Coquihalla to Lake Country – 17 June 2022
The following day was one of the longest trips for a while. It took about 3.5 hours to get to Lake Country but the scenery was lovely. Beautiful trees, snow capped mountains and tons of lakes – typical British Columbia – how we forget what a beautiful place we live in. After a few stops along the way we eventually reached Leys RV Park which was on a hillside up from the expansive, beautiful Wood Lake – set amongst orchards, trees and hills.
The campsite only had about 9 RVs and a pool, so quite small compared to the other sites we have been in. It is nicely situated between Kelowna and Vernon, full of wineries and fruit farms. We booked 38 days and were looking forward to parking off and relaxing but also exploring the surrounding areas. When we arrived we were greeted by Tom Ley, the owner who was driving around on a motorized lawn mower and ushered into the only empty site with a milk can filled with flowers that said WELCOME RUTHERFORDS.
The days in Lake Country flew by quickly. Each day I would take Jax for a walk either along the lake or up along the mountainside with its magnificent views of orchards and farms. A few times a week we would all take off in the car to explore. There are 3 major lakes in this area – Lake Wood (which was just down the hill from us), Lake Kalamalka and Lake Okanagan. Unfortunately there was an algae bloom scare in Wood lake so we had to be careful where we took Jax swimming. We did however find a lovely dog’s beach – Cosens Beach in Vernon where he was able to enjoy the water. We were able to go on several nice hikes, all of which were quite different but all having tremendous views. On one such hike I almost trod on a snake which had made its way across the hiking path. We googled it later and it appears it was a Gopher snake – harmless but really big. The weather didn’t disappoint with temperatures at times reaching the early 30’s. Most days we would swim in the pool or otherwise sit in air conditioned comfort inside the RV catching up with work.
Our saga with our broken fridge still continued. We arranged for a third Norcold technician to come to the RV to inspect the fridge and send the appropriate forms to Norcold. Norcold in true form was always impossible to get hold of and when they were, would say that the wrong forms were submitted. With hot summer temperatures our freezer could only work as a fridge and our fridge was warm so we couldn’t use it. We did thank goodness have a bar fridge outside but it was very small. We ended up shopping every three days to avoid throwing food away all the time. It was an absolute nightmare.
The other issue we experienced was with our new Vitron batteries. Derek had spent hours and $$$$$ buying the best equipment so we could have a better power system in the RV and could occasionally go off the hook in remote places instead of always having to rely on utilities in a RV park. We bought four of them and he had everything wired up to a control panel inside. In our last week at Leys the Vitron Inverter charger stopped working. This meant that we could no longer charge the batteries and the power went off. You can imagine in this heat – we NEED aircon!! As an interim measure we spent another $400and purchased a portable Vitron Litheum battery charger to charge the batteries while we wait for Vitron to get back to us. We will probably have to send the controller back to them and wait for another one to be shipped to us. This was very depressing after all Derek’s hard work as everything has to be unwired to return it and then rewired again later.
On the plus side, we were fortunate that we were able to catch up with some good friends Pat and Dave who live in Kelowna and were able to spend quality time with them eating, drinking and swapping stories. We met a while back when their daughter Marika and ours (Caylin) were best of friends at junior school in Victoria.
We did try out some of the local fare by treating ourselves to a lovely dinner at Grays Monk Winery which is perched on top of a hill in Vernon. We were able to watch a beautiful sunset over the wine farm and lake, from their outside patio. On another occasion we went to a downtown Mexican restaurant called El Taquero and enjoyed some delicious street tacos on their streetside patio with Jax at our feet. We also visited the Grizzlies winery with Pat and Dave and enjoyed happy hour.
A week before we were due to leave, Derek was throwing the ball for Jax when Jax ran straight into Derek’s knee. Derek heard a loud tear and feared he had torn a ligament. He spent the rest of the week resting in the bedroom, a little concerned how he would be able to drive our RV on the next leg of our journey. The rest did pay off but he will have to take it easy for a while so as not to aggravate it further.
A couple of weeks into staying at Leys, Minnie Min took a turn for the worse. She got progressively thinner and thinner and all she could manage to eat was a little bit of broth here and there. She was also having problems walking. She would get up, stagger a few steps and then collapse on the floor again. As time went on I kept making accommodations, to make things as easy as possible for her. It was sad she no longer had the strength to climb up her cat tree and sit and look out of her window, which she loved. Instead, I would carry her from place to place when she needed to move. During the day she would often sit next to Derek on our bed and look out the side window. She was very restless and we knew her time was coming to an end. Finally, I phoned a travelling vet to come and euthanize her. That day she was particularly weak and the process was quick and painless. Nevertheless the decision to euthanize her and then the finality of it all, was very traumatic. We were lucky there was a pet crematorium just up the road so we were able to take her there to be cremated. Later we took her ashes and scattered them under the Apricot trees on their property overlooking the lake. It was a beautiful final resting spot. Minnie Min was 15 years old when she died. A strong character who ruled the roost at home and kept all the dogs she encountered in the house, under control. She would let you know if she was cross with you especially if you didn’t take the time to pet and love her. When you live in such close proximity with your animals you notice things about their personality you never have before and you all become very close. Her presence will be sorely missed.
