Friday, August 23, 2024 - Today, we drove from Kamloops, BC to Revelstoke, BC. This was a drive of about three hours on Canada's Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway. Highway 1 is a good highway that is two-lanes most of the way. In the mountains, the road will reduce down to one lane, but the quality remains good. They are not too steep either. We were able to maintain the speed limits, and did not have to slow down the regular traffic. The town of Revelstoke is named after Lord Revelstoke who ran the British Bank in this area in 1886. The bank had invested heavily in the Canadian Pacific Railroad and managed to save the railroad from bankruptcy and going out of business. The railroad then allowed the numerous small towns in the area to grow. The large dam north of town on the Columbia River and the lake behind it are named Revelstoke too.

Access to the Lamplighter RV Park was very easy and out parking space was long and isolated allowing us to easily take the kayaks out and place them on the truck. The owner and staff are very friendly. After setup, we decided to take the kayaks to Revelstoke Lake to go kayaking. We were told that there is an arm in the lake that goes back quite a ways with possible animal sighting along the way. We drove to the lake and launched the kayaks to begin our journey back to the arm. As it turned out, the arm was short and we could not go very far. It was pretty where the stream entered the lake, but it was simply too short. Along the drive to Revelstoke, we encountered numerous places that would have been great for kayaking, but we had to pass right on by. That was unfortunate.

We returned t the RV and prepped for rain overnight. It did rain all night, but the rain stopped in the morning. It was forecast to rain all day today, but the rain has seemed to hold off.

MICE; We are experiencing our very first infestation of mice in the trailer. They have been with us for about a week now since we could hear them running on the floor and through the heating vents. We bought some fancy new traps in Kamloops, where we managed to catch one of the little rascals. They are pretty good at stripping the peanut butter bait off the trap without setting it off. In Revelstoke, we bought some standard mouse traps and we were able to catch two more. We think that we have caught all the mice, since we are not hearing or seeing them any more, and we have not caught any in the four traps that we have set every night. We have been concerned because mice can chew on electrical wires that will cause some of our systems to fail. It is also very hard to find the chewed wires, so the best bet is to get rid of the culprits quickly.

Saturday, August 24, 2024 - It rained overnight. We got up and had breakfast and also planned our day's activities. We plan to go to the Visitor Center to get some info on the area and then plan on what to do. We drove into Revelstoke to check out the town and we found that they Saturday Farmers Market was in full-swing. We walked around the town and checked out the booths and the we went to a nice coffee shop to have coffee and pastries. It was a very pleasant time.

We then decided to take a drive to the Revelstoke National Park that is located just one mile to the east of town. Basically, this park is a 27 kilometer (16 mile) drive up to a series of meadows that have an abundance of flowers in the spring. We are kind of late for most of the flowers and the weather is a little "iffy" at the top of the hill. It is also a continuous climb to the top. We stopped at three viewpoints on the way up and took photos of the town below. As we neared the top, we began to get rain and fog-like conditions. When we reached the upper parking lot, we still had about a 20-minute hike to get to the summit. Even though it was raining and the visibility was quite poor, we made the hike. On a nice day, the trails at the top of the mountain would be excellent. We got cold and wet, but enjoyed the experience. We then drove back down the hill to the entrance. The ranger at the entrance mentioned that this road was a preferred bicycle climb and was one of the top-ten climbs in Canada. Smooth road, few cars, plenty of room for cars to pass, and not massive grades in the 15%-20% area. We decided that we would give it a try on another day.

Since we were a little cold after our trip up the mountain, we decided to drive 20 miles to the east on Highway 1 to the Canyon Hot Springs. This is a combination hot spring and RV Park. The cost of the hot springs was $22 (U.S.) for the both of us; it was well worth it. The hot pool was at 104 degrees and felt great. right next to it was a large swimming pool that was heated too. It was likely closer to 85 degrees; a little cool on entry, but you felt comfortable after a while in the water. Then it was back into the hot side. It was very relaxing with great views of the surrounding mountains. After about one hour, we were ready to head back to the RV. We were very relaxed.

