Lumby-Vernon, BC: A sacrificed rest day.

July 2, 2016

We gave up our rest day to get to a bigger town with more services and for the push to Squilax. I love rest days! I slept until 7:30 and didn’t go to sleep until after 11. ! ! ! We had a call from the office that our TV was bothering the neighbors, please turn it down. Jacinto was very offended. We have two connecting doors from our room to others. I believe they could hear the TV as I could hear them earlier and I could also see the light around the door a la Hummingbird. (At the B&B there was a giant gap at the top of the door. Oren thought an enterprising bear would have no trouble lodging his claws in the gap and ripping the door of).

It was very nice not to compulsively check the clock and see how much longer I had to sleep each time I woke during the night. Yay for having a day off. Or most of a day off.

I’m starving! My body thinks it has to fuel the engine, perhaps we have another giant pass to climb.

Jacinto wants to know why there are summits in Canada and not passes. He thinks passes are more bad ass. My ass thinks both summits and passes are hard work.

I have no idea why, but I was able to get the photos off of my phone. Of course, the past couple of days I have taken zero photos. I want to go back up the road and take a photo of that motorcycle the two guys didn’t see! I think I was finally able to download the photos because of the super good internet here. This is as good as home. That’s the one thing I will miss at this hotel. Our bed was way squishy.

We all rode together to Vernon. That is the first time this trip Jacinto has ridden with us. We left the motel at 10:59 - one minute short of check out time.

I stopped every five feet to take a photo. Frequently of nothing, or so it seems. Just because I could. Now we are at the motel. You know what? I can't get the photos off of the phone again. Previously I blamed it on not having a good wifi connection, but the connection here is great. Sigh. Someday my photos will appear and I will post them.

It seems to me we entered Lumby through a tropical forest and exited into the high plains. The terrain between Lumby and Vernon looked like Colorado with mountains, pine trees, and dried grass.

It was a quick 17 miles to town. Vernon is the largest place we've been to in some time. They have numbered streets and numbered avenues. I was quite confused, it seems very logical, but I was still confused. Perhaps part of the problem was wanting to follow my ridewithgps instructions while Oren was following his. That is an interesting side note - we were both on the same website, going the same place, and got different directions. I typically click 'car, avoiding highways'. Oren clicks 'bicycle'. I think that's why we get two sets of directions. In this case mine would have been a better choice. Vernon is a big town on a holiday Saturday. Oren had words with two different drivers before we got to the motel. One exchange ended up with Oren standing by the roadside hurling insults to the driver who was returning them just as quickly. I was relieved when the light changed colors and the man drove off.

We got checked into the motel and found out all the important details to any touring cyclists - namely the location of the grocery store and the buffet restaurant. We also had to ask what was Tim Hortons. The poor desk clerk - I think his jaw hit the desk with a thud when I asked. I did know that Tim Hortons is the spot for coffee and pastries, but as we cycled past, I saw a sign for potato wedges and the building exterior looked rather fast food style. Was it really a McDonalds in disguise? I know now Tim Hortons is what Starbucks wishes they were. As I type this, the guys are across the street discovering the truth from an American point of view.

We went to the Chinese buffet only to discover between 2-4:30 PM it is menu only while they change over to dinner. The laugh is on us. Jacinto made me starve until late afternoon and then we didn't get buffet anyway. Rice was also extra here. I guess rice with your Chinese food is an American thing.

Jim and Genny have arrived in Kamloops. They have a day to assemble the bikes and get organized. We had a moment of panic that someone had made a date mistake, but we are all good. Whew.

I will load some of my many photos when the Yugo camera decides to work again. Damn thing. Excuse my language.

We passed this Mexican food by and haven't seen more.

This building was right next to it. A house?

Today's ride: 17 miles (27 km)
Total: 687 miles (1,106 km)

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