Tuesday morning we left Mara and our comfortble campsite in Janet and Trisha's driveway. After a short drive and a stop at a fruit stand, we arrived at Mabel Lake Golf and RV park. What a pretty place. As it is the end of the season the campground is almost empty. Our site overlooks the lake.
4 rounds of golf are included in our two day campground fees, so on Wednesday Janet and Trisha joined us for 9 holes of golf. The day was cool and cloudy, so really a perfect day for golf. After golfing John and I where treated to a great lunch at the golf club house.
We headed to Kamloops on Thursday. We stopped at the Village Cheese Company in Armstrong for some hot chocalate, blueberry scones and a couple of small packages of garlic cheese, while managing to slip among a charter bus load of customers. Next to the highway between Vernon and Kamloops, we saw a pretty little black bear. We figured he was only a couple years old, had a shiney black coat, and looked very healthy. Because we were on a narrow road, with a semi-truck behind us, we couldn't stop to get a picture. We found our way to the Kamloops RV Park, next to the BC Wildlife Park, about 15 km west of town. The temperature in Kamloops was about 10 degrees wamer than at Mabel Lake something we really appreciated.
Friday we shopped, did a bit of Kamloops sightseeing and picked up a real estate guide.
Saturday, since the weather was predicted to be warm and dry for several days, was spent painting the steps that Janet built for us. We were grateful to Janet as Joan has a history of being clumsy getting in and out of our home on wheels. We now have a set of steps that meet building code - 7 inch risers instead of 9 and a sturdy proper hand rail. In the evening we had a bit of a wind storm blow through the campground.
Sunday was a quiet day, hanging around in the sun and doing a second coat of paint on the stairs. We also drove into Kamloops to pick up some paint cleaner, and took advantage of that to check out houses and mobile home parks, to see if we were interested in Kamloops as a permanent location once we decide to end our nomadic ways and settle down somewhere relatively warm.
Monday dawned dull and cloudy. After a breakfast stop for a panakoeken at the Amsterdam restaurant, we headed for Helmcken falls in Wells Gray Provincial Park. The last time we were there (about 10 years ago) it was so foggy, we could not see the falls but only hear them. We figured that high cloud was a great improvement. Here are pictures of Dawson Falls
and Helmcken Falls.
On the way back to the RV park we stopped at a Bison farm to pick up a steak and at a fruit stand to get fresh fruit and vegetables.
On Tuesday, went to the nearest Canadian Tire to return the little space heater, as it abruptly stopped working in mid-cycle. We traded up for a better model, so hopefully it will work better. Then we went swimming at the Canada Games Aquatic Centre, a very nice facility. We were even lucky enough to only pay 6.50 for the two of us instead of the regular 9.00 because we arrived just before lunch, when they have a reduced rate.
Wednesday morning, we caught up on laundry, and started preparing for our departure toward Vancouver on Thursday.
