Near Oliver, B.C.

Friday November 16...8:10pm

Peachland is billed as having a 7km long beach. After a quick breakfast, we went for a walk and I think by the time we finished we had pretty much done that 7 km's! But other than their beachfront road and the lake, there really wasn't that much to see or do there. So we figured we'd drive on to Summerland and look for some wine tours.

But it turns out that "wine tour season" pretty much ended October 31st. We stopped at the Summerland tourist info (which was still open) and the lady there told us about a few that are worth going to despite not being able to get a tour. We did manage to have a few wine tastings and we bought a bottle at the Sumac Ridge winery. They told us that their sister store at the "See ya Later Ranch" past Penticton was also open, and they also gave us coupons for tasting the ice wine when we got there. What they didn't mention was that the See ya Later Ranch was located at the top of a VERY steep hill.

Ruth with our bottle from the Sumac Ridge Winery

Lots of grapes grow here!

The lady at the tourist place had told us about a nice hike in Summerland...a 1967 centennial project that involved building a paved road to the top of Giant's Head Mountain. She said there was lots of room to park at the bottom gate and hike up. Turns out that this lady has likely NEVER been there. The road leading to the gate was almost too steep for a motorhome (she knew that's what we were driving) and there certainly wasn't enough room to park one there. The gate was closed for the season. We ended up parked near a residential mail box, and were not looking forward to taxing Sherman's brakes on the way down. However, it was a really nice walk up...we kind of alternated between the paved road and some walking trails that bypassed the paved switchbacks. It was a beautiful view at the top, and there was nobody else around.

Ruth and Whiskey on top of Giant's head mountain

Town of Summerland 

So after coming down from there (with Sherman in 1st gear and my foot on the brake!) we headed for the "See ya Later Ranch" past Penticton. We knew it was on a side road because we had to turn of at the Okanogan Falls Park and we were hoping to find an overnight spot in the vicinity. Nothing along the way though, and soon we found ourselves climbing this steep narrow winding road. There were no warning signs or anything. So here we are crawling higher, again with Sherman working hard in low gear. It wasn't so much that we were worried about getting to the top...Sherman has enough power for that. It was coming back down that concerned us. So we got to the Ranch, and parked, hoping we could talk them into letting us park for the night as there was nobody else around. This winery is dedicated to dogs, and the guy who started it up years ago was a dog lover and they even have the dog cemetery there where his beloved pets were buried over the years. The headstones date back to the early 1930's, and there were about a dozen of them. But even though we had Whiskey with us, they wouldn't let us park overnight. We mentioned about the narrow winding road leading up there, and the lady said that a lot of people come up with travel trailers and 5th wheels and are surprised by how steep it was. I can't believe there haven't been accidents. Maybe there have been. Anyhow, she gave us new directions to Oliver B.C. where we wouldn't need to go back down the road we came up on...happy Sherman!

View from See ya Later Ranch

Bought a bottle of "Jimmy My Pal" wine from the "See ya Later Ranch" winery. Too funny.

Driving on the back road towards Oliver B.C. and we found a little pull-off by the side of the road, That's where we parked for the night. It's a little close to the road, but we don't think anyone will bother us. Tomorrow we'll likely be at the Nk'Mip RV Park where we'll spend a week. They have an indoor swimming pool and hottub there as well as cable TV and internet for your RV. It'll be like being on holiday!

Total Nights Sleeping in the RV... 33...

November Fuel $ 459.72

November Grocery $ 223.62

November Overnight Costs $ 88.38