Tuesday, July 5, 2011

beside the beaten track...

Every journey...long or short...is an adventure!  And so I'm taking you back on our roadtrip to Oliver this past weekend...to share a few snapshots of the 'weekend that was'.

I rather like this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson...'Do not follow where the path may lead.  Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.'  However, when one is trying to reach their destination on time...the road well traveled is usually the one to take.  We were most grateful that we could travel the highway on our trip up.

With Canada Day falling on Friday, we planned to travel to the Okanagan Valley on Thursday.  Wouldn't you know it...on Wednesday afternoon the Trans-Canada Highway just east of our place was closed due to a massive mud slide. The eastbound lanes were buried under thirty feet of mud...closing the highway in both directions and stopping train traffic on the CN rails nearby.  With the Fraser River running through the middle of our valley...we don't have a whole lot of options when it comes to detours.  Traffic was re-routed to the other side of the river...and many traveler's spent hours in line-ups.  Though we knew the crews were working around the clock, we had little hope that the highway would be open in the morning.  We were resigned to limping slowly along the detour route...but just as we left home, we heard on the radio that the highway had re-opened.  We were among the first to travel through the mud-slide zone...


 
...where we saw camera crews and maintenance vehicles, and not much else.  We passed a mountain of mud and debris at the spot where it had been stock-piled...but the road itself was clean and bare.

It was down this slope that the river of mud and boulders came rushing down.  It's not the first time that a mud slide has closed this stretch of highway but it couldn't have come at a worse time...the start of a holiday weekend.  Thankfully, no one was seriously injured...and one day later it was business as usual for both the cars and the trains.  Oh...and motor homes bound for Oliver!

A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.
~Moslih Eddin Saadi

When we take the RV...we always take our bikes along. Things are much more interesting up close...from the saddle of a bike...than from the seat of a vehicle whizzing along.



We biked past vineyards, orchards and fields of fresh market produce.



There's a great biking/walking trail along the Okanagan River which runs through Oliver. 

On Canada Day we took our tennis rackets along on our bikes...and went in search of courts. 


We found a park where families were enjoying some holiday fun...



...while near the river a gal shared a quiet moment with her horse.  And in the very back corner...where only locals would find them...


...were the tennis courts.  It's July...and we had our first game of tennis for the year.  Hopefully there will be more.


We also toured Okanagan Gleaners...located right near our campground.  It's an amazing place...which does an incredible work.  I'll save that tour for another post.


Some watched fireworks...we saw fire trucks!  And we heard from many that we had to make a stop at Tickleberry's for ice-cream as we left town.


And so we did...and we were in good company.  The parking lot was full...and the line-ups were long...but it was all good!  We even found some relatives to share a table with.


This buck stopped by Tickleberry's at the same time we did.  He seemed a little lost...I don't think it was ice-cream he was looking for!

The Okanagan Valley is a haven for fruit pickers and young people looking for adventure in the summer time. 

If it was adventure these kids were looking for...I think they found it.  With one behind the wheel of the bus...and nine pushing...they would not be arriving at their destination any time soon!

On Sunday afternoon we left the Okanagan behind and headed for home...



...back to the familiar mountains of the Fraser Valley.  Thanks for joining me...on the road again.


Have a great day...

15 comments:

  1. I began hearing about the Okanagan long before I ever began blogging. A gal in the online community I had joined waxed long and eloquent about the beauty of the Okanagan Valley, though she'd not wish to return preferring her city life in Vancouver. I always wondered what it was like and now I feel as if I know a bit more. How close were you to that buck? It appears as if you could have reached out and petted him. Mud slides. Now that's something we never give a though to. I've never heard of them happening in my corner.

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  2. When we heard about that slide we thought of you and wondered if it would affect your holiday plans - good to read that you were among the first through. Thanks for taking us on your mini-holiday. You and Elmer know how to do it - bikes and tennis rackets....and finding where the locals (two and four legged) go to have fun!

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  3. Glad you heard the news and made it through on the highway instead of the detour. The scenery is lovely.

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  4. I have never been to your area but know I would love it! Your photos are awesome and your posts are interesting to read. The mountains remind of northern Arizona where I used to live. Thanks for sharing your photos and life!

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  5. Don't we live in a beautiful and varied part of the world? Glad to hear the slide didn't affect you too much.
    Thanks for taking us along on your trip.

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  6. I love the Oliver area. My daughter and her family live there so we visit them from Edmonton two or three times a year - and never leave without a visit to Tickleberry's.

    I just found your blog...think I'll stick around for awhile.

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  7. Your photos are beautiful, Judy. No place seems more beautiful than your own mountains at home. Glad you had a sunny adventure.

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  8. Goodness, you have lovely getaways. Isn.t it just the best to ramble about like that?

    We were detoured by a mud slide this weekend in Colorado; thankfully we heard the news before we were committed to that route and returned home another much faster way.

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  9. Mmmm! Tickleberry's...we checked it out 2 years ago when we were in the area, on recommendation from others Wonderful place!

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  10. Well it looks like our bikes have been used...and it looks like I need to polish or dust of my racket...but meanwhile, isn't it fun to take a road trip...the more I take, the more I enjoy.
    Have never been to Tickleberries..

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  11. I'm glad the mud slide did not impede your journey, Judy! Your photos are beautiful and I'm curious about the gleaners. I think the views of your mountains of the return trip home are the prettiest anywhere~

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  12. We luuuuuuv Tickleberry's! That's the first thing we do after we leave Oliver and Lakeside Resort, it makes having to go home a little sweeter!

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  13. How beautiful your area is!
    And to view it from a bike would be the best way to experience it.
    I have to say that you must be in better shape than I am!
    Biking and tennis all in one day.
    I'm exhausted just thinking about it!!
    Blessings!

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  14. You are so kind to include us in your many fun adventures. To share the amazing scenery with us and let us imagine the biking and the tennis too. I never saw a mud slide, nor do I ever hear about them in my part of the world. Every picture you shared is beautiful, especially the one of the girl and her horse.

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'The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.'
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