Day 20 - 21 ~ British Columbia

July 1-2: Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia

After 221 miles and 4 + 1 hours we arrived at Ridgeview RV Resort. This is an RPI (Resort Parks International). It’s like a time share. People own seasons at this park. Sites are also available for overnighters (like us). It’s luxurious and expensive. 

Each site has a covered patio with picnic bench, storage shelves, and a gas grill. It’s not a big place. About 124 sites. Our site #107 has cable TV and fairly strong WiFi signal. It’s located up on a hill outside of Radium Hot Springs, nestled in a forest. The place has an outdoor pool and the Rec Hall has an indoor pool; along with an exercise room, a couple of rooms with a big screen TV, all have fireplaces. There is a big gathering room with tables. Some tables have several puzzles started and there’s a library. Impressive. 

 

On the morning of departure, we enjoyed a pancake breakfast in the gathering room. Sat at a table with a family from Calgary. Very nice people; gave us recommendations of what to see in Calgary. 

  

We are in Radium Hot Springs for two nights.

July 2nd: Radium Hot Springs is located near the entrance of Kootenay National Park which is also the route to Banff. So, you are let through without paying a fee if you make no stops along the way. Today we drove on 93 about 1/3 way into this park to see the sights. We did make a few stops to take pictures. We saw trailheads along the way and a big area where people spend the day swimming in the hot springs. We also saw big horn sheep on a cliff side. They blended into the cliff side so they were hard to see, nor could you see them in any pictures.                                         

 Kootenay River

We returned to highway 95 and drove south past Radium Hot Springs to Invermere, found a place to eat lunch and checked out the shops. Lots of gem and rock stores. My favorite! There are several areas of hot springs on 95 so this is a “hot” spot for tourists in the summer.

We discovered that this weekend is Canada Day. This holiday actually lasts a week. So this area is really crowded. Wait until we get into Banff.

On to Alberta!