Sunday lunch!

Enjoyed a great ride out on Sunday for lunch at the Mushroom Addition at Fauquier - just across the ferry from Needles. There was about a dozen bikes on the 2 hour (each way) journey - we enjoyed a fun and 'spirited' ride, finished off with a nice crisp apple cider at the pub on the way home. Good times and fast riding in the Okanagan!

My yesterday!

West Kelowna Fire

The Valley is on Fire! Fire broke out yesterday afternoon with some crazy hot temperatures and strong winds. As of this morning it's just getting worse. We listened to the spread of the fire, the start of the evacuation orders and the highway closures on the radio yesterday afternoon, then went out in the evening for a little drive along Lakeshore Drive here on the downtown side of the lake. These photos are looking across the lake to the Glenrosa area where the fire started.

Since we've woken up this morning the smell of smoke in the air is overwhelming - even where we are, and the air is just so hazy/smokey. Apparently over 6500 houses have been evacuated and over 400 hectares are burning. There are at least 2 more fires burning over on the west side of the lake in the Rose Valley and Terrace Mountain areas. The main highway through the valley is just closed in both directions. It's scary stuff.

(The above picture was taken from Chute Lake Road area, very near the devastion and burn area left from the 2003 Firestorms)

Summer

Kathy and Bruce from the campground invited us to spend early yesterday morning picking some cherries straight from the tree in their orchard. We now have enough to feed a small army but they're so juicy and tasty we'll be living off them the next week (I've also frozen a whole pail). What a lovely way to start off the weekend!

Yesterday afternoon we went down to the lakeshore and laid out on the grass. Watched the Dragon Boats racing across the lake, listened to some live reggae music band, ate lemon slushies and watched a bride and groom get their wedding photos taken in the park! Came home and nursed my slightly sore-should've reapplied the sunscreen-more-often bits!

Happy Birthday Canada!

1st July marks the day in 1867 when the first of the colonies were joined together as a federation of four provinces (the original partners in crime being New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec!) It is celebrated as the 'birth' of Canada as a new country (rather than a bunch of British colonies) So Happy Birthday Canada!! 142 years old!

We spent time down at the Kelowna waterfront parks enjoying the live music stages, the street vendors, the buskers, the folk dancing and ethnic food stands. And at 10.30 the grand finale of fireworks over the lake. We watched from across the lake on the Westbank. Fantastic stuff!