Today we awoke to frozen condensation on the back window of the car. Needless to say, we were not impressed with the cold temperature. After a quick bite to eat at the hotel, we grabbed a much-needed coffee at Timmies and headed west. As we were leaving town there was a sign warning of smoke in the area. We had seen the sign when we came through Golden last weekend, however, due to the rain, we hadn’t seen any smoke.
Today was a beautiful sunny day so we definitely noticed the smoke when we neared Glacier National Park. We also noticed how much construction they were doing on the Trans Canada – we weren’t affected when we had headed east as it was a weekend. Luckily, we were only stopped once and it was for only a few minutes.
We stopped at the Rogers Pass Info Centre, hoping to grab some souvenirs, only to find out that the centre no longer had a gift shop and the lodge next door, which also had a gift shop, was closed due to renovations. I asked the person at the info booth about where the fires were, as we had seen quite a bit of smoke. She told us that there were two fairly insignificant fires on either side of the park but fire crews were just waiting for the snow to put them out. With the temperatures that they are getting, I doubt they will have to wait too long for snow. We took a couple of pictures and hurriedly jumped back in the car as it was only 3°C. We stopped a couple of minutes down the road at the actual “pass” and I took another couple of pictures before we again continued west.
We arrived in Salmon Arm just after noon and found a great parking spot a block from our desired restaurant and walked to the Shuswap Pie Company which was featured on You Gotta Eat Here. There was a short lineup but before long we placed our order and grabbed a table by the window so we could people-watch while we waited. Mum got the Spinach & Asiago Quiche with a cup of Spicy Thai Soup and I got a Cuban with a cup of the soup. We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch and we pleased at our timing as a huge line formed, not long after we arrived.
After lunch, we went to a nursery as Mum was on the hunt for some Prairie Lily bulbs. It turns out that this is the wrong time of year to find that kind of bulb, so we headed to the nearby Grass Roots Dairies to get some gouda cheese. As my readers might remember, cheese is one thing we strive to stock up on when we go away. Mum and I each grabbed three different kinds of gouda and I also grabbed a small jar of pepper jelly.
By the time we were done there, it was almost time to check in, so we headed to the hotel. It was also quite a bit warmer, with the temperatures in the low 20’s, so I was glad to be able to change into shorts. We were able to park right outside of our room so I decided to empty the car and arrange everything. Normally I am doing this for customs purposes, but this time it was just for ease of transferring when I meet up with Dad in Nanaimo on Sunday.
We spent a couple of hours in the hotel organizing and watching Food Network before we decided to go for a walk on the wharf to see what kind of shorebirds were around. Mum and I had stopped here on our Cross Canada trip in 2010 and I had been able to get a picture of a Western Grebe and Osprey. Tonight we saw a Great Blue Heron, dozens of killdeer, various ducks including a Northern Shoveler, and pelicans. The pelicans were unfortunately in the distance, out of camera range. All of the bird pictures were taken with my camera and not my phone, so I am unable to share them with you at the moment.
The walk gave us quite an appetite and we headed to Setter’s Pub for dinner – a recommendation from one of Mum’s friends. We had forgotten that a pub might be busy on a Friday night – actually we forgot it was Friday – so we had a half-decent wait for our food but at least we were able to get a seat and have a drink while we waited. Mum had the clam chowder and a Caesar salad and I had deep fried pickles and Cajun wings. They make their cajun sauce in-house and it was delicious. It was quite spicy, but there was more flavour than heat.
When we arrived back at the hotel, we found the parking lot full, so I had to park in an adjoining lot. Hopefully, I will be able to park closer in the morning so I don’t have to lug everything too far back to the car.
I am posting my pictures from our drive at the end of the blog again tonight. Hopefully, you enjoy and I want to thank you for sharing our adventure with us.
L
