A Beary Good Day, eh?

There was no hurry for us this morning...Revelstoke was a little more than 20 miles away.  Patty checked out Williamson RV Park and said the lake was mucky, while I rode down to the KOA, now called Alpine Chalets to have a look.  The campground looked fine, but to get downtown where services were, you had to first climb a big hill and then drop down a steep hill...which translates to a steep climb after breakfast...and after dinner.  We settled on the Lamplighters RV Park, run by a German couple.  It was a short distance from town and also close to Highway 23 where we wanted to ride an out and back after breakfast.  We ate at Carrie's...I had the Western Omelet and Patty had Eggs Benedict.



The ride on Highway 23 is where I'll be riding tomorrow, and it's a great cycling route.  Low traffic with plenty of rollers to keep things interesting.  On our way back, a small blue car driven by Ken and Mary Kingsbury stopped to tell us that two black bears had just crossed the road 400m ahead of us.  We thought it was nice of them to warn us, and even nicer to turn around and point into the trees where the bears had gone.  Well, guess what?  They weren't gone...at least one wasn't...he was halfway up a tree.  We stopped and the couple stopped too.  He had a very nice camera with an expensive lens...I had...my phone.  Patty was sticking pretty close to the car.  Several times he rattled the branches, making a lot of noise, and at first we thought he was coming down.  Now, we think he was basically saying, "Get lost..."  Patty was brave...she didn't have her bear spray with her, but she didn't ride off in a panic...she was 20 yards from a bear!i

The owner of the campground had given us a recommendation for dinner...Woolsey's Creekside Bistro.  It was superb.  Patty had the chicken stuffed with bacon jam with a polenta cake, and I had wild salmon topped with a rhubarb compote and pecans.  The vegetables that came with the entree were cooked to perfection and Patty had her beer and I had my cider.  We were full in such a wonderful way on her last riding day.  I will miss her...she is a great traveling companion...a great friend.

We left the restaurant and headed downtown where live music plays most nights through the summer.  Tonight's entertainment was the Mike McKenzie Band.  They play what they call "funky jazz".

Both of us fell in love with the little town of Revelstoke.  It is British Columbia's version of Hood River with people riding bikes, toting sports equipment, hip little businesses, and great restaurants.  I saw a bakery that I will be hitting before I head south tomorrow.