Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
Nelson is a beautiful city less than four hours from Coeur d’Alene. I have said it before, but I love love love Canada. No morons are driving around with giant Trump flags hanging from their pickups, the respect and honor for the wilderness is incredible, and there is gluten-free food everywhere. Nelson was different from my experiences in Banff, Canmore, and Calgary in that we saw far less diversity among the people. But, it is much smaller and more isolated.
We had two days, and I had a list of things to do that would require a week. So, we did five of the things on the list. The wildfire smoke was a bit much. IQAir said the quality was harmful to sensitive populations. I’m a sensitive population. The five things we chose were pretty low-key.
The entire reason I ever wanted to go to Nelson was to hike the Lower Kaslo River. I loved it so much. It is an hour outside of Nelson, but so worth it. The hike is easy, but there is a jumble of trails for hiking and mountain biking, so if you are going to see the art as I did, have a trail map. The characters along the trail are called The Family of Koots Elementals “Love to Play” and were created by the Koots Artist Collective. They are huge and whimsical; I was so happy to see them!
There are many places to hike between Kaslo and Nelson, but we were racing a storm system and sunset, so the only other thing we did was Fletcher Creek Falls. It is a short and steep hike that gives you views above the falls almost right away, and then you finish right at the base of the falls. Very close to the base of the falls is a beautiful beach on Kootenay Lake. It has picnic tables and space for backcountry camping.
Our cabin was just outside Nelson, up a treacherous mountain road tucked into the mountainside with perfect views of the surrounding forest and mountaintops. I loved everything about the location and view.
I had originally picked Nelson Lakeside Path for our morning run before we hiked, but the wildfire smoke was smothering, so we did not run. Or do any of the hikes I hoped to do. We walked the Lakeside Path from one end to the other and then used Nelson’s free streetcar to return to where we parked. The Lakeside Path was beautiful, of course. We began at the famous Big Orange Bridge, with an incredible beach. The trail goes along several stretches of pristine beaches, has endless views of mountains and the lake, intersects the streetcar tracks a couple of times and goes by a tiny airport. Nelson has no uninteresting spaces. They allow wild plants to grow and plant more in other places, and there are fruit trees everywhere, and they turn any surface into a mural and have heritage markers for just about every single thing you see.
After the streetcar, we took the Kootenay Lake Ferry from Kootenay Bay to Belfour. On the way to Balfour, we rode on the M.V. Osprey 2000, which was huge. I think it fits 80+ vehicles. The ride across the lake on the ferry was 35 minutes. It was beautiful the entire time, with mountains in every direction. This is the last season for the other ferry to be used, so we took that one, M.V. Balfour, on the way back. This ferry was much smaller, holding 25 vehicles. I think. We used the ferry as pedestrians, but next time I will want to either have a bicycle or a car and see the Pilot Bay Lighthouse near Balfour.
While enjoying our alone time, Barbarian Scientist received an email invitation to participate in a Costa Rican vacation being hosted by his mother and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is paying for everything for everyone. I’ve met him twice, and he’s my and Barbarian Scientist’s favorite person in his family. Barbarian Scientist replied to the email to make sure I was also invited. I was not. Why? Because I do not think the sun shines out of their asses the way they think I should. I’m just a poor kid from the poor ages, and I should be extremely thankful that they once included me (3 times total) in their elaborate events. Also, Barbarian Scientist has greatly changed, and they appreciate none of it. They actually blame me, as though there is blame to be had. He put himself into therapy so he could best manage to blend our lives and children and build and learn to maintain healthy boundaries with his ex-wife and his extended family. His transformation has included feeling more secure, taking the space in the world he wants, becoming an Ultrarunner, and earning his graduate degree. We have been through A LOT the last couple of years with this cancer ordeal, and not only have they not once been a support to me, they have also not been a support to Barbarian Scientist. We both have all the love and care of the active people in our routine lives, so it’s hardly a deficit when people who do not know or care about one or both of us pass judgment. Unless an invitation to go to a beautiful place is extended and Barbarian Scientist thinks there may be an opportunity to reconcile and create new bonds. And is then rejected.
So, we discussed our roles as parents. What would our children have to do to justify mistreating them? Aside from being unable to imagine any of them being intentionally harmful to others, we could not think of one thing that would encourage us not to always try to be good examples and humble and willing supports to each of them. They have the paths they have to travel, and our opinions of their choices are really none of their business unless they ask. Our love, though, will always be there; for that, they will never have to ask.
And that’s family.
