Last Resort

Internet connectivity has been challenging since we reached Canada. Next year, we plan to solve the problem with a Canadian equivalent of our MiFi that we use when we are in the states. I had hoped to write more about our adventures, but it's harder to keep motivated to share things when they feel like old news by the time I can access the internet. We just spent 6 days at Lake Louise Campground. We had no internet there, and prior to that in Hinton outside of Jaspar, the internet was either completely absent or intermittent at best.

We moved to a new campground this week, in Fairmont Hotsprings BC. We're at the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort. I'm not sure if I'm legally using the internet here or not. It's somewhat confusing, but I think they have free internet and have $8 a day internet. I'm opting for the free internet, although I'm not sure it's supposed to be an option. It's been far more reliable than our recently available internet, so I'm not going to look a gift gigabyte in the mouth.

It's the first time I have ever stayed at a real resort. We've stayed at places that called themselves "resort" but I think their claim was a weak one. I can't say that I think a swimming pool constitutes "resort'' status. This place is somewhat reminiscent of something like the place in Dirty Dancing. They have the hot springs pools, as well as a myriad of other activities, geared toward the entire age spectrum. We, as usual, are taking advantage of none of them. Paul is using the dog's as a reason, but the truth is he has no desire to do any of them. I think the only one that interested me was a horseback ride, but to be honest, I'm not exactly a horse woman. I know I'd come back with a seriously sore tush and probably secretly be thinking it was all incredibly hokey and hating it while I was sort of having fun.

As for the rest, I never have been a big fan of playing tennis or volleyball, and I'm somewhat phobic about public pools. I won't even go into how much I hate any guided activity. (thus the reluctance to do the horse ride) So, it would appear that a real resort is almost as wasted on me as a wanna be resort. Still, at least I can say I've been to one.

The one and only resort thing we have done while we are here was go to a wine tasting. Within hours of arriving here we made friends with some folks who were staying next to us. Really wonderful people. One of those instant friendship things that sometimes happens. They told us about a wine tasting and we went with them. They have two of the most wonderful kids, who are dog lovers. The kids dog sat for us, so we were able to go to the wine tasting.

The wines were mediocre at best and the woman who did the tasting while pleasant and sincere, wasn't exactly an expert. She made some sort of explanation about residual sugar and yeast and alcohol that indicated she had no concept how it all works. I'm not an expert, but I've made enough beer to know that yeast converts sugar into alcohol.

One of the wines was in such desperate need of a decanter that the alcohol almost burned going down. It was wretched. I had just finished my tasting, trying to not let my face show the struggle that entailed, when she asked me what I thought of the wine. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm brutally honest and subtle as a speeding freight train. I try, but I'm lousy at hiding my feelings. I tried to be polite, but all I could do was stammer out something to the effect of "it was good, but it might have benefited from a bit of decanting before serving". I was caught off guard and in all truth thought the stuff undrinkable. It was my best effort at being polite, but I'm a lost cause when it comes to sweet little lies.

This put the woman into a 5 minute meandering monologue about how "no one" has time to let a bottle of wine sit open for an hour before they drink it, and that "no one" knows what decanters are for, and mostly just serve orange juice out of them. Then she went on about some sort of pump action oxygenator that no one has ever heard of. She was rabid about those things, and they must be the most obscure device in the wine universe. Or she mistook the devices used to suck air OUT of the wine for one that pumps wine INTO a wine. I was left squirming in my chair, wishing to god I'd been given a single gene that might have allowed for a hint of subtlety, or the ability to flat out lie on the fly when it's appropriate. In my defense I managed to NOT say "I almost always decant my wine, in a decanter and have not once served orange juice from it!" At least one other person there was doing the same squirm and piped up with a meek, "I've never heard of those, and I just use one of the glass ones you pour the wine through." I interjected the equivalent of a sympathetic "amen" in agreement and prayed we wouldn't anger the nice rabid wanna be wine lady anymore. Fortunately she said "oh those are terrific" and brought out the next wine. I was left with what must have looked like the expression my dogs give me when they are trying to decipher people speak into dog understanding. I was relieved to find the next wine to be at least painless, if not somewhat enjoyable. She didn't ask me what I thought of it.

For the rest of our days here, I'm not sure what we'll do yet. It's quite beautiful, a totally different kind of beauty than Lake Louise or Jasper offered. It's drier here and much warmer. A couple of days ago, we took the dogs for a loop walk on a trail within the resort and by the time we finished the dogs were spent. It was too hot for black dogs to be in the sunshine romping around at full speed and then going for a walk. Yesterday we took them to a river and threw sticks in the water for them. They left exhausted, smelling good, and happy. Water is definitely the best option for the dogs here.

There are some clouds to the west and I think a thunderstorm might be trying to work it's way into the valley. If it does, we'll enjoy the storm, if it doesn't we'll enjoy a walk after it cools off this afternoon. Either way, the view of the mountains from here is spectacular. I think that while I don't have any predisposition for subtlety, or other social graces, I might have more than a few for living like a gypsy and traveling around just to see what mountain peaks can be seen from the next valley.