June 28th - Kelowna, BC (BST -7hrs)

Why do these things always happen at a weekend? It is frustrating enough when things go wrong, but worse when one cannot get them sorted immediately. The one consolation is that, unlike the US, Canadian motorcycle dealers do open on a Monday.

We arrived fairly late in the evening yesterday and, having checked into our motel and eaten, we were exhausted. Today, we thought we ought to investigate the downtown area. And, yes, Kelowna does have a vibrant downtown area, down by the waterfront. Though you could be forgiven for losing the will to live getting there, past the miles upon miles of grotesque malls that have sprung up either side of Hwy 97 to the north of the city.

We had quickly come to the conclusion that, one way or another, our Alaska trip was probably busted. But it didn’t do to dwell on our predicament. Rather than confine ourselves to our gloomy motel room, staring glumly at our veritable library of maps and guide books, as soon as we were showered, shaved and shampoo’ed, we took a ride into town to look for breakfast. After which, we took a stroll along the shoreline, and learned about Ogopogo, the Loch Ness-type creature that is said to inhabit Okanagan Lake. We briefly contemplated inviting ourselves into the KelownaYacht Club as visiting yachtsmen but, instead, visited the Orchard Industry Museum and wound up at the next door Wine Museum, discussing Canadian wines with an ex-pat Brit. John went off to buy a book to read, while I sat under a tree in the park and uploaded a couple of days’ blog entries from a wi-fi hotspot. All very civilised.

The bikini-clad girls running the boat rentals from the marina pontoon were doing brisk trade, and some of the more energetic kids entertained us practicing spectacular parkour moves, somersaulting over waste bins and steps. They were oddly camera-shy, but John did manage to sneak this one shot. For most, though, it seemed like the ultimate lazy Sunday afternoon by the lake.

This entry was posted on 01/07/2009 at 04:43 am and is filed under US Trip 2009. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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