The Traveling Idiots-Where The Tuck Are They Now?: Revelstoke, A Dam and A Good Soak!

Before leaving Penticton Saturday morning we had one more stop, the Saturday Farmers Market in downtown. This is a huge weekly event from the spring through the fall that takes up several blocks of Main Street as well as a couple of intersecting streets. We got there not long after the scheduled opening time of 8:30 and it was already bustling with vendors and shoppers. There was only one thing lacking and that was fresh produce! The growing season starts a little later up here so most fruits and vegetables won't be ready until July/August. There was plenty of fresh breads and other baked goods so we didn't go hungry and we were able to pick up some huge, crisp apples at a fruit stand a few days before so we've had a sampling. I would love to be here when all the fresh fruits and veggies are in season. It looks like they produce quite a variety.
Our next destination was Revelstoke which is about 150 miles Northeast of Penticton. The drive up Highway 97 took us up the western side of Okanagan Lake before we crossed over to the east side at Kelowna. It is a beautiful city on the lake that we enjoyed walking around for an hour or so. We were on Highway 97 another hour or so before we got on the Trans Canada Highway (Highway 1). The highway number may have changed but the scenery the entire drive was amazing. Huge lakes, rivers, forests and snow capped mountains the entire way!
Revelstoke is a "ski town" with about 7,000 residents that is located along the Columbia River. Even up here in the Great White North ski season is over and summer vacations haven't started so the town is a little sleepy right now, just the way we like it. I've learned that the Revelstoke Mountain Resort has the greatest vertical of any ski resort in North America (5,620 feet). I have absolutely no idea what that means but it sounds impressive and it also sounds like something that I want no part of!
http://seerevelstoke.com/
http://www.revelstokemountainresort.com/
Just a few miles north of the city is the Revelstoke Dam. This dam is just under 600 feet tall and produces enough electricity through it's five turbines to power around 1 million homes and businesses in British Columbia. They have a really nice visitors center and tour of the facility which was well worth the hour or so of time and $6 admission fee. Our tour guide was a college student who is working at the dam for the summer. When we asked her at the end of the tour if she had any recommendations for the rest of the day she suggested we visit Halcyon Hot Springs. Well, she pretty much had us convinced just by the mere mention of the word "hot springs" but her description of the springs overlooking a lake and the mountains plus a nice restaurant had us on the road in no time. It was about an hour out of Revelstoke but again the drive was spectacular. There was an added bonus on this drive and that was that a twenty minute ferry ride across Upper Arrow Lake was required. The ferry runs every hour from the Revelstoke side of the lake and returns on the half hour and you can't beat the cost..........free!
There were four pools at the springs, my favorite @ 104, Beth's favorite @ 99, a "seasonal" pool @ 86 and a cold plunge @ 58. Beth managed 50 seconds in the cold plunge. I lasted around four and a half seconds! I think with the two hours or so we spent in the warmer pools we got our moneys worth for the day!
https://www.bchydro.com/community/recreation_areas/visitor-centres/revelstoke-visitor-centre.html
https://halcyon-hotsprings.com/
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/transportation/passenger-travel/water-travel/inland-ferries/upper-arrow-lake-ferry