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Thursday, September 14, 2017

Kelowna, B.C. to Coulee City Community Camp Ground, Washington

 

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Tuesday morning and it’s warm and sunny.  We are hooked up and ready to leave Kelowna just after 9am.  We’ve had a good visit with family but now it’s time to hit the road. 

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Coming down to Okanagan Lake on the south side of Westbank heading towards Peachland.  It is really breezy but it’s a tail wind which is unusual for us!

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Down closer to Oliver and the grapes are ripe.  Eric wonders how they get them all to grow at the bottom where they’re easy to pick.

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We’re over the border with no issues.  I had to wait outside while the female border guard checked the rig and she didn’t take anything away so I guess we were okay.   She asked if we’d been given an orange card.  We said “ no.”  I’m guessing an orange card is a bad thing!  We stopped just over the border in Oroville to pick up fresh produce. 

The wind is really picking up.

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Coming into Okak.  We stop on the south side at the Tribal Trails gas station for fuel and lunch.  There is a big lot out the back so it’s an easy stop.

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South on 17 to Coulee City.

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Pretty but…..smokey here.

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Very volcanic through this area and….dry.

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Hard to see much with all the smoke.  Not too far to go now.

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That’s Banks Lake up ahead and we’ll stay on the right at the end.  We’ve passed this campground on other trips and it’s never very full so we thought we’d give it a try.

It is really windy at this point and later it got much worse.  We found a spot, unhooked and got parked.  This is a self registration park and costs $30 for full services.   We eventually had to close the door as it cooled off and the wind really picked up.  Neither one of us got any sleep overnight as the wind just howled and rocked the rig.  Thursday morning it was so cold and windy we had to plug in the electric heater.  We thought we’d be hiding from the heat but….not so much!

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This is Thursday afternoon and it’s lovely.  Sunny and warm with no wind.  Wednesday night’s wind cleared out the smoke. 

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We were both feeling pretty crummy but in the afternoon I decided to take a walk.  The humidity is ultra low and we are both suffering with allergies from smoke and local plants.  This little manmade road goes out into the lake.  The swimming area is on the left and would be great if it was really warm.   I would think it would be really busy here in the summer.  Lots of kids. 

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The RV park is full of people with fishing boats but they couldn’t get out till this afternoon because of the wind.  Huge amount of RV’s and fishing boats in the this area of Washington.

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We are parked at the very south end of Banks Lake which was created by the Columbia Basin project.   It occupies the northern portion of the Grand Coulee.

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           The flag is limp today….a good thing.

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Pretty.

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There is a nice paved trail along the lake where I took a walk.  I was by myself so I put the camera on the trail, set the timer and voila!  Not too bad for a selfie!

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An artsy shot from the gazebo where I stopped for a rest.

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A lovely day….especially after last night and this morning.

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I could hear the Loons on the lake but I couldn’t see any.   No ducks either.

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Sun’s going down and I took this without even bothering to open the screen.   Still nice.  Had happy hour,  watched the Jays loose again, dinner and bed.  Hope Eric feels better tomorrow.

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