Go Big or Go Home - Day 40 - Cool Runnings

Well it has been a busy Day 36 -39 and today we were headed out on the bikes to our next gathering.

Day 36 - this was an easy day…we walked downtown to have breakfast at Sonny’s.  Eggs benny, and French toast were amazing.  We ate so much we needed to “walk it off” so we walked along the lake into some of the Lake neighbourhoods.  Beautiful homes, lots of shade cause it has been hot as all get out!

We spent the rest of the day “resting”.

Day 37 - This was a special day!  P and B were celebrating a 40th wedding anniversary.  They had travelled to the east coast to get married, on their bikes.  Larry was best man.  Lots of stories about the trip, the wedding and of course, many stories for all the years in between.  We celebrated with a 2 course lunch with wine pairing at Cedar Creek Winery over-looking the Okanagan Lake.  The meals were amazing and the wine pairings were also really good.  We had bought a bunch of stuff to make a charcuterie board for the evening anticipating that we would have a large lunch but alas, we couldn’t even think of that….it came on Day 38 along with a special bottle of wine that was saved for when we all got together again.  

Day 38 - Another low key day but this time we did some touring in the car with a lovely lunch at the top of Big White.  This is a ski resort between Kelowna and the US border.  This is where we met up with Buddy when we arrived in our 2016 cross country tour.  It was a lovely ride up to the top with some great views.  It never ceases to amaze me driving through the mountains.  We also made this a 2nd celebration Anniversary day.  2016 Oculus and an awesome charcuterie board  and a table filled with lots of love.

Day 39 - Laundry Day…enough said, although we did have another great meal and another fabulous bottle of Pinot Noir.

Day 40 - On the road again.  Well…we headed out about 8:15 am in 27 degree weather and temps rising.  The heat has been a thing!  We travelled across the bridge to West Kelowna, through Peachland to Penticton and by the time we reached there the temps had risen to 33 degrees…after less than an hour.  We turned on to Highway 3 heading to Keremeos.  This road is quiet, not much traffic but an amazing ride.  

As we approached Keremeos, we started to see where the valley had been ravaged by fires.  If I remember correctly this was just last year.  It really had an eerie feeling to it, almost apocalyptic.  It was a sharp contrast to the lush green we had seen all the way through. 

It is hard to imagine the devastation when we hear about the wildfires in the news.  It is something else to see it first hand, or really second hand.  I can’t imagine what it was like for the people who live in this valley and what they went through.  Their view is now a daily reminder.  This particular fire had to be huge…we followed this for several kilometres and the scorching was all along the valley and all the way up to the top of the mountain.  It was certainly a reminder to us just how vulnerable we have become to global warming….and I certainly can appreciate how vulnerable nature has become to the increasingly hot temperatures on our earth.

We arrived in Keremeos and made a stop for a break, water and a snack.  The morning sun (it was only 10:30 am) was really warming up the temps.  We parked the bikes, found some shade close to the fruit and vegetable stand, and enjoyed one of the best peaches I have every had.  The first bite went everywhere, like biting into a ripe tomato.  It was soooo sweet.  Just as sweet as Keremeos itself!

We left Keremeos headed for our next stop in Princeton for lunch. As we entered the Fraser Valley, the temperatures started to drop….27 degrees, 24, 21, 17 degrees….It has been more than a month since we experienced these temps and I don’t mind saying that they were more than welcome.  The question we get asked the most is about riding in the rain…I would take 3 days of riding in the rain than I would 3 days riding in 36 degree + temperatures.  We don’t always get a choice though, so when we run into temperatures we love, we celebrate them!

Often times we are also reminded about how small this country and world really are.  In Princeton we ran into a woman who’s family was from NS and her parents are still living there.  In Hope I caught the accent of an East Coast lady who had me guess where she was from…of course she was from Newfoundland, cause you can’t miss that accent anywhere.  We had a great chat, she being a geology student at MUN, touring through the Rockies and recognizing all the formations.  A bit like summer school!

We arrived at Harrison Springs just before 4 p.m., dropped all our stuff in the room, changed quickly and went out for a walk to decide where we would eat supper.  What a wonderful little area and it is full of sasquash (Big Foot).  Big ones, little ones, angry ones and some that looked more afraid of us that we of them.  We decided on a German restaurant for supper, trying something different than the usual.  The service and the food were equally great…..the pouring rain when we got up to leave, well thankfully we were not far from our hotel.  Tomorrow we are headed to Vancouver to get together with more work peeps.