Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Cuba - More than old cars
We arrived in Penticton to reasonable weather with the forecast for higher temperatures and general improvement. We stayed with Bruce's mom (Beth) and when Neil, his brother from Calgary, arrived later in the week he stayed with Bruce’s other brother Greig, sister-in-law Lorrie and everyone’s favourite dog - Jethro. Neil managed to get holidays for a week but Lisa was unfortunately unable to join him.
Rather than get into everything we did here are some bullet points:
Ø Penticton hosts a car and motorcycle show called the Peach City Beach Cruise every year so we wandered down the shores of Lake Okanagan for a look. Some are old, some are modified, some are new, some are work in progress etc etc;
Ø The city was also hosting an Elvis Festival during the car show. We did not attend any of the shows but could hear the open air ones which included the gospel songs on Sunday morning. An Australian, who is a professional Elvis impersonator, won the competition;
Ø Across the road from Beth was one of the local baseball parks and Bruce watched some of these games. He thinks he might look at the "slow pitch" variation of the game when we get back to Auckland;
Ø Drove out to one of the wine districts at Oliver and came upon a bear (black bear) crossing the highway. Unfortunately it did not hang around for a photo opportunity;
Ø Went down to Osoyoos which is south of Penticton about 6km from the border with the USA. This was the day following Canada Day (1st of July) and we were hoping to join in on the cherry festival. Unfortunately we missed it as it was only on Canada Day. It was the first time we had been to Osoyoos and we enjoyed the trip, the town, the lake, the weather and the company;
Ø Had a day up in Kelowna shopping for the grandchildren. Bought lots of baby clothes for Nicola & John's, yet to be born, child (some people don't want to know the sex so we have not mentioned it here). Clothing is very inexpensive here compared to home;
Ø One of our rituals is to get some fruit pies from a business operated from someone’s home. These are fresh and just great. Left the visit too late this time though so only managed to get in one visit. Purchased a pie which had strawberries, rhubarb and apple in it – yum!;
Ø Another ritual is to visit this fantastic second hand book store, called The Book Store, on Main Street. It is enormous and looks chaotic inside but quite easy to find your way around to the various sections;
Ø Yet another ritual is a visit to Canadian Tire, a large hardware store which carries just about everything you can think of. Bruce always buys something from there – often something unusual but occasionally something useful like this time – multipurpose pliers with screw drivers, knives, pliers, wire cutters, bottle opener, can opener, scissors etc. Will be useful for future trips;
Ø Went out often for lunch with Beth, Greig and Neil. Beth shouted these 'spending the inheritance outings’ as she puts it;
Ø Managed to get one short visit to the Casino for a small donation to the economy;.
Ø Greig took Bruce and Neil out sailing on his yacht on Lake Okanagan. He had only just brought it back from Vancouver Island where he had been sailing it for the last couple of summers. This is a really nice well equipped 6m boat which he moors at the yacht club where he also works part time. Greig sails competitively but is now crewing on other yachts having sold his competitive boat some years ago. Soon after we leave he will be leaving for the USA to sail in an annual competition at Whidbey Island in Puget Sounds off Washington State. We will be tracking his progress on their website;
Ø A couple of times when we were all together nephew Riley came over. After completing his law degree in Vancouver; he is practising with a local Penticton firm.
Ø Anne had a few outings with sister-in-law Lorrie.
The Title of this particular blog, Place to Stay Forever, is the Indian (Salish Language) meaning of Penticton.
Rather than get into everything we did here are some bullet points:
Ø Penticton hosts a car and motorcycle show called the Peach City Beach Cruise every year so we wandered down the shores of Lake Okanagan for a look. Some are old, some are modified, some are new, some are work in progress etc etc;
Ø The city was also hosting an Elvis Festival during the car show. We did not attend any of the shows but could hear the open air ones which included the gospel songs on Sunday morning. An Australian, who is a professional Elvis impersonator, won the competition;
Ø Across the road from Beth was one of the local baseball parks and Bruce watched some of these games. He thinks he might look at the "slow pitch" variation of the game when we get back to Auckland;
Ø Drove out to one of the wine districts at Oliver and came upon a bear (black bear) crossing the highway. Unfortunately it did not hang around for a photo opportunity;
Ø Went down to Osoyoos which is south of Penticton about 6km from the border with the USA. This was the day following Canada Day (1st of July) and we were hoping to join in on the cherry festival. Unfortunately we missed it as it was only on Canada Day. It was the first time we had been to Osoyoos and we enjoyed the trip, the town, the lake, the weather and the company;
Ø Had a day up in Kelowna shopping for the grandchildren. Bought lots of baby clothes for Nicola & John's, yet to be born, child (some people don't want to know the sex so we have not mentioned it here). Clothing is very inexpensive here compared to home;
Ø One of our rituals is to get some fruit pies from a business operated from someone’s home. These are fresh and just great. Left the visit too late this time though so only managed to get in one visit. Purchased a pie which had strawberries, rhubarb and apple in it – yum!;
Ø Another ritual is to visit this fantastic second hand book store, called The Book Store, on Main Street. It is enormous and looks chaotic inside but quite easy to find your way around to the various sections;
Ø Yet another ritual is a visit to Canadian Tire, a large hardware store which carries just about everything you can think of. Bruce always buys something from there – often something unusual but occasionally something useful like this time – multipurpose pliers with screw drivers, knives, pliers, wire cutters, bottle opener, can opener, scissors etc. Will be useful for future trips;
Ø Went out often for lunch with Beth, Greig and Neil. Beth shouted these 'spending the inheritance outings’ as she puts it;
Ø Managed to get one short visit to the Casino for a small donation to the economy;.
Ø Greig took Bruce and Neil out sailing on his yacht on Lake Okanagan. He had only just brought it back from Vancouver Island where he had been sailing it for the last couple of summers. This is a really nice well equipped 6m boat which he moors at the yacht club where he also works part time. Greig sails competitively but is now crewing on other yachts having sold his competitive boat some years ago. Soon after we leave he will be leaving for the USA to sail in an annual competition at Whidbey Island in Puget Sounds off Washington State. We will be tracking his progress on their website;
Ø A couple of times when we were all together nephew Riley came over. After completing his law degree in Vancouver; he is practising with a local Penticton firm.
Ø Anne had a few outings with sister-in-law Lorrie.
The Title of this particular blog, Place to Stay Forever, is the Indian (Salish Language) meaning of Penticton.
- comments