air conditioning in the car.
After a while we make a stop at Mara Lake park, and watch families swimming and boating. It is a beautiful spot.
We move off. An hour later we decide to go past our destination and ascend the Meadows in the Sky Parkway to Mount Revelstoke. This is a national park, and we remove our park passes for the first time. We ascend the 23km road, with ears popping to our shaded picnic spot, the Monashee Lookout. The air is heavy with the smell of cedar.
On the way we take a small detour at the settlement of Swansea Point, basically to get a picture of the sign.
Continuing up the mountain, there are wildflowers on both verges the whole way up. We reach the top, at least as far as we can go. We now have to travel the final part on a shuttle bus. There is some banter between the driver and I about the football match between Canada and England on Saturday. I let him know I am neutral, but would not mind if Canada won, coming from Wales after all. We have a bit of a laugh to be fair. At the top we take a winding, and steep trail up to the fire lookout tower. The air is thin up here and the going gets tough. When we reach the top the view is spectacular.
Returning now to our stop for the night, we have a swim in the pool, then freshen up and head out to the town in the free shuttle bus provided. The gentleman driving is very chatty, but I admit to understanding only about half of what he says. We disembark outside the main hotel in town and walk to Mackenzie St. where there is a pipe band playing. This town seems to have a significant Scottish heritage.
The band march off, and a brass band now starts. We walk off to our dinner stop, The Village Idiot a bar and grill. This is undoubtedly a “young” persons bar and eatery, but it does not make us feel out of place. There are big screens around the place showing extreme sports in far of countries. The menu is as eclectic as the clientele. My fellow traveller has halibut, accompanied with tomatoes and goats cheese. I stick with the ribs, literally. We return to the hotel by the same route, this time there is a family in the shuttle bus with us, and the conversation gets a bit racy considering there is a young lad in the bus. We get back to the hotel feeling tired, ready for sleep.