My parents have had a timeshare condo in Fairmont, British Columbia, since I was about 11 years old, along with a few other flexible timeshare “getaway” weeks to use at other locations. Back in April, my dad retired, and my parents were supposed to go on a big trip to Europe through May and June. Obviously that didn’t happen due to COVID-19, and so my mom booked several local mini-vacations for the two of them instead. One of these trips included a week at their timeshare in Fairmont, followed by a week at a condo in Fernie. My sister and I were given the dates of these trips and told that we were welcome to join them if our schedules allowed!
Due to COVID, my role at work was a little uncertain this year, and so regular vacation days were cut down a bit, but at the end of September we were told that everyone would keep their jobs for the foreseeable future and we were given back our remaining vacation time to take before the end of the year. This worked out perfectly for me, as I was able to use the rest of those days to join my parents in BC for most of their trip. My sister joined us for the second weekend, in Fernie.
I drove out to Fairmont with my parents on a Saturday morning in mid-November, on a bright and sunny day surrounded by mountains and snow-covered trees. It was an absolutely gorgeous 3-hour road trip, and I was so grateful for the chance to get out of Calgary for the first time since August. We made a stop at Wild Flour Bakery Cafe, a favourite in Banff, for lunch and coffee before continuing on to British Columbia. We arrived at the Fairmont Mountainside Villas (stopping first at a liquor store in Radium to pick up my favourite Georgian Bay Gin Smashes, which are much harder to find in Calgary than in BC), and got all unpacked and settled in.
I’d never stayed at this spot before, only ever at the Riverside and Riverview villas across the highway. While the Mountainside Villas were a little more dated, I loved the quiet location and the huge bungalow we stayed in! The main floor had the master bedroom, a bathroom, full-sized kitchen, dining room, living room and a cute little deck, while the upstairs loft area had ‘my’ bedroom, another bathroom, and an open balcony area with a table and chairs overlooking the main floor. This was perfect, allowing me to have my own space, especially since I did have to work one day out of the week that we were there, so I had a quiet, removed spot to do so! (Even better than at home, where I just work from a desk in my bedroom!)
We spent an incredibly relaxing week in Fairmont, visiting the resort’s gym and hot tub every day (they had half-hour reservable time slots for everything, with 15 minute gaps in between to sanitize, so we never had to come into contact with other guests), hiking around Fairmont Hot Springs and in James Chabot Provincial Park (keep an eye out for an upcoming hiking blog!), wandering around the nearby small town of Invermere, eating good food (cinnamon buns and charcuterie were some favourites!), drinking Gin Smashes + local beers, curling up by the fireplace, and reading and watching movies.
My mom and I also did a Yoga with Adriene video each night, my dad and I went on a few photography adventures (stayed tuned for my Natural Hot Springs and Abandoned Places blog posts!), and we finished an entire puzzle (thanks Rosso!). I drank a lot of water + tea, got a full 8 hours of sleep each night, and truly just relaxed and enjoyed my time there, which I don’t/can’t ‘allow’ myself to do often.
On the following Friday afternoon, we checked out at 10am and slowly made our way to the condo in Fernie. It’s a 2-hour drive between the two places, and we couldn’t check in until 4pm, so we had lots of time to burn.
Our first stop was at Viibrant Earth Cafe in Canal Flats, about 35 minutes from Fairmont. My parents had been to this cafe before, and brought home the world’s best sourdough bread, so I was stoked to visit them. We all had some type of caffeinated beverage and bought a loaf of bread for that night’s dinner. My dad also drove us to tour a small beach in the area that they’d visited one summer in the past.
From there we drove on, stopping at Fort Steele (which looked like a very cool place that might require a longer stop in future…) for a bathroom break. We chose Cranbrook for lunch (about halfway between Fairmont and Fernie), and ate at a restaurant my sister had recommended called Soulfood. I had a Thai noodle salad, which was AMAZING, and my parents both had sandwiches of sorts, and they raved about their meals as well. 10/10, will absolutely go back next time I’m in Cranbrook. We also did a quick grocery and liquor top-up while we were in town, and popped into a few of the cute shops along the main street as well.
Somehow, this used up about 5.5 of the 6 hours we had to kill, and we called the hotel in Fernie to find out that we could check in a little early, so everything worked out perfectly! We arrived at our next accommodation, Fernie Lodging Company’s Timberline Lodges, and were absolutely blown away! The condo was incredibly deluxe, with a huge, stunning kitchen, a living room with a gas fireplace, two bedrooms (each with their own bathroom + tub), and our own private hot tub out on the ground-level deck! My sister joined us a few hours after we arrived, and she and I shared one of the bedrooms – but in a place this big that was no problem.
We had soup + sourdough for dinner and then watched a Christmas movie, with my dad and I having a beer out in the hot tub as well. As I only had a day and a half in Fernie before driving home with my sister on Sunday afternoon, we made the most of our stay. We enjoyed lots of family time, as well as a visit into town, where we had a great coffee at our favourite spot in Fernie, Freshies, and checked out the sports shops, art galleries, and the liquor store (yes, again – I had to stock up on my Gin Smashes before returning to Alberta!).
We had another great meal and cozy evening (and hot tub!) back at the condo, and my dad and I even rolled in the snow before jumping in the hot tub – one of our favourite things to do where possible. I was able to get caught up on lots of writing + blog posts that night as well.
After sleeping in a bit on the Sunday morning, we had a big breakfast and I enjoyed one last outdoor hot tub. My sister and I set out for home around 1pm, and appreciated an uneventful drive (you never know this time of the year – the highway could be completely dry, or there could be a massive snowstorm – we really lucked out). I do like the mountains, of course, but I love driving home from Fernie because we get about an hour of mountains and then the remainder of the trip is through the foothills and rolling prairies, and it is SO. FRICKIN. PRETTY. (All I want in life is to live on a farm!)
My sister dropped me off at home before heading on to her place, and I was back to work the next morning, with a few days alone before my parents returned from the rest of their week in Fernie. Our timing could not have been better. One week after returning to Calgary, the government was announcing shutdowns and restrictions on gatherings and ‘advising’ people not to travel outside of their communities again. It’s been a weird year, that’s for certain, but I feel so lucky to have been able to do as much as I did – and particularly on this trip, when I got the rare opportunity to spend some quality time with my family! Let’s hope 2021 brings more of this…
