Sunday 24th June - the Kamloops Experience

The alarm awoke us at 7.30 this morning, looking outside we saw low mist over the mountains, grey skies, and although everything was saturated the rain had stopped. We breakfasted in the motel's lobby area - how busy it was. The place was full due to the bad weather and also a nearby Convention. We sat at a table with an elderly couple, the lady watched me intently as I grappled to take the lid off my butter pat and asked in a drawl, "is your hand wrecked dear?" Mmm, that's one question theat I've not been asked previously. The tv warned of flooods and that Highway 97 towards Revelstoke was still blocked.                        

Osprey sitting pretty!

Once on the road we called in to look at Sushwap Lake which is the most popular houseboating destination in BC. We chatted with locals who told us that due to the weather they had to cancel the scheduled Dragon Boat Race and that the water levels had risen 10feet, a 30 year high, and that the mud flats and beach were submerged. Joy of joys, we saw an Osprey on its nest.
We picked up Highway 1 and travelled West towards Kamloops, tonight's destination,stoping off at Blind Bay for morning coffee. The South Frazer River was very high, but amazingly the scenery and conditions changed as we neared Kamloops. On the approaches there were "pyramid" type of hills that were grassed over - maybe mining that had been grassed over - and Kamloops was more of a desert type place. There is a kind of time warp in this arid region and it is "Cowboy Country" with more than a thousand ranches.
We arrived on the outskirts of Kamloops at around 2pm and checked in to a motel. (Kamloops is a Secwepemc name meaning "where the rivers meet"). As it was a Sunday the whole of this city appeared to be closed meaning that we could not visit any galleries or museums, so we headed for the main park and Waterside Lake. Part of the park was under water and local people were coming to take photographs of the very high level of the Thompson River. There was lots of commemorative planting of trees in the park to celebrate the formal agrement of Kamloops and its sister city, Uji, Japan, on July 1st 1990. We watched fascinated as Marmots played in a series of tunnels. Leaving the park we saw The Rocky Mountineer Train crossing the Thompson River, quite a sight - and sound!
Once back at the motel we watched an Osprey or Eagle soaring and circling in the distance and a train with 2 engines and 113 containers. Both quite a sight.
After a meal at Earls, a chain company of "upscale" pizza and pasta restaurants, we headed back to the motel.This proved to be quite an interesting experience: we could not get the key in the door lock and called for the receptionist, who, when she tried had the same trouble. She knocked very loudly on the door and we were all amazed to see a couple sitting on our bed eating salad and sandwiches!! Nothing more to add here except that we checked out at 10.00pm and had to find anothr place to stay.
So at 10.15p.m. we were checking in to a Best Western Plus on the other side of the city - only to be checking out again in less than 12 hours.

Thompson River

            

Cheeky Marmot.

Water, water everywhere.