Now that you are reading this blog it means that we are home. We have carefully continued to spread the word that we would not be home until after the 10th but before the 15th. We are trying to figure out how to locate Alicia and Anne in Kelowna on Saturday at some point and surprise them of our presence and my plan to run with Alicia.
As a result we started homeward seriously from Boulder Creek with a stop at Crater Lake. Crater Lake is a caldera lake located in the south-central region of Oregon. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fills a nearly 2,148 foot (655 m) deep calder that was formed around 7,700 years ago by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. In the center of the crater is an ‘island’. We drove in to the park and along part of the rim road. The pictures do not do justice at all and I have seen some pictures of winter views which are spectacular. The weather at that height was around 12 degrees but the wind on the rim made this feel much cooler. We would have enjoyed spending more time exploring and have marked this as a future place to explore but will do it in July or August when it would be warmer.
We continued up the highway 97 towards Washington where we plan to spend a night. The drive from southern Oregon to southern Washington with a visit to Crater Lake National Park was a long day but we have plans to be back into Canada by Thursday (tomorrow) and at Wade’s for Thurs and Fri night. When we decided that we would be in Kelowna for the run on Oct 10 noting that this was Thanksgiving weekend, we decided that it would be great to have Thanksgiving dinner with Wade, his boys and their friends. Wade agreed since he immediately started to put the plans into place for Fri and Sat.
Driving through central Oregon and central Washington was very interesting. The landscape is basically hilly but has a dried desert feel to it. The Columbia River and the dams provide a chance to see different landscapes but in we discovered several types of agricultural and other types of industries in the states. In particular the Okanogan Valley (note spelling different than in Canada) the fruit industry appears to be flourishing. But windmills are also showing up.
We arrived in Penticton to spend the next couple of nights with my brother Wade. (He is camera shy so no pictures.) Wade is living in a really nice apartment and we learned that his sons Mike and Stephen (who share an apartment in the same building) are in the process of buying their own places which is exciting news. Of course Mike took us for a walk to see the place he is buying and Stephen described the apartment he is buying. Who says kids don’t grow up fast?
Our evening and Friday went quickly as Wes took a couple of walks, we all went to see the movie “Secretariat” and Wade prepared a pasta dinner that was a joy to eat. During Friday afternoon Wes and I drove into Kelowna to pick up my running package and see if we could get a hotel room close to the park where the run started. We lucked out in finding a room right by the park.
Saturday was the day for the Thanksgiving dinner which would include Wade, Angie and her two daughters, Stephen and Wes and I. The meal was a collaborative effort in preparing since Angie prepped the turkey and dressing and had it in the fridge at Wade’s and it was my job to put it and the stuffing into the oven at the appropriate time. Wade prepared the potatoes and veggies. Dinner was set for 3 since we all had commitments for the evening.
Since Wes and I have decided to be in Kelowna for the BOM run and planned to surprise Alicia and Anne, we needed help to figure out where they might be and when. So I had contacted our mutual friend Lando who agreed to work at finding out information for us. What I did not know, but Lando did, was that a friend of ours, Tracy, would be going with Alicia and Anne to Kelowna, so he hooked her into the support group to get information for me, like which hotel, which room and when they would be around etc. This made it easy and as it turns out we were walking over to their hotel with the idea of knocking on their door when they came out of the hotel and we literally bumped into each other on the sidewalk. Needless to say we totally surprised (and thrilled) both Alicia and Anne. Alicia expressed her joy at being able to run with me.
Wes and I joined the Runclub members as they had a social/dinner time Saturday evening. Then we arranged to meet in the morning with Alicia and Tracy to head to the run start gate. Alicia and I had a really good run finishing both feeling really good physically. We both felt this was one of the most comfortable runs we have done – what a high it was to finish the race ahead of the goal set ahead of time. We also found that the weather (cloudy but not cold with a bit of drizzle at times) was really a comfortable temperature for running. We also found that standing in the water doing cold water therapy was actually fun since the water was not freezing.
After we showered, had lunch, it was time to finally complete the LAST stretch of the road home back to Kamloops and the process of unpacking, organizing, shopping, etc. We have now been gone for 3 months leaving July 10 and returning Oct 10. We had turned the water off in the house while gone and when I turned it on we discovered a leaking pipe....nice to be home isn’t it. Oh, I fixed the leak so all is ok.
For those who have been following this blog, I hope it has been informative and enjoyable. We are off to more adventures so stay tuned for stories from Australia and New Zealand.
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