roadquill1

Greetings again! We have survived unexpectedly chilly (and windy) weather in Birch Bay where we visited with cousins Rich and Shirley Henderson, and travelling companions – Mike and Marlene Harris. (Rich, Mike and I did our annual “Village Inn Pub” hamburger” lunch and visit to Yeager’s Sporting Goods while Sandy Shirley and Marlene found other more appealing things to do.) Mike helped me organize my fishing gear for the northern journey, and talked me out of buying a new truck and camper, so I guess I am in Sandy’s “A-list” status. (Might be a good time to purchase some new tools!)

Last Friday, we continued our annual visitations to Penticton’s South Beach Gardens on Skaha Lake. The weather continued unsettled for 2 more days, and we had several chilly and wet days before the sun returned to provide typically blistering hot Penticton summer weather. Our son-in-law, Doug Lindsay and our granddaughter Hannah arrived a bit later on Friday and daughter, Paula joined us the next day after completing a shift with Surrey Library Services.

Hannah converses with South Beach Garden denizens.

By Monday, the weather had improved and Lindsays’ friends from Walnut Grove, Grant and Jane Sauer and two daughters and son (Cassi, Mikayla, and Benjamin) joined us in the neighbouring site. Their third daughter, Gabriela, joined the gathering on Thursday.

From left: Mikayla, Gabriela, Jane, Grant, Benjamin, Cassi

Sandy and I had visits with cousins Jan and Darrell Beebe, and family friend, Carmen Bliss during the week. On Tuesday, we visited our aunt, Gerry Gaplette in her lovely new digs in Summerland with her daughter, Kim. A trip to the local GMC dealership on Wednesday was necessary in order to replace our fuel filter, so we are ready, I think, for our northern run. We actually made it to the beach on 3 occasions, but that pleasure, and sun-soaking activities seems to fade in importance (and increase in dangers!) as years go by.

Our Penticton stay ended on Friday, and we began our trip north with a first stop to visit our cousins in Peachland – Norm and Shirley Caplette. They have rebuilt a damaged fifth wheel which was given to them and the resulting RV is pretty impressive. They should have great times travelling in that vehicle. Our day ended at Knutsford RV just south of Kamloops on Hwy 5A. Our original designated site was in the open, and since the temperature was hovering at about 37C, and wifi wasn’t available at our site, I whined (just a little) at the office. We were immediately given a beautiful site with a very literary “babbling brook” running right behind our campsite – and fully in shade! What a relief! Then, having secured a shady site, we abandoned it to head into Kamloops for an afternoon and evening with our dear friends – the Siggers family.

We will gather our resources here until Monday when we begin the next stage of our northern journey – hopefully for a full Alaska loop as well as explorations of Yukon and northern BC. As always, we keep an open mind about destinations and routes. Meanwhile, we will plan on seeing our Kamloops Thuot family while we are here, and enjoy air conditioning as much as possible as temperatures once again soar.

Sandy has decreed that her visits to quilting shops to pick up free plans (at every quilt shop in North America, I think) don’t count against her, and thus, I cannot balance her visits out with trips to tool shops. Will I ever understand the rules?

Much love and best wishes to all, and I hope that you continue to enjoy your summers – wherever you are! 

Sandy, the Quilter, and Tony, the Quill