Th' Flats

So I just returned from a great vacation with my in-laws. We were vacationing in South-eastern BC in a place called Canal Flats. It is just 20 minutes from Fairmont Hot Springs. We frequented the Hot Springs while we were there. We
also found another natural Hot Spring just up the road another 40 minutes, but this one was a provincial park and was completely free. There was a really strong sulfur smell from the Spring but you got used to it. It was pretty beautiful down there. There were a few different pools where the hot spring water would drain into. Some of them were fed by the river as well and were luke-warm, while others were freezing cold! But it was nice to go from hot to cold and back and forth. It was so natural and the surrounding scenery was awesome.
We also spent some time at the beach doing some tanning, bocce ball, Frisbee, football toss, boating, swimming, and knee boarding. It was definitely relaxing and felt very much like a vacation. The sun was hot almost every day and was up to 37 degrees as a high. I don't think it got much lower than 20+ ever. It was awesome. I hadn't kneeboarded in 8-10 years and it was perfect weather for kneeboarding. The first time we went was a bit rough but the second time was phenomenal. It was glassy in some places. Doing 360's was quite simple and it was easy to carve from side to side. I managed to pull off 10 360's in a row without stopping, and Terra wasn't far behind with 6 in a row. It unbelievably nice water that day. And since it was so nice, I had to see if it was possible to stand up on the kneeboard. And guess what? After a few attempts, one including trying to stand up with backwards footing and not realizing it until I was up, I managed to get myself wakeboarding on a kneeboard! It was super shaky especially with the tiny fins that were stabilizing me. But it was fun. I just couldn't really turn too sharp since my feet weren't strapped to anything. Good times.
We also went for a golf round in the Flats. There is a nice par 3-4 golf course in the center of the Flats. It's not the nicest golf course, but it only costs 15 bucks for 9 holes. The fairways are nice but have some weeds on them, and the greens are just regular turf and aren't the prettiest. But we had some good golfin' fun anyway. It's a good place to practice your game.
When we weren't enjoying the Hot Springs, golf, or the beach, we were hanging out at the lot. Christine's parents had purchased a lot in Canal Flats last March and parked their 5th-wheel there. There is a fire pit there as well. We would spend our time hanging out in the 5th-wheel at night when the mosquitoes were bad. We would play card games and listen to music. We played a lot of canasta there. I was the breakfast chef for all our big breakfasts including pancakes, eggs, french toast, steak, and turkey bacon. It was good stuff!
Terra, Christine, and I went for a good hike up one of the nearby mountains on the lake. We weren't sure if there were any trails. We were told there weren't any "actual" trails so we were expecting to make our own. But as it turned out, there were quad tracks all the way up to were I wanted to go. We followed the sandy trail all the way up to the top of one mountain. It only took us just over 30 minutes to climb. I was a beautiful view. That is where I took the first picture in this blog, from the top of the mountain. There are many other mountains I'd like to hike someday out there.
While we were there I helped Dad-in-law put together a shed. It was a solid plastic shed with tons of assembly pieces, so we had fun with that.
We went into Cranbrook a couple times as well as Invermere to get groceries and stuff. They are such beautiful towns surrounded by huge rocky mountains. I never really knew what I was missing all these years. I didn't even know Canal Flats existed. That entire area in the South is amazing! It was such a great time with the family. I look forward to years in the future when we can return there for vacation.


Go to MY MSN SPACE for MORE PICTURES.
- find it in my LINKS in the sidebar