Creston, Osoyoos

June 30

We left Lethbridge, following the Crowsnest Highway into the Rockies. Rolling prairie land gave way to foothills and finally mountains.

We climbed well over 5,000 feet above sea level before we arrived at Creston, a town of about 5,000. Our campground: Scotties RV Park, is directly across the road from the Columbia Brewing, where Kokanee beer is brewed. This is not a micro brewery, in fact, it is owned by a world wide conglomerate now. After getting TaJ settled into her campsite, we wandered across to the brewery store, where we sampled the wares.

As we were setting up camp, a Mazda Miata appeared at our campsite. It was Bruce and Renata McFarlane. When we were at Cypress Hills a couple of weeks ago Bruce and I had chatted about travel. He had recognized TaJ and stopped to say hello. Surprise, we were invited for supper on Canada Day at their house!

July 1

Cognizant of our need for fitness walking, we headed out bright and early for a street walk in Creston. We powered up and down the hills for an hour, getting in about 5.7 kilometers of walking. We noticed that the town had some magnificent street art, as well as the world’s smallest garden.

It was only when we got back to the trailer that we noticed Bruce McFarlane’s business card. He, and Renata, were significant contributors in the efforts to get these art installations in the town. We had a lovely evening, chatting about retirement and the things that keep people busy in retirement. Bruce is a darn good cook and our supper was delicious. We left them with an open invitation to stop and see us should they come to visit Nova Scotia in the future. A good way to spend our Canada Day evening.

July 2

Onward we went, over the Crowsnest Pass Highway, a further 330 kilometers to Osoyoos, where we stopped for a two-night stay at the Cabana Beach RV Park and Campground. This place is a neat older campground, with cute little cookhouses for tent campers. The owner tells us that most of his business is repeat customers, some for more than 20 years. In fact we met one lady here who has been coming for 48 years, since she was 12 years old!

Osoyoos has a winter population of 5,000 and in the summer the population explodes to more than 25,000. There are 50 wineries now in the general area and wine grapes vineyards climb up the benches on either side of the lake.

We took a look around town in the afternoon and walked along Lakeshore Road to get some exercise. Supper was a salad and a Tuscan sausage.

July 3

Our day started with another power walk, up onto the bench above the lakeshore area. By the time we returned we had added another 6 kilometers to our fitness routine and were drenched with sweat from the effort, even though it was not that hot when we started out.
Osoyoos can be extremely hot in the summer, with temperatures well over 30 degrees C being the norm. The lake is very busy, with water skiers and swimmers. We purchased 13 pounds of Okanagan cherries, for $20, to share with Danielle and the grandkids when we meet up with them tomorrow in Hope.

In the afternoon we went to the Nk’Mip Visitor Centre and Jenny took some pictures of the fantastic metal sculpture as well as the stop sign!

The transition from prairies to the BC coast is almost complete. We head for Hope in the morning and the next 8 days will be spent being Grampa and Jenny to Beckett and Nylah before we carry on with our plans on Vancouver Island