Sunny and hot. Day one of a four day camping trip.
We left home with Lanoire ( the truck ) and Elsie ( the camper ) late this morning. First destination was Penticton, for a teensy bit of Wal-Martin'. Next destination was Summerland. I wanted to offer a face to face apology to last week's trailer delivery client for the water heater bypass valve screw up that was my fault. The client was generous and forgiving, despite having had a cold water shower before going to work last Monday morning. Third destination was West Kelowna ( previously known as Westbank ) to pick up our new mattress for the camper.
Holy mackerel ! I'm typing this at 9 PM at the picnic table beside the campfire in our campsite, and ... I have just been deluged by mosquitoes ! Guess I'm going to have go inside the camper now !
As I was saying ... after picking up the new mattress we went to Superstore in West Kelowna / Westbank. We had a very late lunch in the camper then while Joanne went into the grocery store to buy a few grocery items I pulled over to the fuel bar and refilled Lanoire with diesel. WHEW ... a hundred and thirty bucks ! Thirsty truck !
We "back tracked" south on Hwy. 97 back to Summerland, drove through Summerland, then got onto the Summerland to Princeton road called ... wait for it ...
Summerland - Princeton Road ! HA HA HA ! It's about a 100 km. or so of gravel road through the forest, up and over the mountains. Our goal for this camping trip is to explore all the remote wilderness forest service campgrounds along this route. Our B.C. wilderness campground book indicates that there are four such campgrounds.
When we got to the first one, we decided after looking around that we liked it enough to stay overnight. It has three campsites, two of which have a picnic table and stone fire ring, beside the lovely little stream, Trout Creek, which runs down out of the mountains and into Okanagan Lake at Summerland. We got set up in a site then walked around for awhile exploring. Off leash exploring ! There was no one else in the campground, we had the place entirely to ourselves.
HA HA HA ! It's now 9:15 PM. Some tired little dog just climbed up beside me on the dinette seat and promptly fell asleep ! He's worn out from an afternoon and evening of off leash adventure, including wandering down to the stream to have a drink whenever he felt thirsty.
I fly fished in Trout Creek for awhile, then started a campfire. I cooked supper over the open fire using the folding campfire grill I bought at the SunKatchers RV Park yard sale yesterday. Works great !
Had a great day !
Today was sunny and very warm. AHHHHH ... the loons on the lake are "calling" ( at 8:50 PM, just before dusk ).
We had pancakes for breakfast this morning before departing Trout Creek Crossing Forest Service Campground. Bo was incredulous as we left. "What ? We're leaving here ? But ... it's perfect here !" We continued west on Summerland - Princeton Road. Our objective for today was to check out the four remaining Forest Service campgrounds before reaching Princeton.
First one we reached ... Thirsk Lake ... no longer existed. Thirsk Lake is the drinking water source for the city of Summerland, and the perimeter of the entire lake is now fenced, to ensure security for the water.
BO ... stop barking ! It's just a loon ! < rolling eyes >
The next one we reached ... Osprey Lake ... was so lovely we decided to stay for a few hours. I napped. We had lunch. The third one we reached was Link Lake. We drove around checking out the lovely, small, deserted campground, then continued down the road to the final Forest Service campground at Chain Lake West. Chain Lake West was a larger campground, with about twenty campsites, some of them occupied. We decided we would prefer the seclusion of the empty campground at Link Lake and drove back there.
We had a wonderful, lazy afternoon and evening. We read. I fished. We read more.
I fished more. We went for a long hike. While we were hiking down a trail that appeared to be for ATV use Bo was suddenly gnawing on something that was crunching as he chewed on it. BO ... DROP IT ! ! ! ! ! I had to stomp over to him as he chewed rapidly ... < CRUNCH CRUNCH > ... grab him and wrestle it out of his mouth. EEEEEUUUUUWWWWW ... a sun dried fish head ! J***S F*****G H C****T, BO ! ! ! ! !
Early in the evening I lit a campfire. Joanne wrapped chicken thighs, potatoes, carrots, and onions in foil packets and I cooked them to Gordon Ramsay perfection over the campfire. MMMMM ! We sat around enjoying the campfire for awhile then while Joanne went inside the camper to wash dishes I went fishing again. I only fished for about fifteen minutes or so when I realized I was being eaten alive by tiny "no-see-ums" ... little teensy black flies. I retreated to the camper.
