Blog

Our trip Friday was relatively short to our next campground so we had a leisurely morning before packing up and leaving Harvelle House. The drive up the west side of Okanagan Lake was pretty, but once we got to Kelowna, we couldn’t believe the traffic. Of course, it was Friday afternoon of Labour Day, but…

Our campground is on a farm on the northeast side of Kelowna. They have a 13 acre farm with 9 full service campsites set between a lot of black walnut trees.

The owners have leased the main farm land to a young couple to garden and just harvest the walnut trees and look after the flower garden along with the campground. It was a nice peaceful area.

Saturday we drove for about 45 min, much of it on a washboard gravel road, to Myra Station to ride another section of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail. This one has 2 tunnels and 18 trestles and a gorgeous view of Myra Canyon. The trail is well used and good, packed surface. It is nice and wide and there were lots of people biking and hiking on the long weekend. They also rent bicycles at the parking lot.

The best end to ride or walk from is Myra Station. Within 3-4 km., you can pass 1 tunnel and 9 trestles. We went almost end to end – 23 km. round trip. Following our ride, we stopped in town for some fruit and other groceries before heading back to the trailer. We were able to get some fresh corn for supper too.

Sunday was a rest day of biking for Joyce – Paul headed in to try another trail in town. This one was paved all the way. Part of the Okanagan Rail Trail, he started where it crossed Dilworth Dr. and rode northeast to the airport where he turned around. There are so many options of places to bicycle in Kelowna. Many are separate trails, some are a biking lane as part of a road.

On Monday, we headed north of town to the south end of Wood Lake. We parked at Woodsdale and rode north. It was a level and packed trail in great condition. We rode lakeside along the east side of the lake until the end when it crossed over to the other side and carried along the west side of the next lake, Kalamalka Lake. We rode a few more kilometres along that lake before we turned around to head back to the truck.

There was a small beach area between the two lakes where lots of people were swimming in Wood Lake, the smaller and warmer lake of the two. Unfortunately, our bathing suits were back at the trailer.

After our bike ride, we drove down into Kelowna to see a bit more of the town before heading back to the trailer for supper.

Tuesday, we did another load of wash and then Paul headed out to go check out a tool store in town. It was a day to catch up on blogs and relax before we leave for Nakusp and back to hot springs tomorrow.

We arrived in Summerland on Tuesday afternoon to stay with friends from our winter in Yuma, Arizona. Harvey and Eleanor run a B&B called Harvelle House. We were staying in our trailer on their property however. It’s in a rural area with beautiful views. If you’re in the area and need a place to stay, we can highly recommend it. They have 4 bedrooms upstairs in their home as well as a self-contained cabin on their property.

After we set up, Harvey and Eleanor took us on a little tour of their community. Starting with a stop up the road at a cidery, we were treated to an apple juice slushy! It was unique and hit the spot on a hot summer day. We drove to where the Steam Railway begins and over to a trestle bridge. We saw where we would have to bike the next day. Along the roads were lots of apple, pear, peach and cherry trees and of course grape vines! Harvey has some grape vines on a friend’s property that he took us to see. They were starting to ripen and the vines were loaded. He will make wine with them.

After breakfast the next day, Paul and I headed back to the Kettle Valley trailhead and took off through Mount Conkle park to bike. Unfortunately the trail surface wasn’t the best, although better than at KettleValley River. It also had elevation changes but we rode through them – my electric bike definitely helped me! We had a couple of viewpoints over the valley as well.

We finished the day taking our friends out for dinner in town.

On Thursday morning we said goodbye to Eleanor and Harvey as they left with their trailer for a family gathering in Alberta. We drove to Penticton for the day to ride another part of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail. The trail followed the east side of Okanagan Lake. The surface was pretty good but it was uphill all 10+ km to the village of Naramata. The literature says a maximum of 2% grade and it was a steady climb. When we turned around, we coasted most of the way back to the truck.

With our ride finished, we decided it was time for some water fun. Coyote Cruises operates a channel float on the waterway between the Okanagan and Skaha Lakes. a total of 7 km. You start at their building and float to the next lake where a shuttle picks you up and returns you to the start where you left your vehicle. They rent single and double tubes and party rafts for 4-5 people.

The trip is usually about 2 hours long. We didn’t quite get to the end since there was a pretty strong wind we were travelling against and they took us out early. Although we had moved quite quickly through the first half, we had turned our tube around and were kicking to help propel us the last way along the channel. It was a nice way to finish a few very warm days in Summerland.

Next up Kelowna, and more hot weather!