A RIDE IN MY UTV AND A MINI ROAD TRIP IN THE CAR.

 I took the General for a ride up in the hills the day before yesterday.  It was nice and peaceful and I didn't meet anybody else.  Yesterday was a bit of a weather day.  Thunderstorms and wind were in the forecast and actually happened.  Osoyoos got hit pretty hard with trees downed and the power out for hours.  Just as I went to open the door to go outside here, a cottonwood across the street had its top blown off and it came crashing to the street with a great cloud of leaves exploding out of it.  Later we had lightning and thunder with a bit of heavy rain.

This morning we went to Keremeos to see if there were an good pears available and there weren't so we just made a circle drive out of it 

I parked the General and went for a walk across the top of the meadows.

The gravel road between Oliver and Cawston is down in the bottom.  We took that road home this morning on our little road trip.

Lots of cattle graze this area.  Guess this one decided to stay.

The end of an old rotten fir log.

I climbed up an ugly steep section of trail in the General that took me to a powerline tower at the top.  From there I could look down on Oliver in this image.

And I could look down the other side to Cawston and Keremeos.

Insulators and power line on the tower.

Heading back down one of the steep sections that doesn't look steep in the photo.  I was spinning with all four wheels coming up though!

Looking down to the Similkameen Valley SE of Cawston.

On my way home I noticed White Lake was dry.  That's alkali and other minerals in the lake bed.

Backlit poison ivy on yesterday morning's walk.

Milkweed.

Magpie on this morning's road trip.

Magpie on this morning's road trip.

Male "red shafted" Northern Flicker on this morning's road trip.

SIGNS OF FALL ARE ALL AROUND US!

 The fish are returning from the ocean to spawn and the birds are heading south for the winter.  We're hunkering down for a winter spent at home.

Sockeye migrating up the Okanagan River.

Sockeye migrating up the Okanagan River.

Sockeye migrating up the Okanagan River.

Almost.

Not this time.

Off course, about to hit the wall.

Over the top.

Sockeye migrating up the Okanagan River.

From a distance I thought this was some balled up bark at the end of a branch.  When I zoomed in it was a Turkey Vulture lounging.

On my walk the other evening I heard the Sandhill Cranes but it took a while to spot them.

In tight formation.

They were in several formations within the main group.

I had to wait until they were a long distance away before I could fit them in even with my 100mm lens.  You can see there were a lot of them.

Our resident Ospreys left a week or more ago.  I think this male was probably from further north making his way south.

Mother and daughter across the river from our park.  They were riding bareback.

A FEW PHOTOS FROM A RECENT UTV RIDE.

 I took a wander up in the three lakes area about 5 miles 8 KMs behind us the other day.   I checked out some of my geocaches a couple of which needed attention.   One was missing and the other was obliterated by an excavator.

    The Sandhill cranes are heading south again. 

Cute little cabin in the hills. 

Looking south of Oliver down to Osoyoos Lake. 

 

Alkali covered log. 

From a distance I spotted some old mine workings so I investigated.  Not much to see other than a few pretty rocks. 

 Some of my riding area.

Alkali around a little pond that the cattle drink from. 

A FEW PHOTOS AS WE LEFT NANAIMO DEPARTURE BAY TERMINAL AND ALONG THE OKANAGAN RIVER AT HOME.

It was a dull overcast morning  as we left Vancouver Island.  We had many small rain showers much of the way home that day.  We are now experiencing some gorgeous weather with the current temperature at 2 pm today sitting at 25C/77F.   The mornings are cooler at about 13C/lower 50's F.

We canned 20 pounds of Bartlett pears yesterday and today getting 21 pints.  We also made 5 pints of apple sauce today.  No local peaches to can this year since the flower buds got froze during the winter so pears and apples are going to have to make up for it.

Barnacle and mussel encrusted at the ferry terminal.

Barnacle and mussel encrusted at the ferry terminal.

This was a self-appointed guardian at the ferry terminal.  Nothing fazed him, he just sat there the whole time and he was still there the last I could see as we departed.

Looking into the Nanaimo inner harbour from the ferry as we left.

Closeups of a little island as we departed the ferry terminal.

Closeups of a little island as we departed the ferry terminal.

Closeups of a little island as we departed the ferry terminal.

Closeups of a little island as we departed the ferry terminal.

Shortly after we left the terminal we passed this sailboat.

This Great Blue Heron watched me from the other side of the Okanagan River last night.  That's poison Ivy all around him.

The Sockeye Salmon arm making their way up the Okanagan River.  The Vaseux Dam is one of their obstacles to surmount.

The Sockeye Salmon arm making their way up the Okanagan River.  The Vaseux Dam is one of their obstacles to surmount.

The Sockeye Salmon arm making their way up the Okanagan River.  The Vaseux Dam is one of their obstacles to surmount.

This one might have made it.

These ones took the wrong trajectory and will just smack into the cement.  The wall is wet from the large number of fish that are hitting it.