Temp: 30 degrees
We're all up early this morning - not sure why, as last night was a late, late, drinkin' movie watchin' night, but since we're all up early, I made French Toast for breakfast. It wasn't really time to leave for the lake yet, so we watched RV and downloaded some cache info for nearby geocaches.
We then went caching, locating 1 on Red Mountain (we also explored the Red Mountain ski area), 1 in Rossland, and 1 in Trail, and then we head out to Fruitvale and finally located (I think!) my Dad's childhood house - then detoured south to the Pend d'Oreille recreation area, where we hung out for a few hours - I even went swimming - in a lake - for the first time since ... well ... I don't know when!
My grandfather used to talk about the Pend d'Oreille valley and had said that it was paradise on earth - the place where he wanted to buy land and retire (I'm sure my mom can provide more detail about what grandpappy used to say abou this place... mom???) and I couldn't help but to wonder if he had said these things before or after BC Hydro built the dam and flooded the valley ... don't get me wrong, it's gorgeous here - but I'm pretty sure that private land ownership is no longer an option, since Hydro seems to be experimenting with "optimal water levels" right now ... I wouldn't want to have shoreline property here now!
After returning from an awesome day at the lake, we debated where to go for dinner - At Red Mountain? In Rossland? In Trail? There were no shortage of options! In the end though, we went to a mexican cantina in Rossland that is, no kidding, in a gas station on the highway. Ironically though, even though this was a mexican restaurant in the middle of BF nowhere in the back of a gas station on the highway, with not a single mexican in the front or in the kitchen, well, it was damn good. The beans caught up with us a few hours later (Hey Tim, you ever eat all those leftover beans? At least you live alone!!!), but it was a dang good meal. Well, the strawberry margaritas were made from a mix (usually a letdown, but the tequilla was good, so I'll let it slide), and the service wasn't all that hot, despite the hottie with the Tramp Stamp that paraded past us every 3 minutes - but again, I'll let it slide... hey, I'm on vacation in the middle of BF nowhere, and in the last 48 hours I've had Samossas, Chimichangas, Tequilla, French toast, and believe it or not, while we had the sense not to stop, we actually passed a "Fresh Sushi" roadside stand at the side of the highway somewhere between Princeton and Keremeos - that was definitely worth a laugh and a half, so I'm in good spirits. And besides, this was really good Mexican!
Posted by Calvin at September 4, 2006 08:52 PM