Mar 24 - 30 Travel to Penticton and Wrights Beach Camp

Mar 24
It's a travel day but we are only going to Penticton about 45 minutes north of Osoyoos so it's an easy one. We had a slow morning then got packed up and ready to roll before 11am. It was an easy drive to Penticton and we soon arrived at our destination, Wrights Beach Camp on the south edge of town.

My old home town, Penticton BC.

Our spot for 2 weeks, some nice lakeview sites.

This is the same place we stayed last fall before we went south for the winter. Some bittersweet memories of visiting with my sister before she passed away in November. We'll raise a glass in her memory more than once for sure. 

The nice lady at check in told us they had just opened up the upper section where we were last fall and we could drive up there and pick whatever site we like. We chose site #210 with an amazing view of Skaha Lake and the hills to the east.

Not a bad view out the back window!!

We have been messaging my other sister Donna while traveling and we'll head over for coffee after getting set up. It didn't take too long and we drove the short distance to Donna & Dennis's house for a visit. Dennis is away playing bridge so just the three of us. We chatted for a bit and I noticed Donna looking at her phone and then saying "just a second, I have to look at this" which is no big deal these days, we all have stuff to deal with. She walked out by the kitchen/ front door area and next thing I know my brother John, from Victoria, is standing behind me with a big ol' grin on his face!! I had called him from the road to say we are here for a couple weeks if he can drive up from Vancouver Island and he says to me "can I call you back in a bit, I'm driving right now"?  Of course I said sure and never thought anything of it. He was already on the mainland on his way here! It was a great surprise they worked out. ood that we are all here at the same time.

L-R: John, Donna & me

The other really cool thing is that after Dennis finishes playing bridge he is picking up my niece, their daughter, Kerry and her 2 boys for a visit this week too. We hit a family jackpot this week! My nephew Bryon, Margie's son, is also coming up on Thursday because of spring break so his kids can visit with their grand parents in Summerland about 10 miles away. My niece Terryn lives here too so we'll see her tonight until Thursday when she flies to Mexico. How awesome is this working out without even trying to plan it all!!

We enjoyed coffee and some cookies at Donna's and then John, Leslie and I went back to the rig for a short happy hour and wait for my niece Terryn to come for dinner at our house. Leslie made a huge bowl of salad and I grilled some chicken for supper with some garlic toast. We all had a great visit and enjoyed a nice light supper together.

Me, Leslie, John & Terryn for dinner.

A fantastic first day in town with John's surprise and all the nieces and my nephew coming here for a bit. Great to come back to after being away all winter. We relaxed and chatted for a little while then Terryn went home and John went to his motel room. Happy first day !!!

Mar 25

It's still pretty cold here overnight so when I looked out our back window at the amazing view of the lake there was a slight skim of ice on the water. It won't last long but it's there.

Bad window reflection but you can see the bit of ice.

We are going to Donna's house this morning after breakfast for coffee and say hello to my niece Kerry and her boys Brodie and Jetson. Dennis picked them up last night at Kelowna airport and they are here for a few days for spring break. Good timing for us to see them as well. We drove over around 10am and with hugs and high fives we said hello to Kerry and her boys. Their dad Byron gets to stay home and paint the living room of their house. Poor guy. We all visited for a couple hours and the boys were busy playing in the yard and upstairs. Free reign at Grammas house to have a fun time. Around noon we all had some things to do so John joined Leslie and I in our truck while Kerry and Donna took the boys to the park and Dennis goes shopping for dinner groceries. We were a little hungry so we decided on Earls for lunch. We kept it fairly light and shared some appies between the three of us.

Lunch at Earls and a rose between 2 thorns lol.

Leslie wants to play some pickleball so we are on a mission to find the outdoor courts and she can play a game against John because he also plays and has his pickleball gear with him. We found the courts easily enough and I joined them for the warmup round. My left calf still isn't ready for fast movement on the court so I'll watch from the sidelines. They played a couple games and then we went back to our rig for an ice tea and relax a bit before supper. We are meeting Terryn and her kids for supper at Boston Pizza. Getting a chance to see everyone in one day! We arrived first and got seated at the table Terryn had reserved for all of us. Within a few minutes everyone else arrived and with hugs and handshakes we all said hello. Dinner turned out great and the restaurant choice was a good one because they have a large varied menu that suits everybody and it wasn't crazy busy so we could talk amongst the group easily. Good work Terryn!

Great choice for dinner.

L to R: Jordan, Jordan(Terryn's daughter) Leslie, me, John, Terryn, 

Ellie, (my nephews daughter) and Graydon.

More hugs and handshakes after dinner and we'll see everyone again soon. We dropped John at his motel room and headed home for the evening tired and happy.
Mar 26
Another nice day here in the Okanagan this morning so after our morning routine we took Margaret for a nice walk on the KVR trail behind our rig. I've talked about the trail before and it's a real bonus staying where we are that it is right below us and follows the lakeshore for about 12 miles. Of course we aren't doing 12 miles! More like 2 kilometers out and back, Margaret has to sniff every bush and pee a hundred times so it takes a while lol.

Not a cardio workout because she stops so often.

