Tubing on the Penticton channel

Penticton is located between TWO lakes - Okanagan and Skaha. There is a channel that connects the two lakes and one of the big things to do here is to float down the channel. Normally this can take 4 - 5 hours, but the Okanagan lake is quite high so the damn hasn't been closed as much as it could be and there is a LOT of run off from the mountains so it doesn't take that long. Anyway - these guys have done this a LOT. Here are the pictures to prove how organized they are!!!!!

Getting all the dingys organized. There were SEVEN of us going!!!!

Carrying the dingys to the water

 Oh yes and why would we use dingys rather than tubes. Well first the water is COLD still and we took a LOT of stuff with us. Just wait!!!!!

Tieing the dingys together so we could float as a group. I don't think the girls were all that thrilled. But it was way more fun to all be together. And SAFER

Bye - see you guys later!!!!

Floating down the channel

Attack by ducks!!!!!   I guess people feed them so they come out when the dingys go by

There is a little restaurant half way down the channel and we stopped there for lunch. Donna guarded the dingys

Oh did I mention that Penticton has ELVIS fever. There just had the 10th Anniversary of Elvis impersonators and this place is called RELVIS. The guy is a native to the area and sings while people go down the channel. They also have the most amazing french fries and hamburgers.

The girls with RELVIS

While we were stopped - it started to rain!  Oh great!  There was Donna trying to open her umbrella in the dingy!!!

This was hysterical because when she got it open - it opened up inside out!!!!!  We almost died laughing!!!!!

Then back in the dingys and here is Donna rowing a bit!!!!  Trying to change her PRINCESS image!!!!!

See how calm it was and not many people on the channel

Once we got to the end of the channel, we floated a bit in the lake. Devin kept having to drag us back to shore

Ooops - no one was paying attention and now we were a tad further out than we needed to be. So Devin and Marilyn had to swim us back to shore!!!!

Marilyn decided that she wanted to get on the chair insteda of in the dingy. Now we are in four feet of water and Marilyn is NOT Twiggy! Oh my god - it was absolutely hysterical to see. She is lucky that I was at the other end of the row of dingys, BUT I managed to capture this picture. 



Marilyn's leg!!!!   And her hand!!!   The rest of her - in the water!!!!!!

  Now if you want to see how prepared these girls on on the channel float - have a look at this. The girls like their cocktails.

Marilyn with her container of spices for the glass rim

The celery!!! 

The finished drink!!!!!!

The cavalry coming to rescue us. WAIT - we aren't ready even though we had been on the water for HOURS.

Then back home - what a cool way to spend the day.


One of the guys that I went on the Tour Arctic with last year lives in Penticton. I gave him a call and he came over and we had a visit. It was weird because he knows my brother!!!!   How small is the world!!!!

Alex and I

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!!!!

What happens on a family vacation......

While my brother doesn't have any pets, two of their guests one night for dinner brought their dogs. We had fun with this one - Chewy - can you figure out where that name came from??????   This is a Brussels Griffin. And for the first time ever - this dog LOVED when you blew in its face.

Caroline and Chewy

We found out that there is a market on Saturday morning in downtown Pencticton. Great because the girls had been on my case to go to the market in Salt Spring which just wasn't going to happen this year.

Penticton market

How is this for a bike - an elliptical street bike!!!!!

 The girls had fun and bought sunglasses, jewellry and some clothes. Boy - these girls are HIGH MAINTENANCE.

Me - I checked out the quilt store (of course) and the used book store. You would not believe this book store - it was HUGE. I could have spent the entire day there. And they had a HUGE section of quilting books. Carol would have loved to dig through those. I did pick up a couple of historical books - they had a lot, but I couldn't remember what I had.

The girls waiting for me at the truck.

Glen cooking AGAIN!!!!!!!   All the weight I lost on the trip - I bet I put it all back on!!!

 One night at dinner there were two many adults to sit around the table so he set up a couple of TV trays for the over flow. At one point someone mentioned that we looked like judges!!!!!!   What do you think????

The judges - Glen, Elaine and Marilyn

Glen, Donna and Elaine

Later, the girls came up with their lap tops so they could "silently" chat to each other!!!

Chew and M (Notice the feathers that they had got attached to their hair!!!)

The weather hasn't been all that great but we have survived the weather. At least it isn't as bad as the heat back home.

And I love love love my iPad. I spent a bit of time fooling around with the apps - trying to find new apps and whatever. It is such a cool toy - well not really a toy.

OK - got one post to get up to date with our adventures.
Oh - and I will try to post pictures of all the goodies I bought at the quilt stores.

