Coulee City, Washington to Kelowna, B.C.

 

This is Friday night in the Coulee City RV park.  The sun in shining and it’s nice and warm and the little kids are playing in the park. 

On Saturday afternoon we drove a couple of blocks into Coulee City so I could pick up a few groceries.  This is the John Deere dealer and it’s a huge one for such a small town.  Lots of  farming here in Washington.

A photo out the side window because the front one is all bugged up.

Family foods where I picked up some bread (have I mentioned how much I hate the bread in the USA?)….well I do.  It’s always too sweet, or dense and gluey or has some strange taste.  I guess that makes me a bread snob but I have no problem finding decent bread in Canada.  They did have some nice fresh corn and tomatoes at a really good price.  A nice little market for such a small town. 

A pretty day but the wind is absolutely howling and it’s about 10C.  There was no one outside anywhere and no kids in the park.  There had been some sort of event that started by the water at 7am this morning and everyone was in parkas.  By noon everyone was gone and we never saw anyone outside after that. 

This is Sunday morning and although the wind has died down a bit  it is cold and coming from the north.  We were on the road by about 8am with only 200 miles to go.

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The north wind is blowing.

Not a soul to be seen.

A good stop on the way home. 

I wouldn’t be out there fishing today….too darn cold and windy!

Heading north on Hwy 17.  A country road so it’s pretty quiet on a Sunday.

Bridgeport.

Bridge over Lake Pateros at Bridgeport.

If you are Mexican and picking fruit here that’s where you would be living.  Tiny little cabins.

A right turn and now we’ll be on 97 North heading for the border. 

Starting to feel like home!

Coming into Omak where we’ll get fuel.  A nice big station and an easy stop.  Today we were shorted 1 gallon on our fill up!  The last station back in Othello was right on.  Highway robbery and not a thing you can do about it.

Pretty with all the green fields.

Entering Tonasket.

Everything is old here.

Lots of big trees getting their leaves.  I even saw a tulip magnolia in full bloom but I missed it.  It was quite glorious. 

Plowed fields and interesting hills.

Downtown Oroville just before the border and not a soul to be seen.

It is Sunday so maybe everyone is at church.

Here you can see the southern end of Osoyoos Lake which runs from Oroville all the way north past the town of Osoyoos in B.C.

Coming up to the border.   Funny how you always feel like a criminal when you cross any international border.  I haven’t even ever had a speeding ticket and neither has Eric so we’re pretty clean cut citizens.  Today we were asked about firearms and what we’d bought outside of Canada.  Eric declared a replacement tire and I declared some clothes.  About $570 between us.  When we said we’d been in Mexico we were asked if we’d bought any medication there and we said no.  No questions about food or alcohol.  Eric asked about the sign saying don’t set your airbrake even though we don’t have one.  The border guard said setting it could blow out their ear drums….really!  So Eric asked what the drivers were supposed to do and the guard said “ keep your food on the brake and turn off the engine.”  That would work unless they wanted the driver to get out and then….they’d have to set the airbrake.  Huh….always something new.  The border guard was nice enough today and that was that. 

The best place on earth!   Well that sounds a little bit like an American statement and not a Canadian one.   I’m sure lots of people have a different opinion on that!

The grapes have no leaves here.

Some blooms on the fruit trees but it’s really late.

Coming into the pretty little town of Oliver.

A pretty little town where our friend Fraser from Terrace grew up.  Fraser and his wife Genienne moved to Vernon from Terrace a couple of years ago.   Last spring when we came through Kelowna in April he gathered us and some other old friends who used to live in Terrace together for a nice evening.   Four months later he was diagnosed with brain cancer and he lost that battle a couple of months ago.    We’re sure glad we saw him then and we’ll miss him. 

Happier days.

We pulled off the edge of the road and parked in Okangan Falls for lunch.  Sunny and warm….what a treat.   This lovely bronze statue was across the street in Centennial Park.

A big pier on Skaha Lake.

Heading along the highway towards Kelowna.

Crossing the bridge over Okanagan Lake and coming into Kelowna. 

Safe and sound in Ian and Linda’s driveway.  Today we are parked to the right after we wrestled down nephew Jason’s old basketball hoop that was on a pole at the edge of the driveway.  It was in the way of our slide and now we are out of the way so Ian and Linda aren’t so crammed in. 

A nice happy hour and then Linda discovered a flood when she went down into the basement.  They’d had the water tank replaced a few days ago when the basement had been severely flooded and now there was water again.  Ian sucked it up with the shop vac and now they have to figure out what the problem is.   Ian turned off the water and we had a nice dinner prepared by Linda and then we were off to watch TV and bed.  Ian and Linda dumped Shaw cable when they got home because they’d been harassing them about a bill they didn’t owe.   Now they are waiting for Telus to hook them up.  A one month wait without internet, phone and TV…..yikes! 

It never rains but what it pours.   Tomorrow will be a better day!