We drove over to my sister's place for coffee and made a plan for the day. We are taking John with us and doing some shopping and pick up some wine for dinner tonight while Donna & Dennis are driving the boys down to Okanagan Falls to their favourite ice cream place for a treat. Kerry is staying at the house all by herself and enjoying some quiet time. Smart Mom move right there!
Leslie, John and I stopped at the VQA (Vintners Quality Association) wine store which only sells wines from local wineries here in BC. Fantastic store, a little pricey but there are some great wines and really knowledgable staff. We even stopped at a couple car dealers for Leslie to have a quick look because she wants a new vehicle this year. We made our way back to Donna's house around 4:00 to have a little happy hour and enjoy a big steak dinner, yum. Dennis found some really great steaks while he was out shopping yesterday and he let me run his barbecue and grill the steaks. Leslie helped Dennis in the kitchen with the veggies and potatoes and with a great team effort we had a fantastic steak dinner! Thanks Donna and Dennis for hosting and all the great food. Lots of laughs and good times with good food and wine. Living like kings.

Me, Donna, John, Kerry, Brodie, Jetson and Dennis. What a meal !

Soon after dinner we all enjoyed some Black Jack Cherry frozen yogurt that we had picked up today. 
Unfortunately we have to say good bye to my brother as he is driving back to Victoria in the morning. So great to see you again bro and it was a cool surprise you set up to be here on the same day as us. Safe trip home. We said good night to everyone after John's good bye and waddled out to the truck fat and happy :)
Mar 27
Terryn is coming over this morning for a walk along the KVR trail with us and then we are going to show her how to play pickleball. We had a leisurely start to the day and then Terryn arrived, so off on a walk we go. Of course we have Margaret so the pace is not fast but it's a great day for a walk.

Me and Terryn on the trail.

We got back to the rig and grabbed the truck to go get some lunch. A great place that we all like is Kojo Sushi, Terryn knows the fella that owns it and she has been there often. Leslie and I have only been a couple times but it's been great both times. It's close to us on the south side of town so we stopped in and Terryn bought us lunch. Thanks Terryn! Kojo did not disappoint of course. We shared a combo platter between the 3 of us and also met the owner when he stopped to say hello to Terryn. Nice light, tasty lunch. 

A good place in Penticton for sushi !

We stopped at Sport Chek so I can get new tubes and tires for my bike. Those thorns are impossible to get all of them out so I am just buying new tires and tubes. That was one expensive picture of that sign in Osoyoos. We are excited to show Terryn how to play pickleball so we drove over to the outdoor courts a short distance away. They aren't very busy yet and it's a little windy and cool for outdoor play but they will be fine for a little introduction to the game. Terryn used my paddle and I watched/ helped out from the sidelines while her and Leslie hit the ball back and forth. It didn't take long for her to catch on so they had a quick singles game to learn the scoring etc. They played hard enough to get a little sweat going and we were all thirsty so we drove back to the trailer for some refreshments and a sit down visit. Terryn is flying to Mexico with a friend for a week but we'll still be here when she gets back. Have fun sweetheart and we'll see you soon!

After big hugs with Terryn I pulled out my bike repair stand and got to work replacing tubes and tires. I had this idea before retiring that learning bicycle repair would be a fun retirement idea. It is but it turns out I don't want to do it all the time. I like other things too much to fix bikes all the time but I can fix my own at least.

The stand is so nice for my back and folds up small for the trailer.

I got the front tire back on and then realized that I had mounted it backwards. These tires are directional grips and of course I had them backwards. It's good to get extra practice by doing it twice right? I got my wheels done and was just putting my tools away when I saw a group of young fellas below us on the trail all huddled around one bike. I could here them talking and the one young fella had a flat tire. Well he couldn't have timed this any better could he? I asked if they needed air for the tire and they told me they had just pumped it up but it's flat again. I told them I had just finished mine and if they want they could bring it up then I'll have a look. It turns out he had 2 of the same thorns in his tire that I had in mine. We took out the tube and quickly found a tiny hole leaking air. I grabbed a patch and put it on and it held air. Luckily only the one hole. We put the tire back together and he was off to the trail. It was really nice when he joined his buddies and they all hollered "thanks for fixing the tire mister"! Made me feel good, my good deed for the month lol.

I put all my stuff away and joined Leslie for a frosty beverage, one of my faves, Naramata Nut Brown brewed here in Penticton, it's delicious. Les is having a local cider made in Summerland, just a short drive north of us. 

Local and delicious.

Cider that Leslie really liked.

We made supper after our little happy hour and after we had finished eating we looked out the window and saw a large bald eagle in the tree not far from us. It was swooping down and trying to catch fish in the shallow water close to shore, cool! The other thing we noticed was a group of small black ducks (sorry I have no idea what type they are) bunched up in a tight circle and swam away as a tight group while the eagle was hunting. I'm thinking they know why that eagle is swooping down and they don't want to be dinner tonight.

The best zoom we could get, he was just far enough away.

