okanagan falls & Spotted lake

2 little birds we saw on our walk

We went camping with our friends Chuck and Peggy to a government campground in Okanagan Falls, it is a very nice, but small campground. I saw deer when I went for a walk, which was quite cool. The campground is by a small lake with ducks and other birds. We drove to Osoyoos and saw spotted lake and went to Osoyoos Desert Model Railroad (see seperate blog)

Spotted Lake, Osoyoos

Nine kilometres west of Osoyoos on Highway 3 is Klikuk, the Spotted Lake, containing one of the world's highest concentrations of minerals, including epsom salts, calcium, magnesium and many other trace minerals. The healing mud and waters were used to alleviate aches and pains. In the summer the water evaporates and crystallizes, making the white-ringed spots visible. The lake is on private land, and is therefore not accessible, but you can get a good view from the highway.

klikuk" - the Spotted Lake can be spotted from Highway 3, 8.8 kms (5.5 miles) west of Osoyoos.

It is a rare natural phenomenon covering 15.2 hectares (38 acres), containing one of the world's highest concentrations of minerals: magnesium sulfate (epsom salts), calcium and sodium sulfates, plus eight other minerals and traces of four more, including silver and titanium.

As the summer progresses the lake dries out, its mud forming into white, pale yellow, green and blue circles depending on its mineral composition. Known as Kliluk to the natives of the Okanagan Valley, the lake is a sacred and culturally significant site whose potential for commercial exploitation recently generated much controversy.

The healing mud and waters were used by natives to alleviate aches and pains.

Vancouver Island Adventure

My daughter’s boyfriend volunteered to take a truckload of things to a church camp on Thetis Island (his dad who was going to take them had a heart attack and had to be hospitalized). Since it was such a beautiful day we all decided to join him for the drive. There was my daughter-Jody, husband-Chester, granddaughter-Kiana, and daughter’s boyfriend-Jason and myself-Sharon. We left Maple Ridge at 6:45 AM in Jason’s beautiful, luxurious truck. We stopped for fuel for us (McDonald’s) and for the truck (gas).

We got to the ferry station at Horseshoe Bay just in time to catch the ferry for Nainimo. This is a very large ferry and takes about a 1½ hours per trip. Unfortunately it was not warm enough to stay outside but fairly quickly moved inside.

Sharon on the ferry from Naniamo

Ches

We drove directly to Chemainus to catch the ferry to Thetis Island, but had to wait for almost 2 hours. We walked around Chemainus and looked at the murals and houses and sat and watched the ocean for awhile. The time went quite fast.

A train that takes people around to see the sights in Chemainus

It is a nice 30 minute ferry ride to Thetis island. We drove over to the Church camp and delivered the supplies that we had brought. It is a very nice camp surrounded by the ocean.

We drove back to the ferry landing and had an hour wait. We walked around and looked at crabs on the beach. Kiana collected some seashells.

a Crab

Rock formation

Thetis ferry

As soon as we docked we drove to the next ferry landing to catch the ferry back to Vancouver. We got there at 3:30 PM and the line up was about 1 ½ miles from the terminal, fortunately it was a nice warm sunny day. Kiana, Jody and I walked to the ferry terminal to the washroom and bought some water. Then we walked back and the truck and they had moved up about ½ mile. We went to pub and bought some fish and chips and had a tailgate picnic at the truck. We were so happy when we got on the last ferry for the evening at 9:30 PM, after 6 hours of waiting. It was almost midnight by the time we got home, very tired. Ches and I had to get up early the next morning to drive 300 miles home to Vernon.

Old Jerusalem

(This is second part of my mother's trip to Isreal after Egypt in Feb 27, 1997)

Day 1
Tony (friend I met on the Egypt part of my vacation) and I got picked up at the Salmo motel at 4 AM by a large public bus. Everything was great for an hour until the bus broke down. Waited a couple of hours until two small buses arrived and we all squished in with our luggage. It took about eight hours to drive to the Egyptian border. which we crossed without too much trouble. Had to leave the bus and walk with our luggage to the Israel border. Soldiers and customs officers both checked our papers and luggage. We wouldn’t let them stamp our passports with an Israel stamp, as the Arabian counties don’t like to acknowledge Israel exists. Another hour and we finally made our first coffee stop at a kibbutz. We then went on the Tel Aviv (away out of our way) and then to Jerusalem. We arrived there at 9 PM tired and hungry. Said goodbye to Tony as he was carrying on around the world on his own and had only come to Jerusalem with me so I would not have to take the bus by myself.
Had some soup and got our rooms assigned. Was told to knock on the door as my new roommate was already there. The door opened and I couldn’t see anyone until I looked down and saw a dwarf. We shared a room for the rest of the trip and really enjoyed her company. She’s a 26-year-old New Zealand girl who has been widowed for a year. Her husband died from taking pills to try and increase his size. These pills are experimental and have also caused the death of some small children so they are trying to get a class action suit going against the drug companies. It was incredible walking with Karen as everyone would flip out, especially the Arabs. Some of the children and parents were mean to her but she was a great sport about it all. She seemed to be fairly well off as she had beautiful tailor made clothes and said she had her house and car custom built for her.

