 |
| Pop of Spring Color in Penticton, BC |
 |
| In Penticton, BC on Okanagan Beach |
 |
| My Watercolor of Our Three Cats in Penticton, BC |
Saturday. 7. The cats we are house sitting came to our door at 4:45 am today! Argh! They have been coming at 5 am, and today they were 15 minutes earlier. Darrell says they are on solar time. We slept well, and they did leave us quiet all night long–ahhh. Lol. We did our harder workout of Diamond Lite DDP yoga today. We had a fabulous homemade breakfast and enjoyed our quiet and sunny beautiful mountain views.
Sunday. 8. Today is our final and 3rd Sunday in Penticton. For worship we have been participating online with our congregation in Alabama. We didn’t find any congregations in this small town who worship with acapella singing among other practices important to us. It’s another beautiful day in this small town between two lakes, Lake Okanagan and Lake Skaha. We are two hours earlier than Central time and we turned on the ‘live’ feed at 7am for Bible class followed by an hour of worship.
Monday. 9. In mid-morning I went for my second session of ‘Block Therapy’. It’s a deep bodywork focused on releasing fascia and transforming how the body is holding onto patterns and old injuries. I thoroughly enjoyed my two sessions with Tami. After lunch with Darrell, I had a long back to back trade session of EPT with my friend Laura. We enjoyed working together for a couple hours using WhatsApp. It’s especially hot today and we have turned on the air-conditioning to cool the house off. Darrell has decided not to go to Malawi for the requested Bible teaching trip. |
| Bailey at Penticton, BC Housesit |
 |
| Ollie, Son of Bailey at Penticton, BC Housesit |
 |
| Allie, Ollie's Sister at Penticton, BC Housesit |
 |
| New Fawn on the Move Seen From Our Penticton Patio |
Tuesday. 10. The cats finally came later in the morning, closer to 5am rather than 4am! Yay! Today we went downtown and parked at the Okanagan lake beach. We walked back to Main St, about 30 minutes to our favorite French bakery in town. We arrived for the opening at 9am. We have decided that we are regulars here. We love their super hot and dark coffee and a fresh hand-made pastry. Here they serve ‘Canadiano’ coffee. It’s an ‘Americano’ with the local name! Lol. Today we shared the mixed berry croissant. On our walk back to our car, we stopped at a small shop that sells Kuhl brand activewear shorts and pants. Darrell was able to try on a few pairs of shorts and select one that he likes and fits him now. Since he’s lost almost 30 pounds, he has been replacing his too big clothes with items that fit him. We came back to our house and had an 11am online Bible class with our church friends in Kent, UK and others. Today was John 16. After lunch, Darrell and I went to the Canadian superstore and bought a few items to get us through the next day. I am thinking about cleaning up and leaving this house and our kitty cat friends on Thursday.
 |
| "At the Peach" at Okanagan Beach in Penticton |
 |
| Super Nice Sunset Viewed from Our Patio in Penticton |
 |
| Darrell and Ollie on the 2nd Floor Patio at Our Penticton Housesit |
 |
| Another Sunny Day at Okanagan Beach in Penticton |
 |
| View of Lake Okanagan from Beach in Penticton |
 |
| Happy Sight of Toddlers in Penticton, BC |
Wednesday. 11. Once again we went to the french bakery and enjoyed a superb pastry and coffee on the outdoor patio. I did some of the housekeeping for leaving tomorrow. I had a call with my friend Sharon in Austin, Texas as she is recovering and caring for herself with some difficult physical issues. I also have been thinking about my sister, Linda, and her challenges recently with recovering from her two wrist surgeries. One was in February and one was about a month ago. After her first surgery, she stopped work and needed to stay home and focus on her recovery. Her second surgery was also not without challenges. So today she and I had a text conversation back and forth. It was enjoyable to touch base with her. Hopefully Darrell and I will be able to visit my sisters and some of the family members when we plan to drive through Indiana in mid-July. I went through all of my clothing. Some of my clothes I tried on to see how they fit. I made decisions about which clothes to pack for our Alaskan cruise. I packed into my trunk all of the clothes that I’m pretty sure I don’t need or want until we get to Alabama in August. I can still get to these clothes if I want to.
