BACK IN THE SHUSWAP

The forest fire near here

We arrived back in the Salmon Arm area this late afternoon. We left Errington before breakfast yesterday. We ate in the parking lot after buying our ferry ticket. We visited my Aunt June and Eric in Hope last night, parking in their driveway. They got to see one of the first showings of our images from the trip north. We waited a couple hours in Merritt this morning to see my brother Charlie and Sheila who were passing through there from Kelowna heading back to the Island after their canoe adventure up north.

We drove about 14,200 kms since leaving here June 1^st and shot about 5300 images – 4000 on my new 5D and 1300 on my Rebel. Fortunately, there were a few keepers which I have been selecting and putting together in shows.

We had nice clear air almost all the way to Kamloops today. However, when we dropped down into the Thompson Valley above Kamloops, we were assailed by thick smoke all the way until the last few kms. The source of the fire is in the image uploaded with this post and is only 5 or 6 kms from where we are parked at Aunt Jacquie and Jim’s.

We are only here in Salmon Arm area for a couple weeks so if anyone is interested in getting together with Aileen (or even me) please email her or call 250-833-0527.

Tomorrow we begin working on our big list of things to do. Since the rear tires are almost down to the wear mark, they are high on the list. The fronts aren’t as bad but all the tires will be replaced. They currently have 65,400 kms on them. The windshield also gets replaced as the one crack is right in the driver’s vision and reflects the sun into your eyes. Truck and trailer insurance, contents insurance for our storage unit, truck service, check trailer brakes, the list goes on. We also have to ensure our yard is neat at our (rented out) house as we don’t want to get complaints from the neighbours. Mitzy is badly in need of grooming and a pile of other things. We won’t be bored.