Invermere BC @ the cabin!

We arrived mid-afternoon after a short but beautiful drive through Kootenay National Park. There was some precision parking required with lots of back and forth to back into the driveway. Mark was quick with the loppers, got a few branches trimmed back and the camper was a perfect fit! Once we got settled we headed straight to the lake. The boys were pretty excited to have Dominic and Damon to hang with and got work battling the wind and waves on the paddle board. We played a fun lakeside foursquare volleyball game and Amy learned to play Molkii.

The next day, Matt took the paddle board out to join Mark, Maclean and Drew for a quick paddle before Mark and Drew headed back to Calgary with Linda. Later everyone was back at the lake and squeezed every last drop of sunshine out of the day before Megan and Al treated everyone to delicious lettuce wraps. Willow put on a show demonstrating how make and eat the wraps.

In the morning we ventured up Swansea Mountain for a family hike. We picked up a biker who was heading back up to join his family for a ride. He rode in the back of the truck and it was a pretty bumpy ride. The dually had to make three point turns around the switchbacks. The parking lot was near the top but the hike to the summit was steep. Willow struggled a bit but the views are the top were well worth it! After exploring and retiring to the truck, Matt hoped on his bike and rode down to scout out the trails. Amy took the kids to town to check out the bakery.

We spent every day at the lake except Wednesday, partially because it was a bit cloudy, but mostly because it was rib day! Matt put 4 racks of ribs on the smoker and we set out in search of hot springs. Radium Hot Springs was close, but the parking lot was so full we decided to head to Fairmont Hot Springs. The boys had a blast swimming and jumping while everyone else soaked in the hot pool. There was a cooling fountain in the middle that helped regulate the temperature. Then we got to finish the day with a ribs and wings feast!

On our last night Al cooked up a pile of wings and Megan and Melanie made nachos. Just as we sat to eat, a storm whipped up and knocked the power out. The winds were pretty wild and took down huge blue spruce on the neighbours driveway. Luckily they decided to join us in the dark for a drink, it was great to meet Angie and Smitty (who happens to be from Springhill!)

It was hard to say goodbye. Everyone had such a great time and we felt pretty fortunate to be able to spend so much time with family in such a beautiful place. We snuck in one last adventure though once the camper was pulled out... Everyone pitched in a cut up the fallen spruce tree!Läs mer