Wednesday 1 July 2015

Day Six - Canoe

Even though I got up before 5:15 today I only left camp at 7:20.  It seemed that a lot more people got up earlier than normal.  Probably because the hard rain last night forced us into our tents at around 9.

The campground that we stayed at was at the top of a hill so it was easy going for the first 20km or so as we navigated through Kamloops to the trans Canada.  The route took us to Canoe which is basically a suburb of Salmon Arm.  Most of the road was rolling but there was a couple of major hills.

Just before Chase I took a break at a fruit market and bought a pint of blueberries.  The blueberries were eaten before I left the market along with my second peanut butter and blueberry sandwich.

Sorrento was the next major populated place on the route.  The town was small but from the Highway there was an amazing view of Shuswap Lake.  I'm sure I have been through there in a car but probably moving too fast to notice.

Before getting into Salmon Arm we rode up a couple of hills that were fairly steep.  My legs are fairly fatigued and every uphill is getting more difficult.  I was glad to see that there were only a few kms left until getting camp.  Matt, Duncan, Vicki,  and Laura caught up and passed me and I found them a couple of minutes later at a fruit market.

We rode into Salmon Arm together and decided to go to Dairy Queen for ice cream.  Unfortunately the DQ was up a large hill and it was painful to make my way up there.  Once there I didn't feel like ice cream as I was too tired and hot to eat anything.  Camp was only 7 km away from the camp and got there pretty quickly.

Once in camp we found out that the truck hadn't arrived and we decided to cool ourselves at the beach in Canoe.  The water was refreshing and cooled my legs off nicely.  After a half hour or so we headed back to camp to set up our tents, shower, and get ready for dinner.

Jim, Patti, and Mr. Bumps showed up just before dinner.  They are a very nice couple that we met when we were camping in Merritt.  They arrived with pringles, water, and gatorade for us.  We had a good chat with them and took some pictures before they left.  Thanks Patti and Jim.

Dinner was a delicious meal of Chicken Paprikash, mashed potatoes, and broccoli.

I am more tired than I have been in a long time and I can't to finish this so I can go to sleep.  The others are heading into town to celebrate Canada day.


Duncan trying to keep cool

Jim, Patti, and Mr. Bumps

Thompson River just past Kamloops