As our normal routine for a new place, after breakfast and cleanup we grabbed Grammie and Laney and headed to the visitor's center. We learned all about the First Nation tribe in the area and how they dealt with settlers and european ways. We learned about the Ktunaxa dealt with the damming of the river containing their main salmon food supply. We learned how the Ktunaxa kids were sent to residential school to learn and work. We learned about the native animals in the area and more about fires.
We also learned about the hot springs in the area and how the Ktunaxa used them for healing and spiritual purposes. Although it's been long ago commercialized, we decided to head to the Radium Hot Springs to give it a try.There was a fantastic display in the tunnel to the springs detailing how the Canada park service has developed all kinds of ways to deal with wildlife movement and busy highways. The transcontinental highway goes right through the middle of this park so I'm sure there are a large number of accidental wildlife deaths. The displays showed tunnels for the animals, special fenced areas with escape tunnels should animals get caught between the fence and the road, as well as beautiful wildlife overpasses.
We could barely contain our excitement when we walked over the pool seeing about 10 people relaxing and floating around. This was going feel be better than a shower! The building was under construction so one of the pools was closed, but the attendant told us the cold pool was open. It was 55 degrees outside so we must have looked confused as to why anyone would want to go in a cold pool in that weather. He said it was currently warm at 39 degrees. I was halfway out the door wondering what is wrong with these people when he said, "Celsius". That would be about 101 degrees - perfect!
I was right. It was way better than a shower. I also decided I need a hot spring at my house or we need to move here and get an annual pass. The kids swam over and grabbed all of us noodles and we floated. And floated. And floated. We must have looked quite drunk with glassy eyes and smiles all floating around. Grammie was done with the heat after awhile so she got out and tried to stay warm in the sun. The kids got out a few times too but ended up back in the pool shortly after.
We found a bench and tried to soak up as much warmth as we could until all our fingers and toes looked like raisins. The worst part was getting out in the 55 degree weather and attempting to dry off before shivering back into the changing room. There was a bathing suit dryer spinner contraption that the girls enjoyed using and it really did work!
While we were waiting on everyone to get changed we learned about the history of the spring through displays down the hallway. There were neat pictures of people in the original actual spring with snow all around and a mountain behind them. We also found out the 2010 Olympic torch made it's way through the pool we had just been soaking in.
As we were driving back toward our campground Dave spotted a few bighorn sheep walking through the town so we turned to check them out and stumbled on a park. We grabbed Lola from the RV and went back for some play time. I've mentioned before that through all our travels the kids have become playground snobs. As we drove by they approved of this park so we hopped out and enjoyed some morning sunshine.
The kids stayed at the actualy playground for about 45 seconds until they spotted a workout circuit. All the stations were set up to use your own weight so they weren't terribly difficult to figure out. There were big smiles as they realized they could do all kinds of muscle-building movements!
Once all their muscles were bulging we headed to the field for a game of soccer. The teams were decided - boys vs. girls while Grammie and Lola relaxed on the sidelines. The game was close at 2-2 within the first few minutes, but us girls zoomed ahead staying at 6-4 for awhile while the boys battled to get even. Once the score reached 9-5, the boys were desperately trying to score but boys' skills proved no match for the offense of Ryan and Laney, who scored as the game-winning goal as the boys fell on the ground.
We decided to head to the pub for lunch while Lola napped in the car. There were fish & chips all around while Dave & I shared a delicious jalapeno mac & cheese. We'd heard about the impending category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic so we tried to get an update on the weather channel but there was enough going on locally that it wasn't on yet. A gentleman overheard our worry and brought over his tablet with an update for us, but it didn't really calm our nerves. It was a massive storm that reminded all of us of the strength and size of Ivan. We made tentative plans to protect our house and decided to make a the call in a few days if it was heading into the Gulf.
The kids spotted an ice cream place about a block away so while Grammie grabbed Lola, we grabbed some dessert. The girls chose some kind of caramel Rolo that was so delicious that Dave ended up having about a quarter of each of theirs. They were not amused.
Lola even had her laser focus on Ryan's cone as she's gotten quite used to us giving her a bite or the bottom of our cones.
As we all waddled back to the car we decided it was time for a hike. I'd been interested in the loop from our campground to the springs and across a canyon so we prepared all our backpacks and hit the trail. We were camping pretty high up on the mountain so the trail was mostly level then dramatically down at the springs.
After a quick snack break we crossed the road and made the climb up the the mountain across the street then dramatically down again into the Sinclair canyon. The sun was getting low and we were getting lower so I was getting a little worried until I finally saw the bridge across the river next to the waterfall.
We climbed back up to the road, crossed it, then found the trail to our campground. I got the stink eye from just about everyone as we had to climb up again to reach the fork where we began 3 hours earlier. Even with the smoke the view was beautiful and we got back to the campsite tired. I voted for a snack dinner as Dave and I weren't hungry so the kids enjoyed cheese, crackers, and apples with peanut butter. One knife and one plate are my favorite kind of dishes!
Brayden opted to read in the tent as he is devouring the books he received for his birthday. Ryan, Dave and I hung out in the kitchen pavillion playing games pretty late. We enjoyed playing Ludo (Sorry game) and Quixx (super fun dice game) so much with her I think we might take each of the kids on a solo camping trip similar to their 10-year-old plane trips. We talked with a chatty Ryan for a few minutes through the tent walls then finally made her go to sleep. We needed to get some sleep before packing up to head to our next spot in the morning!
