October 12 update

October 12 blog update

 

October 8 ; Happy ( Canadian )Thanksgiving

A few years ago we celebrated ( American ) Thanksgiving while we were WorkCamping at Trout Lodge in the Ozark Mountains in Missouri. Around the dinner table I commented how privileged we felt, as Canadian "Snowbirds" / RV'ers, to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving twice a year ; in Canada in October and again in the United States in November. An American did not know that Canada and the United States celebrate Thanksgiving on different dates. He asked if Canada celebrates Christmas on the same date as the United States ? I’ll pause for a moment to let the impact of that sink in ... HA HA HA ! My very sarcastic response was ; “No ... Canadian Jesus Christ was born on a different day than American Jesus Christ”. SHEESH ... some of those “mountain folk” need to get out of the house more !

Tonight we had Thanksgiving dinner 3 of 3 with neighbours Dorothy, Mike, and Stu, at Dorothy's and Mike's home. We contributed dessert. Joanne contributed a freshly baked apple pie. I contributed a bottle of Inniskillin Okanagan Vidal Icewine, along with Blue Cheese and crackers. Joanne made an apple pie for tonight's Thanksgiving dinner 3 of 3, and she also made one for Thanksgiving dinner 1 of 3 with Dwight and Jennifer a couple of days ago. Neither pie turned out very well, which is surprising. Joanne usually makes excellent apple pie, a talent she must have inherited from her mother, who made the best apple pies I've ever tasted.

The "thanks" that I "give" on Thanksgiving is to be grateful that Joanne has survived cancer. Well, most of her survived. A few parts had to be removed. HA HA HA !

 

October 9 ; Today I flew over Riverside RV Park Resort, to see it from the air. I took off from Penticton and flew south to Kaleden, climbing to 6500 feet. At Kaleden I turned southwest into the Keremeos Creek Valley, following Hwy. 3A. EUUUWWW ... too low ! I climbed to 9000 feet. At Keremeos, I turned west into the Similkameen River Valley, following Hwy. 3 and the Similkameen River. Halfway from Keremeos to Riverside RV Park Resort, I passed the Ashnola River Valley, where the Ashnola River meets the Similkameen River. EUUUWWW ... too low ! The mountains got even higher, and the Similkameen Valley got even narrower. I climbed to 10,000 feet. At 10,000 feet and above, a pilot can only fly for 30 minutes without supplementary oxygen. When I saw the bridge where Hwy. 3 crosses from the north side of the Similkameen River to the south side, at Hedley, I realized that I had missed seeing Riverside RV Park Resort and had flown too far. Darn ! I had been occupied with trying not to fly myself into a mountain ! I turned around and started flying back. I saw Riverside RV Park Resort on the way back. When I got to Keremeos, and turned north towards Penticton, I encountered quite a bit of turbulence. EUUUWWW ... too low ! I climbed to 10,500 feet. Halfway back to Penticton, I realized I would have to take a shortcut, or be in violation of the supplementary oxygen regulation. I turned east to fly over the mountains, expecting to find the Okanagan Valley on the other side of the mountains, somewhere between Oliver and Okanagan Falls. Sure enough, when I crossed over the mountains, I was near Okanagan Falls, and could even see the Penticton airport runway from that altitude. I began to descend over Skaha Lake towards Penticton. Darn ... by the time I reached Penticton, I was still too high to make a landing. I had to fly across Penticton, from Skaha Lake on the south side to Okanagan Lake on the north side, to descend to "circuit height" for landing.

I was surprised to see that all the mountains north of Keremeos and the Similkameen River, all the way to Penticton, are still free of snow, but south of Keremeos and the Similkameen River, all the way as far as I could see into the state of Washington, the mountain tops are covered in a lot of snow already.

 

October 10 ; Happy 53rd Birthday to me

After we ran some errands in Keremeos, I took a back roads drive to Princeton, along Old Hedley Road, just to explore, reflect upon life, etc..

 

October 11 ; HMPH ... found 2 dead Gopher Snakes today on the roads in the park. Squished by vehicles. Maybe they shouldn't sun themselves on the warm asphalt.

 

October 12 ; Happy 33rd Anniversary to us

This afternoon I wrote an article on dog training, and submitted it for publication in our RV park's monthly newsletter. I've decided to write a monthly article on dogs, and dog training issues. In addition to our park's newsletter, maybe I'll submit them to the Escapees magazine.

Tonight we went for dinner to the Branding Iron Steak House in Keremeos, a local restaurant owned by a German immigrant family. Despite being called a "steak house", their specialty is Schnitzel. Joanne had a Pork Schnitzel, and I had a Wiener ( Veal ) Schnitzel. It was a very nice dinner, although a little expensive.

DSK