Kokanee Trip, Day 3 (Aug 12/12)

Just before going to bed last night I realized that I had left the charger for my phone in the hotel in Hinton. The phone was nearly dead by the time I awoke, and after doing a little research, I found a store that sold them but would only open at 11am. This gave me a chance to have a very relaxed breakfast, poke around the small town a little, and chat with a couple for a few minutes before the store opened.

Got the charger for the phone, and was chomping at the bit to get some saddle time again. It was great to start the day with temperatures warm enough to only wear the vest. The scenery from Invermere to Cranbrook is beautiful, but quite different from the previous day. I stopped for an ice cream in Cranbrook, and sent a message to the friends I was planning on meeting at Kokanee Springs for a 5 day golf camp/vacation. Turns out three of them were in Cranbrook as well, but they wanted to do some shopping so I let them know that I would continue to ride.

The rest of the ride was all through country that I hadn't seen before. It's always cool to see new places and scenery. About a half hour before Creston, I pulled into a rest area to use the restroom and hopefully find an outlet to charge my phone a little more. I didn't find an outlet, but after seeing me look for the plug, another traveler offered to charge my phone in his vehicle to get enough charge so that I could communicate with the friends I was meeting. I ended up chatting the guy and his wife, who were heading home to Calgary from close to where I was heading. It was nice to have a break and talk with some people, which I've already learned is one of the coolest things of traveling on a motorcycle. Conversation with strangers happens almost every time I stop, and even though it's often just small talk, I enjoy the act of meeting new people.

I arrived Creston, stopped to grab a cold drink, and as I was getting on the bike I saw the three of my friends pass by me on the street. By the time I was on the outskirts of Creston I was right behind their vehicle. I passed them as we made our way north on Highway 3A, which is a hidden gem of a highway for anyone on a motorcycle. Lots of twists and turns, but too much traffic this Sunday afternoon. About halfway along the 80km of road between Creston and Crawford Bay, I pulled into a rest stop to try and get some open road in front of me. Billy, Colter, and Jean pulled into the rest stop as well and we chatted for a few minutes, before setting off for the last little ride.

We arrived Kokanee Springs, and the four of us checked into our rooms. We took a little time to freshen up, and then walked down to Bunkers, the golf course restaurant. Shortly after placing our dinner order, the meeting for the golf camp began, and we ate our dinner outside as we listened to the pro talk about what we were going to be doing. David and Karen arrived halfway through the meeting, and now the whole group was together.

All of us changed into golf clothes and headed to the range to hit some golf balls, which was nice after all the traveling in the last three days. After the range session, we headed back to our rooms, and all of us congregated on the deck for some drinks, snacks, and conversation.

Only traveled 333.2km today