John and Aileen sometimes on the road: July 2020

Friday, July 17, 2020

I GOT OUT ATVING FINALLY

My ATV friend from Nanaimo, Ernie, told me he was coming to Summerland just a few miles away from here and wanted to know if I’d like to go riding. That was enough incentive for me to go and get the RZR from Bev and Kev’s garage in Salmon Arm. I had to replace the battery which was four years old and not consistently keeping a charge. It had been sitting since last September.

Ernie leads ATV rides weekly in Yuma, AZ and some of his riders down there live in this area the rest of the year. One of them had invited Ernie and Susan to come visit and supplied Ernie with a machine to ride. His friend Al took Ernie and I along the KVR railway trail then up into the hills on Tuesday. Yesterday, Al rode with me and his friend Lorie guided us on another great ride. There were five of us in four machines so another nice leisurely ride. We started on the Okanagan side of the hills and worked our way over to the Similkameen side with a great view over Cawston and Keremeos. Later, Aileen and I joined Ernie and Al and their wives and a couple other friends for burgers on the porch and a fun evening visiting.

The weather is starting to feel more like summer now with the temperatures creeping up but nothing like Arizona is experiencing. We are tapering off on working in the yard as most projects are complete but Aileen is keeping busy with garden maintenance such as deadheading flowers and picking peas. I continue to move sprinklers daily.

Me, Al, Ernie

Ernie and Al

Al and Ernie

Penstemon

Columbine

Monroe Lake

Northern Gentian

This object that was high on an old Fir tree and resembles a certain male appendage, is actually called a Quinine Cork Fungus.

Ernie at the viewpoint

Sagebrush Mariposa Lily which were quite plentiful near the viewpoint

Me, Lorie, Roy, Al, Ernie

An old cabin out in the woods

This was our last rest stop and the mosquitoes were very hungry!

Indian Paintbrush and Lupines

Looking down into the Similkameen Valley

Ernie heading down

Cawston, BC

A panorama shot with my phone. Cawston on the left, Keremeos on the right.

Keremeos

Cawston

The old cabin again

Almost back to where we started at Twin Lakes

Showy Daisies

Sunday, July 12, 2020

MORE WORKING FOR US

Hi Darleen.

We continue to get lots accomplished here in Karen’s yard. I pruned all the low branches along one fence line which were mostly cedars. Then Karen’s son Colin brought over a pruning saw as well as his chainsaw and we heavily pruned a maple blocking light to the garden and an elm growing too close to the house. We ended up with a very large pile of branches which we loaded into a trailer this morning. I got in the trailer and kept tamping the pile down and strategically placing the debris to maximize the load and we got it all in to the one load! Karen’s contractor had delivered a load of mulch Friday afternoon and left the trailer over the weekend.

We continue to find other little projects that Karen has had in mind so we’re not getting bored too badly. The deer continue to be a challenge. Karen goes to the plant store and buys plants that deer don’t bother, we plant them and next morning we see how badly the deer have desecrated them. Some mornings it is pretty ugly. The large pile of maple and elm branches provided a buffet feast for the deer and they will be sad that we have hauled it away.

Yesterday, Aileen and I travelled up to Salmon Arm to retrieve our RZR from Kevin’s garage. I’m sure he was glad to see it go. My friend Ernie from Nanaimo is visiting in Summerland this week and going on a ride with friends and invited me to join them. I thought that would be a great way to explore some new country and perhaps make some new contacts, too.

It seems we may be staying put here for a while yet. It doesn’t seem wise to be moving around too much with all the stuff happening. We have a small circle here we are comfortable with and want to keep it that way. We may take the motorhome and head a couple hours east to get closer to some geocaching though. There is a series of geocaches near West Kelowna that sound like they should only be accessed by ATV so we hope to check them out shortly.