4:18

4:18 on the morning of the longest day of the year,

These covid days have been great for getting out and exploring one's neighbourhood. This church was only a couple of blocks away.

Is this a sign??? (I guess it's whatever you want it to be.)

Dinner at fellow Teamster peep Tracey's home. He was gracious enough to sharpen (his hobby) one of Ritsue's knives while we were there.

Walking at Deer Lake has become a little confusing these days.

So close to my place, I do not take advantage of this 5 km walk often enough.

Gorgeous!

There were a lot of boardwalks that we had never traversed before.

The lily pad close-up pic.

So close, yet so far away from the city.

Heading back to the car, under Royal Oak Avenue.

The Mulberry retirement home across from my building gave another concert for the senior citizens who live there. That meant another free concert for Ritsue and myself. It was a lot of fun groovin' to the oldies.

In the neighbourhood, the dogwoods were in full bloom.

Ritsue getting a little creative with all the plastic bags we are accumulating these days. (Most stores still wont let us bring our own bags.)

A double yoke! (and that's no joke....)

On father's day we went to Spanish Banks with my bro and his girlfriend for low tide. (We have filmed out that way many times, but this was the first I have seen the tide out so far.)

It was a very cool experience. You can walk a kilometre straight out from the shore. 

So close to downtown Vancouver.

My brother and his girlfriend were leaving us in the dust, or sand, in this case.

Getting through the squishy pools was all part of the fun.

The finish line pic.

....who'da thunk it......

....the mandatory selfie......

Interesting watching a young couple pulling in their crab traps. They actually caught about a dozen while we were there, but apparently they were all too small or were female, so back to sea they went.

......the end of the line.....

.....one last "we did it" pic.....

.....one last look towards the city....

.....heading back, the parking lot is so far away you can barely see it.....

We went out for dinner with my daughter on Father's day. She gave me this luscious basil plant......... 

.......which Ritsue promptly transplanted and added to her ever growing (sic) balcony garden.

The waiting to return to work project of the day, building an Ikea dresser.

...."hey, wait a minute!...that was supposed to be my project!"......
Ritsue took over and showed off her expertise.

Perfect! One down and five to go.

Was going to go for a run, but I think I'll wait it out.

Spoiled by another one of Ritsue's culinary creations.

This enoki, king oyster and white mushroom combo was very good!

This was not how I wanted to spend my off time. A trip to the dentist revealed I would have another trip to the dentist to have a molar removed. A bit of a humbling experience I must say.

Lights, camera, where's the action?????

A close to home view of Vancouver.  A toast to all the other unemployed people. Hang in there. The saga continues, not sure when work in the Vancouver film industry will resume. 

Setting small goals during our off time. Today, we knocked off the list Ritsue having her first (and maybe last) Big Mac.

Someone trying to fit into the hood?

Even watching Ritsue cook (like this omelette) has become something to do these days.

This little path along Beresford St. in Burnaby has been our main go to walking route most days.

Ritsue's tomato plant is settling in nicely in the condo gardens.

Staying at home means a lot of looking out the window. Not much to see on this foggy day.

Ritsue has high hopes for the tomato plant. (...since this pic, it is 3 times the size..)

A short stroll from my place will take you to this little pond and garden at the Nikkei Cultural Centre in Burnaby.

Also close to my place are some rose bushes outside of the B.C. Hydro substation. ( adds a nice touch to the condo)

Trying not to do the bored, online shopping thing, but these were on sale at Sport Chek, and free shipping, too!

Another covid day, and a little change of pace. Today it was a hike on the Byrne Creek Ravine Park, very close to my place.

Today, a lotta change of pace. We hit the road for a few days. First brief stop, the Hope Slide.

A quick rest stop. This time farther east, along the Similkameen River in Manning Park.

Farther east, "K" mountain in Keremeos.

Let's keep going! Ritsue and I atop Anarchist Mountain overlooking Osoyoos Lake and the South Okanagan Valley. 

Haha, the panoramic...

.....and not sure what happened here. (interesting, though)

One last look north.....

......one last look south into Washington State.......

.......posing time! On the shores of Osoyoos Lake....

.....atta girl! (Now Ritsue is getting into the Okanagan lifestyle!)

My sister Judith painted this picture of vineyards and Vaseux Lake in the South Okanagan. I have this pic in my dining room.

I took Ritsue to the spot where Judith got her inspiration, just outside of Blue Mountain Vineyards in Okanagan Falls.

That night we met up with junior and Beardo. We  took a walk in Trout Creek at Okanagan Lake

Panoramic looking south towards Penticton.

Junior and Beardo trying to find the beaver that was swimming around.

Now there's some soulful eyes right there!

Spent a day visiting dear old friends, Tim and his wife Cindy at their home in Kelowna. (that's their son Jeremy in the pic, lol.) I haven't seen them in years, but it didn't matter. It was like we had been in close contact all along.

Now that's what I want in my yard! (or on the deck, in my case)

.....back in Summerland, one of my favourite views, looking north towards Peachland

The next day it was back on the road.......

First stop, the Bench Market in Penticton for their tasty breakfast wrap.

Two tourists (Ritsue and myself) collide atop Munson Mountain look-out in Penticton.

You know you're back in the Okanagan when you have to watch out for the cactus that grows everywhere.

Looking down to Okanagan Lake from the famous Penticton sign.

A quick selfie, and we're off.......

.......along "the bench" towards Naramata. We stopped at 3 mile beach.....

......and then straight to my favourite winery, Lang Vineyards. As a truck driver, I used to pick-up fruit here back when it was orchards, not vineyards. Later on I picked up cases of wine here when I worked for Van-Kam Freightways. (the view is worth the trip) (Junior does not, or maybe he does, have a career as a winery model)

....we also continued the wine tasting at Elephant Island winery in Naramata, which still has a cherry orchard. (still very green during our visit)...

Even a bald eagle was out enjoying the view of the Okanagan Valley.

A must on the Naramata day trip is the view from the small tunnel on the now defunct KVR railway line.

Stunning!

I've been coming up to this tunnel for 40 years. 

Looking up towards the tunnel and the railbed rock work.

The "junior in motion" pic

Looking past Naramata to Penticton to Skaha Lake.

That was a good day.

Next day, back on the KVR railway line, this time on the trestle straddling the Trout Creek canyon in Summerland.

That's a long way down, yikes.

Looking underneath the trestle.

Looking back towards the trestle.

We were lucky enough to see this bear, and lucky enough to be a safe distance away!

Another portion of the KVR railway line, this time above Summerland just off of the Summerland/Princeton road.

Away from the crowds of Vancouver, nuff said.

Junior is a little miffed I took his picture at the private, secret sauna I'm not supposed to tell anyone else about.

Well, I wont say where it is, but it's a pretty secluded, actually well looked after, cool little spot.

We used to camp on Thirsk lake back in the day. On this day, it was too darn cold and windy, yikes.

The new Thirsk Lake dam addition. This lake reservoir supplies a lot of the water for Summerland.

.....and the old portion of the dam........
....from above.....

....and from down below...

......and there it was! We didn't see a loon on the lake, but one showed up in the creek by the parking lot, and I am sure it was just for us! (don't get me started! I think the call of the loon is one of the top 10 things people should witness in their lifetime. (we were blessed to hear it's haunting call 3 times.)

....back in Summerland, Ritsue spotted this Japanese shrine. I never knew it was there, and I have driven on that street dozens of times. (It turns out it is to honour Summerland's Japanese sister city, Toyokoro.

Then, just like that, we were back home. Thanks to our tasting visits on the Naramata bench, our counter is blessed with a larger selection of wines, including one of my favourites, Lang Vineyards maple wine.

Not quite the views I enjoyed in the Okanagan, but there is something to be said for being back home.