September 14 update

September 14 blog update

 

On Friday, August 24 we went into Penticton in the evening for the Ironman Canada Triathlon Street Party. The Ironman Canada Triathlon is an annual event in Penticton. This year, the 25th anniversary of the event, on Sunday, August 26, about 2600 triathletes will swim 3.9 km. in Okanagan Lake, then cycle 180.2 km. from Penticton to Osoyoos to Keremeos to Penticton, then run a marathon, 42.2 km. from Penticton to Okanagan Falls and back to Penticton. SHEESH ! On Friday night, Penticton's downtown streets were closed to traffic for a big street party that stretched for about 4 blocks through the downtown area. There were 4 music bands playing on free stages set up about a block apart. There were demonstrations of belly dancing and fire dancing. There were clowns and magicians and all kinds of other entertainment. We wandered around for awhile, had a very nice dinner at a Greek pizza and spaghetti restaurant, then spent the evening wandering around, listening to bands, and watching exhibitions of belly dancing and fire dancing.

Our friends Cathy and Jan Emrick left here a few days ago, and went to an RV park in Surrey for a few days of sightseeing in Vancouver. Rather fortuitously, they did not choose the RV park in Surrey where a horribly gruesome accident took place a couple of days ago, while they were in Surrey. A hot air balloon caught fire on takeoff, rose into the air as it burned, then crashed down into a blazing inferno in an RV park. Three RV's were destroyed by fire. Two people in the balloon gondola died. The others in the balloon gondola survived with burns and injuries sustained from jumping out at the height of a 4 story building. YIKES !

Tonight ( Sunday, August 26 ) when I walked Bo about 11:00 P.M. there were coyotes just outside the front gate of our park, howling at the full moon. I wonder why coyotes howl at a full moon ?

This afternoon ( Monday, August 27 ) while were walking with Bo, we met our neighbours Gil and Maria, their little dog Buppy, and their visiting pair of 12 year old nieces. They were walking up from the riverbank, having spent some time panning for gold on the Similkameen River. I was surprised to see that the result of their efforts was a small amount of black sand all flecked with shiny gold dust. Cool ! Apparently the Similkameen has quite a bit of gold dust in it, washed down from the gold mines upstream.

September 3 ; this Labour Day long weekend we worked on our screen tent / gazebo, a mouse ate a 5 inch hole in the upholstered seat of our yard swing, and Joanne was stung by a yellow jacket wasp on the inside of her leg < sigh > ! We were very saddened to learn that our excavation contractor, neighbour, and new friend Ben Nendick died this weekend of cancer. Only 2 months ago he was working here in the park developing new lots. Farewell, Ben.

September 5 ; we received an e-mail from our Escapee friend Julie in Pennsylvania. Her little dog Tansy has died. We send our condolences to Julie on the loss of her beloved pet.

September 6 ; HEY ... I just got stung by a yellow jacket wasp ! Second time this summer for me, and once for Joanne ! ****ing little buggers !

September 7, 8, & 9 ; This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we attended the Pentastic Jazz Festival in Penticton. We drove there and back each day. We had initially planned to take the trailer to Penticton for the weekend, then continue from Penticton on Monday to the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Fall Rally at Fintry Provincial Park, but we couldn't find a satisfactory campground in or near Penticton. The Pentastic Jazz festival was really a lot more than just traditional jazz. Blues, zydeco, a bit of rock and roll, lots of big band, Dixieland jazz, swing, jump and jive. There were about a dozen different groups playing in 5 venues, continuously rotating. Each set in each venue was about 75 minutes, then a 15 minute break until the next group. One could stay at a particular venue all day, or move around between the venues on the festival's shuttle vans. We did a bit of both. We saw about 10 performances, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies, which were also performances featuring most of the musicians. Near the end of the festival on Sunday afternoon, we met and sat with a couple of our Escapee B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 friends.

September 10, 11, 12 & 13 ; We've spent the last few days at the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Fall Rally at Fintry Provincial Park northwest of Kelowna. We had a very good time with the local SKP chapter members, most of whom we had already met at the spring rally. We made friends with an Escapee couple from Colorado who joined our chapter's rally as guests, as they drove through the area on their way back to Colorado from Alaska. Fintry is a very nice provincial park. It has inspired Joanne and me to contemplate some B.C. camping trips next summer.

One of the activities during the rally was a hike to view a waterfall in the park. We hiked a short distance, then climbed 391 steps up to view the waterfall. One of our group's members was lagging during the hike and climb. I volunteered to "hang back" as a "tail gunner" to ensure that she didn't get left behind, alone, in an area with a bit of a bear risk. Mary was slow, but managed to complete the hike, the climb up 391 stairs to the waterfall viewing area, and then a long, circuitous hike back down bypassing the 391 stairs. I was impressed with her determination. I was more than impressed when I found out later that she's ... wait for it ... 80 years old !

September 14 ; Say hello to Vicki ! Last night I was having difficulty falling asleep. Around 1:00 A.M. I went outside for a smoke. I sat at our park bench, staring up at the Milky Way. When I looked down, a small animal ran across the road and stopped at my feet. YIKES ! Was I ever startled before I realized it was a kitten. What's a kitten doing running around our park in the dark at 1:00 A.M.? It took me half an hour to catch her. She was obviously terrified of being outside, alone in the dark, but was also terrified of being caught by a stranger. When I finally caught her, it took me another half an hour to calm her down. And my hands were severely scratched and bit. I'm a bit paranoid about cat bites ever since a bite by our previous cat Toby put me in the hospital for 2 days with a severe infection.

When I finally had her calmed down, I was at a loss as to what to do next. I contemplated putting her in our storage shed. I went inside, woke up Joanne, and explained. I gave the kitten to Joanne while I went to do first aid on my shredded hands. By the time I was finished, both Joanne and the kitten were fast asleep under the covers. The kitten remained asleep under the covers, snuggled against Joanne for the rest of the night.

This morning we examined her closely. She's only about 4 months old. I determined that she was probably born around Victoria Day, so I named her Vicki. She seems in good health. Clean ears, no mites. She spent most of the day lounging around on our bed. She seems desperate for safety and security. Poor baby ! We found out from other residents in the park that she has been roaming around our park for the last week. I'm surprised she didn't become a snack for the coyotes ! We haven't been around for the last week, so hadn't seen her. Other park residents tried to catch her, but were unsuccessful. We took her along with us when we took Bo for a walk this afternoon, to see if any neighbours would be interested in adopting her. No luck so far. She's not afraid of Bo. Teddy ignores her for the most part. She's very cuddly. What a sweet little baby cat ! Reminds us very much of Teddy when we got him 15 years ago as a kitten.

My conclusion is that she was "dumped" at the gate to our park. She's healthy and well fed. She's obviously fond of affection. She's obviously fond of sleeping under the covers. She's obviously neither feral, nor a "barn" cat. There's no homes nearby. There's no farms or ranches nearby. The only way she got to our park was to be brought here ! "Hey, let's get rid of that damn kitten by dropping it off outside the gate of that new "old folks" RV park."

DSK