The Cabin, Columbia Valley, Revelstoke

Welp, in a blink of an eye, our time at Edgewater has come to an end :( We all agreed that we will miss this lovely, cozy cabin that we called home for a week. I actually found this cabin through VRBO but booked it through the vacation rental company Cobblestone Creek. It was our first time renting a vacation home but the whole process with Cobblestone Creek was smooth and trouble-free. 

The cabin we stayed in was called the Iron Ring Log Chalet. It had 3 floors, 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms.

There's a large wrap-around deck with a nice dining area and barbecue grill at the back. Large double glass doors allowed access into the kitchen too.

At the front of the house, it featured tall vaulted ceilings in the living room. The back had the nice and roomy kitchen and a dining table that could sit 6-7 people.

Here's the view from above! With the added height, extra windows allowed so much more natural light in the space!

Once up the stairs, there was also a small loft area for reading or playing with the many stuffed bears hiding around the house! The upstairs also had 2 bedrooms and 1 of the bathrooms.

There was just enough space for us at the dining table. Perfect fit :) I quite liked the antler chandelier as it matched the rustic yet contemporary style of the home. Behind the dining table was the stairs to go down to the basement level. Downstairs had a family room with TV and gaming systems, as well as the 3rd bedroom and 2nd bathroom.

Although the vacation home was situated within a "vacation resort" (Valley's Edge Resort), the area was quiet and we felt like there was still enough seclusion and privacy.

It's so nice and quiet here that the deer come here to graze and relax too!

Edgewater is located along the Columbia Valley, a region in the Rocky Mountain trench that runs parallel to the Columbia River. While we were travelling from Edgewater to Radium Hot Springs and Invermere, we could see the meandering river and the low lying valley. Growing up in the city, I hardly ever saw such winding rivers and valleys. I just found that view so amazing and beautiful.

Leaving Edgewater, we made our way back to Revelstoke. One of our must-do activities was to ride the Pipe Mountain Coaster at Revelstoke Mountain Resort!

Luckily, the weather cooperated with us! We were afraid that we would have to ride in the rain or be whipped by the cold air while we zoomed down the mountain!

Another view of the Columbia River with Mt. MacPherson in the background.

Here it is! At the top of the mountain were the bright yellow carts of the Pipe Mountain Coaster!

I didn't have a Go-Pro camera and the staff did not allow me to hold my regular point-and-shoot camera while riding down but during the middle of my ride I took a risk and fished out my phone from my bag to get this action shot! Such a risky move now that I think about it LOL...but everything was fine at the end! What a fun ride!! It was like being on a roller coaster that was controlled by yourself, very cool.

Overall, this was not our typical "shop and eat" kind of road trip which was a breath of fresh air for me. I loved all the scenic destinations we went to, all the wildlife we saw, and the activities we all experienced together. It was definitely worth all that long drive!

The Black Forest Steak & Schnitzel House

540 Highway 93 & 95
Invermere, BC

On our last evening in Edgewater, we took a short drive to the nearby town of Invermere for a hearty German/Austrian dinner.

This charming, large house-like building is The Black Forest Restaurant. It was a quiet evening while we were there but we still had to wait for a table... The restaurant inside had a lot of character. There were lots of murals and taxidermy on the wall, a part of the ceiling was painted with all the constellations in the sky, and there was a section with a glass room filled with pet birds!

Erdinger Weiss Beer

We can't have German food without German beer!

Seafood Salad - Tiger prawns, crabmeat, baby shrimps on a bed of assorted lettuce and garnished with tomatoes, cucumbers, boiled egg and asparagus; served with homemade dill dressing

We ordered a bunch of dishes to be shared family-style. First up was the large plate of the seafood salad.

Schnitzel and Caesar Salad - Wiener Schnitzel with a generous portion of Caesar salad

To appease my niece, we also ordered her current fave Caesar Salad. This particular order came with a large piece of schnitzel.

Beef Roulade

The beef roulade was one of the specials in the menu at the time. It was topped with a hearty gravy and a side of spaetzle.

Schnitzel Champignon - Breaded and topped with fresh mushrooms, covered with Sauce Bearnaise

Larger than my face, the schnitzel was lightly breaded and topped with béarnaise sauce. On the side were purple-coloured sauerkraut and creamy mashed potatoes. 

Stuffed Breast of Chicken - Skinless, boneless breast of chicken stuffed with wild rice and apples with a white wine, cream sauce

My mom chose the stuffed chicken breast as another entrée option. With the addition of wild rice in the stuffing, it became a tad dry but the sauce helped moisten things up. Wish there was more sauce though since the spaetzle came relatively unseasoned.

Duck "A l'Orange" - Glazed with orange sauce

For more variety, we also ordered the pan-seared duck breast. The skin could have been rendered a bit more but the meat was cooked just right while the sauce was deliciously sweet and tangy.

