Mid-September 2021

09/07 – Allan, ever diligent, spent time securing our vaccine cards. He’s excited to go to a pub on the 13th, the first day they are mandatory.

We reduced the size of the vaccine card to the same size of a credit card, printed them, and laminated, double-sided. One side my card, the other Allan’s, we’re armed and ready!

09/08 – This photo accurately depicts today!

09/09 – Vernon day

First stop: Vernon’s Farmers Market Picked up a huge head of green lettuce, tomatoes and corn.

Leaving, we notice a tent city. Turns out, this is where the firefighters they brought in from Mexico & Quebec to help fight the wildfires stayed. I think they deserved better accommendations.

Stop 2: Armstrong, BC – The Village Cheese Our haul …

Stop 3: Lunch break – We find ourselves at The Kal Lucked out as it is .47 cent day and they have 99 flavours to choose from Our view from out seat, We were entertained by the parrellel parking of the many vehicles coming and going.

Super bonus! They have Rickards Red on tap!! Oh, that smile!!

A Vernon visit would not be complete without going to Scattered Goods. I should have taken a photo of the loot we left with.

Back home we have a chat with the ducks and glare at the leaves that have fallen, too soon!

Evening entertainment! Finish binge watching

Can’t wait till Season 4

09/11 – Today is a solemn day being the 20th anniversary of 911. A day that changed air travel and many lives forever. We all remember where we were when we heard the unbelievable news.

It surprised me to learn taking your shoes off resulted from an incident in December 2001, not September. A terrorist attempted to detonate an explosive device in his shoe while onboard a flight from Europe to the United States.

Liquids, gels and aerosols: Not until summer 2006; a plot to detonate larger quantities of liquid explosives onboard an aircraft was identified and thwarted just a few weeks before the plot was executed. The liquids restriction was put into place at that time and remains in place today. 

Procedures for screening electronics larger than a cell phone have been in place since the fall of 2017. Terrorists have the technical capability to artfully conceal explosive devices inside electronics.

Enough sadness, our big adventure is a trail walk to Ribbleworth Falls. We’ve been here before but this time we walk from Bailey, one way: 1-1/4h.

We pass this, sounds old for a donkey google doesn’t agree “Donkeys live between 30 and 50 years, and are intelligent animals that make good pets and work animals.” Learned something new today!

This walk certainly deserves a reward!! My reward is normally Baileys, Allan’s Fireball. Whoops, we’re out of Baileys, Allan shared his Fireball 🙂

Kyle sent this find, bet Allan’s wishing he has it now.

09/13: Today is the first day, in BC, you are required to show a Vaccine Card. We’ve been ready since the 7th, thanks Allan 🙂

We walk to Turtle Bay Pub which is connected to our park, we’re pleased to encounter this sign

Do they scan the “unique to me” QR code???? No, they just verify the name on my VC matches the name on my government issued ID, aka my driver’s licence.

It is a beautiful day for a patio! The duck agrees, says TB has good food

Pesky little fly solution! Can’t believe it took me this long to figure it out!!

I don’t have the exact date but this done up, Class B with California plates, obviously, big fans of the Michigan Wolverines football team has been here since at least Sep 10th, likely longer. They are not friendly, when we encounter them, they turn away so we haven’t had a chat. SO!, why am I concered about them eating.

The fridge in this type of unit normally is a bar fridge. Are they eating military rations? I’d like to offer to bring in supplies but they are so stand offish! They could, disconnect from the utilities and drive into town but they haven’t.

09/14 – Today’s mini outing, down the street to another part of Wood Lake. Not really worthy of a reward but, what the hell! Yep Baileys is back in stock!

09/16 – Another dreary day. Not a fan, the ducks look happy

09/16 – We’re not feeling like doing, much of anything. We get our 10k steps today by walking the park a few times and a walk back to the other end of Wood Lake beach.

Today’s reward… Such delicious stuff made in a distrillery in Vernon

09/18: Relieved! This is the California couple’s site. They unhooked & likely went to town for groceries! At least this is what I choose to believe.

09/19: Day started off beautifully!

2nd to last race of the season today. Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey in California.

It was an exciting race but sadly the winner was Allan’s guy, Colton Herta. Allan gets to move his car ahead.

Day ended in huge downpours!. Rain, rain, rain. The rain changed our dinner plans from quing outdoors to throwing together frozen leftovers. A delicious, never to be had again, meal!

Tomorrow! Election Day!!! and hopefully an announcement about the US border opening to Canadians.

2nd Attempt-Oyama Lookout

Sep 08, 2021 – When we were in Kelowna for the Winter we tried to get to the lookout. That was on Dec 08, 2020 Click here for attempt one.

