Days 209 to 214, Jasper, Alberta to Prince George to Quesnel, B.C.

Day 209, somehow the 25th anniversary relay is carrying on without me!, lol! While they are moving from Jasper to Prince George, I am moving on a stretch of road I am very familiar with, Penticton, to Summerland, with Okanagan Lake along side.  

wow, must be spring, junior (Taylor) is burning the carbon out of one of Uncle Dave's Honda mini-bikes.

My son, he is so happy to see me he's doing handstands!

Heading down the hill from Summerland to Trout Creek. Hard to keep your eyes on the road.

You just get that feeling that spring is finally (almost) here.

When your on holidays you get to make certain things more of a priority, like watching the Vancouver Canucks, who unfortunately lost to the Minnesota Wild tonight.

The next day was a little daunting, the snow level dropped , the clouds rolled in , and it wasn't looking good.

And the wind was blowing all over....

But it did start to clear, and the forcast is calling for warmer weather in the next couple of days.

Now a lot of us on the relay are of no fixed address when this relay is over, I saw a for rent sign on this old shack, hmmmn, certainly rustic.

Wait a minute, who would be out on the road on a motorcycle this time a year, looks an awful lot like.....

It is Uncle Dave, taking one of his Honda's out for a burn.

Next stop on my errand bucket list was downtown Penticton, to the Freedom Bike shop 

This used to be one piece and it hold the little gears on  my mountain bike, funny, when you flip upside down like I did last summer, it seems to put a lot of stress on bike parts, (never mind me). This store did not have the part, but another one in town did.

Whenever I have time when I am leaving Penticton on my way to Summerland, I like to go along Lakeshore drive and admire the view looking north on Okanagan Lake towards Summerland and Peachland.

Random shot, I received an American dollar coin in my change, and when I asked around, most people did not know it even existed. Apparently the American public haven't quite gotten used to it yet, and the dollar bill is still prelevent. It is the same size as the Canadian "loonie" dollar.

While our coins still show Queen Elizabeth II, the new American coin has images of past presidents , this one of Van Buren

 I went up to see my kids, and as usual Muddy, the family dog was waiting for me like I had never been gone.

While the relay continued, and Rick Hansen was in Prince George, and Fort St. John, B.C, I was back in the Okanagan, today heading for Kelowna to see my aunt.

Cruising by Peachland (that's day 253 on the relay)

Okanagan Lake, which runs 70 miles between Penticton and Vernon.

Auntie Bubbles! a happy belated 89th birthday.

My camera shy daughter and I went to see my aunt, afterwards we stopped at Kelly O'Briens restaurant in West Kelowna for lunch. Being an Irish establishment they had the countdown clock to the next St. Patrick's day!

They also were supporting West Kelowna's bid to be the next "Hockeyville", a nation wide contest that provides the winning community arena upgrades and an exhibition NHL pre-season hockey game. West Kelowna made as one of the five finalist communities, out of 227 community entries this year. The winner will be announced on March 31st.

Wally, there's a good scrappy name.

On the way back from Kelowna, we went into Peachland, to enjoy a the lake view. This shot is looking southeast towards Rattlesnake Island.

Nice

Back in Summerland, this time looking north back up to Peachland, where we just came from 20 minutes earlier.

That night, while it was day 212 on the relay, it was hockey night in Penticton.

It has been a while since I have seen a Penticton Vee's Junior A hockey game. This team broke a record this year by winning 42 games in a row.

game 5 against the Chilliwack Chiefs series tied 2-2

I went to the game with my sis and the Puffy Jacket boys, (Dylan and my son Taylor).

first period, the Chilliwack goalie is ready

2,600 fans at the game tonight, not bad for a junior A game.

Yes, Penticton is the home of the 1955 World Champions

The first game played by the senior Penticton Vees was opening of Penticton Memorial Arena on October 25, 1951, versus the Vernon Canadians The Vees played in the Okanagan Senior Hockey League, and in 1953, were crowned Champions of Western Canada. In 1954, the Vees were National Senior Champions as winners of the Allan Cup. In 1955, the Vees represented Canada at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Krefeld, West Germany, beating the Soviet Union 5–0 for the gold medal

Second period,  the Vee's goalie is ready.

time to drop the puck.

The Chiefs are pumped up.

A small but boisterous group of Chilliwack fans cheer as Chilliwack finally gets on the board.

Times running out for the Chiefs

Penticton is on the attack

A little time-out entertainment with Stompin Tom Connors singing the Good Old Hockey game.

One more goal by Chilliwack, then Penticton scored an empty net goal, and it was all over. The Vees took the series 4 games to 2 and now face the Merritt Centennials in  the Interior Conference semi-finals.

My last day in Summerland was absolutely gorgeous, a high of plus 12 and sunny

Looking north towards Peachland.

That's it, spring is officially here, the crocuses are blooming!

I went for a walk with my daughter down towards Sun-Oka beach.

Looking south towards Penticton.

Trout creek, with Giant's Head mountain in the background.

Lot's of good skipping rocks down here.

What a day!

Time to head back to reality.

We went for a bite at this new Pho restaurant in Summerland.

My daughter had the spring rolls

I had the beef Pho, it was delicious and filling, yes I would recommend this place!

Now where did that week go?

On the plane to Vancouver, time to say good-bye to Penticton and Summerland. I will be back when the relay goes though on May 5th.

this was a 6 a.m.flight (40 minutes) and it was just starting to get light as we got close to Vancouver.

Waiting at the Vancouver airport for my flight to Prince George.

Smaller planes on these regional routes

The sun rising over the terminal

Heading out over the water in Vancouver, we are going to have to make a big left turn to head north to Prince George.

a very sunny Vancouver.

Over the mountains

and a short flight into Prince George.

Inside the terminal.

Mr. PG, a wooden statue outside the tourist information centre in Prince George. In honour of the 25th anniversary relay and Rick Hansen's visit there on day 209, they added these "wheelchair people" to the arms of Mr. P.G.

The mighty Fraser River.

I took shuttle 4 down from Prince George to catch up with the relay crew in Quesnel, where they have been for the last 2 days. Onto highway 97 for the first time on the relay. Highway 97 runs from the Yukon down through B.C. where it turns to U.S. 97 at the B.C. Washington border and runs all the way down into California.

straight shot to Quesnel (a least for the first while)

Some of the small B.C. towns we will be hitting on our way down highway 97 towards Kamloops.

Only 674 KM to Vancouver?, why is it going to take us 2 months to get there?

Quesnel (pop. about 10,000) is a mill town in the cariboo. One of the first things you notice is the steam rising from the kilns at the lumber mills.

That's a lot of sticks right there.

Crossing the Quesnel River, which runs into the Fraser River

A ha, I see proof that I have caught up to the relay, theres a medal bearer sticker.

We are actually staying in South Quesnel??

Outside the hotel room, very deceiveing, looks to be a lot of wilderness.

directly to the left,

directly to the right. , how does that song go, they paved paradise and put up a parking lot?!
Back to work! Day 215 awaits!