Lakes, mountains and commercial areas

Today has been quite an interesting drive, from Penticton to Revelstoke through several valleys and over one or two low passes. Generally speaking, the trend of yesterday (the land of plenty) continued and we saw vinyards and orchards everywhere we went.

Besides the obvious green stuff, the drive has been filled with sightings of a very familiar flag and really well known stuff such as windmills and “Dutch” local shops. Oh yes, a lot of immigrants here were dutch, and their descendants now still live here and run their businesses. We even bought some groceries from a store where we were served by a girl who admitted her great grandparents were Dutch!
The weather here is much nicer though!

Besides the drive (a little over 4 hours) we visited a lot of stuff and met great people. We’ve been on the hunt for Sutherland Falls and visited the Revelstoke hydroelectric dam. Unfortunately, we were too late to get admitted to the self guided tour, but we had a really pleasant chat with the security guy who happened to be well acquainted with the locals: Columbia Ground Squirrels. His hut is really near to a nest of theirs, so he is frequently visited by the members of a family of about 14 squirrels. They are very inquisitive and pretty bald, so nearly a nuisance. But very attractive for photographs!

As it turns out, this weekend is a long weekend for all Canadians, and in Revelstoke they are hosting the Kokanee Softball Tournament, where about 140 teams gather and play each other the entire weekend. It is safe to say the town is filled to the brim!

Tomorrow we are headed for Banff. Rockies, here we come!