morleymooseisontheloose: Day 260 Osoyoos to Princeton, B.C.

Day 260. After what seemed like a very short four days at the NK'Mip resoert in Osoyoos, it was time to move on. I will definately come back to this place.

One final look up the vineyards towards the resort.

Farewell to Osoyoos.

I was on shuttle 2 again, this time with Ty as the medal bearer host. Ty is part of the participant ops team. It was a short 30 kilometre drive over the Richter Pass to meeting point.

389 kilometres to go until we are in Vancouver, it is really starting to sink in that we are close to the end of the journey.

Very cool stretch of road.

Heading towards our meeting point........

at the Cawston Elementary school. Cawston is a small farming town just east of Keremeos

Tyrone did a fantastic job of informing the medal bearers about the Rick Hansen story and the 25th anniversary relay.

The difference makers of Cawston! (don't see as many medal bearers wearing the toques like we did in Winnipeg in January!)

We got to the insertion point and waited with the pilot vehicle for the convoy to come down the highway.

and there they are, right on time!

The two school nominees from Cawston, Zoe and Daxon, work on their warm-up dance moves with Tyrone while they wait for the convoy to arrive.

All the students lined the main street of Cawston in support of their difference makers.

The students went all out with many posters and inspirational messages

and here comes Pat and Mike in the pace motorhome

the students followed in behind Zoe and Daxon as they worked their way towards the school

basking in the glory , (and the sun!)

a quick fuel stop in Keremeos (the self proclaimed fruit stand capital of Canada) and then off to our second meeting point and site of the end of day celebration for day 260, Princeton.

on the way to Princeton you pass throught the old mining town of Hedley. The mine was somewhere up on Nickelpalte mountain.

The remaining structures high up on the top of the mountain. That is what I love about the human spirit, somehow, over 100 years ago, they found a way to build that mine.

We went in to check out the local museum, there was a lot of old mining equipment and this old film projector.

and then it was off to Princeton (population about 2.700), another mining town, except this mine (Copper mountain mining corp.) has recently re-opened.

our medal bearer meeting point was in the Princeton Library, and the end of day celebration was across the street at spirit square.

Tyrone readies 9 more of 7,000 difference makers for their medal bearer experience.

medal bearer Dierra shows off the gold medal plaque the community won in a contest for B.C. communities leading up to the 2010 winter olympics. She was instrumental in bringing the award to Princeton. Here is her stroy:

In 2009, I heard about a contest called GamesTown 2010 that was being promoted for B.C. communities during the lead up to the 2010 Winter

Olympics in Vancouver. As soon as I read the prerequisites for entries, I thought to myself, "We can win this." I started promoting the contest

weekly in our newspaper and making many daily entries about our wonderful little town compiled of all the people who make a difference in

Princeton - including some stories of our rich history. Right up until the very end, I believed Princeton would win. I grabbed a friend of mine and

made two videos about our town when we made into the top ten. In the end, all the hard work paid off and Princeton won GamesTown gold.

With the win came $100,000 and a new bike park, basketball court, trail lighting and playground equipment all for more healthy living! I love

my town and proved that small towns are rich in many ways that are all their own.

Another relay first, these difference makers got a little creative for their group picture!

Waiting at our insertion point, I saw the convoy comng around the corner in my side mirror.

The route took us across this one lane bridge leading into downtown Princeton.

another side mirror shot, this one of the convoy going over the same bridge.

The end of day celebration site.

On the way to our hotel (about 12 kilometres away), we saw this sign, and saw the opportunity for another photo op.( I will let your imagination run with this one!)

We had no idea the road to our hotel would turn into dirt, it was way out in the wilderness.

The Rockridge Canyon Resort was simply amazing.

RockRidge Canyon is owned and operated by Young Life Canada, a grass roots Christian organization serving teenagers in Canada for over 50 years.