First a quick walk to Wood Lake Beach, on the park grounds

Anxious to see the likely spectacular views from the lookout, off we go!

It’s not that bad!

Bob is built for this 🙂

Are we??

This is where we turned back in the Winter “End of Maintained Public Road”

Anything around the corner?

Bumpy! Should have videoed more but I was too busy hanging on

Hate to do so, but, we smartly admit defeat, again. This is our turn around point; the potholes were the worst we’ve experienced, much worse than the Sicamous Lookout.

The views we missed out on, photos by others

Views we did capture on the way back down the mountain

Today’s silliness.. What is the oldest thing in your home/office? Our’s 20 year old @VaselineBrand

September, 1st week 2021

We will be at Woodlake RV Park until the 27th.

From here, on to Enterprise to hopefully, get the slide repaired. Enterprise is looking for a replacement slide motor, regular spot they get it from is, grrrr, out of stock. They have located one in the States, hoping they get it ordered and here in time.

We take a walk around the campsite to the marina. It is nice but still smoky.

Yum delicious BC corn

Back in March we had FibeRenew plump up our sofa cushions and repair a hole in our lazy boy chair (was done in their plant), Allan’s captain chair was repaired in Bailey. That repair didn’t turn out well, Steve the owner, agreed to come back and make it right. He did 🙂 So much repair stuff = looks great now.

Next up – a walk on the rail trail to Ribbleworth Falls and our reward!

Friday, Sep 03rd… Costco restock day. Since they have set aside the 8-9 o’clock hour for “old people” we have taken advantage of it. I set the alarm, we make it to there just after 8, to find only one car in the parking lot, doors not opened. Did they cancel the early hour without telling us?? Yes they did. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. We take ourselves to McDonalds for breakfast to wait until 9.

Looks like this sign works, no panhandlers on this corner

Google when we got home and discovered “old people” hour is now only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The sky is clear today

Today’s cute story… Allan is texting with his friend Wilf who lives in Coaldale AB. Back and forth they text. Wilf say’s he’s at a pub having a quick one and sends this photo

Allan sends him this photo…

Cheers!

Wilf follows up with

“Just about done, hope you have more beer, we’ll be there in an hour!”.

HUM, what does that mean?? Allan googles Post Haus Pub; yep it’s in Kelowna! 🙂 We are full of questions “We’ll be there” who’s we?? Wilf & Brenda with their bus for the long weekend? Wilf & buddies on their bikes?

Detective work!!

Brenda normally drinks Bud Light, the second beer on the table is too dark to be a Bud. We lean towards the bikes.

Soon we hear the roar of the engines, such a super nice surprise!

Quick but fun visit, off they roar!

Sep 5th HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!!

From this little guy to this handsome guy, showing off his new t-shirt

Kyle in Victoria, us in Lake Country means we ship his presents directly to him. We normally get a “wish list”. This year we decided to wing it, sending Lululemon t-shirt and shorts.

Apparently, the other gift should have come with instructions LOL.

Is it an ergonomic mouse pad?? Is it a funky hat??

Wrong!! It’s a floor mat!

We should have included a pair of socks!

Kyle & Megan recently bought a desk you can stand at, thought this would be an ideal additional to that…

Sep 06Labour Day on our walk we see this friendly notice. FYI: we’ve walked past this property a few times, so far no dog. Sure hope that continues.

Later in the day: While sitting at the picnic table playing card I see a mouse run by on the concrete fence. Time to add the amonia, done. Allan wants to add a battery charger to the, yep, battery. Gets hissed at by a snake basking in the sun. Hopefully, the snake will eat the mouse!

Last weekend of Summer, please don’t go. Can we stick these leaves back on the trees?

I thank you for reading!! 🙂

Aug 22-30/21 A week in Salmon Arm

Salmon Arm Camping Resort, Site E2 – the only site in the park with 50amp power. We lucked out.

Aug 23rd – Allan loves Sicamous a 30m drive, off we go. We did our “usual” walk around town, then the trail ending up here, at Moose Mulligans Public Eatery’s patio for lunch. This is the view 🙂

A little, crowded island out there

Great idea! Most of the lakes have these well stocked  life preservers

If I liked boating, this would be the place for me

We’d love this fuel price, alas, it is missing the 1

Aug 26th – We need some veggies so were heading to Pedro’s Market. We missed the turn, a bit down the road we turn into DeMille’s thinking we’d u turn. It looked so inviting we parked.

Who would have thought Allan would turn into the “animal whisperer”??

Llamas are sweet animals but won’t hesitate to spit , PLEASE don’t!!

That’s better a nice, almost, smile!

We bought, what turned out to be, delicious London Broil, corn grown on site & cherry peppers.

