Advertisement
Published: September 28th 2008
A New Day Dawns
We know we are headed out of the mountains today. It is sad in a way but we know our venture to a different terrain will bring a whole new outlook to our lives. The weather is still cloudy with hopes of sunshine later in the day. Sweatshirts and slacks are a requirement. We can see our breath as we head out in the morning. We had intended to get to Kelowna yesterday but there was so much to see, we start today with the intent to get there before day's end.
The GPS Gypsy Guide folks are getting tired of us calling every morning to extend our use of the electronic guide. We do need to remember to tell them that the guide's twenty minute excursions are more like two hours by the time you make stops along the way. However, the tidbits of history and the amusing tales give us more to look forward to on today's drive.
We find happiness in the little things. For example, there is a Denny's restaurant right next to the motel we stayed at and Jerry is more than relieved to find they actually have "Moons
Low Clouds
Cloudy day unfortunatelyover My-Hammy" on the menu. Rita's happy too because once Jerry gets something in his head for breakfast - - well, let's just say not getting that puts a whole different frame to the day.
So, after a fulfilling breakfast, we are off. Neither of us can believe we have been gone for ten days already. Sometimes it seems longer; other times like we just left yesterday. We have put 2,500 miles on the car since we left home. What a life!
Broken Promise
We had promised not to take any time consuming side trips today as we felt the need to get a bit further along than yesterday. We were tempted by the Enchanted Forest excursion. Our electronic guide explained how an artsy woman moved to these mountains and loved them so much. She built the enchanted forest to bring history, folklore, and fun for both children and adults. We stuck to our promise and simply drove through the parking lot snapping a few pictures of what was visible from there. The damp, chilly weather with the crisp breeze might have had something to do with our moving right along.
Alas, we broke
Bridge
Interesting bridge along the way the promise when we came to the signs and heard our guide tell us of a long, long suspension bridge deep within the woods. We drove into the parking lot and could not see much of anything. Mr. B was ready to give up as soon as we pulled in but being a woman, Rita went out and asked questions. Instead of hiking up the trail that had far too many steps for Jerry to get there, she simply told us to go around the chain link blocking a road at the other end of the parking lot and drive up to the higher entrance. There, Jerry would be able to use his scooter and yes, the scooter should be fine on the suspension bridge as well.
Unsure how Mr. B would respond, Rita only told him we could drive up to the bridge. At closer inspection, Jerry took his cane and decided to walk instead of taking the scooter. We were glad -- it was a very short distance with no steps and heaven only knows what would have happened once the scooter would have been on the bridge. We weren't worried about the bridge breaking - it
Train Thoroughfare
MMMmmm....A train actually goes through that little hole in the mountain? was very sturdy for a suspension bridge. The pitch of the bridge just might have been a couple degrees too much to get the scooter off and on. That was more trouble than it was worth.
Happy that he was getting out on his own power, Jerry delighted in being able to experience this on his own two feet. He sent Rita to the two viewing decks below the bridge. Easy for him to direct -- Rita lost count of the number of steps she descended and of course, always had to go back up the same steps. Oh well, it was worth it. We both got exercise. It was a fulfilling side trip even though it broke our promise. It was beautiful, historical, and a religious overtone that was quite unique. God and nature altogether - how insightful!
We found a number of things in the gift shop but decided against them due to size (St. Francis statues) and/or price. We carefully descended the tiny road and got back on the highway. Neither of us could re-promise no side trips as we both knew too well how gratifying the ones we'd done had been. This one included.
Mountain side
Still driving along the mountain sides Mountains Gone
It became obvious that we were headed out of our glorious mountains (yes, they had become "our" mountains). No more snow-capped monsters sitting before us at every turn. It was a different kind of beautiful. Rock mountains were replaced with undulating, tree filled mountains. Mountain creeks filled with the blue-green color of melting glaciers were replaced with lakes of all shapes, sizes, and colors. One of particular mention that you will see from the pictures was the Lake of Shuswap. Our electronic guide shared many a story dating back to the time of Indians, then miners and fisherman, and finally today's tourism.
Houseboats were available for rent by the day, week, or longer. And there were hundreds. We only saw a few out on the lake. One can only imagine the horrendous houseboat traffic jams that must prevail in the height of summer. The lake was huge but still, if even a majority of the houseboats available would be out on the lake, we're not sure how you'd see the beauty of the lake that we saw today in all its quiet serenity.
Wineries Galore
If lack of mountains was not a clue,
the unbelievable amount of signs for road side fruit markets and winery tours made it clear that we were in a different part of British Columbia. The land became flatter, more arid, and even the air seemed less fresh and crisp. It was yet again, a different kind of beauty. Houses lined the hill sides, many built in rows, one row seemingly on top of the other. Some areas showed the more affluent while others showed the other extreme. Some areas were nearly abandoned since the season for migrant workers to harvest the fruit was nearly done, the workers' housing closed until next year's season.
We were surprised to learn that British Columbia is known for some of the strongest, highest quality marijuana in Canada and possibly the U.S. I guess with so much focus on the Mexican border and other imports, we've never heard of problems along British Columbia border. Our electronic guide told us about this one. Who would have known?!!
The roads were built into cliffs with lake after lake below them. The winding roads along the cliff sides mimicked those of the glacial mountains with a bit less grade. Still, the closeness of the
lanes and the amount of traffic on the highway made for definite caution when driving. It didn't help that we were in what we thought to be rush hour traffic.
Kelowna?
We finally made Kelowna. There was a definite shock factor as we had not been in traffic that included bumper-to-bumper cars along with traffic lights for nearly five days. We wanted out but we had to find the place to drop off our Gypsy Guide as that was the last place we could take it before returning to the U.S. We finally found the place and said goodbye to our electronic friend.
Though we had planned to stay the night in Kelowna, we yearned for the quiet of days gone by. So, with Jerry at the wheel, we headed to the smaller towns outside Kelowna that would bring us closer to the U.S. border. We settled for the smaller town of Penticton (say that five times fast). After review of a number of motels, we were almost settled on Empire Motel. However, a quick stop at a convenience store and an innocent question as to their recommendation for a place to stay and the Empire was
Drive By
We did not go in this attraction - too chilly and cloudy but looked cute from parking lot quickly ruled out. Turns out that it used to be a great place but had more recently catered to a less than desirable customer base. We took the local recommendation and stayed at the Beachside Motel. It was family owned and operated. Small but more than fit our bill for a decent and very reasonable place to stay.
Dinner at a nearby restaurant left us with a sense of belonging and definitely satisfied with yet another wonderful day. One could easily get used to this life style, seeing all kinds of sites and meeting all kinds of people. We missed the mountains but not the chill that came with them. Our day ended sitting outside to enjoy the cool but comfortable evening. What a joy to cherish just being alive and together. No stress; no interruption; just us being us. The remaining pictures will cover anything we've missed. For us, just another day in paradise!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.1s; Tpl: 0.024s; cc: 7; qc: 26; dbt: 0.0322s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Vickie Hart
non-member comment
Signs
Jerry, Love your sign pictures! Keep 'em coming. Rita, You should have been a writer. This is soooo much fun to read. Love, Bryan and Vickie