I write this from Haynes Point Campground just south of
Osoyoos, the southernmost town in the Okanagan Valley. I have been coming here
for ages and it brings back old memories. I, somewhat, surprisingly, knew
exactly where to go, even though this is the first time I have driven here. The
water is somewhat cooler, although this is expected as it is not late August,
but the Sun is shining and the pleasure craft are pleasuring as always.
Day two is in many respects the real day 1, it is the first
day we both woke up and will go to sleep on the road. It also is, for the
betterment of our sanity, a de facto fresh start after the debacle of day 1.
Being a former boy scout I figured a lot of this stuff would be second nature;
I was wrong. It turns out there were numerous lessons that needed to be
learned.
Lesson 1: Listen to Owen
We had designated Owen as our timekeeper, promising to stop
whenever he was crying to give him some food and all of us a stretch. 16 Km
before Hope we make an emergency washroom stop. Just as we turn the car on to
pull back onto the highway Owen wakes up, starving and screaming. Being a mere
16 Km away from our planned lunch spot we decide to go for it. Owen starts
crying louder and louder until it reaches the, never before seen in our
children, period of silence. He had given up; this deafening silence was FAR
worse than the bawls earlier and caused us much distress. Our time was not
helped by the signs promising Hope in 16 Km actually leading us to the edge of
Hope district, approximately a further 16 Km from the town itself. Haifa jumped
out of the car when we stopped and Owen gulped down his lunch. We promised him
to not make this mistake again.
Lesson 2: No Matter the Weather, ALWAYS put up your tarp.
We pull up to our site in Lighting Lakes campground in
Manning Park, neighbours with my Aunt Carolyn, Uncle Michael and family, who
were serendipitously camping in the same place for the night. The promised
rainy day had yet to materialize, in fact the sun was shining, and the tent was
set up quickly. Being hungry and late in the afternoon, I quickly started on
dinner, building the fire, popping our potatoes in, and worked on seasoning the
veggies and steak. Just then a loud crack is heard, I look up at a giant
thunderstorm nearly on top of us and I panic. I drop what I am doing, raw
seasoned meat left on the picnic table in bear country, and work feverishly to
fashion some kind of cover for the coming storm. I somehow manage to Macgyver together
something that thankfully did keep the rain out. The only problem was that in
my haste I was forced to use the picnic table as anchor, leaving us to cook and
eat crouching down on the ground beside the table. Good thing the potatoes
continued to cook in the sizzling and fizzling fire, as they were delicious.
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| Campground Day 1: Macgyvered Tarp. Photo: Haifa Staiti |
Lesson 3: If there are no walls, Zaid will walk away.
For some background, Zaid is an active kid, the most active
2 year old I have ever met. At music class, all the other kids would sit quietly
in their chairs, while he would run around the room, exploring its nooks and
crannies. In the playground, he mostly ignores the slides and swings,
preferring instead to run around grass fields. He has a definite explorer’s
mentality, and it carries over to the campground. Within seconds he has seen
everything there is to see in our camp site and so it is time to go visit
others, or the road. This does not allow us much downtime, as either Haifa or I
must continuously run after him at all times, leaving the other to look after
Owen and simultaneously tend to camp duties. Things are slightly better here in
the Okanagan, our campsite is very private and enclosed, and he is mostly
content filling up his dump truck at one end, driving it to the other, and
emptying it. I hope this game will keep him happy for another 6 weeks.
The next coming days are going to be more relaxing. We spend
all day in Osoyoos tomorrow, and depending on the weather, we may take Zaid to
visit a giant model train museum in town. On Tuesday we head for our first
hotel in Kelowna, where we expect the luxury of a mattress that doesn’t need to
be filled with air and the cleansing power of the shower.
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