As you travel the planet, you tend to run into people that you really enjoy talking to, however briefly. Often times the goodbyes are followed up with a "if you're ever in the neighbourhood drop in on us" but that can be dangerous when you're dealing with DH (in the finest tradition of crazy glue, she bonds quickly). Larry and Theresa D made that offer after we met them in Bangkok- they were just finishing up a trip that we were just starting on so we were able to grab all kinds of good info and contacts that helped us on our journey. As our new friends made for the street looking for a scary Thai cab to take them to the airport, they suggested that if we were ever in the Kelowna area, we should look them up (which DH immediately penciled into her calendar). Some 9 months later don't we find ourselves in the Kelowna neighbourhood scoring a home-cooked salmon dinner with Larry and Theresa. Great stories and good company. Now they did mention that they were selling their home and moving somewhere undetermined but I'm not sure they were trying to lose us?

We did spend a couple of days in Kelowna sizing it up as a potential retirement spot. Kelowna has always been a destination of choice and while living in Kamloops (I think), we tended to look at Kelowna as that cool guy down the street. I'm sure we didn't give it a fair chance on this trip but it did seem as though the city fathers had lost control of the planning process- Kelowna now looks to be just another sprawling community on the banks of Lake Okanagan- during my years here, I thought that it had the potential to be a real jewel but I'm not sure I see it on our short list when/if we ever settle down.

My brother flew into Kelowna and we picked him up there and drove down to visit with my Dad, Papa P, and his wife Elaine. This was our first visit to their new home in Peachland, and what a home it was- straight out of one of those Homes & Gardens magazines and located on the mountain slope overlooking the lake (it seems almost impossible to not have great views in this part of the world). Most of our time here was spent on the deck overlooking Okanagan Lake, the home of Ogopogo, the supposed sea serpent (think Loch Ness Monster) that trolls the lake looking for exhausted wind surfers (culling a few of those Seadoo dudes would be more helpful). We did spend a fair bit of time reliving childhood stories, but with my brother claiming to remember the name of the nurse who delivered him so many years ago, and with me unsure of where I was living for years at a time, and with Papa P offering up a third completely different version of the same event, I'm sure we set a new low for stories at a family reunion.

Time flew and it was time to get back on the road.