Tyson’s job has had him out of town a lot in the last bit so we decided to go on a mini getaway. We booked a night at The Stoke hotel in Revelstoke and didn’t really have anything planned other than to relax and enjoy each other’s company. We woke Saturday morning, leisurely packed up and headed out.

One hour east down Hwy 1 we made our first stop, The Burner Grille in Malakwa. Us, like many others, have passed by here many times in the past but this time we decided to stop in for lunch. It was a great decision. Everything homemade, friendly staff, great atmosphere and prices that will wanting to come back for seconds.

With bellies content we hopped back in the car and continued on our way. Another hour further we crossed over the Columbia River arriving at Revelstoke. Shortly there after it started to rain, but that was not going to keep us down. Dawning four rain coats we went for a walk on the main drag with some window shopping. By now it was 1:00 and we noticed the last little bits of a farmers market being packed up. The downtown core is not a very large area but it is full of colourful shops with unique items and crafty small businesses. We just love browsing through these outdoorsy shops. The girls had fun running around walking through the puddles and trying to touch everything in sight. Our browsing was quick while we chased them down in the stores and steered them off the road while we were inside.

3:00 soon came and we checked into our hotel. It was a small, but perfect little room for us. We had one queen size bed, a mini fridge with a microwave, a little desk and of course a bathroom. The entire hotel seemed freshly renovated with an amazing grass courtyard and a hot tub. We were really looking forward to going for a soak once the girls fell asleep, but as life goes, the girls were more excited about getting away with us and sleep was not on their agenda. The tub was closed just before the girls finally fell asleep. Next time I guess.

In the morning we had a casual sleep in and ventured upstairs to the free breakfast. Muffins, cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, what should I choose? I’ll take a bit of everything…. so the girls can try it.

With the car loaded once more we started our way south on Hwy 23. After 50km of forested land we were forced to stop at the Shelter Bay ferry port. A free 20 minute inland ferry running every hour that takes you over Arrow Lake to the starting point of the West Kootenays.

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Then, 10 minutes further south we arrived at an amazing little getaway known as Halcyon Hot Springs. For those that have never heard of this place you can read more about it here. With 4 perfect temperature pools, a lazy river and floaties you just can’t go wrong! We could spend all day there, unfortunately the girls can’t. After a couple hours of relaxing we relocated our wrinkled toes back to the car and pushed on further south.

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Continuing south with Hwy 23 into Nakusp then changing over to Hwy 6 for a further 60km into Fauquier leaves us at the Needles ferry port, another free inland cable ferry that tows you across arrow lake every 30 minutes. From here we enjoyed the final 2 hours of driving through the Monashee mountains and back into the Okanagan Valley were we call home.

Although we did not really get up to all that much and had a fair amount of rain, just getting out, enjoy the views and the simple things in life make me truly appreciate the area where we live and give reason why they call it Beautiful British Columbia.