We have been enjoying a lot of downtime as well as the surrounding area. Won’t bore you with the details of our lounging or shopping time but I will share some of our more “adventurous” excursions.
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| Top of Knox Mountain - fire |
Day 33 - we hiked up Knox Mountain early in the morning….thankfully! This whole week has been hot as an unpopped kernel if you ever picked one of them up. Monday was warm but at least it was early and there was a nice breeze…from what I understand, a nice breeze is rare in these here parts. Knox Mountain was the scene of a small forest fire a couple of weeks ago that was quickly extinguished thanks in part to a ground clean up (due to the very large and expensive homes in the area) and quick reaction of the forestry who doused the fire with retardant.
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| City from close to base of Knox Mtn |
The hike was almost 7 kms (up and down) and equivalent to 29 sets of stairs according to my technology (CN stair race here I come). Needless to say it was a hike but the views were phenomenal!…Now when I say hike, I mean there is a road, paved but it is extremely steep.
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City from near the top of Knox Mtn
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We hiked down through a path that brought us to a residential area that even if we all gathered as a commune, we could not afford the mortgage….I am talking about overhanging infinity pools, 3 angled garages with smoke glass garage doors (probably spandrel panels that look like glass but still expensive), solid steel retaining walls (3 levels)…out of respect for homeowners I did not take any pics…except for the deer resting on someone’s lawn…can’t resist nature. We ended our hike with lunch at Cecil’s Diner for some homemade perogies with cabbage roll and a smokie. I actually chose one of the smaller plates and still couldn’t finish it!
Day 35 - We got up and left on the bikes at 9 a.m. The temperatures were not too bad at that point. We headed across the bridge towards West Kelowna and then swung to the right. The night before there was a small forest fire on the route we intended to take. They managed to get that forest fire out and the route was down to one lane as the forest fighters were covering the area to make sure no flare ups. The road itself was narrow, twisty and windy around Okanagan Lake or as I come to describe it as “Thelma and Louise” turns.
We made a quick stop in Armstrong for gas and a “break” and then headed on to Salmon Arm for lunch. We stopped at the Shuswap Pie Company to eat…they make every type of pie from savoury to sweet. We enjoyed every morsel of it! We were also greeted by a few folks who noticed our NB license plates and stopped to chat with lots of questions but mostly the response is in the form of either a question or a statement which goes like “you rode out here, both of you?” It was a delightful stop and the city is very very active, bright and colorful. Some of the streets are painted, the buildings are painted in lots of different colours and I think they also have a music festival which is a big part of their events calendar. One thing is for sure, the sun is intense and hot. By the time we left, it was already over 33 degrees. The ride back meant a stop in the shade and getting our shirts soaked. This is how we do air-conditioning on the bike…soak our shirts in water, gear up and ride. Once you are moving it helps to cool down the body’s core temperature…it doesn’t last for very long is the problem, but it sure feels good for as long as it lasts.
We are heading to Vancouver for a couple of days next week…stay tuned.
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