Our next destination was Osoyoos, our Canadian desert town.  We drove down the Coquihalla again and arrived at Peachland on Okanagan Lake.  We continued our journey south through what is advertised to be Canada’s biggest wine region.  We drove through Summerland and Penticton where the Okanagan River Channel is used as a giant innertube track.  Years earlier, Leon, my son and I had rented a few innertubes and floated gently down the canal between the 2 towns until we reached the end of the track where a bus picked us up and drove us back to our car. We had an extra innertube to put our lunch in and manage to eat leisurely before the ducks came by to beg a few bites.  Today was a warm and sunny day, so the canal was full of people enjoying this activity.  I was tempted to jump in myself!

channel float
image from CoyoteCruises.com

We kept driving south until we reached our destination for the night – Osoyoos.  We were able to find a campground to stay at in spite of the busy season.  With Canada Day on a Friday and 4th of July holiday on a Monday, it wakes for a lot of tourists in town.  We parked, had a cool drink and sat in the late afternoon sun until I made grilled steelhead trout for dinner.  After that, we walked along the lakeshore for an hour.  The sun was hot until it hid behind the mountains.  Then, as is typical of desert climates, it got cool enough to wear a sweater or go back into Roadie.

In the morning we decided to visit the downtown area before heading back West to Langley via Harrison Hot Springs.  As is normal in such a climate, it was hot!  We found the Home Hardware Store, which we were told was a must-see due to the tremendous amount of variety in stock available.  I have to say, that was true.  Unfortunately, I started to get overheated or something and we decided it was best to grab a cool drink and just move on towards our next destination.  But Leon did take me to a cidery for a wee taste of local cider.  I must say this particular cider left a rather poor taste in my mouth.  I grew up in apple valley – St. Hilaire, on the south shore of Montreal, so I am quite familiar with the smell of rotting apples.  My parents took us to a cidery and apple vendor when I was young and I remember not liking the smell of the fermenting apples at all.  It’s surprising I enjoy cider so much today (as do many people).  Anyway, the taste of that particular cider just brought back that smell and I wasn’t inclined to purchase any of that product. Moving on…