Busy Day in Osoyoos, Oliver and Penticton

Since we just have 2 full days with the kids in Oliver, we packed a lot of fun and adventure into our first day.  Since Greg had to work at the golf course that he and Mary manage, Lloyd and I picked up Mary, Baron and Layla in the morning and headed out.

Our first stop was a bird sanctuary not far from their home.

Mary, Baron and Layla on the boardwalk

 It was a lovely, peaceful place.  Although we heard many birdsongs, we didn't see any birds.

 Except for these two pink jacketed females of the MacKenzie species.

When we came to the observation tower, we climbed the stairs and looked out the windows.  Layla and Baron were the first ones up and leaned out to see me and have their picture taken.

From up there we finally spotted the one and only bird we saw - a bald eagle in the water quite a distance from the tower.  Thanks to a zoom lens I was able to get this picture of him, and his reflection in the water.

Then, following the water theme, we visited the first of three or four lakes in the area.  The first was a called Green Lake.  It really was a remarkable and beautiful shade of green.

We were driving up some low rounded mountains which framed the valley, following beautiful twisty roads to get to these lakes.    The Okanaghan is really the most beautiful valley I've ever seen.

We walked through the brush to the next lake.

This one is unofficially known as Purple Lake.  Because of a particular bacterial strain in the water, there's a layer of water slightly beneath the surface that is a deep purple color.  The water is high right now so the purple layer wasn't as obvious as it usually is.  The shore of the lake consists of sticky thick white sand-like ground...kind of weird feeling.

Even the rocks along the shoreline were coated in the dried and solidified version of the white gooey soil.

Another view along the road we were travelling...so beautiful.

In a field along the way we spotted this interesting looking car for sale.  It only has three tires - the one tire in the front is placed dead center.  Must make for easy cornering, but I think it'd make the car feel slightly unbalanced.  I wonder how much the owner wanted for it.

The third lake is one of two lakes called White Lake.  Can you guess why???

It was fenced off and unapproachable.  I don't know why the lakes in this valley have such interesting colors.  Mary also told us that half an hour further on there's a Yellow Lake, and another lake with large spots in it.  Strange.  We'll have to see those another day.  As we headed toward Penticton for lunch, we passed the large, beautiful, popular Skaha Lake.  We stopped at a lookout where I took this picture of the  far shore of the lake, and it's reflection in the water.  It's hard to tell where reality ends and the reflection begins.  The water was so still and smooth today.

Then back to Mary's place again where the new Mastiff pup, Maizie, was waiting for us.  She's a sweet dog, if a trifle enthusiastic in her puppiness.  Very friendly and sweet.

Greg was home from work by the time we got back, so we all headed back to the golf course for an early evening game - except for me - I just went to take pictures.

Mary and Layla are cute in their matching jackets and pink golf bags.

Baron (3 years old) is very serious about his golfing - he even takes lessons.  He tires quickly though and ended up just hitting a couple of balls each hole.  He has his own clubs too, a gift from Papa last year.

And Layla looks like a junior pro out there.  She can actually hit the ball quite a distance.  She'll be a serious golfer one day.

And see, that's cactus growing in the rough on the golf course.  There's quite a lot of it there.  The Osoyoos area is in Canada's desert so it's only natural that we have desert plants here - surprizing, but natural.

The Bournes on the golf course.

The kids fought over who would ride with Papa, so it was settled by having both of them ride with him.  He's a very popular grandfather.

I spotted these guests on the 7th hole.  The rest of the herd - about 5 more - were grazing in the brush. They tolerated my presence for a little while before they got spooked and ran off.  Beautiful animals.

And now it's time for bed to be rested up for tomorrow's excitement.

Happy Easter everyone.

So Far, So Good

It's been a good trip so far, in spite of leaving Edmonton yesterday in a snowstorm that dumped 25 cm of heavy wet snow on our home town.  By the time we were an hour south of Edmonton, the roads were dry and bare and soon all traces of snow had left our landscape.  We arrived in Lethbridge to sun and dryness.

This morning we left Lethbridge and made our trek through the mountains to Osoyoos, in the Okanaghan Valley of BC.  Those mountains are such a tremendous barrier, effectively separating the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia with miles and miles of sharp peaked, snow covered granite...extending well into the United States.