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!!!

Got lazy after I got off my bike!

After breakfast in the University of Calgary residence cafeteria - Kathy picked me up to drive me to meet my parents. We managed to stop at not one, but TWO quilt stores on the way. Got to love when a quilter picks you up.

I managed to find a few things that I did not have. Can you believe that???????

Had a visit with my Mom's friend for a bit (where they had stayed the night) and then we were off. I was now the designated driver as my Dad did not want to drive in the city or the mountains. Hey - I am used to driving a LITTLE car, but now I am driving a TRUCK!!!!!  Not that bad. Then we could NOT get the GPS to recognize the address for the University. Thank goodness Kathy had given me some directions before she dropped me off. I followed those and next thing you knew - there we were. Picking up my luggage which pretty much filled the back of the truck - only because I hadn't packed tight!!!

Then off to the airport to get the girls and then BACK through Calgary to get to the Number One highway to head to Penticton.

I think we cleared the city limits around 4 PM. The girls were pretty squishy in the back with my Dad, but they managed to sleep part of the way and we stopped for a geocache or two, but they were all EARTH Caches.

Earth cache number one

Earthcache number 2

Seems that we cannot get a decent picture of either girl without a face?????   What is with that?????

We stopped in Lake Louise. Yes - I know we had been at the campground, but did not make it up to the lake. Oh yeah - I know now when I drove up that HUGE hill - that would have been fun on a bike!!!!!!

Me at Lake Louise

M and Caroline at Lake Louise (don't they look sweet now!!!!!)

Then off through the mountains. Wow you would not believe the construction through the mountains. It appears that they are twinning this highway which is incredible when you think that there is mountain on one side and cliff on the other.

Stopped at a construction along the highway  - they were bringing in huge trucks of fill from further down where they were carving off the side of the mountain and driving it down the road on the left.

I asked the girls to take pictures as we passed through the rest of the construction and of course they took pictures of themselves!!!!!!

We stayed in Golden that first night. Had dinner and got a motel.

After a great night sleep - I woke up to a dead alarm clock. At first I thought the girls had unplugged it which made me wonder why??????     Turns out that they do all night construction in this area and somewhere along the line someone cut the power line and the ENTIRE valley was blacked out. There were no emergency lights in the hallway and it was DARK. Thank goodness for flashlights and we were off. The girls were NOT happy about being roused that early. We had to wait until Revelstoke for breakfast.

Sleeping

Made great time and arrived in Penticton at lunch. After lunch - we stopped downtown to see my brother at work and then up to the house.

I spent the next two days catching up on my blog and driving the girls around!!!!

Oh yes and Glen (my brother) is a good cook and it seems that we have spent a lot of time eating!!!!

M, Caroline and Devin eating on the deck

Caroline and M - on their computers!!!!   (Can't say anything about that since I spent a LOT of time on mine!!!! - heck I brought the iPad AND a computer!!!)

The kids eating AGAIN!!!!!!

We went to Summerland to get an old stationery motor for my Dad. While the men were busy digging it out from under the deck of Donna's grandmother's house.......

Rescuing an "antique" motor

Pulling the 300 pound motor out from under the deck

The girls were eyeing the cherry tree in the back yard.

Cherries right off the tree - yum yum



Hey - if you stand in the truck - you can reach those higher branches. That's Glen and Donna hiding under the tree and me hiding behind it!!!!

Donna's mom arrived and decided to take a picture of all of us.



 

Mom, Dad, Glen, Donna and Elaine

That's it for now. Catch you later.


Have a great day!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!

Banff to Calgary

Daily Stats


Daily stats


Our last day of cycling!!!!   Yes I have enjoyed the trip despite the rain, the wind and the overcast skies, but I will be THRILLED to get to Calgary. Jim and Travis decided to ride with Larry's Harem again today. Yeah for those guys.

Nik making his last breakfast for us

Spunky had a new feature - a speaker for the iPod

 Why were we always the LAST group out??????   Well it didn't matter except that we were then the last group in. Of course we would have been last group in anyway simply because of our speed.

Jim went to get his rain hat because YES - IT WAS RAINING on our last day. CRAP. Then we waited for him and where was he?????  After 15 minutes of waiting we took off. That Jim!!!! We did catch up to him in Canmore.

Until we reached Canmore, there was a beautiful bike path alongside the highway. What more could you ask for? And it wasn't raining by this time.

Spunky stopped for a bathroom break and having NO social skills, walked out with a roll of toilet paper stuck behind!!!!!!   Of course that was a joke, but it was pretty funny. And trust me - we needed all the laughs we could get this day.