Mar 28

My nephew Bryon and his family drove up from Vancouver yesterday and are staying in Summerland with his wife Niki's parents. We are meeting up with them at Donna's for coffee. So with hugs and handshakes we said hello to Bryon, Niki, Ellison and Sophia. So fortunate to see everyone here in one spot. Great timing! We all enjoyed visiting and catching up while the kids played outside mostly. After a couple hours we all went our separate ways after big hugs but we'll see everyone again tomorrow.

Kerry, Bryon and Niki

Margaret getting some luvin' from the cousins. Brodie, Jetson, Ellie & Sophia

Leslie and I went back to the rig for lunch and a little rest. We decided to go for a walk and a little driving tour around town in the afternoon. First we walked around Skaha Lake Park on the paths with Maragaret, yeah no cardio workout here either.

A sniff walk in Skaha Park.

 

Have to admit it's a beautiful place to live.

We drove through downtown and a slow drive along the beach on the north end of town at Okanagan Lake stopping not far from an old paddle wheeler the S.S. Sicamous that is beached here in Penticton.

Was in active service here on Okanagan Lake, the lake is 80 miles long.

A little history.

The little tug that could !

These ovens used to be along the rail line.

One of the old churches along Martin St.

They have done some amazing work to the walk along the beach with a beautiful wide cement walk that easily handles bikes and roller bladers as well as walking and running. There are lots of motels and a couple pubs along the beach now and it's a really nice area. I left in 1985 and only visited a couple times since, so of course there have been many changes since then. We enjoyed a nice long walk, left Margaret sleeping in the truck this time, and just walked and talked while enjoying the sun and the breeze off the lake. One of those special moments when you feel really fortunate for the life you have and the people you share it with. 

We went home for a quiet night by ourselves watching our free cable TV!

Mar 29

Earlier this week I had called and got physio appointments for both Les and myself. I have never actually had a professional look at my left calf and Leslie's back just never seems to get any better with a constant nagging pain on the right side. We did our 11 o'clock appointments and we have some exercises to use that are supposed to help so we'll see. Not a magic bullet but hopefully with time we get back to where we want to be.

I called Bryon to see what he is up to and he invited out to Summerland to meet Niki's parents at their house. Absolutely we will. Bryon & Niki have been together a long time and I have never met her parents, 100% my bad but let's fix that right now. We got GPS directions from Bryon and soon turned off highway 97 to a road leading to the residential neighbourhoods  behind the town of Summerland. They live on a hill with beautiful views a few miles off the highway up on the western bench of Okanagan Lake. You drive through vineyards and orchards and up some hills that are definitely not where you bring an RV! Beautiful run with just the dually though. We crossed over another section of the KVR trail that looks like it would be a fabulous bike ride and within minutes pulled up to Niki's parents house. They live on the end of a small cul de sac in a spectacular place! Bryon, Niki's dad and Nicki's uncle were all standing in the front drive chatting when we arrived. Bryon introduced us to John and Rick and we all stood talking on the driveway for a few minutes. We walked around the edge of the garage to the backyard and OMG what a beautiful backyard and view to the west from there! Just across the ravine is the Summerland golf course and far beyond that the mountains are still capped in snow. The mix of green grass, trees and mountains is unbelievable.

What a view!

Part of the back yard.

The patio we all gathered at.

In the backyard we met Niki's mom, Ann, and Niki's aunt with a badly broken ankle in an air cast. (they showed Leslie an x-ray of her ankle afterwards that Les thought was so cool, I just just about puked. I'm not medical staff but it was really broken) We all sat on their back patio in the sun and enjoyed a lemonade while getting to know each other a little. We stayed for a couple hours and then with hugs and handshakes we said good bye and we hope to see them again next time we are in town. Absolutely fabulous people!

Uncle Rick, Bryon & Niki

Me & John 

Leslie and I drove back to the rig with a quick stop for some beer and wine. We are having happy hour with a couple we met last fall here at Wrights Beach Camp, Tim and Cindy. Unfortunately we didn't take a picture but we had a nice chat with them and shared stories of each others winter adventures. They spent 3 months in San Carlos, Mexico at an RV park down there and loved it so we found that interesting to hear about. After happy hour was supper and some cable TV.

Mar 30

Leslie wants to do a major clean this morning so she started with laundry and the sheets and blankets. I tried to help by vacuuming and straightening some stuff out in our room and then organizing some stuff in the storage compartment. With our chores complete in the afternoon I am going to test my new bike tires. I ended up doing a 16km/ 10 mi bike ride to Kaleden and back while Leslie walked way up the KVR for a 5Km/3mi walk. That's better for us!

After showers we were a little hungry so we drove back down to Okanagan beach on the north side of town and went to a pub called Salty's that we had seen yesterday. It's done a huge renovation over the years and is a pretty cool looking place. We ordered some appies to share and a pint each. Well earned treats after our exercise. When we got back to Wrights Beach we noticed Tim & Cindy sitting outside so we joined them for one beer and chatted until the sun went behind the mountain. Cools off quick when the sun is down. We made supper and then just relaxed in our chairs watching TV for the night. Didn't do any visiting today but it was a really productive day for both of us. Nice clean sheets tonight too! Ahhh. It was a good week here in Penticton and we have another one yet to go but we'll post that next.

Cheers everybody!