Our trip took 9 hours today - five of which I drove.  As it happened, my 'shift' took us through the high mountain passes - the Crowfoot Pass and the Kootenay Pass.  When Lloyd wasn't sleeping, he grabbed the camera and tried to get some shots, but he missed the ones at the top of the passes where the snow was piled high on either side of the road, indicating where avalanches had been cleared away previously - pretty spectacular scenery.  Driving up the mountains we'd go from dry ground and sun into wet roads with snow on either side, going down long curving hills onto lower mountains misted with fog and snow.  At a few points we ran into wet snowfall, but those were few and far between.  I just wish there had been more places where I could pull over and get some really good photos, but there just wasn't room, or there were vehicles behind me.

Here are some of the sights from today's trip.

Beautiful snow covered moutain

I love the look of this one

A threatening sky as we climb

Curving up and then down through the pass

And around a sharp bend

Not much traffic from either direction

There were three of these runaway lanes down this one mountain.  I'd hate to be in the vehicle that lost control, or brakes, and had to hit the emergency area.

It's not really a lane at all - just a semi-safe space to get off the highway and stopped.

Finally far enough down the mountain to be out of the snow.

But we had to watch out for grazing animals now.

Still working our way through the mountains

To a city - Castlegar -  in a high valley

I don't know how safe I'd feel flying into that air strip surrounded by mountains

Lloyd almost missed this picture of two wild turkeys who ran across the road in front of us.

Signs told us to have winter tires or carry chains from October to April 30 on these roads

I was scared to take my eyes off the road so Lloyd could take this picture

Looks like we're going to drop off the face of the earth

It got misty with snow as we came down off the mountains

And finally to the foothills and farmland

Another farm

Our destination - Osoyoos - came into view as we drove down Anarchist Mountain

Our home away from home for three days - Spirit Lodge, Osoyoos

Surrounded by miles of orchards that make this Okahaghan Valley world famous.  They're just waiting for enough sun and heat to start blooming.  It'll be a very different scene this time next month.

We finished our day by going to Mary and Greg's place in Oliver to spend some time with our grandchildren and new grand-puppy, Maizie.  Pictures tomorrow.

Pat

Travellilng Weather

We're heading to Lethbridge today and then on to BC tomorrow.  Here's what we woke up to this morning.

So much for spring!  Luckily this system is moving east so the mountain roads should be fairly clear.  Lets hope.  We're watching the weather channel and road reports but are planning on getting away in an hour or so.  *sigh*

Have a good Easter weekend everyone.

Pat

Loose Change

Years ago I started throwing my loose change into a large restaurant-size pickle bottle. Whenever my purse started feeling heavy I'd empty the coins into the bottle.  Lloyd would empty his pockets and I'd scoop up his loose change and toss it into the bottle.  Every once in awhile I'd empty the bottle, roll the coins and take my 'found money' to the bank.  A little bit here, a little bit there.

I hadn't emptied the bottle in a couple of years.  In fact, when the big bottle got filled up I just started filling another. 

The other day I decided to roll the coins and take them to the bank.  But first I weighed the jars.  The big one weighed 35 lbs.  The smaller one was a mere 10.5 lbs.  Money is heavy!

I dumped the coins onto my dining room table and started sorting and rolling them - huge job - took me two days to get them all done.  Of course in that time I had to go out and buy more coin rollers.

We have a lot of coins in Canada.  Pennies, of course, which the government has decided to phase out of existence.  They're not going to make any more.  Then there's the nickles (5 cents), dimes (10 cents), quarters (25 cents), loonies ($1.00), and twoonies ($2.00).  They all got tossed into the coin jars.

And then began the tedious job of sorting, counting and rolling the coins.  Luckily I'm able to multi-task so I kept the television on for company while I sorted and counted and rolled, and sorted and counted and rolled, and sorted.....you get the picture.

All rolled and ready to go

My final total was a staggering $776.00!  That loose change really adds up! 

Today I have to find a way to lug 45.5 lbs of rolled coins to the bank to deposit in my account.  I might have to make two trips.  That's heavy!  And as Lloyd pointed out, it'll more than pay for our trip to BC to visit our daughter Mary and her family this weekend.

But first I think I'll empty the change from my wallet into the big empty jar and start another round of saving.