June 11
We arrived today at Swan Lake Resort in Vernon, BC for two nights.
Barry booked two nights here since it looked like a nice park and it said “pickleball courtS” on their website. Since I couldn’t see any courts yet, I asked where the pickleball courts were. The lady checking us in said, “Well, I think they just play on the road over there. I believe there is a net out there they put up.” We checked it out. OMG…this part of the road was horribly uneven, and with NO net to be seen. So much for pickleball. :(. We will just relax during our stay here.
What beautiful views!
Beautiful afternoon. Here’s our site…roomy and quite private.
We even had a bit of a lake view from our site.
When we went to the liquor store for beer I saw a display of tequila…a peanut butter tequila. ewww! Many of us at CVR really like the almond tequila from Mexico. I remember trying a peanut butter whiskey at CVR. I was not a fan, but that wasn’t tequila. A lady working there must have seen my face, and said, “Yeah, I know…I thought the same thing when the guy brought that in for us, but I tasted it. It is quite good! “It’s nice and smooth and very pleasant as a shot or over ice, or ice cream.” I decided to get one. (Not cheap though, $59.95 CAD –about $42+ USD…well, that sounds better! LOL )
We tried it that evening. It really was smooth, and not a strong, or overpowering peanut butter flavor. It was just enough to smooth out the tequila over ice. I think Doug Lehman will like it. Looking forward to sharing this with Doug Lehman when we get there.
Rain and wind moved in keeping us tucked in for the rest of the day & evening. No hot tub tonight.
I got a text from Brenda that evening asking where we were. I told here Vernon, BC and she replied that Tim & Jane Zacher live in Vernon. Really? Jane told me last year that we needed to come visit them when we came up to Canada this year, but I thought they were one of the many who lived in western BC!
I went to Jane’s Facebook page since I remembered she had posted pictures of their new place. When I saw the same hedges that bordered just about every site in Swan Lake, I told Barry that I think they are in this park!
I scrolled further down and saw a picture that included THE white SWAN! OMG. They are right here!! I immediately sent Jane a text.
Tim and Jane (and Diego) stopped by the next day morning while out walking Diego.
While sharing our trip itinerary, Jane strongly suggested we NOT go west via RT 11 through Ontario, but travel the southern route. Route 11 is the main trucker highway and is nicknamed as “Accident 11 Highway” or something like that because the trucks go so fast on it. (We took their advice. Barry revised our route the next day to the more scenic southern route.)
Tim and Jane stopped by after they got back from golfing. We got together a bit later for dinner at their place. Great time together!
Tim and Jane have a beautiful place here. I loved the blue in her back splash.
Later that evening the four of us enjoyed the park hot tub till it closed. Thank you, Jane and Tim for such a lovely, surprise visit. It was wonderful to see you both! We can’t believe how late it is till the sunsets!! The picture was taken close to 10PM!
We both had planned to come to the hot tub the night before to watch the sunset, but cancelled due to the wind. How funny that would have been to not know either was here and then end up at the hot tub at the same time!
Come to find out Ian P. (Rancho Rialto) also lives here in Vernon. He reached out to me, but he was recovering from knee surgery. He told me that Gene & Diane K also from Rancho Rialto live close by. I called Diane on our way out of Vernon, June 13. She would have met us at the Vernon Pickleball, but we didn’t have time this trip. I love playing with Diane, so next time for sure!
Thank you, Brenda, for letting us know right away that Tim and Jane were near! How sad it would have been to find out we were in the same SMALL park and didn’t know till afterwards.
Was so great to see you both, and look forward to reading further blogs of your trip across this great country!
🙂
Great luck with finding friends in unknown places. We also visited friends from Calgary last year on our Canadian Rockies trip and John revised our trip home which included two free ferry rides , ( our first time with the trailer) . The scenery was amazing on both and gave Steve a break from driving. Nice to have friends in the know to help show us the way.
Yes, insider information (not insider trading LOL) is awesome. Even talking with locals has been wonderful. They validate places we already have planned or add new ones worth adjusting to incorporate. :). Scenery throughout Canada has been so beautiful…and virtually LITTER FREE!! That has amazed me everywhere. And they don’t need NO LITTERING /Fines signs! We have the signs and still have trash everywhere! Americans need more pride in having a clean country. Just pick up after yourselves and quit throwing trash–especially fast food containers out the windows!