Selkirk Loop Day 3, Metaline Falls to Nelson, BC

52 miles, 2200' of elevation gain, 42 - 64- 48 degrees
   We started the day early 7:45 to arrive at the dreaded border crossing into Canada by 9 am hoping to be greeted by friendly Canadian Custom officials. My experiences crossing into Canada have not been smooth as they think we all carry weapons, drugs and bear spray. Fortunately we were greeted by a young man who was pleasant and understood that we each were declaring two bottles of wine or a case of beer which is our allowed alcohol. This keeps the group happy during the afternoon gatherings with inexpensive US prices vs the high Canadian costs.
   So the first 12 miles to the border went well, the next 14 miles were scenic and not a single vehicle passed us. We all stopped at an excellent cafe in Salmo as our hotel in Metaline was quite a distance from any cafe. Dry, well fed and scenic beyond description. Then of course the rain showers came as we are in that area of the world but that didn't dampen our enthusiasm and rode the second have quite happily into Nelson and the Best Western. Huge advantage being married to the luggage van driver as our room is always ready or they make it ready or switch our room to one that is ready so when I arrived dripping in the lobby I went directly to my room, took off all the wet clothes and my husband went to the guest laundry in the hotel and washed all our stuff while I took a lengthy hot shower.
  Nelson is a lovely little town where all the draft dodgers went during the Vietnam War. The entire town is made up of coffee shops, natural grocers, restaurants, all of which only have organic, vegetarian and or vegan menus. Hard to find even a local beer that isn't organic. So tomorrow is our day off and we will spend it at the farmers market, exploring the town and perhaps doing an activity on the large lake. Hope you are all doing something equally as interesting.
   If any of you have a suggestion for a high performance rain jacket, I would love to hear from you as my current jacket is not longer as waterproof as I need and will definitely need one for the Pacific Coast ride I am doing in the early fall.