Also - the title of the post - I must acknowledge - inspired by Shakespeare's play The Winter's Tale, Act III, Scene III:
Antigonus:
........ Weep I cannot, But my heart bleeds; and most accursed am I To be by oath enjoin'd to this. Farewell! The day frowns more and more: thou'rt like to have A lullaby too rough: I never saw The heavens so dim by day. A savage clamour! Well may I get aboard! This is the chase: I am gone for ever.
[Exit, pursued by a bear]
No Bear, but we are gone from the coast!
We started the day early with a drive down to the airport - gave Kim and Lynn a hug - and headed out. An interesting bit of navigation to get out of Vancouver from the airport via 91 and 17 - and it all worked out well - so off we went - follow the map to Vernon!
It is a drone out to the Hope Slide. And - it stayed hot. As we headed up in to E.C. Manning Provincial Park- it started to cool down - thank God! I confess - yesterday in Vancouver - I did something I have only done once or twice - I road around the city in shorts and short sleeved shirt. It was so stinking hot - and we had enough stops to make - that I broke a real safety rule - and went without all the safety gear. Hmmm - I think the Harley people have something - it sure is comfortable on the stinking hot days! Anyway - today with all the highway miles - all the gear was on! So - as we got up to Allison Pass -I loved it - I was cool for the first time since we left Vancouver Island! Not only that - but it was really beautiful and fun to drive. Not sure exactly what the horizon was like - because the smoke was heavy! Tons of corners and elevation changes - perfect for me - challenging with enough room to see and stay safe.
Then - up to Sunday Summit - and then basically a ridge run until we dropped down into the Similkameen River Valley. Not as much fun to drive - still a lot of fun - but wow - talk about pretty.
For this old guy - the road was perfect - lots of really fun turns and elevation changes. When the sign said slow down a lot - I would slow down enough (not as much as it suggested) - and had a fantastic ride. I think some of my old time "sport touring" buddies would find my old fart "sport touring" pace a bit slow - but - you know what - **** that - I had fun - and was safe - see - I am an old man :-)
Had a great lunch in Princeton at Thomasina's - look at that - tea served in a tea cup! Nice! Plus - French Press coffee - oh yaa - stop here - sandwichs et al were also fantastic! Really neat little town.
Plus - a real nice little cenotaph.
After Princeton - we picked up a lot of traffic - so less fun driving - but still so very pretty. I should have stopped and taken a ton of pictures on this ride - but you know what? I was on the road again -and that did not happen. We followed the Similkameen River until we headed north on 3A at Keremeos. Honestly - this stretch from Hope to Keremeos deserves a ton more exploration - which I hope I have already said enough times to make your ears ring - because this is one huge *** beautiful country! <Stops typing, takes a sip on his beer, wishes he could smoke but would have to take his laptop outside> This reminds me of the Fraser Canyon a lot - green at the bottom - brown at the top - I need somebody who understands it better to help me fully understand these deep dry valleys that are desert at the top - and a huge **** lake or river at the bottom.My intuition would be that all that water should create a larger microclimate than it does. Without irrigation - it is an arid - verging on desert - environment feet away the water - only the pine, grass, and sage seem to have it figured. So interesting.
Stopped for a pictures south of Penticton.
And a video just north of Penticton
Up to Kelowna - and by then -man was it hot. Kelowna was a massive traffic jam both in and out - and I had all my gear on - and was it hot. We stopped and looked for room - but the prices were ridiculous- so up to Vernon we came. Another really pretty drive. I do not think I have ever been up the the east side of the Okanagan before - and my CAA map gave no indication - of this great huge Kalamalka Lake to the east. Sopretty - and once we got out of the horrible traffic down by Kelowna - it was a nice ride. I have memories from the 60s of all of these towns being sleepy little burgs - tourists and farming. Well - not any more -big towns and huge crowds.
Checked in to the hotel, had some beers, watched the Argos get their asses kicked by the Alouettes, and then back to the hotel room. Nice view of the hills huh?
Tomorrow-off to do some backroads - and then when we get to the Crowsnest - I think Laurance will get on his horse and make some time headed east. I am thinking I will go and see the highest paved pass in Canada at Highwood Pass. So - have a fairly good plan for the next two days!
Ciao - more tomorrow!
After Princeton - we picked up a lot of traffic - so less fun driving - but still so very pretty. I should have stopped and taken a ton of pictures on this ride - but you know what? I was on the road again -and that did not happen. We followed the Similkameen River until we headed north on 3A at Keremeos. Honestly - this stretch from Hope to Keremeos deserves a ton more exploration - which I hope I have already said enough times to make your ears ring - because this is one huge *** beautiful country! <Stops typing, takes a sip on his beer, wishes he could smoke but would have to take his laptop outside> This reminds me of the Fraser Canyon a lot - green at the bottom - brown at the top - I need somebody who understands it better to help me fully understand these deep dry valleys that are desert at the top - and a huge **** lake or river at the bottom.My intuition would be that all that water should create a larger microclimate than it does. Without irrigation - it is an arid - verging on desert - environment feet away the water - only the pine, grass, and sage seem to have it figured. So interesting.
Stopped for a pictures south of Penticton.
Up to Kelowna - and by then -man was it hot. Kelowna was a massive traffic jam both in and out - and I had all my gear on - and was it hot. We stopped and looked for room - but the prices were ridiculous- so up to Vernon we came. Another really pretty drive. I do not think I have ever been up the the east side of the Okanagan before - and my CAA map gave no indication - of this great huge Kalamalka Lake to the east. Sopretty - and once we got out of the horrible traffic down by Kelowna - it was a nice ride. I have memories from the 60s of all of these towns being sleepy little burgs - tourists and farming. Well - not any more -big towns and huge crowds.
Checked in to the hotel, had some beers, watched the Argos get their asses kicked by the Alouettes, and then back to the hotel room. Nice view of the hills huh?
Tomorrow-off to do some backroads - and then when we get to the Crowsnest - I think Laurance will get on his horse and make some time headed east. I am thinking I will go and see the highest paved pass in Canada at Highwood Pass. So - have a fairly good plan for the next two days!
Ciao - more tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment