Day 3

Despite an early night, getting moving this morning proved to be challenge. My phone had decided it was further west and had changed to Pacific time, so my morning alarms were an hour behind normal. After a slow start and breakfast, we packed up the room and re-arranged the car - making car snacks far easier to access! After checking out, we headed down to the lake shore for a walk. After a childhood in the UK, I've seen enough wet beaches in the rain, but something about this one was dull and gloomy, and if you didn't look in exactly the right direction, you could be forgiven for thinking you were at the bottom of a quarry. Inveremere sits on Lake Windermere, and the weather reminded me of cycling along Lake Windermere in the Lake District. Wind blowing hair in every direction and rain driving into our faces. Needless to say, we cut the walk short, and headed for the car. Our planned route took us along the edge of  Lake Winderemere so we would have plenty of time to see the what else the Lake could offer, and as soon as we got climbed the hill into Inveremere proper, the quarry look stopped and the scenery became quiet pleasant. Our drive took us along the Lake side all the way down to rejoin the highway at the Fairmont Hot Springs where we had been last night - but a much more fun drive along windy roads, with Lake, Mountains and Autumnal Trees making every turn seem like a postcard.

With only a vague plan for the day, we had the opportunity to be more spontaneous today, meaning when we saw a sign for Fort Steele Heritage Village, we pulled off the road to see what it was all about. Similar to other heritage villages, Fort Steele was made up of numerous buildings, some original, some transplanted, some just created for the historical effect. We wandered around, visiting the horses and ponies and looking at the Halloween dolls ready for next weekends festivities. Clare got very excited by the old school house, because of the playground out the back. After bouncing on the seesaw, and swinging on the swings, it was getting close to closing time, so we had to get back on the road. 

As we got back in the car, the rain started again. Pouring, driving rain and low lying clouds obscuring the road set the scene for the rest of the afternoon. By now, the signs had started to show "US Border" signifying the temporary end of our push south. We were now aiming west, working along the border until we were ready to leave. The plan for the afternoon was to get to the Kootenay Lake Ferry - the longest free car ferry in the world. This meant we had to head north along the shore of the lake, on a deserted road in rubbish weather conditions. It reminded us of the UK and was sobering realisation that our sheltered protected time in the Rockies was over, UK weather was just around the corner, with only a brief interlude in the Californian sun first.

One of the tourist highlights along this drive was a Glass House. Unfortunately it was closed to tourists, only open from May - October (summer), so we could only look from outside the gates. Despite the hype, it was a tiny castle (turrets and all) made of small glass bricks, mortared together - Dad had once built a shower wall in the same way, and that was more impressive. I felt slightly sorry for the bus loads of tourists who would have been brought along here - the lake views were beautiful but the highlight of the house must have been a massive let down! 

Eventually, the road ended at the ferry port. Darkness had fallen, speed along its way by the stormy weather, despite only being 6pm. The ferry waiting area was so similar to all other ferry ports in the world, it reminded me of family holidays back in my childhood of trips across from Dover to Calais. Arriving at 11pm at night in the rain, to catch an earlier than booked overnight ferry and being left to wait at the traffic light en route to a holiday in the sun. In true Canadian style, there was no order to boarding the ferry. Despite lanes in the waiting area giving clear directions on how to load, no one had paid any attention and just all tried to get on as quickly as possible. Unlike most car ferries I've been on, there was no restrictions to staying in the car, in fact there were only limited places to get to, and most people seemed content to sit in their cars. We were both surprised by the lack of motion, we had no idea when we'd left the dock or that we were even moving until you looked over the side of the boat. A brilliant smooth journey, despite the stormy weather. When we arrived on the other side, we were ready to head onto our destination for the night, Ainsworth Hot Springs. The road to Aisnworth was wiggly, steep, with blind corners and was partially flooded in places. Despite this, all the locals who had arrived on the ferry but who had got stuck behind me getting off had decided to practise Melbourne driving techniques more than a millimetre between cars was too much space. Not knowing the roads, I tried all number of tactics to make them back off, and when a layby came up 5 miles in - I decided for safety sake to wait for 5 mins to let them all get a good lead before setting off again. Canadian's for the most part have seemed to be good drivers, it was a disappointment to find they were still capable of the same stupidity displayed in the rest of the world.

Arriving in Ainsworth, the first motel was closed for 2 weeks - by the look of it they had gone on holiday! The next hotel (judging by the outside - big price difference!) had no parking left and cars packing the road outside. Luckily, internet research had led us to the Mermaid Hotel. A small cosy place, with kitchenette units run by an old scottish guy. Our room had a balcony, and although it smelt a little funny - seemed fairly comfortable and well equipped. Dinner was easy, by this time both Clare and I were starving having missed lunch, and more then happy to just rest after a long day of travelling. 

As we went to sleep, we had everything crossed that the weather had now passed us, and tomorrow would be a lovely sunny day....