Never saw cherry peppers before. I followed this recipe I don’t often say this but “DANG, they were hot!”

We leave to this 🛑

Aug 27th – hang out at the park day! Nice relaxing day doing not much of anything, except mini putt. We hadn’t done this for eons!! Kyle makes fun of my videos saying they are too short. Here’s another one for you 🙂

Allan has been lax in “smokin” photos, here’s one

Being cooked, the aforementioned London Broil, corn & cherry peppers. Forget to feature the finished product 🙁

Tip!

Aug 28th – Salmon Arm’s farmers market is today from 8 till 1. We take a drive down, take no photos and do not buy anything. While here we walk to the wharf and take the trail.

First we duck in the parking lot; duck #49

On to the trail

These are the only birds we saw. We’re not very good birders 🐦

Fallen leaves! NOOO!!!

August 30th – Drive to Lake Country day for the final leg of our summer adventure.

But first, pass through Lake Country head to Kelowna to get our slide diagnosed. The living room/kitchen slide hasn’t been opened since the end of June when we had closing issues. CoachNet, our service contract company, nor us could find any company capable of diagnosing/repairing the slide.

As we approach Kelowna we spot a hot air balloon. It’s closer to the airport than we think it should be, doesn’t appear to be advertising.

Turns out it’s a hot air balloon ride! Might be fun, if a little pricey.

Hello Enterprise, fix us up!!

Bailey has to be there for most of the day = time to kill. Start by driving back to Lake Country, the post office there is an Amazon Locker Allan had a Roku stick sent there, we pick it up then go to Wood Lake RV Park to check out our spot. It’s not going to be easy to get in but we’ll get it done!! Next stop, Holiday Park where we spent Winter. It was interesting walking through it, there are now many empty spots.

Next up lunch on the patio of our favourite local Italian restaurant…L’Isola Bella Bistro

We next go to BC Liquor cause Allan’s beer is on sale. We spot this cloud from the parking lot!

It’s now about 230, our feet have walked enough (over 11k steps). We drive by Enterprise, Bailey is in the same spot we left her. Hopefully, they have examined her there. We stop in a parking lot, play a few games of Candy Crush, still no call from Enterprise. We think that must mean they have opened and closed the slide successfully with no issues. Enough speculation, back to Enterprise.

They have done the checks, 4 opens and closes requiring 2 resets. They diagnose the issue as front slide motor.

Although the slide manufacture advised us to not open as the error was classified as major, Norm at Enterprised was confident we could open it at the campground and it would close. Sends us off with these instructions …

Off to the park

Our site #133, it is wide enough but the length is tight. The guy across comes out to say “You’ll never fit in that spot”. We wiggle, giggle, wiggle some more and we are in!! Excellent driving, or rather parking Allan!!

Are we brave enough to open the slide? I’ve gotten used to the tigher space. Allan says “Let’s do it”

From this…

To this…..

August 31st – Great for the wildfires, it’s raining and raining! Today is also dentist day, good day for rain.

Between showers we walk the park. The office and boat launch

We’re so cheesy!

There is a little beach steps away

Lots of ducks. We hear lots of “quack, quack, quack”

Good bye Golden Aug 22/21

Destination Salmon Arm, first fuel.

The route takes us through Revelstoke

Lucky us, we found an article nominating the stretch of Hwy 1 from Golden to Revelstoke as one of the World’s most dangerous road. Click for article. The weather isn’t great either. We would be totally freaked, had we not have done this stretch on our way to BC.

A straight section of road, is, newsworthy!

No more straight! 50k ahead = drastic turn or falling off earth!

Allan’s favourites! Snow sheds – there is 6 in this group. Our headlights aren’t bright making it more difficult to see

Roger’s Pass

More rain, sharp corners, and snow in the mountain snuggled in the back

Feel bad for the motor cycle

Turn, turn, turn…

Made it!

Glad we left Golden full, crazy prices. Get we need diesel for Bailey, they are so embarrassed they don’t post that price

Make it to Salmon Arm Camping Resort safely!

Set up and dinner being made by my “shoeless chef”

Haven’t we all??

Boo, the bear day 08/20/21

Good morning! We’re excited!! It’s meet Boo day 🐻

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort  has a bear refuge, we will hopefully meet Boo.

I got the Golden photo this time by. The heavy rain a couple of days ago helped with the smoke.

Kicking Horse is a twisty 25m drive from the campground

Happy this is a Bob and not a Bailey adventure, it’s very narrow,

You ride the chair lift up the hill to the refuge

Hoping to see the real Boo when up the hill

Our tickets

A little about Boo before we meet (hopefully)

What a lovely smile, Boo 🐻 😅

The ride up..

