Sunday ; Today was overcast so we did not get to witness the solar eclipse this afternoon.
After lunch our friends Larry and Carol Mae and their dog Dulce arrived for a visit. They are on their way from their home in New Mexico to Alaska. We had a very pleasant afternoon and evening of visiting. I cooked barbecued salmon served on bannock to welcome them to British Columbia. It was not my best effort but everybody except me seemed satisfied. Just before supper Dulce and Bo had a "misunderstanding" resulting in a vicious dog fight. Dulce snapped at Bo, and while Bo never starts a fight, he never backs away from one either. Stupid dogs ! No real harm done. Bo has a bit of soft tissue bruising on his back. Well ... and ... Carol Mae has a pretty badly broken finger nail from trying to pull them apart. Maybe the moral of that story ... BO ... is don't fight with dogs that are five times your size ! And of course, as is usually the case with a dog fight, when it was over, it was really over. Best friends again in a matter of moments !
Monday ; It was cloudy and cool today, but only a few drop of intermittent rain.
This morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch, we loaded up our friends Larry and Carol Mae, and off we went ! We took them on an abbreviated version of our Ashnola Wilderness Day Trip. We had our picnic lunch beside Ewart Creek, then headed back towards civilization, and the Keremeos Rodeo at the Fairgrounds. We spent the afternoon at "Bulls & Barrels" day at the rodeo, watching bull riding and ladies' barrel racing. WOW ... fast barrel racers today ! Winning time was 17.2 seconds with lots of times under 18 seconds. And only one bull rider ( of fifteen to twenty or so ) that lasted the required eight seconds. BRAVO ... we cheer for the bulls !
We drove around town a bit getting up close and personal with orchards and vineyards, then stopped at our favourite fruit stand to buy some produce before returning home. Back at Riverside RV Park Resort I and Bo took Carol Mae and Dulce for a bit of a romp alongside the Similkameen River in the crown land adjacent to our RV park. Joanne prepared a simple supper for us all, and we spent an enjoyable evening chatting in our gazebo.
Tuesday ; Today was another cloudy and cool day. This morning we took Larry on an abbreviated version of our Nickel Plate Mountain Wilderness Day Trip. Carol Mae stayed home and slept late. After sightseeing up and down Nickel Plate Mountain, and in the village of Hedley we returned home to Riverside RV Park Resort, picked up Carol Mae and headed into Keremeos to have lunch at Sanderson's, a local family operated produce stand which started serving a home made East Indian buffet lunch about a year ago. What we did not know was that Sanderson's has just opened their beautiful new restaurant building attached to their fruit stand. Last year their buffet lunch was served off a small steam table at the back of the fruit stand, and eaten at a picnic table. Their new restaurant building addition is beautiful. And their expanded buffet lunch offering is outstanding ! Well done !
After lunch we drove east on Highway 3 to Spotted Lake near Osoyoos. After viewing the odd phenomenon of Spotted Lake we went to the BC Visitors Information Centre in Osoyoos. Larry picked up maps and planning material for their journey northward from here to Prince Rupert where they will catch a ferry travelling up through the "Inside Passage" to Alaska. Carol Mae bought a lovely "Super, Natural, BC" fleece sweater.
On the way back home we stopped at St. Laszlo Vineyards in Cawston and bought some wine. We spent our evening visiting and chatting with Larry and Carol Mae, first in the gazebo and then in our trailer when it became too chilly to stay outside.
When we took the dogs for a walk out in the crown land adjacent to our RV park ... Bo off leash ... Bo chased a deer ! ! ! And for the first time in the 7½ years that we've had him, he responded promptly to our screaming commands to "stop" and "come" when he's in hot pursuit of some other live creature. Good dog, Bo !
Wednesday ; This morning we said goodbye to Larry and Carol Mae ( and Dulce ) as they left to continue their northward journey to Alaska. After they left, and we prepared to head to Penticton for a meeting with our investment advisor / stock broker I discovered a flat tire on the truck. We had half an hour to change a rear tire on a one ton diesel dually. With lots of hustle and good teamwork we got it done.
We drove into Penticton, had our meeting, went to our insurance agency and renewed the truck and trailer's annual insurance policies, had lunch in the mall, then spent the rest of the afternoon running errands before heading home. I was so tired when we got home that I napped briefly before supper. Having visitors for the last few days was wonderful but tiring !
I repaired the loose valve stem, the cause of the flat tire.
Thursday ; This morning we drove into town to see our doctor, appointments for both of us. Time to get our annual medical tests and procedures started. WHAT ? ! ? My gastroenterologist is pregnant AGAIN ? ! ? After seeing our doctor we ran a few errands in town including picking up my bicycle which I had taken in for repairs at a local new bicycle shop.
Back at home I changed a tire on the truck ... < sigh > ... again ! I removed the spare tire that I installed a few days ago, reinstalled the tire that had gone flat because of a loose valve stem, and returned the spare to its position underneath the truck.
Friday ; This morning we drove into Keremeos to have some lab work done at the Keremeos Clinic. The lab is a "take a number / first come first served" business. We were numbers two and three. After waiting for close to an hour, with a line up that had grown to about ten people waiting ... and some had already left in disgust ... the lab technician finally made an appearance in the waiting room to "apologize" for the delay caused by a "safety inspection". I flung my magazine back onto the end table and stormed out, furious that she was too lazy / too stupid / too disrespectful of her clients' time to put up a sign that read "closed for one hour" or something similar so that clients could make an informed decision about whether to wait or not !
We ran some errands in Keremeos then drove to Osoyoos. We ran some errands in Osoyoos then drove to Oliver to meet with two bed and breakfast businesses and leave them our rack cards for display. We also met with the manager of the Oliver Tourism Association to discuss our business and their services. We had lunch at a recommended seafood restaurant in Oliver. Lunch was overpriced and a bit below mediocre. I have concluded that we should refrain from "eating out" as much as possible for our six months per year in Canada. "Eating out" in the United States is so much better ! Price wise and food wise !
We drove to Covert Farms to inquire about "U-pick" strawberries. Another week or two ! We drove to Gallagher Lake to look at some real estate for sale, then back to Oliver to do the same. I was sleepy so Joanne drove from Oliver most of the way home while I snoozed. I woke up and we changed drivers just before Cawston.
Saturday ; Finally ! A day of sunshine !
MMMMM ... those Nugs chocolate bars from Mexico are sooooo gooey ! "How gooey are they ?" you might ask. Well ... gooey enough to suck the filling right out of a tooth ! ! ! Darn ! I wonder if I need to fix that soon in Canada or can it wait six months and I'll have it done in Mexico ?
Tonight we watched the season finale of Celebrity Apprentice that we missed last Sunday evening.
DSK
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