August 18, 2015

What happened…

Andrew writes: It’s bewildering to me how Amanda can set the alarm clock for some ungodly hour (0700hrs) and then she’s the grumpy-gus all morning. This despite the fact that I had thick slices of bacon ready for us to devour at breakfast. Perhaps my new experiment with tea in the mornings isn’t having quite the same effect as coffee did.

We listened to an episode of “The Vinyl Cafe” over breakfast, just like we enjoyed doing when we were living in North Vancouver. Bacon, eggs, and Stuart Maclean. He tells such wonderful stories. When I sit here writing mine down, I try to imagine Stuart telling one of our tales to his audience, and I fall short. Yet it leaves me eager to try harder to craft a story worthy enough!

On a day like today however there won’t be enough material for a story. We set off from the Castle Mountain campsite and immediately started climbing up to 1750m, passing across the Great Divide again, and back into British Columbia. A short downhill later, we found ourselves at the Marble Canyon campground where we had decided to stay the night; the next campground being several dozen kilometres away.

Thus our afternoon was spent napping, reading, playing cards, and hiking. The scenery of Kootenay National Park is different again from that of Jasper and Banff, and I quite enjoy it. Perhaps it is because of my last ride through this park last spring. Everything looks a little different without the snow coating every hillside, but quite extraordinary nonetheless.

Speaking of stories, I started today listening to one of Billy Crystal’s audiobooks about him; his life and career. It’s pretty funny. Amanda would cast strange glances back at me whenever I would let go with a gut busting laugh while cycling along today. I recommend it “Still Foolin’ Em” to anyone who enjoys Billy’s sense of humour.

Amanda writes:
As Andrew said, I set the alarm early and we set out in good time. Climbing up the divide again was nice and the signage on the top was wonderful. There is not always a sign so we took full advantage and took some nice photos. We also got to meet two nice couples who were visiting as well and had a nice chat with them.

After we pulled the plug early I was so tired! I just couldn’t seem to get a lot of energy today. I actually laid down in the tent and had a two hour nap today. I cannot remember the last time I laid down and actually slept in the middle of the day. Sure I’ve laid down and read, but never actually slept. I also didn’t have any trouble falling asleep at the end of the night. Clearly we needed the rest.

Today’s Photographs