Thursday July 12, 2007 – Summerland, BC

The last two days have been less than “smooth” – unlike most of the trip!

Yesterday (Wednesday) we carried our laptops up to the KOA office area to use their WiFi – Margaret to get her e-mail and myself to publish the last two blogs. As luck would have it, neither us could get connected. It had worked fine earlier, but not yesterday. We even tried again last night unsuccessfully. The only reception we got was from the mosquitoes. Sigh…

This morning brought its own set of hiccups. First, Suki, who thinks he's Marco Polo, got away from Margaret and ran off into the woods when some children got between him and the camper. He flew into the woods trailing his lead, which immediately got tangled as did he in the dense undergrowth. She just followed his yowls for help. Margaret finally got him untangled and carried him home. It didn’t do much for her temper. He's been a subdued puss the rest of the day.

Just as I started the engine, the Low Coolant light came on. Why me? But I wasn’t too concerned because our first stop was the local gas / diesel emporium for a top-up. Guess what? They were out of coolant! So we put in a pint or so of pure water to get us through the day. I wasn’t happy doing that, but I guess it will suffice until we reach civilization.

So, on to the wine country at last. After an uneventful trip down Trans Canada Hwy 1, we turned south in Sicamous. We are here to report the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia is all it was reported and then some. We drove around / beside some of the largest lakes we’ve ever seen – outside of the Great Lakes. They reminded us of the lakes / lake-towns in northern Italy – with mountains / hills tumbling into the azure blue waters. Homes and condos built on the hillsides and down to the water. Lots of pleasure boats darting about the blue surface. Didn’t see any ferries plying across the lake however.

Our first major hurdle came when we stopped at a RV Park recommended by our “neighbors” in Revelstoke. “Stay at the Holiday RV Park in Winfield (just north of Kelowna).” Nada – no room.

Then on through the bustling city of Kelowna. Hard to believe they had 3 inches of snow only 2 weeks ago. It was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit as we battled the Thursday p.m. traffic (Margaret was driving by the way – a great job in a difficult situation).

South of town Hwy 97 (we departed Hwy 1) the road climbed the side of a mountain with the lake dropping away beneath us. It was beautiful and would have been more appreciated if we’d known we had a spot for the night!

We tried a provincial park south of Kelowna but no go. They had a spot but it was way too short. The problem, we learned, was every Canadian camper loves to go to the lakeshore for their vacation. And there are a lot of them! So we pressed on.

Driving into Summerland, we spotted a tourist info bureau, so we decided to play it smart and have their fingers do the walking. There are three RV parks in Summerland, so I picked one at random. Yes, they had a spot for us, so on we went. Upon arrival the manager allowed that they were new, they were booked up starting tomorrow. He didn’t want to let the motor-home and the car both in (the campground was too small for both of us). So we unhooked and I proceeded to attempt to put 10 pounds of blivots in a 5 pound bag. After scraping one side of the motor-home, I said, “Enough.”, and pulled out to check out the next RV park.

The site we have is a little better – at least the space is bigger. But the manager said we could only keep it one night. And then we have to move. We may just drive on to the USA tomorrow!

The one redeeming feature of this RV Park is that the WiFi works from our site. So I am able to get the last two blogs out, Margaret can check e-mail, and I can catch up on finances! We’ll let tomorrow take care of itself.

Our photo of today is from the one moment of respite during the otherwise tense day. Wherever possible, we like to stop by some scenic overlook for noon-time repast. Today was adjacent to Mara Lake, just south of Sicamous. The water was so clear you could count the stones on the bottom, and the surface sparkled with sunlight.

P.S. 10 PM (Mountain Daylight Time)
All is forgiven! In "desperation" we went out to explore what culinary adventures might be available in Summerland. Answer: None. (At least none that were open on a Thursday evening.) So we ventured south to the next town on the lake - Penticton. And found a most marvelous restaurant: Front Street Bar and Bistro. (Not an imposing title, but superb food.)

One of the most innovative menus we've seen in a long time. Not knowing what to order, we did appetizers: roasted garlic and brie platter with a blueberry compote; garlic and butter prawns; garlic and cheese mushroom caps (served in an escargot-style dish with 6 "holes"); garlic Ceasar salad; and a local Pinot Gris (no vampires tonight in this motor-home). Margaret finished it all off with a cheesecake and coffee. Let me say for the record: it was the most fantastic ending to an otherwise yuckee day. Made it all worthwhile.

Seriously folks, it was a meal worthy of a last meal. The wine was a wonderful complement; we are going to find the winery tomorrow (assuming we can get another night (or two) in town. Actually, Summerland is about 10 miles north of Penticton (pronounced: Pen-tick-ton); the beginning of the best wineries (according to our local gurus). Based on a short visit to Penticton, we want to stay for as long as we can get a campsite!!!

More later. Wayne