Taking a road trip in pandemic times wasn’t an easy decision. Ultimately we left Vancouver with acute awareness of COVID-19 – face masks, hand sanitizer, disposable gloves, lengthy discussion with family in Penticton regarding outdoor social distancing. We booked 4 nights in Penticton, fully prepared to turn tail if safe road trip red flags called for retreat.
Provincial regulations stipulate late check in, early check-out, no in room housekeeping during your stay. No big deal, I can make the bed, use a towel more than once, allow housekeeping extra time to deep clean between guests. Beyond our hotel, restaurants, wineries and businesses were the only ones following provincial health regulations. We chose out of the way restaurants without line-ups, every last one asked for contact information in compliance with B.C. health guidelines. Activity on local streets was a different story.
Penticton is a resort town nestled between Skaha and Okanagan Lake in B.C’s southern interior. My birthplace, home to my father and brother. Despite moving to Vancouver 43 years ago, I still consider it home. Tourists flock to the Okanagan in summer, soaking up sun, water, wine and outdoor sports. It’s said the population of 35 or so thousand doubles in summer. Local businesses rely on tourism to survive. I get it, understand why every motel/hotel is sold out, oblivious partiers pack beaches, campsites and bars.
Festival, an old post describing Penticton summer – https://notestoponder.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/festival/
Pandemic road trips require fresh perspective, specifically reminding ones self that road trips are the purest form of travel. Reason why pandemic road trips demand more drive time, less local interaction. Such was our weekend getaway – long way up and back, daily exploration of secondary highways ringing the Okanagan Valley and idle meandering on sleepy roads.
Random images along the way –
Highway 1 near Lytton B.C.
Graveyard adjacent church on Hwy. 1 near Lytton B.C.
Black Sage Road near Oliver B.C.
View of Penticton from lookout on Munson Mtn.
Gerry Fruit and Veg in Keremeos B.C.
notestoponder 
I’m on a different computer this AM while my regular one “downloads updates” (that’s taking forever and ever) so that may have something to do with it … but none of the images are showing … ??
Not showing for moi, either.
Should be fixed now. Let me know if there’s a problem.
I tried different methods but none of the images showed, and nothing worked.
I like this bit “oblivious partiers pack beaches, campsites and bars” … everyone is bulletproof? (Until it happens to them, at which point they blame it on God.)
Would appreciate your help – can you see the first image now?
Yeo. Got ’em all.
And now to look at them …
Outstanding, thanks for putting my mind at ease. It was driving me crazy. 🙂
Mine drives me crazy when I argue with it … and it wins.
You just penned a snapshot of my existence. Hugs.
While I am unable to view the images, as it seems others were, I’m really glad you got to take the trip and had a good time!
Trying to fix photo trouble now. 🙂
Should be fixed now. Hugs
It is … lovely pictures! Thanks!
Other than the huge icecream, that lot could be Noo Zealand.
Curious, never pictured NZ as having places this hot and dry.
Here we have the whole lot in one easy-to-digest package: desert, surf, beachy, coastal, fjords, alpine, urban, rural, volcanoes, prairie—you name it, we got it. You can shoot deer if the whim takes you, catch salmon/trout/thingies; play any number of sports etc etc ad nauseam.
We also have some excellent wines, semi-passable beers, urban sprawl, some talented people and oodles of hairy oafs who excel at thumping other hairy oafs whilst chasing a non-ball backwards and forward over a field to the incessant PHHEEE-EEP of frustrated referees (who really would rather be at the bar).
And in the right places night skies to die for …
Sounds a lot like Canada. One day I’ll see NZ for myself.:)
Certainly I hope you do. I’ve seen little dibbles of Canada, and liked very muchly what I saw. And I love Service’s works — ‘The Spell of the Yukon’ especially.