And I knew exactly what they meant... some laser wheel alignment machines have heads that mount onto the front wheels, and because Sherman's wheels are inset from the body, they wouldn't be able to read the laser properly.
So that was a waste of time.
This is becoming a frustrating problem. They suggested we go back through to West Kelowna to another place they had recommended, but I hate back tracking. Especially through the traffic in Kelowna. There is a big Kal Tire store in Vernon, so we'll give them a try this morning. (In fact, we are now sitting in that Kal Tire's parking lot and they say they can do it... fingers crossed!).
Anyhow, we continued north up the 97 towards Vernon, but we were actually headed to Kekuli Bay Provincial Park to visit our friends Derek, Teresa, and their daughter Cassia.
Scenery along the way.
Now that's a bird house!
It's a scenic drive.
Would be a really nice drive if everybody wasn't in such a rush!
Lake Kalamalka.
Kekuli Bay Provinical Park is a fairly new campground, only built in 1999. But they designed the sites really well... spaced out, with enough vegetation that has grown now that you have some privacy from other sites. And many of the sites have a beautiful view of the lake.
We think it was Christmas 2012 when we originally met Derek,Teresa and Cassia down in Mexico at Hacienda Contreras RV Park.
It was them who originally gave us the idea of managing a campground for the summer and traveling in the winter. That's what they've been doing for many years, and they're currently here at Kekuli Bay.
Sherman, quite happy in his site!
You can see Sherman at the left side of the photo.
We said hello, but they still had some work to get done, so Ruth and I went and explored the area around the park. They have a nice walking path through the hills above the park, and then the fairly new Okanagan Rail Trail runs along the lake shore in front of the park.
Beautiful views, and you can see that it's a beautiful day!
Looking back at the campground.
Ruth and Lake Kalamalka.
Me!
Ruth.
The Okanagan Rail Trail is actually more suitable to biking than hiking in our opinion. But we had done a long bike ride the day before and we wanted to give our legs (actually our bums!) a bit of a rest. So we ended up walking 6 kms (3.7 miles) in 1:02... a fast enough pace to get the blood flowing. Our normal walking speed on flat ground is about 5 km/h (3 mph), so this was a little faster.
Lake Kalamalka.
After dinner, we went down to Derek and Teresa's place and sat around their new propane fire pit. After all the smoke British Columbia endured this summer, nobody wants to be breathing in campfire smoke!
Nice to get caught up, and we all shared a few laughs and stories related to managing a campground! Lots of fun!
This morning, we took off fairly early to get to the Kal Tire store in Vernon. But we had time to get us all together for a photo...
Kevin, Ruth, Teresa, Cassia (9), and Derek.
So now... at the Kal Tire store and waiting for our turn at the alignment machine!
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Kal Tire is more truck-oriented than most.
ReplyDeleteSome are and some aren't, this one in Vernon definitely does lots of work on bigger trucks which is perfect for us. :-)
DeleteHave been enjoying going though your travels..Have been following you for a couple months now after seeing your posts on the RV Canadians facebook page..First time commenting on here(for some reason it wouldn't let me with my email id but have a new computer now lol)
ReplyDeleteAnyways great pics and story as always....I've ran into getting alignment issues before with my Jeeps in the past as some mud tires i've had have had rim protectors built into the tires themselves so the heads wouldn't sit on the rims so I know exactly what you mean...glad you found a place to get it done
Cheers
Steven and Jenn Scaletta
So happy that you are enjoying our travels and our blog posts, we try to make them entertaining and helpful at the same time. :-)
DeleteYep, having the wheels inset has posed a bit of a problem but thankfully this Kal Tire was able to do the job for us but it can be frustrating when the set up isn't "normal".
Wow, Cassia is 9 already? I miss following their blog. Thanks for sharing your time with them. Love the group photo!!!!! What a beautiful area, too!
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how time flies by, isn't it?!
DeleteI will let Teresa know that you miss her blog, I think a few people do. She says when they start to travel again she may resurrect it again. We had a lovely time with them but it was too short!
I never go back, even if we have forgotten something. I'm with you on that.
ReplyDeleteWe don't normally either, but it would also depend on what we might have forgotten! Plus, there are some roads that only go out and back but we don't really look at that as backtracking. ;-)
DeleteOh how I miss Teresa blog. Cassie had really grown!
ReplyDeleteYes, Cassia sure has grown. We will let Teresa know that their blog is missed!
DeleteBEAUTIFUL photos guys!
ReplyDeleteThank you Geoff!
DeleteLook at the bird houses closely. Lots of wires coming out the bottom. The bird holes are real small in most of them. I suggest you've just been caught on a video as the thing must be full of video cameras.
ReplyDeleteBob
Never even noticed all the wires! Personally I don't think they are actually meant to be used as birdhouses, we figured it was just some kind of "art" piece but now that you brought our attention to the wires, it really has us wondering! I did find this article however and I am sure it is the same structure as this one that they are talking about. https://www.lakecountry.bc.ca/Modules/News/index.aspx?feedId=1f38040c-2ad9-4129-a3cf-2cab154f8cYellowhead (BC-16) Highway just north of Smithers, British Columbia, Canada48&newsId=0c437a2c-c314-443f-8642-560cf003fd11
DeleteLooks like a very nice spot there. Great to see Teresa, Cassia and Derek again is was many years ago we met them in California.
ReplyDeleteIt is a really beautiful location. Derek, Teresa and Cassia are really happy there too, except for the really, really busy summer months. ;-)
DeleteGood luck guys. Scenery is so lovely in the Okanagan. Be safe.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWe have loved the scenery here and the weather has been great as well. :-)
havent read your blogs since aug. 15th!now that we are in a campground with half decent wifi, I plan to binge read and catch up!lol!
ReplyDeleteenjoyed seeing Kelowna and lake Kalamalka again...was there summer of 2002 with our first pauly! oh my! what fond memories!
Lol, guess you will have a little reading to do! ;-)
DeleteI bet you will see quite a change in this area if you came back here now compared to your last visit in 2002. It has really grown but it is still beautiful.
It took us four trys to get somone to align our sprinter. I had no idea how difficult it would be:(
ReplyDeleteWow, and we would have thought that your Sprinter would have been much easier to get aligned than our old beast! I bet you were happy when they finally got it right, just like we were happy to just finally get it done.
DeleteThat is one of the prettiest campsites (and campgrounds in general) that I have ever seen. So nicely situated!
ReplyDeleteIt was a really pretty campground, the only real issue is that the higher up you go for a better view of the lake and the scenery the closer you get to the very busy highway, although at night the highway was pretty quiet. It is also quite pricey at $32 a night for dry camping unless you are a British Columbia senior and then the camping is half price.
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