This past weekend we went away on a mini holiday, a quick one night away in a hotel in Invermere. It's just under 2 hours from Canmore into the Kootenay region of BC. The town sits on the north shore of Lake Windermere, one of the regions biggest and warmest lakes. If you stand on the edge of the lake with your eyes closed and listen to the gentle sound of breaking waves it really feels as if you're by the sea :)
Kicking Horse coffee is brewed in town so we couldn't resist checking out the cafe. Neil is a bit picky about his coffee theses days and isn't a big Kicking Horse fan but the breakfast sandwiches were good and my latte was very pretty. I also have to say that the planting around the cafe which is essentially in the industrial area of Invermere was beautiful!
On our arrival day we made a quick stop in town to check out the local famers market and I have to say I was impressed! It was easily four times the size of our market in Canmore and had some really cool stands. After that we stayed put at our hotel enjoyng the great outdoor pool and bouncy castle ( yes the hotel had a bouncy castle!!) . We also had dinner on the patio with some very pleasant live music, I have no photos of any of this because I left my camera in the car and was too busy relaxing to go and get it out :)
On Sunday we hit the beach! These photos make it look a little cold, the day started out a bit cloudy but it was 30 degrees C once the sun came out. The water was crystal clear and quite a bit warmer than Quarry Lake in Canmore. There were swimming docks, some with slides, people paddleboarding, kayaking and sailing, speedboats wizzing by out in the lake and just a very nice summery seasidey feeling :)
I was impressed by the cleanliness and the facilities. There was a large, new looking building housing a nice concession stand, picnic tables and showers and I was most impressed to see that it was all solar powered! Apparently this is one of the sunniest regions in BC and Invermere is a designated Solar Community.
Right by the beach was a small splash park for the kiddies and even more impressively an Osprey nesting platform! I saw this massive bird flying over me with a huge stick in her talons and followed her to the nest to get some photos. She didn't seem to like me standing there and wouldn't take her eyes of me. She made a lot of noises and eventually flew a few circles around my head until I decided it was time to let her be.
After our beach time we headed to nearby Windermere Village to a local produce market. We'd read in the local paper that they had just opened a wood fired pizza place and had to check it out!
As soon as Neil saw the can's of San Marzano Tomatoes he knew we'd picked the right spot to lunch. Bel on the other hand wasn't so impressed......
While we waited for our pizza I had a poke around the market. It all looked so yummy! Check out those blueberries! That's a lot of blueberries for $20!!
We headed home with sand in our hair and ice cream in our tummies....signs of a good holiday for sure! Even if it was only a short one :)
