October 24

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October 24, Tuesday

Today was a lots of walking and exploring day – chilly, like 50, but sunny for much of the day. NO RAIN, that’s really all that matters.

We enjoyed a lie in – the bed is very comfortable! Till about 7:30 ish, and were off on a 4.5 mile walk. Both coats, hat and gloves were needed to start with, much less to end! It was probably a mile too long, but at least there was only about 450’ change in elevation. It mostly followed the river, which was nice. LOTS of mountain bike trails off to the sides, but we sedately followed the biking, walking, cross country trail.

When it’s snowing, this entire place must be hopping indeed. There’s much more to do than ski, obviously. Only a few chickadees and a golden crowned kinglet and starlings, oh and some huge American crows were seen, but also a momma deer and her almost-big babe.

After the hike, which started and ended in the parking lot over in the main ski village, we wandered some of that village. It’s huge. Not all shops were open. We saw the hike up the mountain though, and didn’t have enough oomph left to even start it. We had a Starbucks coffee and then drove back to the ranch to have our salads, even though we had taken them in the car, just in case.

No rest, no, so off we drove again to see the other side of the ski mountain. Very quiet compared to this side, and I bet the housing is much less. Of course we picked up one of those real estate guides and you should see what you can get for $5M. Of course, that’s Canadian. A snip in US indeed. We drove into the national park again – the other side of the same one we’d visited 2 days ago. Fascinating number of camping areas, some just with a picnic table, and many with “pret de camping” set ups – huge tarp tents on wooden platforms, and some others even bigger which made me wonder if you put up your own tent on it, but the structure provided extra protection from the elements. About 8 more deer as we drove out. And a loon at the lake where the Discovery Center was (where we stopped and turned around). No more Canada Jays, but then this is obviously different habitat – not a tamarack tree in site.

Reached 13,794 steps today – I need a vacation!

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