We keep meeting people touring Canada in RV's for 3 weeks and they are all on their way back to Vancouver after visiting Jasper, Banff and Lake Louise. It's very tempting for us to head there from Nakusp but it would just make our driving route even longer, so we will be waiting a while before we explore those areas. We headed west (towards Alaska - still a long way off though). Our journey included a ferry crossing - which was free! After the ferry the road went up and up into the mountains, narrow and twisting. An interesting road until it started snowing, then we had sleet then hail then torrential rain - none of it pleasant to drive in. The weather thankfully improved as we neared our destination and the surrounding hills looked very inviting. The write up for a campground on the west side of Swan Lake just outside Vernon sounded great but it was right next to a busy noisy highway 97 so we drove in and drove straight back out. We settled for Cedar Falls campground on the hills overlooking Vernon. We woke to blue skies and sunshine and drove to Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park. Not long into the walk we met two park wardens who were repainting all the park benches. We asked them if we should be concerned about bears - being so close to the city we didn't expect bears to be around. Oh, yeh there are bears, only seen one mother and cub so far this year, there ain't many though, it's the rattle snakes you need to watch out for, if you get bit phone 911 and stay put. Great! Just a few minutes later - Tony 'there's a bear' Donna 'oh yes very funny' Tony 'there really is a bear' and there was. What looked to me like a huge brown bear crossed the path about 100 metres in front of us and went into the bushes, so I went up the path a touch further with the camera. I saw him again in the bushes going away from us but didn't get chance for a photo. Donna stood jangling her bear bell and telling me the 'bear aware' advice is to turn back - but we didn't. Donna rang her bear bell extra hard the rest of the walk. Bumped into a local runner who had already seen 2 bears but didn't seem concerned, she put her ear phones back in and off she went. The views were great, we didn't just see trees! We stopped for lunch at Rattlesnake point and a school party invaded us just as we were thinking of leaving. One of the kids found a rattlesnake hiding in the rocks - the wardens weren't kidding then. Stopped off at Kal beach hoping to rent a kayak but only stand up paddleboards were available. Just a week before they had received their one and only tandem paddleboard (made in England) so we hired it for a couple of hours. We both started sitting using it like a kayak, then I stood up first. We couldn't have asked for flatter water but even so when Donna also tried to stand we wobbled each other and Donna quickly went back to sitting. Donna then tried standing first but when I tried to stand she went to kneeling. It's definitely easier standing up on solo boards. We continued with just me standing or both of us sitting. We spent more time using it as a sit on kayak than a stand-up paddleboard. The weather changed, the mill pond surface became choppy and we headed back. I insisted that Donna paddle this giant size board standing up even if was solo - so she did. The wind, surf and the paddling washed Donna up onto the beach so quickly that the board came to an abrupt halt and Donna suddenly fell flat on her chest. She hit the board so hard I expected tears and cries of pain but instead we got laughter - the buoyancy aid cushioned the blow completely. We planned another walk for the following day but woke to heavy rain and a black sky. We decided to go in search of bear spray and bangers, new waterproof coats (our expensive RAB ones still leak after reproofing) and provisions. We moved to an RV park on the quiet side of Swan Lake which had complimentary boats of various sorts. It was raining so of course we went for a paddle, first up was a pedallo for two. Next, I selected a tiny sit on kayak for Donna. I launched her into the water down a ramp, slipped and followed her into the water! The sit on kayaks have holes for the water to drain through but on this one the water came up through the holes and Donna was sitting in a puddle. We changed places and I tried it out, with me being heavier than Donna even more water came up through the holes and then the thing capsized with me getting even wetter than before. We realized then that it was a kiddie's size kayak and wasn't buoyant enough for adults. I found an adult size one and launched Donna successfully whilst I took out a Canadian style canoe. Playtime was over, we put the canopy up (but only low) so we could air some washing without it getting wetter. Soon after Donna walked into one of the supporting struts attached to the side of the camper - what a stupid thing to do I thought (and said). On the underside of our Tilly I had already spotted the plastic piece that our drain pipe was attached to was heavily cracked and would need replacing, I had managed to buy a new piece in the morning so now I just had to fit it - easier said than done. I removed the cracked one and the flexible hose attached to it just disappeared into the camper with no way to access it. Back to my toolbox I walked into the canopy strut and hit it so hard I ended up on the floor - that was a stupid thing to do - I did it another two times later on! I unscrewed the fittings for the water intake which had a much larger hole right next to where the drain pipe is. My hands were too big but Donna saved the day after walking into the strut again - she managed to get the flexible hose onto the new piece and I screwed everything back in place. Job done - not quite! Donna poured hot chocolate down the sink and it started coming out of the lower joints of the camper as well as the drain pipe - the hose needed a clamp on it to seal it. We had a clamp and we put it in place but couldn't get anything in to tighten it - b*****. Plans for tomorrow revised. After sausages and eggs for breakfast we went in search of professional assistance. We found an RV service centre nearby who said they could take a look at the problem at around 12.30 - great. That didn't give us time to go far so we went shopping again! This time for a gas barbeque, we keep looking at them in various stores but they are all way too big and run of largish refillable cylinders. We simply don't have the storage space. Then we struck lucky and found a sensible size one which uses just small disposable cylinders. We purchased it and decided to assemble it in the car park - good job there were 4 screws missing. Everything back in the box, back in the store for an exchange - the next one was complete. Donna's dinners in the camper have been great even without an oven - roast dinners, curries, fish & chips, chilli con carne and more. The BBQ is my responsibility and Donna is expecting things cooked not burnt - the pressure is on. She even did a last-minute dash into Walmart to fill the fridge with things for me to cook. At the RV service centre, the engineer struggled but succeeded in finishing off what we have started. He also looked at the camper door for us which seemed to be getting harder to shut and lock. We parked up at a tiny RV site at O'Keefe's historic ranch where you can pay for a pitch and ranch admission for just 42 Canadian Dollars for two. The ranch is a slice of the old west with the general store, blacksmiths and other buildings from the late 1800's. I tried my hand at lassoing wooden horses and eventually did it. Leaving Vernon tomorrow, we didn't hike all the trails here we planned but we are leaving with the RV niggles sorted, a BBQ and several bumps on our heads (must put the canopy up higher next time).