Black Forest Cake

To end the night, we finished with their homemade Black Forest Cake. My mom was pleasantly surprised by the lightness of the cake! We were expecting it to be quite sweeet and dense (since a lot of Western cakes tend to be sweeter than Asian cakes), but we were all wowed by this chocolatey, cherry-filled cake!

There's little chance we'll visit The Black Forest a second time but I'm grateful for the experience and the memories!

Natural Bridge, The Spiral Tunnels, Lake Louise

We've got another jam-packed day filled with sightseeing destinations! After a home-made breakfast at the cabin, we drove over to Yoho National Park to check out Natural Bridge.

Natural Bridge is called this because of the rock bridge that was formed naturally over the Kicking Horse River.

Due to the fast moving water of what was once a waterfall, the force of the water eroded the softer limestone rock to create fissures, and then eventually a wide gap in which the gushing water flowed through to the below, calmer waters of the Field valley. 

The weather was pretty interesting that day. When we arrived, it started to hail! Then, the sun came out, warmed up the rocks and created a beautiful emerald blue-green water that looked amazing against the rushing white rapids! With the tall, green trees and the snow-capped mountains as the backdrop, this view just perfectly summed up the province's slogan: Super. Natural. British Columbia.

The photos captured the colours pretty well but to see it with our own eyes was just awesome.

Driving along the Trans-Canada Highway, on our way to Lake Louise, we made an impromptu stop at the Spiral Tunnels visitor area. This is the site in which the rail line goes through Mt. Stephen and Mt. Ogden, cross Kicking Horse River and loop through Cathedral Mountain to create a steady gradual grade for trains to ascend or descend the mountains.

Although we did not see any trains traveling through the tunnels, it was still pretty cool to see an historic site that was integral to BC's history.

Around early afternoon, we arrived at Lake Louise. It was quite nice and sunny while we sat outside for lunch at Samson Mall. But before we could count our blessings, it started to snow when we got to the shores of Lake Louise!!! 

Mid-June and it was still incredibly chilly!

And all that low cloud coverage meant we could not see much of Mount Victoria and Victoria Glacier across from the lake :(((

Even though the sky cleared up a bit later on, the blue sky appeared behind Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and not on the lake side so in the end we were unable to see any of the iconic mountain and glacier views across the lake.

Oh well, that just gives us another reason to come back another time! Next time, I hope the weather will cooperate with us and show us the natural, sparkling beauty of Lake Louise!

Johnston Canyon, Banff, Bow Falls

Sad to say that the second day of our road trip was pretty much a write-off because we spent a majority of the time on the road. We traveled from Kamloops all the way to Edgewater, with pit stops in Salmon Arm, Revelstoke, and Golden. And with road construction going on just outside of Golden, we were pretty delayed in getting to our cabin.

The following day was when all the sightseeing really began! After breakfast, we drove over to Johnston Canyon located within Banff National Park. 

Johnston Canyon is perfect for us because the trail to the Lower Falls is a short, easy hike to see the waterfall. With not much time to linger, the approximately 30 minute hike gave us an opportunity to walk along Johnston Creek and breathe in fresh, crisp Rocky Mountain air.

With narrow man-made bridges and platforms hugging part of the canyon cliffs, the walk was indeed easy. However, because it had been raining, some parts of the trails were quite muddy and full of puddles...but that's what you expect when you're surrounded by natural landscapes!

Once we've reached the end of the Lower Falls trail, we saw the waterfall spilling into the emerald green pool below. There was even a little path to go into a tiny cave, then go through a small hole to get an even closer view of the waterfall! Literally, the spray from the waterfall got me soaking wet from just standing there!

*Warning!!! Graphic photo below!!*

As we were making our way up to see the Lower Fall waterfall, we saw a fox grabbing a meal for his (her?) babies!! We were so lucky to actually see wildlife in action! The fox was just climbing along the cliffs with a rabbit's leg in his mouth and within a crack of the canyon wall, we saw the heads of a couple of his pups peaking out! It was a little gruesome but amazing at the same time.

I would have liked to hike up to the Upper Falls (which was an additional 30-40 minutes) but because of our time constraints, we had to head to our next location.

After leaving Johnston Canyon, we made our way east to the resort town of Banff. We stopped for a quick lunch and by early afternoon, the sky cleared up just enough for us to see the famed peaks from the main street.

With some time to spare before dinner, we took a short drive to Bow Falls, situated on the Bow River.

It started to get cloudy and rainy again, but from certain angles and viewpoints, the colour of the water was a beautiful milky emerald green!! I love that colour!!

Our stay at Bow Falls was short but sweet. Next up was dinner at Tony Roma's. Of all places, why Tony Roma's?!?! Because all the Tony Roma's restaurants closed down in BC!!! When we saw it on the corner of Caribou and Banff Avenue, we unanimously agreed that this was the place for dinner! For most of us, it was a chance to re-live the memories and flavours of their famous ribs. For W and my niece, it was their first experience at a Tony Roma's ever in their lifetime. What a great and meaningful meal LOL!