Sugar Pine Quilt Shop - located in Canmore. Wasn't sure that I was going to get to this place. It opened at nine, but it wasn't far from the campground so wasn't sure if we were going to stop and whether the timing would be right. We arrived in Canmore about 8:55 AM. Should we stop????  Well there was a StarBucks and the others wanted to stop. Fortunately the Starbucks and the quilt shop were close together. While the others went to Starbucks - I ducked over to the quilt shop. The poor man was still putting on the lights when I arrived. I bet that is the LEAST amount of time anyone has ever spent in that store!!!!!  A nice store and definitely worth a trip back. Then back to Starbucks to meet the others!!!!  Yeah!!!

A bike conference!!!

Calgary - 47 KM - THANK GOD!!!!!!

 This was one of the toughest days of the entire tour!!!  Why - well first off it was a long day. We had 145 K to cover, which is a fair distance. The weather wasn't cooperating until later in the day and the WIND was ferorcious all day. A HEAD WIND. It was brutal. I thought I would never get to Calgary. Thank goodness for Jim who set up a pace line and he rode ahead and broke the wind for us - he was our knight in shining armour!!!!!   How he managed to get us all there - I do not know. He must have been exhausted. And thank goodness for Travis - he was our entertainment for the trip and kept going up and down with his music (on his helmet) and his wit and we were entertained.

It was a LONG slog to Cochrane and I think all of us were thrilled to get to the Tim Horton's.

Anna arriving in Calgary - but WAIT the ordeal is NOT over yet. Once we arrived, we still had 20 K of bike trails (confusing bike trails) before we arrived at the university.

On the bike trails - it was nice because we were more sheltered

Some times we were on the streets and check out the stats to see the HUGE dip that we had when we dropped to the Bow River and then back up the bank on the other side.

Then we had a few frustrating moments while we tried to locate our building. The problem was - we got directions from a local who helped us bypass another steep climb but then we had to find our way for part of the way. 

AT LAST - THE TRIP IS OVER!!!!!!!!!   I look kind of stunned!!!

But look how happy Anna is

And Larry!!!!

Larry and his girls!!!!! - Elaine, Prisca, Larry, Dianne, Anna and Ev (who had gotten a ride part way - so she was already showered and changed)

The LAST supper

After we had our last dinner (pizza), and Bud had handed out the certificates, it was time for fun. Anna and I had decided that we needed to give our awards for everyone. It was hysterical and was a good way to recap the trip. In no particular order here are the awards.......

Jim - the most organized (remember his bags at the laundromat!) and he also got the towtruck award for bringing us all in from Banff today against that wind!!!

Mike (fast Mike) - the most bike parts replaced award - he had to change his pedals TWICE (remember those Canadian Tire specials???) and his seat post had to be replaced because it got cracked somehow

Harold - while Harold could have gotten many awards (the most bike parts wanted to be changed - Harold was NOT happy with his gears and everyone knew about it - including the Swiss boys we ran into), he got the fireman award for the great fires he made and that made our evenings so much more enjoyable when the temperature dropped in the higher camps.

Steve - well Steve got the award for flying by the seat of his pants. He was least prepared of everyone and I think he needed a mother!

Travis - he was Mr Congeniality and the entertainer. Definitely loads of fun and you never knew what was going to happen next. Travis also won the helmet decorating contest. After Spunky took over - well Spunky was a bad influence and things just went down hill from that moment on!!!!!!

Dianne - she was the Queen of Duct Tape. Her feet, her knees, her ankles and who knew where else she used that tape. It sure came in handy!

Anna - our pilates instructor although there came a point when we were too tired to care about sore muscles, too cold to worry. Anna was also our resident flirt seeming to have made the best impression on the wack job attendant in Avola!! 

Elaine - I was the queen of road trash. Not only did I have my beautiful bow with the fancy ribbon and tassels, but I picked up my horse and a Canadian flag!!!

Larry - got the Harem award with his gaggle of women (I think from stories I hear - this is a natural for Larry since it happened to him on a previous trip to Mexico!!!!) And Larry NEVER had a bad day or a bad moment. If he did - he kept it to himself.

Dave - definitely bike nerd! Everytime that bike maintenance stand came out - Dave was sucked to it like a magnet. He couldn't help himself. Although Dave was a "celebrity" being a bike racer and MILES above all of us - he was the most humble of all and so willing to share his knowledge. Dave also got the prankster award - remember Travis' bike in the tree?????