The pole reads “The higher you go, the thinner the competition”

The cable are making scratchy noises, the chair slows down, stops, goes again. Allan declares he is not a fan of chair lifts.

Almost there…

View from the top, that’s Golden

We enter the refuge and there he is! BOO. How did Boo get here? How did he get his name? Click here

Look at those claws!

Hopefully this is as close to a bear as we get…

Electric fence keeps Boo in his 20 acre home

The fence hasn’t always worked. Click here for his 2006 escape, again in 2011, click here We know he came back but I can’t find that story.

Back down we go..

Life is full of choices, will we partake in this adventure?

Back in the parking we get to duck #47

Fun times, now back to Golden to grocery shop

Golden BC 08/16/21

We take the 6m drive into Golden to peek around.

It has a cute downtown but it’s only one street

We didn’t end up staying at this restaurant but did snap this photo

Walk in town done. Off to the trail

We’ve seen pick ups on the train tracks, first time seeing a tractor on rails

I did this to my thumb about 2 months ago. I was concerned I may lose the nail, I won’t but it is taking its time growing out.

Travel Day, 08/15/21

We enjoyed our stay here, except for the no internet/super low water pressure. Heading to Whispering Spuce Campground in Golden. BC. The smoke has not dissipated.

Big ass smoker! Allan had pulled pork made on it, he declared it delicious.

Back to packing up… Allan doing his circle check

On the road again…

These cyclists are wearing masks to protect from the smoke

What is left after a fire

When I see skid marks I chose to believe another animal dashing onto the road was saved

This is a scenic drive. Not today, just smoky

Turn here…

We’re back in BC, almost missed the sign

We can only imagine how beautiful with area is

Truck “runaway” lane. I’m surprised we haven’t seen more in the Rockies

Almost there

The last 10k were stressful. The twisty, turny, road is under sever construction

Then there is this contraption parked on a platform over the ledge

Here we are

Whispering Spruce Campground Doesn’t take long to get set up

Parting thought

August 14/21, Hanging out at the park

Smoke comes rapidly. What a difference a day makes! 

Our hikes today will be the View Point trail & Lake Trail, Lake Abraham. We’ve been, pretty much off the grid since we arrived in Clive Lake.  There is no internet or cell service throughout the park, only limited access if you are right by the office.  Before setting out, we go to the office to check if anything important is happening. 

Oh no, Allan is notified our website is down.  We rush back to Bailey to pick up Allan’s computer – no way is there enough strength.  We’ll drive to Nordegg, 87k away, surely that town (population between 60 & 200) will have access. 

Allan checks with the office, great news 12k up the road there is a large pullout with coverage. 

Allan gets successfully connected and has the issue repaired within a few minutes.  We discuss driving on to Nordegg but with the smoke we wouldn’t see much. 

Back at the park, Bailey is still hiding. There are more tents here than we have scene in any park.

Trails, here we are

The trail is a gradual down with many stones. We hear bears, or do we?? Have whistles!

We had to do a huge up, so big I was freaked enough to not remember to take a photo.

We made it and looped back …

Turns out it is a loop, we come out here.

Fire time! Allan loves his fire gloves. Thanks Kyle & Megan!!

What is this??

Friday, Aug 13th 🍀 Good Luck Day!

We are heading towards Jasper on the Icefields Parkway to check out the points of interest we didn’t/couldn’t investigate in Bailey

Our ultimate destination, on this beautiful day, is the Athabasca Ice Glacier

We drive by glaciers, fortunately no ice this time of the year

The highway turns left, then right. We end up on the mountain that is straight ahead.  The road is just above the tree line. 

This is taken from the viewpoint on top of the mountain. The bridge that is under construction from the previous photo.   There are such big elevation changes, go figure, in the mountains there are elevation changes.

Another cyclist, high up in the mountain. I can’t imagine the ups!!

Beautiful! Breathtaking, awe-inspiring, it is impossible to describe the beauty of the Rocky Mountains.  The Rockies should be on everyone’s bucket list.

Back we go to Athabasca Ice Glacier; looking to the right of the glacier

Looking at the glacier; those ants are really people making their way up the glacier.

The climb up. Like John I don’t do ups yet here we are!

Informational signs along the way

The melting ice

Almost there. I love this photo of my cute heart 🙂

The glacier! Yes, we both made it.

Look, it’s Bob way down there

The glacier as viewed from across the highway. From here it looks like a hill when it fact, it is flat.

The drive back

We stopped at Saskatchewan Crossing for dinner.  That didn’t work out, the restaurant was closed, only the snack bar was open. 

Love when they gouge you.  We were warned so didn’t need any fuel 

The fuel at the park isn’t quite as crazy

WooHoo it’s fire time…

The wood…

The Fire God!

Good night