Beautiful British Columbia

Every once in a while, the urge to go exploring grips me.  I have many fond memories of epic road trips and infamous day trips taken when I was a girl.  A few of the infamous day trips of my youth have become legendary in that they usually involved short-cuts that were quite scenic, but definitely not shorter.  Ahh, but they made for great memories! 

Recently, the urge hit again.  Please, honey!  Can we take a road trip!?!  So we grabbed the map, started planning, and came up with a nice little (kid-friendly!) road trip north across the border to a part of British Columbia that neither of us had ever been before - the Kootenay Rockies.  Their license plates are correct - BC is truly beautiful! 

 One of the peaks in the Valley of a Thousand Peaks.

 Panning for (fools) gold in Fort Steele - a historical heritage town just north of Cranbrook.

The main attraction (at least for our family) in Fort Steele.  A working steam train.

Watching the steam blow, listening to the whistle, handing our tickets to the conductor, seeing the engineer (both of whom were dressed in period costume), feeling the cool breeze - what wasn't to love about the train ride?

The next day, after surviving a winding drive up the East Shore of Kootenay Lake , we were glad for the opportunity to get some fresh air and hike up to Pilot Point Lighthouse.

We were amazed to find the door unlocked and invitation to climb on up the steep steps. 

It is no longer a working lighthouse but the views from the top were lovely.

  

Exploring seems to agree with us, don't you think?

Day 2's main event - riding the ferry across Kootenay Lake.  During the summer months there are two ferries plying the waters and Lane was so amazed that we didn't even feel the wake of the ferry we passed.

We camped at Kokanee Creek Provincial Park, an amazing campground.  It has a huge sandspit with lots of shallow water that the kids decided was a bit colder than our home waters (even if it is quite warm by Canadian standards).

 Relaxing around the campfire after another busy day.

The campground was situated on Kokanee Creek and had all sorts of hiking trails and bridges along the creek.  We were surprised to find that the Kokanee were already spawning!  These fish are so fun for the kids because they are so bright red that they are easy to spot (there are 6 in the picture above). 

Looking for Kokanee.

Happily perched on Daddy's shoulders. 

And our final attraction?  The electric streetcar in Nelson that runs along the waterfront.  Nothing like planning a road trip around kid-friendly rides!(: