KELOWNA TO VICTORIA LOG

DAY ONE LAKE AVE TO KALEDEN 77.25 KM

Woke up at 06:00 - on the road by 07:45. It was cool but Bridge HIll solved that. Stopped for coffee at Tim Hortons in Westbank. Had a goody break at the closed fruit stand just passed Okanagan Provincial Park. Started to get windy. Visited Jim and Di at Ivan and Karen's place in Summerland. Stayed too long, by the time we left the wind was was blowing so stong that Sue has trouble going forward. Start sprinkling as we enter Penticton. Luckily we stopped at Overwaitea for fruit and missed the thunder storm that had blown in. Sun came out and we continued on to Kaleden. Made Soup Works for supper and the sun and wind both continued. We are currently hiding in the tent writing this note. The laptop seems to have survived day one. It is cosy so far in the tent. We saw Ken's favorite flowers in bloom, the Okanagan Sunflowers. Must get a photo tomorrow. Great first day.
Ken & Sue sendoff
Kelowna from Bridge Hill
Kaleden Camp-A-Long Tent/Trailer

DAY TWO KALEDEN To PRINCETON 102.43 KM

Slept in to 0640! +5C Great sleep. Handwarmers in your socks the secret! View of Skaha Lake wonderful with broken clouds. Off to Kaleden, up, up for 8k. Twin Lakes has camping with no frills, but reasonable $5. Hit a little snow before Keromeos. The valley from there is not too difficult, but the Westerly winds were fierce. Lots of Black Angus cattle ranches along the Similkameen River. Sore hands and neck the difficulty of the day. Very glad to reach Princeton campground. No other tenters once again... what don't we know?
Okanagan Sunflowers - Highway 3A
Closeup Okanagan Sunflower
Princeton RV Campground

DAY THREE PRINCETON TO MANNING PARK 77.39 KM

Clear blue sky +1C. Trucks rumble by on highway 3, but didn't disturb our sleep. Our legs are tired. Mine Hill was a great challenge especially as it doesn't stop at the mine! No headwinds but cold breeze. The hairpin turns were a relief, but more up for 20k. Snow was in the ditch. The shoulder is nonexistant, but a passing lane most of the way. The drivers were mostly very polite and moved over. I must admit to "road rage" once today to a tour bus that tried to make me road kill. Sunday Summit at 1282M was a long 39K. The down was fun for the next 6 K ! The Third eye is very valuable in watching for the large trucks. Manning Park road is 4 lanes so the travel was very pleasant. Very few flowers out as too early for this area. Camping was interesting as the Ranger I spoke to from Kelowna was misinformed and said the campgrounds would be open. Not so. The winter campsite, Lone Duck (aptly named) was 3k off the road. Being adventurers we set off in search of it. When we arrived we were the only campers, so we put our tent up in the cook house as the forest floor had 3 feet of snow! Thank goodness for free standing tents! Being well trained by our parents, we started a roaring fire in the stove. The fact the house has no window glass made it hard to warm it up! Typically the wood is also not chopped so fire making was a challenge with a swiss army knife. The temp was +2C so supper and to bed early. Mr Bear must still be sleeping as he never visited us. The camprobber raven was laying in wait for us to go to sleep so he could attack!
Sunday Summit
East Gate Manning Park
Tent in Lone Duck campground shelter

DAY FOUR MANNING PARK TO CHILLIWACK 128 KM -5C

Cooool morning! -5C out onto a cement floor! Fire restarted and off to Manning Lodge for coffee. Very gorgeous lodge with logs carved with animals all around. The restaurant wasn't open so Ken begged a cup of coffee from the back door! Breakfast on the road which went up very gradually. We arrived at the Summit very easily. Surprised us actually. Then the downhill started. This is unbelievable! There is no shoulder most of the way or sometimes ~2 feet wide, but covered in gravel. The trucks were very numerous, but in spurts. Our hands were very cold and stiff from braking. The miles flew by. At Sunshine Valley we met a older gentleman who had cycled North America for 2 years. He told us interesting stories of his travels. This is not a place I would like to live. Mostly a "weekender" community. Arrived in Hope and decided to go via Highway 7 to Chillawack. This was a nice rolling road past acreages and farms on the north side of the Fraser River. The signs "Cyclists take Caution" on the Agassiz bridge did not go over well with Sue! No shoulder, no sidewalk, no other way to get over the river and the traffic at 100K! No a thrill at this time of day....pedalled like h..... Arrived to a great shower at Rilla and Clifford Armstrongs in Chillawack.
Manning Resort carving
Allison Pass Manning Park 1342M
Settlers Cabin
Friends Rilla and Clifford computing

DAY FIVE CHILLIWACK TO LANGLEY 74.71 KM

Enjoyed a great visit with the Armstrongs, so had a late start to what was to be a short day. The road is flat and should be downhill to the ocean. Not! Our first interesting interuption came after ~10k at the Vedder Canal crossing. There is only one way over, and there are No Bikes or vehicles not capable of 60K. After much deliberation, we crossed. I'm sure I was going at least 60K!! The transcanada Highway is not an option! We ventured off thru side roads that went by cattle, flower and berry farms. Much SMELL of manure! The farmers were out in the fields harvesting already on May 4/01. We made it to Langley, but the rains started. We being optomisic did not put on our rain gear and got very wet! We arrived at Jim and Diana Campbell's to a great supper and visiting. Thanks to all who called with well wishes.
Langley,BC Roadside view
Farmers harvesting May4/01

DAY SIX LANGLEY TO VICTORIA 65.99 KM MAY 5/01 SATURDAY

DAY SEVEN VICTORIA REST DAY MAY 6/01 SUNDAY

Started off the day with a 1 hour jog with my sister, over hill and dale in Saanichton. It is a cool morning with the sun in and out. My legs are tired but still have energy so I didn’t have trouble keeping up with her. The house is still full of family so visiting continues. Lots of catching up to do as we don’t get together very often. James is the life of the party at age 2 he has a mind of his own! The day goes quickly. We had a birthday cake and present celebration for myself and Jesse. Brenda the sports wear you gave me is great. I guess knowone likes my choice of undergarments as my sister gave me one too!

Everyone left for the 1800 ferry for the mainland, except for Mom and us. The birds are very plentiful in their yard.(hummingbirds and yellow finches) The yard work is also plentiful, but the gardens are very nice. Lorna has been working very hard to keep ahead of the weeds. I miss my garden when I get into others yards. We needed this day of rest to regroup and will be off for a lazy day to visit Tyson in Victoria Monday and to Port Angeles.