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Published: October 16th 2006
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Nancy, Doug & Copper
2006 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
October 2006
October 1/ 06 Sunny with Cloudy periods 10C
Got up and went to church this morning at St. Mary’s and St. George’s Church in Jasper. Met some very nice local people, one was a former Military Chaplin in the Anglican Church, Dave Prowse, who lived three years in Gloucester, he knew Bill Farley, the Canon at Christ Church Cathedral. He was also commissioned to take out all the stained glass windows from all the churches which were closing down on the bases in Germany, and catalogue them, and then return them all to Canada and placed them in churches across Canada. We went to visit the Gondola and Jasper Park Lodge. Saw a handful of Elk, nothing like yesterday. It got a little cloudy and windy in the afternoon with a few rain showers.
October 2/06, Sunny 16C
Last night it got down to -6C in the park, I thought everything would be frozen, but luckily nothing froze. We got an early start to our drive into British Columbia, through the Mount Robson Provincial Park, a great drive, very spectacular. The day
was crystal clear, so we got a great view of the peak, something which rarely happens, according to the locals. We stopped at the information centre and Nancy got a lot of good information about our travels through the interior of British Columbia. The wine festivals are just starting, I guess we’ll have to cab it to all the Winery’s!!! We are staying in a pretty little park in Blue River, British Columbia. Spent a quiet evening around a camp fire and then into bed early.
October 3/06 Sunny 10C
We awoke to another heavy frost. I left a scotch glass out on the picnic table overnight and presented it to Nancy the next morning saying “Here is your frosted mugs”
What a beautiful drive down the North Thompson River valley. The landscape started to change as we approached Kamloops, BC. Small rolling hills covered in sage brush, all in a very arid desert like setting.
October 4/06 Sunny 18C
Ho hum, another beautiful day with clear blue skies. We spent the late afternoon and evening visited with Don & Connie Thompson and Leah & Mark Scotnicki and children. (Leah is Don & Connie’s daughter) They
are old friends of Nancy, from Baldy Hughes, BC who she hadn’t seen in thirty one years. It was a great reunion for them and I seemed to settle into the conversation once the scotch bottle appeared !! Just kidding, I was made to feel extremely welcome.
October 5/06 Sunny 20C
Up early and snuck away from our last two night campground, we tried to pay, but nobody was ever around. I’m sorry about filling the trailer next door with exhaust fumes at 8:30 in the morning, but I was just trying to warm up the motor coach for a fast getaway. We left Kamloops and headed for Penticton, BC ( home of the famous Penticton Vee’s - 1956 World Hockey Champions) The roads were very hilly and twisty, but the views are fantastic. Set up home at a nice campsite for the next 6 days and nights. We intend to visit the wineries, so you may not hear too much over the next several days.
October 6/06 Sunny 22C
Another beautiful, warm, fall day. The weather is suppose to be good for the weekend. Nancy bought a medium sized turkey, a pumpkin pie with
whipped cream, so we’ll have a great Thanksgiving Day on Sunday. It will sure be different not having any of our family around on that day.
October 7/06 Sunny 20C
Got up to face another day of clear blue skies and lots of sunshine, almost like summer but a much shorter day, from 8 am to 5pm. We took a picnic lunch and headed for Osoyoos about 50 km from Penticton. We stopped at the Nc’Mip Cellars, which is on the Indian lands on the east side of Lake Osoyoos. Had our lunch at the end of Osoyoos Lake and the visited the neatest Model Railroad I have ever seen. It was located in a building which covered an area about 40’ wide x 100’ long and had every conceivable track and building layouts possible. Then on to two more wineries, Burrowing Owl and Tinhorn Creek on the way back.
October 8/06 Sunny 19C
Well we spent the day lazing around. Cooked a 10 lb. turkey in the convection oven and had a delicious Thanksgiving Dinner. The kids were all missed but we spoke to most of them through out the day.
October 9/06 Sunny 14C
Did some shopping this afternoon and enjoyed the excellent weather.
October 10/06 Sunny 18C
We went for a drive to Apex Ski Resort today, high in the mountains. A beautiful spot, but when we ran into were it had snowed last night, Nancy got a little more nervous.
We returned without incident. I went to the Ramada Casino in downtown Penticton and made $62.00, a moral victory. Played some scrabble when I returned about 9:00 PM, Nancy says she’s never playing scrabble with me again, sore loser.
October 11/06 Sunny 18C
We left for Vancouver this morning, skies are clear and we hope to be there about 3:00PM. We started out on hwy 3A over to 3 on our way to Princeton. The road started to get a bit hilly and curvy but the scenery was great and we followed beside the Similkamen River {a shallow narrow river, very pretty}. After Princeton we started to see a real change in the vegetation from the desert like Okanogan to lush forests again, also noticed a little red in the trees , more like a maple bush than a tree, we had only been seeing yellow leaves before this. We then headed in to Manning Provincial Park and the Allison Pass The drive was quite an experience , Doug kept saying “oh my god”, I of course thought we were going over the edge but he was in awe of the beauty! Something else we saw and smelled was a lot of smoke from some of the forest fires causing problems in B.C. I must admit there were a few parts I missed due to the head down or eyes closed but it was beautiful. I also found out that the brakes on my side of the motor home still don’t work! My friend Ora is a very nervous driver and knits dish cloths when they drive, she could have done a tablecloth going through there!
We passed the famous Hope landslide caused by an earthquake in 1965, then into Hope and the drive was easy after that. We are now in a campsite near the ferry terminal and have made reservations to go to Galiano Island on Friday morning. Doug’s sister Diane and her husband Greg live there and we are really looking forward to seeing them and the island as we have heard how beautiful it is. We are leaving the motor home here as we hope to do some island hopping if the weather co-operates, right now it doesn’t look too promising after Friday . Doug is a happier camper to-day, he’s finally got his TV back, it wasn’t too good in the mountains.
October 12/06 Sunny 18C
Spent most of the day seeing where the ferry leaves from and finding a few stores, so we can stock up for Diane’s & Greg’s this weekend.
October 13/14/& 15/06 Cloudy with Sunny periods 15 to 20C
We left for Galiano Island this morning, aboard the BC Ferries from Tawwassen, in south western Vancouver and got there about 11:30 AM. Toured this beautiful place for most of the day, the Island is 22K long and 4 K wide at its’ widest point. Nancy and I went to the Hunningbird Pub for a pint before Greg and Diane arrived home around 5:00PM and we had supper and visited through the evening.
Next day we toured the shops and points of interest around the Island, we visited Greg & Diane’s boat, which they are restoring, and hope to tour the coast in a few years. We went to the local pub in the evening and listened to two girls play and sing New Age Folk and some jazz throughout the evening. Up early the next day to a great breakfast of bacon & eggs and then of to catch the ferry to Vancouver Island. The Ferry ride through the islands is spectacular even though its’ is drizzling with some rain. Arrived in Sydney by the Sea and are staying at a seaside resort with an increasable view of the ocean.
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