Day trip for shopping

May 20, 2009
Fairmont Hot Springs, BC, Canada

Yesterday, we took a day trip north Along PH-95/95 to the town of Golden in search of a grocery. Today, we'll check out the hot springs and do some work on the next stop on our trip.

Yesterday was gray, showery, and at times blustery. We woke up to the sensation of being shaken, and clearly the winds had become very gusty. I actually pulled in the two slides on the windward side, since I didn't want the strong gusts to damage the canvas awnings that cover the tops. I saw other people out early, putting awnings up and chasing after scattered belongings.

The winds died down mid-morning, and we set out to find an alternative grocery. There are several small towns along PH-93/95 as we drove north, and we eventually (~125km) came to Golden, where we found a Sobeys and a provincial liquor store. We got enough food for the next four days (for the same price as one meal at the closer store), and I picked up a couple of bottles of BC wine and a six of local brew. Geri also wanted a bottle or Marsala for cooking, so I got that as well. I'm not going to do a calculation of the net difference in cost including fuel, since we would have taken the ride anyway to explore the area. I saw several spots that might make for interesting photo opps when the weather clears. We stopped in the small town of Invermere on the way back, which has a nice set of shops in the downtown area, so we'll check that out later in the week. Of course, we also found another Sobeys, so at least we'll have a closer grocery option.

We made some progress on planning our next move as well. Originally, I'd been thinking about a loop to the east, crossing southern Alberta to Saskatchewan, stopping at Regina, looping north to Saskatoon, then west to Edmonton, then south to Calgary where we'll catch up with the other couples heading north to Alaska. Since we've never explored this part of Canada, I thought this might be the time. Then I thought about trying to do all that in a week and decided to think some more. It's a good thing, since I came up with what I think is a better plan.

Since our route north will be through western Alberta and northeastern BC, and our return in the fall will take us toward the western part of BC down to Vancouver, it only makes sense to explore the south-central part of BC now. I'm pretty sure that Okanagan Valley is wine country. Hmmm. Sounds like a plan to me. I'll do some research when I can get online and find a place to stay, and I've already mapped out the driving route. We'll head over toward Kelowna on Sunday (extending our stay here by 2 more days), and spend a week there before backtracking to Calgary on May 31-June 1.

Today is starting off on the cloudy and showery side, but the TV forecast (the park has cable, and we have access to the Canadian Weather Channel) calls for clearing later today or tomorrow. I found a local coffee shop that has free Internet access, so I'll be heading there this morning to catch up on the online stuff. We'll likely have limited access for the foreseeable future, which will be OK once we get over the withdrawal symptoms. I didn't realize (OK, I probably did but didn't want to think about it) how dependent we are on the Net for travel planning. Creativity will trump technology, though. :-)

Time to get a move on...