Lynn - she was the queen of FLAT MATTRESSES. Her thermorest had a slow leak in it and despite efforts from many of the group - they could NOT fix it and every morning she woke up on the ground. She also gets the award for the weirdest tan! and the best tan.

Marshall - got the award for taking the scenic route. If anyone was going to get lost - it was Marshall and no wonder - it seemed that we were always picking up his map case.

Fred - there was a thing going around when we rode. Looking at the calves of the person ahead of you, especially on some of the climbs. Fred took the nicest calves by a long shot!!!

Lindsay - joined us in Jasper and took the fashion award as she looked dapper in her bike skirt!!!!

Chares - most dignified, although that almost got thrown out because of his black and blue pants. I heard someone comment that he looked like RoboCop in them!!!!

Mike - the award for the most spiritual moment on Ashcroft Hill. Larry was climbing the hill and was thrilled to see he was gaining on someone ahead of him. Wait a minute - there is NO ONE on that bike!!!!  Then he saw a bag in the ditch and WAIT A MINUTE - there is a body next to it!!!  Holy Crap - it was Mike with his hands folded neatly over his chest. Larry very apprehensively appraoched - yes - Mike was fine - just have a rest. Scared the crap out of Larry!!!!

Bernice - the most elegant. She was well dressed and poised!  Hey - she was also a quilter!!!!!

Prisca - the travelling medicine woman. She had a HUGE bag of pills for everything under the sun and then the conversation got out of hand when we started talking about BIG DUMPS - but you had to be there. But get this - we saw this in the window of a store in Banff and took this picture for her

Prisca also had an amazing sense of humour and some of the quotes - well they were priceless - like "My ass is going to divorce me!!!!!" That was after the Ashcroft Hill. (Are you getting the feeling that Ashcroft was a pain???????)

Mark - the King of Flat Tires!!!!!   Yeah Mark - I am so glad that you stepped forward to take on that award even though there was some controversary about the shoddy patch job he did on the third flat. Almost like he was hoping for another flat just to win the title!!!!!

Ev - gets the most determined award. Although she was picked up a number of times in the truck - she NEVER gave up. She had only been cycling for 1 1/2 years prior to this ride and she did amazingly well.

Mike (the dinner chef) - gets the mountaineering award. While we were in Jasper on our rest day - he decides to run/hike up the hill to where the gondola is. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???????   We are not talking some little hill - this was a major climb that took him THREE hours to get to the top where he proceeded to lie in the snow to cool off.

You can't see the gondola building from here - but that was the mountain!

Nik - the King of potatoes!!!!  Nik did breakfast for us and it was amazing. He would grate up potates, spice them up and they were AWESOME. I need to get that recipe because I could have eaten tons of them!!!!

Bud - gets the amazing bike award. He used a Bike Friday (which is a folding bike) to do the trip from Kamloops to Calgary. (I don't think that bike would have survived the Ashcroft hill!), but he did an amazing job to ride that way on this little bike which reminded of us of a circus bike!!!!

Well - there you have it. The end of an amazing trip. It was tough, tough, TOUGH. The weather, the mosquitos and the terrain all added up to one of the biggest challenges of my life. As physically tough this trip was - the mental toughness required was even harder. Riding in the rain, riding in the wind, and just the daily distances - had to dig deep on more than one occasion to make it to the end.

However as you can tell from the awards above - we had so much fun, so many laughs and the people on the trip were AMAZING. Everyone pulled together - and the laughs will stay with me for a LONG LONG time. Thanks to everyone on the tour - you ROCK!!!!!!!


Here are some stats from the Garmin Edge 705 (keeping in mind that one day is missing - the shortest day - 60 K)

Total distance - 1,352 KM
Total elevation gain - 11,714 METERS
Calories expended - 43,244
Average distance - 122 KM
Average elevation gain - 1,055 Meters
Maximum in one day - 1,605 meters
Elevation loss - 10,545 Meters

Count:	11 Activities
Distance:	1,351.52 km
Time:	92:09:48 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:	11,714 m
Avg Speed:	14.7 km/h
Avg HR:	--
Avg Run Cadence:	--
Avg Bike Cadence:	--
Calories:	43,244 C
Avg Distance:	122.87 km
Median Distance:	118.74 km
Max Distance:	166.46 km

Count:	11 Activities
Distance:	1,351.52 km
Time:	92:09:48 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:	11,714 m
Avg Speed:	14.7 km/h
Avg HR:	--
Avg Run Cadence:	--
Avg Bike Cadence:	--
Calories:	43,244 C
Avg Distance:	122.87 km
Median Distance:	118.74 km
Max Distance:	166.46 km

Have a great day!!!!


Ciao!!!!!