 |
| Bulgogi Lunch in Merritt, BC at Chloe's Diner |
 |
| My Incredible Lunch Plate at Chloe's Diner in Merritt, BC. Included: House made Baked Beans; Hummus; Mushrooms; Avocado; Brocolli; Cauliflouwer and More! |
 |
| Mountain Views on Hwy 5 Merritt to White Rock, BC |
 |
| Driving West Through the Cascade Mountains on Hwy 5 in British Columbia |
 |
| Hwy 5 West Through the Cascade Mountains in British Columbia |
 |
| Arrived to Our Airbnb in this Large White Rock Home |
 |
| Inside Our White Rock Airbnb. Looking Toward the Street. Entry Door to the Left. |
 |
| White Rock Airbnb Full Kitchen |
 |
| White Rock Airbnb Bedroom. Comfy Bed. |
 |
| Blooming Flowers in White Rock. |
Thursday. 12. This morning the cats woke us up at about 5am. We did our regular morning routine while reminding each other that we were in no hurry and with no check-out time. We had some time to clean up breakfast and sit around and read some. We took care of the cats and opened up their ‘catio’ to allow them outside time. We got busy packing and cleaning. I left a hand-drawn and hand-painted note for our host. We left the house by 9am. Somehow, I thought we would take longer than this. Darrell packed the truck up while I finished house chores and also packing my things with organization. We left and locked up the house with the kitty’s all taken care of inside. Later I realized that we probably left some partial bags of bread in the freezer. I’m not sure if there was anything else, but all in all nothing important… hopefully… lol.
We went downtown to our now favorite french pastry shop for one more Canadiano and a farewell pastry! We looked forward to our drive to White Rock and our new attention toward our coming calendar.
We drove through the Cascade Mountains by Hwy 5 in Canada. It’s a beautiful drive with small towns few and far between. We stopped for lunch in Merritt, BC. It’s a town of about 7000-8000. I looked for a cafe and we arrived to Chloe’s Diner. It had great reviews and nice pictures online. The cooks are Korean and there was Bulgogi on the menu. That’s what we both ordered and it was delicious!! I got it as an add on to an amazing vegetarian plate. Darrell had it on rice with a bunch of veggies. We were very impressed with our lunches, and very satisfied for the rest of our drive to White Rock. We arrived well before 5 pm to our airbnb. It’s a lovely apartment in a large house at the top to the residential hill that steeply descends to the waterway. The houses are packed onto this hill. They have lovely gardens with flowers in bloom and large trees of every variety. About every block, there are public pathways going from the coast up the steep hill between the tightly built houses. At the coastline is a train line, a walkway on either side of the tracks, a pier to walk out above the water and silt, and a street with houses and restaurants. The weather is about 60 degrees during the day now. It’s sweater weather for me. We went out to dinner and grocery shopping to get a very few items for our 4 days until our cruise.
 |
| View of Water from the Hill in White Rock, BC. To the Right is One of the Many Footpaths that Lead Down the Very Steep Hill to the Waterfront. |
 |
| At the Top of White Rock Hill Looking Toward Our Street. To the Right is a Lawn Bowling Business. |
 |
| Spring Flower in White Rock |
 |
| Path Leading Up or Down the Steep Hill in White Rock, BC |
 |
| Darrell on The White Rock Pier with Town in Background. The White Rock is to the Right at the Shoreline. |
 |
| Quirky Castle House Next to a Modern House in White Rock, BC |
Friday. 13. We got to sleep in without cats waking us up! Lol. We enjoyed our morning routine. Darrell made pancakes! Yum! We are surprised that we aren’t tired of this ample breakfast. We have been eating this regularly since last fall when we overhauled our diet to radically track and increase our protein. All to get Darrell’s success in reversing his NAFL (non-alcoholic fatty liver). We have shifted to eating this meal more often than our plan B breakfast of eggs, pork tenderloin and toast. Our pancake meal currently is: oat and barley pancakes made with greek yogurt; pork tenderloin slices that I have pre-baked, then we slice it, weigh it and pan sear it; a measured bowl of cottage cheese, greek yogurt, fresh berries, measured toasted nuts– hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, black walnuts (when we can get them–we haven’t found them in Canada.); real maple syrup; strong black coffee.
Nomad Notes: There is a deep satisfaction in completing a housesit, cleaning up, packing up, and returning the property and pets to their owners. This Penticton housesit was 3 ½ weeks in a beautiful home, a stunning location, picture perfect weather and season, with well-mannered cats . (mostly! Lol, aside from Allie coming a few mornings well before 5 am)
We were here in White Rock less than 2 years ago. We met with a church of Christ in a community center, and stayed in touch with a family there. There were 3 families making up the church. All were immigrants. The preacher and family from the Philippines had been here for 14 years. There were sisters from India who had been here about 2 years. One was married with a three year old son while her husband was still in India. Another Father and daughter had immigrated from Chile within the year. I’m looking forward to meeting them again and seeing how life has progressed for each one. Winston, the preacher, asked Darrell to preach or present the Bible study lesson. I looked into my e-notes and have everyone’s first names written from when we were here Sept 30th 2023. We were here to get on the repositioning cruise to Auckland. We came down to White Rock for lunch and took a walk along the coast. I remember saying that this would be a nice town to stay in. And now, here we are! We are back way sooner than I ever expected, and I’m so happy to be here.
Comments
Post a Comment