Wailing Wall

Day 2
Met the new tour leader Jacki and the new group the next day. There were only nine of us; one couple from Ireland and one from Australia, a pretty Chinese American girl (who spent all her time posing in front of the sites), two other English girls and Karen and myself. Nice bunch, but not as much fun as the group from Egypt. Our tour guide was Miko, from Israel but we soon discovered that his main interest was in taking us to expensive cafes and stores that he got freebees from. Our meals on this tour weren’t included in the tour, so it made quite a difference.
Our hotel was only a block from the “Old Jerusalem” part of the city, so it was great as that’s where we spent most of our time. It is the neatest place, like going back to ancient times. It had narrow cobbled streets and lanes with little shops and stone houses, entirely surrounded by very tall stonewall. It seemed to be populated by mostly Arabs. It was really easy to get lost but there were five main gates so we would ask the way to the Damascus gate. The people were so friendly and curious about us. Miko took us on the same path that Jesus went, such as where he had the last supper, his trial, and crucifixion, etc. very interesting!

We had swarmis in Arab café. They are made of chicken, beef or lamb that is cooked hanging from a spike over open flames and they slice pieces off it. It is then put into pita bread with tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and sauces. Delicious!

Wailing Wall
Next went to the “Wailing Wall” one side for the Jews and the other side for the Arabs. They are praying, chanting, kissing the wall, putting notes on the wall, etc. A lot of the orthodox Jews are dressed in long, black robes, with a broad brimmed hat and ringlets. The security is unbelievable! There were white police vans and hundreds of smart looking police and soldiers all over the place. We asked a soldier if this much security was normal and he said they are more careful on Arab holy days as when they congregate there is more of a chance of trouble. Especially as the Arabs are furious because the Jews are still building near Jerusalem and he expects that at Easter it will be a disaster.

Spent the rest of the day wandering around the old city. None of us did any shopping, as things are expensive. Had dinner at a very busy, friendly Arabian café. Had a small delicious pizza and wine and really enjoyed it. Ran into Tony again and said another good-bye.

Dead Sea, Masada, Dead Sea Scrolls

Day 3
Next morning met another tour leader, Andy, a tall nice Scotsman who had bad news about my tour. It seems that Vancouver booked me on a nonexistent tour, ending in Tel Aviv with my plane booked to fly from there. The head office said I would have to leave Jordan and catch a public bus by myself to Tel Aviv to catch the plane home it also meant staying in Tel Aviv 3 nights at my own expense in a hotel. I said that was totally unacceptable as I had paid to be part of a tour and not take a bus through the border at Jordan and Israel on my own as they were a nightmare, even with a guide from their countries looking after it. Besides Tel Aviv is a very expensive, modern city so had nothing that interested me. Andy faxed Vancouver and they arranged for me to stay with the group and end up back in Cairo and fly back from there. It meant getting a re-entry visa to get back into Egypt.

Dead Sea
Took the bus to the Dead Sea. Paid to go into a huge building with hundreds of tourist. It had a lounge chars, coffee shops and changing rooms. Put on our bathing suits, then took open jitney to the sea. On the way the bus stops while everyone except me got off and covered themselves with sticky, black mud. Supposed to do wonders for health and beauty and of course they sell jars of the mud for unbelievable prices. You then walk into the Dead Sea. It was a cold, overcast day and the water looked dirty. Signs all over saying just to float on your back and not to swallow the water as it could be poisonous. I passed on the adventure and was thankful, as when they came out of the sea they still had to stand under cold, outside showers and try and get the mud out of their hair. It was a riot as everyone kept checking each other’s hair and skin and then were convinced that it had done wonders for them. I did go into the hot sulphur baths and they were wonderful.

Masada
We got back on the bus to Masada and saw remains of an ancient fort and city on top of a mountain. We paid $16.00 to take a cable car there and back. The history of Masada was that the Jews lived there and the Romans attacked them. You could still see where the Roman armies had camped below the mountain. They used slingshots that hurled huge rocks at them and battering rams to try and break into the stone fort. The Jews threw rocks and hot tar down on the Romans. After a year the Jews ran out of water and food so they nominated 10 elders to kill the 900 people and then kill themselves, as they knew they would be massacred anyway. When the Romans took over they found two grandmothers and two children alive. It was a fascinating place to see how they stored their supplies and water that long ago and to see how they lived.

Dead Sea Scrolls
We stopped at a museum and saw the “the dead se scrolls” they take up a large room and have been carefully put together like a jigsaw puzzle and are preserved under glass. There were so many treasures to see that it is hard to digest it all