Thanksgiving move

Happy turkey day everyone! At least for all my fellow Canadians. I think this year we’ll celebrate with our neighbours to the south as well, since I’m pretty sure we’ll be in the US for their Thanksgiving. In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving meals & celebrations no matter which day they celebrated on.

We had our meal & get together with Bob's brother's family on Saturday. True to family form (ours that is), we had chicken rather than turkey, but with all the typical fixin’s. I think everyone enjoyed the meal, simple as it was. It was extra nice to be sharing it with family before we left Penticton - which we did today. In retrospect, moving on a holiday Monday was perhaps not the best planned move, but our campground in Penticton is shutting down for the season tomorrow, and knowing that, we were mentally ready to move on. 

When we pulled into Penticton two and a half weeks ago we weren't really sure how long we would stay. We had been going and going… and going, and were all in need of a break from the constant travel.  Thanksgiving was on the radar, but we didn't know if the weather would cooperate or what other people’s plans would be. After the first few days where wind, rain and chilly temperatures dominated the weather settled down and turned relatively nice – for fall.  It was brisk, but warm in the sunshine, especially when there was no wind. The kids got to play down by the water, and even go for a boat ride or two. But, this is Canada, and the fall invariably gets colder as we head closer to winter (which can arrive anywhere from mid-October to late Dec, depending on where you are, or just by what year it is!). By the time this past weekend rolled around, the leaves were falling from the trees in force, and the nights were getting near freezing.

That’s okay though. Turns out, by the time we had been sitting still for two weeks, the wanderlust was starting to kick in. Funny that, I wouldn't have expected to feel that way, but I was ready for somewhere new. This is slightly surprising, considering we were all pretty comfortable at Wright’s Beach Camp, what with its lovely views of the lake, amenities, ample Wi-Fi (the kids watched Netflix a lot), and proximity to everything. Perhaps that was the problem – we were too comfortable. Or perhaps I’m now hooked on that thrill of being slightly uncomfortable, and the challenge of navigating in an unfamiliar place. Whatever the reason, we were ready to go. And so we went.

The morning began well with a smooth pack job, hitch up and we were off before 11. We decided to take the south route rather than head back north to join with the Coquihalla Highway.  The 3 (and 3A, which we took from Penticton to where it joins with the 3) is a smaller highway which winds through the mountains. This is a much slower highway, simply because of all those crazy curves – many of them with 40 and 50 km/hr max signs – but it’s much more interesting than the other highways. Sure, it made for a longer day, but more also provided more opportunities to stop & check out the local flavor.  First stop – a fruit & veggie stand (more like open air shop) in Keremeos where we picked up orchard apples, nectarines and fresh corn (supper!). They had loads of pumpkins & squashes, which were arranged on the grounds near the antique tractors. Lily enjoyed climbing on the tractor and having her picture taken with the pumpkins. 

Next we stopped in Princeton for lunch and to entertain/ annoy the customers at the gas station where we had to carefully maneuver in (and back out) to fuel up. Actually, Bob did a great job getting in and out and not even coming remotely close to hitting anything. Guess we are getting better and driving, (I really hope so!) We joined the Trans Canada #1 highway near Hope, and joined with all the other holiday traffic. The last 75 km to the campground took forever! Well, not forever, but it did take at least 2 hours – definitely longer than expected. Just as traffic finally got moving at a pace faster than a snail, the dreaded works came from the backseat. “Daddy, I need to go potty.” Sigh. Of course you do kid.

We were in luck though. The next exit had an Info Centre, with a decent parking lot. We pulled off, took care of business, and grabbed some food from the trailer for the kids & ourselves, knowing that it would still be awhile before we ready the campground. (which probably turned that stop from annoying but necessary into the best idea all day kinda thing). We finally arrived at the Capilano River RV Park in West Vancouver, just as it was getting dark. Backing the trailer into a dark narrow site with the children running around like wild banshee’s challenged Bob’s and my patience with them & each other, but we accomplished it with no yelling! (must mean we’re getting better at this whole put the trailer where we want it thing – which is actually harder than it might sound) We’re booked into the campground for a full week. We plan to see some of the sights, perhaps catch up with some old friends, and, of course, do school work (although I'm pretty sure Morgan would rather us not!). Morgan has wanted to come back since we were here last summer so that he can return to Second Beach and go on the beach instead of in the sea side pool, so we'll do that too. A little something for everyone.