Road Trip - Penticton

A sizzling day
to drive, to eat, to shop and
to drive home again

~carliewired

I parked my car at G's house this morning at 7 AM. We had plans to be in Penticton, a small city of about 33, 000 by 10 AM to drop off her sewing machine that was under warrantee. G was driving her car and had chosen the Coquihalla Connector, a high mountain highway, as our route this morning. 

It was already 19 C when we left Kamloops. The sky was clear and blue. We had the promise of a hot day.

The drive up and over the mountain range to the Okanagan Valley was uneventful except for the portion through Peachland. I'd heard on the radio that there'd been a road accident in the early morning. Traffic was still snarled on the highway as we came through. It took an hour to inch our way through Peachland. The driver in front of us kept us duly entertained as he kept putting his feet out of his driver's window when we came to a full stop. 

We dropped off the afflicted sewing machine in Penticton, then found the quilt store just down the street. The people there recommended a bakery in the next block for our lunch. Lunch was excellent. There was a demonstration for "Freedom" setting up outside on the street as we left the bakery. Frankly, I'm a little tired of people using our Canada flag in that way. They even had American flags attached today!!

We drove to the beach on Okanagan Lake to have a look at the marina, the waterfront and the S.S. Sicamous.

 At the marina, I got out with my camera and found an interesting woman with an ebike there. We had a friendly chat and she pointed out a pair of grebes who had built a nest in a shady spot on the edge of the marina. I got a shot of the adult grebe swimming near the nest with a baby on its back. 

We drove to the far west end of the beach to the S.S. Sicamous, Canada's largest surviving paddlewheeler. It was first launched in 1914 to carry passengers and freight around the shores of Okanagan Lake. It now serves as a museum and wedding venue. 

The beach/waterfront on Okanagan Lake is a very popular spot for visitors and locals. I was surprised to see such a large inflatable play centre in the lake. It was all too hot for me today! 

We started our return trip with a quick stop in Summerland for a second quilt store. It was comfortably air conditioned! 

We took the same route home up and over the mountains coming down into Merritt as we zoomed home. 

My little red bomber was a smoking 36 C when I jumped in to head home across the river. I was in by 4:30 PM very hot and wilted.