I've long wanted to visit the Chilcotin Coast in British Columbia's 'mid-west'. However, everytime I've made plans to do so, the area explodes with forest fires and Highway 20 to Bella Coola gets closed around Redstone - about 145 kilometers west of Williams Lake. This year is no different, with hundreds of wildfires burning in B.C., (and particularly in the Cariboo / Chilcotin regions) but we … [Read more...]
The Doggy Beach at Okanagan Falls
The beach at Okanagan Falls, British Columbia (about 20 minutes drive from where I live) is one of my favorite beaches in the Okanagan. The views are spectacular, the beach is never crowded and a good portion of it has been set aside as a dog beach. So, when our friends Martin and Jennifer entrusted us with the care of our 'dog goddaughter' Chinook this past weekend, we were quick to hop in the … [Read more...]
Kayaking on Vaseux Lake
After an attempt at rolling his new kayak in our swimming pool, Landlubber Ed (who does not swim and has only been in a kayak once before) decided that what with wearing his new Mountain Equipment Co-op PFD (which he calls a PDF) he was more than ready to brave the waters of Vaseux Lake for our inaugural voyage. As you can see in the next picture, Ed's attempt to roll the kayak was well... … [Read more...]
Security Tight at Canada Day Eve Block Party
For the 3rd year running we held a block party to celebrate Canada's birthday and our incredible good fortune at being able to reside in the country's best town and province - Penticton, British Columbia. OK, so maybe we're just a little biased, but hey, the word 'Penticton', derived from a word in the Okanagan language, means "a place to stay forever" and such claims aren't made lightly. … [Read more...]
Penticton’s Bad Drivers
An edited version of this piece was originally published in late October 2007 as a "Letter of the Day" in the Penticton Herald. This is the original unedited version... I witnessed an incident on October 26th which sufficiently proves to me that the majority of Penticton drivers are either driving without a licence or are no longer qualified to hold a licence. While waiting to make … [Read more...]