Had another great day !
Tuesday ; Link Lake Forest Service Campground to Granite Creek Forest Service Campground
Sunny and very warm.
This morning we leisurely prepared to depart the lovely, secluded campground at Link Lake. We returned to the Summerland - Princeton Road and continued west until we reached Princeton. We refilled our freshwater tank at Barry Beecroft Fuel Distributors. Thank you very much BBFD. We drove northwest on Coalmont - Tulameen Road to the little village of Coalmont and then just a short distance beyond to Granite Creek Forest Service Campground, where Granite Creek empties into the Tulameen River. What a lovely setting. Another really beautiful, remote wilderness, B.C. Forest Service campground.
We selected a site that had its own private beach on the Tulameen River. Joanne prepared lunch and we ate it al fresco. I napped for awhile then went fly fishing.
I walked upstream a few hundred feet to where the mouth of Granite Creek spills into the Tulameen River. It was a teensy bit too windy for fly fishing ... for a rookie like me.
I fished for half an hour or so then returned to our campsite.
We went for a long hike. The campground was surprisingly large, with about two dozen or so campsites spread around a fairly large piece of land, some sites close to the river, some sites much further back into the woods. There were a few other campers in the campground, but everybody was far enough away from each other that everybody had lots of privacy.
I built a campfire again, third in three nights. Again I cooked supper over the open fire, this time Joanne prepared foil packets of sausages, potatoes, carrots, and onions. Shortly after we finished eating supper around 8:30 PM the little black flies /
"no-see-ums" began coming out in full force. We retreated into the camper. It did not become dark outside until after 9:30 PM.
Another great day !
Wednesday ; Granite Creek Forest Service Campground to Princeton to home
Sunny and hot.
We got a lazy, slow start to our day, departing Granite Creek Forest Service Campground about 11:30 AM. As we were preparing to leave, Bo was outside the camper, "exploring" around the campsite and surrounding area by himself when suddenly ... some "buddy" of his showed up. A very friendly and sociable Australian Shepherd from ... somewhere else in the campground ? Or some nearby ranch ? Or from the nearby village of Coalmont ? Bo "introduced" his friend, who made it obvious he wanted to come inside the camper and look around. HA HA HA ... come on in, pal ! He took a look all around the inside of the camper, then ... left. HA HA HA ... see ya, pal !
We drove back to Princeton where we shopped for groceries at Cooper's Foods, the town's supermarket, then we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream treats. Joanne's idea ! About forty-five minutes of driving east on Hwy. 3 and we were home at Riverside RV Park Resort by 3 PM.
What a great four day mini-vacation we had !
MMMMM ... my dear little wifey made my favourite dinner tonight. Thank you so much, my love. And we even had enough leftover Adam's Apple wine from Forbidden Fruit Winery to each have a small glass.
Life is good !
Thursday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we removed Elsie the truck camper from Lanoire the truck. I reinstalled the fifth wheel hitch into the truck in preparation for a trailer delivery job tomorrow.
I rinsed the gravel road dust off both Elsie and Lanoire. I did some minor maintenance work on Elsie, including removing all the mini-blinds as Joanne requested. She's going to wash them. I downloaded and processed the photos I took on our back roads wilderness camping adventure. Joanne drove into Keremeos and ran some errands. We visited our neighbour and friend Jeanine. In the evening, after a very late supper, we watched the movie "Analyze This" with Billy Crystal and Robert de Niro. AND ...
< swoon > ... Lisa Kudrow !
Friday ; Sunny, cool, windy, sometimes very windy.
Late this morning we headed out in the truck to do a trailer delivery. Same client as two weeks ago. We moved their trailer from Summerland Beach RV Park in Summerland to Barefoot Beach Resort in Penticton. Everything went smoothly. And their new place is much nicer than their previous place. After finishing setting up their trailer we ran errands in Penticton ; refill the propane tank for our barbecue, groceries and supplies at Wal-Mart, refill Lanoire with diesel, groceries at Superstore. We arrived back home about 7:30 PM.
Saturday ; Sunny and warm.
Joanne went by herself to a manufactured home community's "garage sale" near Olalla this morning. We did a bit of gardening this afternoon. Most of the day was a waste ... lost to squabbling !
DSK
Thanks for moving us TWICE in two weeks. Your expertise was very welcomed. We will refer you to anyone who asks about moving a trailer. Thanks again both of you!
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