Sunday, August 25, 2024 - We relaxed for the morning and then in the early afternoon, the weather began to clear. We had found that there was a ride to the south of town past the local airport and along the Columbia River that continues for about 15 miles to where the road turns to dirt. We decided to take it. We road from the trailer across the one-lane bridge over the Columbia River. We then worked our way through Revelstoke to the south side of town where we saw a group of four road cyclists heading to what we thought was the same place we were planning to go. We followed them and they lead us right to Airport Road. It was an excellent ride with few cars, a smooth surface, and outstanding views. In this area, the Columbia River Valley is wide with beautiful meadows all the way across. We rode until we came to the end of the paved surface at 13 miles. We turned around and made the trip back. On the way back, we found the short (two mile) multi-use bike path that heads into town. We took that and ended up with 27 miles by the time we got back. It was a great ride.

After returning to the RV, we did a kind of dumb thing. We decided to do our laundry. If we were smart, we would do the laundry during the morning around 9:00 am. Lots of people come here for one night and want to do their laundry. There are only two washers and three dryers, so there is a line waiting to use the machines late in the day and at night. We got most of our laundry done, but we had to compete with everyone else. This did give us the chance to meet some very nice folks from Sweden and others from Switzerland. There are a huge number of "Class C" campers that are rented to people on vacation from Europe. Class Cs are basically like UHaul trucks converted into campers. They are larger than a van, but much smaller than our rig. The problem is that you have to drive the entire camper to go to any place you want to see. We have the advantage of taking the truck and leaving the RV behind. The people that we have talked to are very nice and trying to get the most out of their three-week stays in the country. Several have been observed taking photos of our rig. You do not see RVs like ours in Europe; not enough room. They are amazed at the size of our rig.

Monday, August 26, 2024 - Today, Lisa and I planned to take the bikes to the Revelstoke National Park to make the climb up the mountain. This is a great ride because the road is smooth, there are few cars, and the scenery can be outstanding when not enshrouded by trees. As it turned out, Lisa was not feeling very well; her stomach was bothering her somewhat, so I decided to go by myself. I drove to the park and paid my entry fee the parked just past the entry booth. The climb was excellent and challenging. I started with five to seven percent grades and then it went to seven to ten percent grades. I clearly am overweight and out of shape. In a couple of places, the grade increased to twelve percent, but, luckily, these stints were relatively short. This climb does not let up; it is a continuous climb to the top. It got to be where a five percent area was considered relaxing for me. There we was one steep area nearing the top where I was climbing seven to ten percent grades for about four miles before I realized that I had not shifted to my best climbing gear. That made my legs work a lot harder. Nearing the top, I began to get cold since the clouds were settling in on the peak and I did not want to get caught in the rain. Even though I was nearly at the summit, I chose to abort and return to the truck. On the climb, I had been sweating quite a bit, so when I turned to go down, the speed caused more wind over me and I began to chill. Luckily, It was bearable since I did not have a jacket with me for the descent. You don't realize how much you are climbing until you begin the descent that goes on and on. I got back to the truck finally and began to warm up. Turns out that I turned around at about the 15 mile point in a 16 mile climb. The total amount of climb on this road is about 4,100 feet and I had managed to complete 3,800 feet of the climb. It was very good exercise and it tells me that I need to ride more and get back in shape. Losing about 20 pounds would be very helpful too. I climb a lot better at 180 pounds than I do at 200 pounds.

I returned to the RV to relax and take a hot shower. Lisa was feeling better too, which was really nice. We have a lot to do and see over the next three weeks, so we need Lisa feeling as well as possible. Lisa made a nice dinner and we watched a little TV in the evening.

Note: We have purchase a Starlink receiver WiFi system and it allows us to get satellite WiFi wherever we go. We can now stream movies and Netflix and more. We also can work on the blog at any time since I have decent enough upload speeds to load photos. This will definitely speed up the blogging process.

Tuesday, August 27, 2024 - Heavy rain over night and rain continuing in to the late morning hours. We are planning a bike ride in the afternoon if the rain lets up.