I write this at the end of Canada Day in Revelstoke. We
arrived here about 9:30 last night after an eventful end to the day. The day
started with rain, continued with rain, ended with rain, and for good measure
had a side order of rain as well. However, it was a wonderful day, perhaps the
best day we have yet had.
We woke up bright and early, as we seem to always do in the
tent. We were staying about 15 minutes south of the village of Nakusp on the
Arrow Lakes and were planning on spending the day in town. We had the good
sense to bring along our glass Bodum French Press and had broken it at the last
campsite. So, we decided to head to town early and start our day with a coffee
in a local café. We put on our clothes, sure to pack our raincoats and head off
to town. Taking the final turn into town we come across a temporary barrier
barring the road. Meandering through the side alley parallel to Main Street
(actually Broadway, and no there were no bright lights) we notice that all
access to the main drag is blocked. Parking the car, we decide to brave the
rain and head out to see what is going on in town. Aside from an unusually
large number of people huddled under umbrellas and awnings for such a small
town there was little else indicating the reason for this blockage. Walking
along the main street we gather more evidence – store displays wishing “Happy
Canada Day” and “Congrats on 120 Years Nakusp” suggest some sort of festivities
are about to start. We pass by an older man dressed in old style clothing and a
younger woman as well. We still are not certain, for we only witnessed a brief
dog-owner lookalike contest, but our guess is that the planned celebrations
were significantly reduced on account of the rain. This should have been our
first indication.
The pounding rain, and influx of people into town meant that
all of the coffee shops on Broadway were full. So we decide to take a chance on
a sign pointing down towards the lake, promising an authentic Italian Café.
This was a great decision. We enter this tiny 4 table café squeezed into the
lobby of a hotel with a beautiful panoramic view of the lake. We order moist
and filling muffins along with two coffees. Not wanting to head out into the
rain we order a couple of more coffees and a milk for Zaid. The place was run
by a woman who seemed to have an intense love and hatred for her job. She quite
boisterously, fed by a 5 espresso morning, and jokingly begged a man at the
neighbouring table to take her job as she was sick of the 2 AM starts.
Now, June 30 is my Mothers birthday and so we had been
wanting to give her a call to send our wishes. Unfortunately, Nakusp falls in a
kind of black hole of cellphone reception and so were getting a bit despondent.
Luckily, the hotel attached to the café had free internet and Haifa had her
ipod, which was already for Skype. So, we were able to enjoy a great chat with
my mom from this tiny café with a beautiful view obscured only by the waterfall
of rain pouring down the window. After saying our goodbyes, and pulling our
hoods ever tighter we decided to venture back outside again.
After some window, and grocery shopping, much of it with the
intent of staying dry, we decide it is time to head up to the famed Nakusp Hot
Springs, just north of town. We were
slightly worried about bringing Owen in, but everyone, staff and locals alike,
insisted it was okay. We are sure glad we listened. This was a wonderful time.
The pool is only 3 feet deep and is a perfect temperature, not super-hot, but
hot enough to keep you warm and work out all your kinks. Combined with the
cooling wine pouring over your face and head it was exactly what we needed. Zaid kept on exclaiming “Fun” every two
minutes as he directed me from one side of the pool to the other. Owen on the
other hand was content to just lay back and kick his feet with a smile on his
face.
We head back to town to have a lakefront lunch, in a
sheltered gazebo, of sardine sandwiches, carrot sticks, and cheese slices. It
somehow hit the spot perfectly. After lunch we head to the Nakusp Musem, which
was something to behold. Imagine clearing out an old treasure hunter’s basement
of dust and bugs, hanging a few signs and calling it a museum and you have the
Nakusp museum. It was mostly just piles of artifacts lying on the ground, or
leaning against the wall, in the basement of the old schoolhouse. Zaid was a
bit overenthusiastic about the place, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I
think this was helped by the old woman dressed in a red skirt and matching red
shirt and her young (20ish) male assistant who knew absolutely everything about
all the artifacts and were very pleased to tell you all about it.
By now it is mid-afternoon and we are all needing a bit of a
rest and so we head back to the campground. At this point, we finally have a
brief spell in the rain, giving us a false sense of hope. Haifa and the boys
head to the tent for a rest and I head to the lake for a brief walk before I
join them. We quickly discover a couple of wet spots in the corner of the tent
but think nothing of it at the time. Shortly later the rain starts again, and
this time, by some hellish miracle, even stronger. Slowly, over the course of
an hour we discover that these are not wet spots, but rather the whole floor of
the tent is soaking wet. Going outside to inspect I discover that what had been
a beautifully dry place to pitch our tent had turned into a rather substantial
lake. I run up to the signboard at the entrance to the camp to find out the
ferry times to Revelstoke and run back, confirming that yes, we can make a
quick getaway to the dryness of a hotel.
The next 40 minutes are a blur. Haifa spends the first half
hour in the tent looking after the boys and packing up all of our stuff while I
run around outside packing up our outside stuff. As we neared the
deconstruction of our tent we put Zaid and Owen into the car, which caused Owen
some distress. Luckily, Zaid stepped into protective big brother mode perfectly
and offered his younger, somewhat scared, sibling consoling phrases of “Its
okay Owie” before singing to him. I was very proud of him that night. Finally
we get the car packed up, I am utterly soaked from head to toe and so I make a
quick change into somewhat dryer clothes, although the run back to the car from
the washroom sort of defeated the exercise.
We speed out of the campsite at about 6:45, stop at the gas
station in town for a couple of coffees and are chased by thunder and lightning
the 60 KM to the ferry dock. Somewhere along the way to the other side of the
lake the rain stops and we drive the final 40 KM to Revelstoke. We have a quick
“dinner” of garlic sausage, avocado, and banana chips before tucking the boys
into bed at 9:30.
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| Cloud cover of the eastern shore of Arrow Lakes on the ferry to Revelstoke. Photo: Ben McNamee |
This morning I brought the tent inside and it has been
drying out on the hotel room floor all day. The ten is now dry, but the fly
still has some ways to go. Hopefully it is dry by morning.
Haifa will post about our day in Revelstoke, but now it is
bedtime before we head to the Rockies and Alberta tomorrow.
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