Hello Everyone,
We're here for another update. First, we just want to let you know we have been reading your comments...even if we don't respond to them - we still enjoy/appreciate them. Anyways, we had a good day today and got in some solid mileage.
We got up pretty early(5:45) and were on the road around 7:30. We were tired last night so we hadn't updated the blog, got our food for the day ready, or packed anything so we had a bit more work to do this morning than normal. Almost as soon as we got on the road our gears started jumping all over the place. We adjusted them and they seem to be working more smoothly - not quite one hundred percent yet though. The weather was great this morning - a little cool and hardly any wind(perfect biking conditions). The morning was pretty much flat and we noticed that the desert environment that Kamloops is known for turn into forest again. It was pretty neat because we could just about pin point the exact spot the transition was made.
 |
| Quick water break |
There were a few large climbs today but they weren't as bad as some we have seen in the past few days. In the picture below you can see the start of the first climb of the day in the background.
 |
| Well, at least we are going the right way |
 |
| Just over half way there |
 |
| Nice view....oh and the mountains and lake are nice too |
We decided to stop for breakfast today since it was so yummy last time we stopped. This restaurant was no exception - the food was delicious and they didn't skimp on the bacon! We got there around 11am and took our time eating and drinking our coffees and left just after noon. There was a farmers market going on next door and it seemed like the waitress wasn't expecting so many people since she was running around like crazy trying to serve everyone. We weren't in a hurry though since procrastinating getting back on the bike is a favourite past time of ours. Below is our plates after we ravaged them - can you blame us though? We had biked about 50km by this point.
 |
| Now you see our breakfast now you don't |
 |
| West side of Salmon Arm |
We eventually made it to Salmon Arm and we headed straight for the Visitors Center. Quick word about the visitors centers we have come across in BC so far. They have all been extremely helpful, they have public washrooms, tons of pamphlets/maps of the area, and really helpful staff. The staff have shown us the closest campgrounds that are on our route, they also have got us distances on their computer and looked up traffic webcams. So, we were looking forward to going to the one in Salmon Arm, unfortunately it isn't open on Saturdays. We used our computer to find some campgrounds that were just outside of town and headed for them. We also needed groceries and assumed we'd see a grocery store on our way out of town - we didn't so we had to back track to the other side of town. We finally got our groceries and headed for the campground.
The first one on our list looked pretty run down and not open so we went to the next one. When we got to this one they told us they were sold out of tent sites!!! This boggled our minds since we've been just about the only tenters at all of the other sites we visited. Turns out there is a huge bike race this weekend in Salmon Arm and most people are from out of town and are staying at this campground. The only site they had left was an RV site and it was priced accordingly :( Oh well, we were tired so we decided to get it. And it turned out we can use the laptop while its plugged in from inside our tent :D
 |
| All settled in |
It is kind of nice being at a campground full of cyclists since we look normal with our spandex clothes, helmet hair, sunscreen, and bike shoes. We even got a couple delicious beers from our neighbour(thanks!) and he also offered us his backyard to set up our tent in when we go through Canmore, AB. The other neighbour offered me some full size bike tools when he saw me working on our trailer wheel with my little bike tools - also much appreciated.
We've got another fairly long day tomorrow...we hope to get to Revelstoke but, we will keep you all updated.
Good Night,
Chris & Patricia
