Oh, Canada! We just returned from 9 days traveling to beautiful British Columbia, and, in doing so, arguably traveled the farthest distance in the continental US, from south Florida to Seattle. Because it all would be a lot to cover in one posting, I will likely spread these out over several postings.
Can I just say, first off, that Washington state is gorgeous? I just loved the cliffs above the Pacific ocean and the tall, tall, very tall trees of the Cascade mountains. We drove for roughly 5 house east and north of Seattle, through Cascade National Forest to the border crossing in tiny Oroville. I can't tell you how many orchards, vineyards and fruit stands we passed along the way. There are clear blue lakes and streams and surprisingly the landscape became more scruffy with brown grass and low coarse bushes as we drove.
We made our border crossing along Hwy 97 at Oroville and entered into Osoyoos, British Columbia easily. The wait was 5 minutes here and we were surrounded by many other cars with bikes on roofs and trunks. Disappointingly, we didn't even get a stamp in the passports! But we drove on across, and Canada looks just like... well.. Washington. If it weren't for the kmh speed limit signs, you really wouldn't know you had entered another country as everything is in English. There are no French signs this far west. Our drive took us through Canada's picturesque wine country (Osoyoos region) and much of the drive from the border to the rental house was along the Ironman bike course -- the easy part.
We stayed outside the city of Penticton in a house we rented with Michael's sister Megan, husband Andy, kids Austin (5) and Emma (2 1/2); Michael's brother Kevin, wife Jenny, kids Alyssa (10) and Noah (5), Jenny's parents Deb and Ron, and my mom Chris. Our house was a 5-bdrm home on Lake Skaha.
Unfortunately the lake water was too cool to enjoy (temperatures were only around 70 on the hottest days) but the sunshine was warm and the deck chairs were inviting. We arrived here on Thursday. The first few days were busy with Ironman preparation -- dropping off bikes, checking in at registration, doing a practice swim in Lake Okanagan, shopping for the last-minute needs, discussing spectator plans, etc. It is an exciting time! On Friday night the boys go to a pre-race dinner while the rest of us go out to eat. On Saturday Mom, Adam and I accompany Michael downtown to walk a weekly street fair, enjoy the sunshine, and visit the local bike shop for his race day nutrition.
Sunday was, of course, the Ironman race, and though it was a long day, it was exciting! To be in the race atmosphere is exhilarating. No, no, I have not caught the fever. Even though I was staying in a house with one 4-time IM, two 2-time IMs, and 2 Ironwomen, I will not be signing up for Ironman myself any time soon. And when I say any time soon, I mean Never. But -- have tremendous respect for you men and women, and I am perfectly content being an Iron-Sherpa for future events! And while I'm making an aside, I'd like to publicly thank my mom for being a great nanny and Gramma during this trip. We greatly appreciate your quickness to help us on the plane, feeding Adam in the backseat on the drive, watching him while I Sherpa-ed and took photos, and played with him each day. Thank you!!
Now, where was I? Monday, understandably, was a recovery day, so we took it easy and Mom, Michael, Adam and I drove down to the race site to visit the race expo merchandise tent. It's kind of sad to see all the race banners, tents and arches being broken down, kind of like the lights coming down after Christmas. We drive around the north side of the lake and stumbled upon the village of Summerland, right on the water. We wanted to find a small local restaurant for lunch, and we found it. It's called, fittingly, Local. It's a lovely restaurant that uses only local ingredients from the wines and liquors to the fruits, vegetables, seafood, and cheeses.
Tuesday we toured a vineyard, took a drive along the bike course (the really steep parts), enjoyed the Canadian countryside, stopped at one of the many fruit stands, and spent the evening with the family over a delicious Michael-cooked meal (all made local!). It would be wonderful to live somewhere where you had so much fresh produce available all the time. Wednesday we drove out to Vancouver for an overnight before flying home on Thursday. Stay tuned for posts detailing these last few days in Canada.
Can I just say, first off, that Washington state is gorgeous? I just loved the cliffs above the Pacific ocean and the tall, tall, very tall trees of the Cascade mountains. We drove for roughly 5 house east and north of Seattle, through Cascade National Forest to the border crossing in tiny Oroville. I can't tell you how many orchards, vineyards and fruit stands we passed along the way. There are clear blue lakes and streams and surprisingly the landscape became more scruffy with brown grass and low coarse bushes as we drove.We made our border crossing along Hwy 97 at Oroville and entered into Osoyoos, British Columbia easily. The wait was 5 minutes here and we were surrounded by many other cars with bikes on roofs and trunks. Disappointingly, we didn't even get a stamp in the passports! But we drove on across, and Canada looks just like... well.. Washington. If it weren't for the kmh speed limit signs, you really wouldn't know you had entered another country as everything is in English. There are no French signs this far west. Our drive took us through Canada's picturesque wine country (Osoyoos region) and much of the drive from the border to the rental house was along the Ironman bike course -- the easy part.
We stayed outside the city of Penticton in a house we rented with Michael's sister Megan, husband Andy, kids Austin (5) and Emma (2 1/2); Michael's brother Kevin, wife Jenny, kids Alyssa (10) and Noah (5), Jenny's parents Deb and Ron, and my mom Chris. Our house was a 5-bdrm home on Lake Skaha.
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| Not a bad view, eh? |
Sunday was, of course, the Ironman race, and though it was a long day, it was exciting! To be in the race atmosphere is exhilarating. No, no, I have not caught the fever. Even though I was staying in a house with one 4-time IM, two 2-time IMs, and 2 Ironwomen, I will not be signing up for Ironman myself any time soon. And when I say any time soon, I mean Never. But -- have tremendous respect for you men and women, and I am perfectly content being an Iron-Sherpa for future events! And while I'm making an aside, I'd like to publicly thank my mom for being a great nanny and Gramma during this trip. We greatly appreciate your quickness to help us on the plane, feeding Adam in the backseat on the drive, watching him while I Sherpa-ed and took photos, and played with him each day. Thank you!!
Now, where was I? Monday, understandably, was a recovery day, so we took it easy and Mom, Michael, Adam and I drove down to the race site to visit the race expo merchandise tent. It's kind of sad to see all the race banners, tents and arches being broken down, kind of like the lights coming down after Christmas. We drive around the north side of the lake and stumbled upon the village of Summerland, right on the water. We wanted to find a small local restaurant for lunch, and we found it. It's called, fittingly, Local. It's a lovely restaurant that uses only local ingredients from the wines and liquors to the fruits, vegetables, seafood, and cheeses. Tuesday we toured a vineyard, took a drive along the bike course (the really steep parts), enjoyed the Canadian countryside, stopped at one of the many fruit stands, and spent the evening with the family over a delicious Michael-cooked meal (all made local!). It would be wonderful to live somewhere where you had so much fresh produce available all the time. Wednesday we drove out to Vancouver for an overnight before flying home on Thursday. Stay tuned for posts detailing these last few days in Canada.
P.S. I am happy to report, that after 9 days in Canada, I now know 5 more words to the national anthem ("...our home and native land") and am content with that much. (Many apologies and no disrespect to our friendly neighbor to the north.)
Awesome to read about your trip! Oh how i love canada and the pacific northwest myself! we were in victoria BC on Friday night as the last port on our Alaska cruise and it was gorgeous (as were all of the Alaska stops) Great to read about the IM race too - great job Michael. Miss you :)
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