As we made our way back to Edgewater, we encountered some more wildlife! A whole herd of them, to be exact!

There was a herd of big horned sheep (ram) just casually grazing along a road in Radium Hot Springs. This part of town is known for its big horned sheep so it's not that unusual to see them here. But still, we were pretty wowed to see so many of them walking alongside our car!! Another "Rocky Mountain" ending to our day!!

Mittz Kitchen

227 Victoria St.
Kamloops, BC

Right when spring turned to summer, my family and I took a road trip over to the Canadian Rockies. On the first leg of the trip, we stopped in Kamloops for the night before making another 5 hour drive all the way to our rental cabin in Edgewater.

After taking a stroll along the river and playing at the park, we had to find a place for dinner. Thanks to our trusty smartphones and the Zomato app, we decided to give Mittz Kitchen a try. It's a trendy little bistro that wouldn't feel out of place if it was dropped in the middle of Commercial Drive or Main Street.

Soft Strawberry Basil Lemonade ($4.50)

Because it was a warm and sunny day, I wanted a cool, refreshing drink. I opted for the non-alcoholic version of their strawberry basil lemonade and it definitely hit the spot.

Risotto ($16) - Pulled chicken, roasted corn, arugula pepito pesto, balsamic glaze and Parmesan cheese

We decided to order a couple of entrees to share so that we could all try a little bit of everything. The first dish that came was the risotto. This cheesy, creamy mixture had chicken, roasted corn niblets, arugula pesto and a drizzle of balsamic glaze on top. This was definitely a very "busy" looking risotto with so many other ingredients mixed in there. Not my fave kind of risotto but the flavours were not bad and it was a good dish for sharing. 

Bang-Bang Fried Chicken ($19) - Crispy fried legs and thighs, braised kale and scalloped potatoes

My mom chose the Bang-Bang chicken as one of the proteins. The legs and thighs had a crunchy and crisp skin while the dark meat remained juicy. However, from this dish, I liked the scalloped potatoes the most haha... Who can resist cheesy and creamy potatoes?!

BBQ Ribs ($27) - Slow roasted tender pork ribs (belly attached) with homemade apple butter BBQ sauce, baked beans, roasted corn and Parmesan roasted brussel sprouts

The other protein option we ordered was the BBQ ribs. These were nicely cooked with just enough sweet and tangy barbecue sauce to coat the meat. Again, I thought the sides were just as equally tasty as the ribs. Loved the roasted brussel sprouts! They were savoury from the Parmesan cheese and had some lovely crisped outer leaves while the centre was tender. Yum!!

Pappardelle Braised Beef Ragu ($18) - Braised beef short ribs with vegetable ragu, tossed with Pappardelle noodles and Parmesan cheese

I suggested the braised beef ragu with pappardelle pasta. The sauce was a little more tart and tangy than I would have liked but it went well with the soft braised beef short ribs which shredded easily with a nudge of a fork.

Spaghetti ($19) - Fresh Fratelli's spaghetti with prawns, PEI mussels, roasted garlic, fresh herbs, roasted tomatoes and Parmesan cheese; choice of olive oil and garlic butter, or lobster cream sauce

Another pasta dish we chose was the seafood spaghetti. Topped with prawns and fresh mussels, we opted for the lobster cream sauce to make it even more "seafood-y" haha... The addition of roasted tomatoes in this pasta did make it seem similar to the pappardelle beef ragu sauce though.

Caesar Salad (Large $9) - Romaine hearts, bacon, garlic crouton spears, tossed with creamy garlicky dressing

To satisfy our vegetable food group, we went for my niece's favourite salad of the moment: the Caesar salad. It was a pretty typical Caesar salad but since this was for sharing, I would have preferred that the bacon and crouton spears to be crumbled up instead of being served as one whole piece though. Still, the cold, fresh Romaine hearts were nicely tossed with just enough dressing so it was pleasant to eat (side note: I recently had a Caesar salad at The Keg and it was tossed with way too much dressing; it just weighed down all the crisp lettuce leaves and became way too salty in the end).

Grilled Vegetable ($11) - Warm grilled seasonal vegetables topped with Macedonian feta and drizzled with balsamic glaze and garlic olive oil

We also had a more healthier veggie option in the form of grilled vegetables. With a drizzle of balsamic glaze and topped with crumbled feta cheese, it definitely seemed healthier than the salad! There was a nice variety too: zucchini, carrots, red peppers, corn, asparagus, and some kale too.

Since a lot of restaurants were not open in the Kamloops downtown core during the Sunday evening we were there, we did not have very high expectations for our meal. But the food, atmosphere, and service at Mittz Kitchen gave us a nice surprise! A good place to end our first day of vacation!