IT’S NOT A VACATION AFTER ALL

Oct 24/09

We’ve been in our RV for 6 weeks now and the reality that this isn’t a vacation has become very apparent. We have adapted amazingly well to the “more compact” environment and realize how much we (and probably all of you) take certain things for granted.

For example, when the weather gets cold, you don’t need to go out and check to see that your water line is not freezing up. When you drain your sinks or flush your toilet, you never think about having to drain your storage tanks; It all just “goes away” somewhere. When you get up in the morning, you head for the shower without much fuss. We have a good shower house here so we get dressed and walk there for our morning showers. Not so much fun when it’s freezing cold or raining.

One thing that is extremely convenient here is that we are within walking distance of the Swan Lake Fruit and Garden Centre, which has a bakery, deli, canned goods, dairy section and a huge selection of both local and imported fruits and vegetables. We have been eating pears, apples, fresh peppers, onions, potatoes, yams, cabbage, carrots and Brussels sprouts. Sounds way too healthy, doesn’t it?

We meet new people almost every day and the conversations can be very interesting. We met a woman from Boston (heavy accent) who has been vacationing in BC for 3 weeks and we were able to hear some of her travel experiences and perceptions of our province. We met her at Winfield and they enjoyed the Okanagan and the wineries near Naramata. She and her husband are very impressed, and that’s after spending 5 days in Hope. Go figure!!

Another interesting couple are 2 full time RV’ers who spent 6 months as Park Hosts at Ellison Park this past summer. They moved here about 10 days ago and will be staying until mid-November before going south for the winter. They have been full timers for 3 years now and had a nasty experience crossing the border at Sumas last year.

The U.S. Customs and Immigration Officer grilled them excessively especially when they said that they had no permanent address and their “home” was attached to their truck. They were questioned for a couple of hours, finger-printed and then told that they could not cross the border and should not try again for a year. They were devastated and came back to the Okanagan to figure out what to do. They went down to the Osoyoos crossing to find out what they needed to do to get permission to cross and were told that there would be no problems. Sure not an experience that we want to have!!

My doctor’s appointment is scheduled for November 20 in Kelowna so we will be staying in the Okanagan area until then. We are moving down to Winfield on Tuesday, but are not sure exactly where we will be for the whole time yet—depends on the weather and the RV parks that are available. As we aren’t fishing and golfing these days, we need to find some other activities to keep us occupied. It’s all good though, and we have no regrets about this adventure that we are on.