The hotel room felt a little cold last night. When we checked in yesterday, an AC unit was on and the condenser had frozen over. We turned that off early but the night was clear and temperatures in the desert dropped. After eating things we'd bought at the Canadian Superstore last night, we got into the car to explore a little.
Most of the population lives on the west side of the lake. BC Highway 97 is on that side, and a continuation of US Route 97 which begins in Weed, California. From the Canadian border, it runs 2081 km to the Yukon, making it BC's longest, continuously-numbered route in the province.
I headed up the east bank of Okanagan Lake though. It was glacially carved and runs north-south for 135 km starting in the south here in Penticton. I didn't know I'd found the road to Naramata, BC. This is an area with many vineyards and small wineries. We stopped several times on the small 15 km stretch.
I love this type of geography.
Three-mile beach must have seen lots of people last month. Today there was only one guy walking his dog. The town of Naramata was not impressive but would make a great place for a summer home. I could see by the billboards, that some of the locals want to prohibit development near the vineyards. People are hardwired to protect their situation and the status quo.
We didn't really know what to do for lunch. So I suggested the large BC casino we'd seen. Generally, they put on good buffets although we'd never been to the one here. Unfortunately, that eatery has not been reopened since COVID-19. I think it probably has a lot to do with the current staffing shortages. On the way out, we swiped our BC casino cards and I got a 'half-off' for the second purchase for bar snacks. We checked it out and I had the burger and Jay got chicken strips. The french fries were real, a rarity when eating out nowadays.
When dinner time came we looked on Google Maps. One particular Indian restaurant, Lachi, had really good comments. It seems they'd just moved from a smaller place a few doors down to a newly renovated restaurant space! The food was not expensive and they had a special offer for two to dine. We really had more than we could eat. Eating there was pretty great.
We liked being right at the beach section. A few restaurants kept things lively. Lots of folks take their dogs for a walk up and down the length of the strip. We caught the ISS going directly overhead on one of the longest and brightest viewings we'd ever seen. My cell phone was hardly able to take a photo worth of remembering the experience.
Tomorrow, we head back to New Westminster.