Catch up (part 2)

6 May 2010

 Sue, Richard, Kieran

This morning Kieran, Sue and I headed over to the Enowkin Centre and Ecommunity Area.  This is all on First Nations land and includes some 9 protected species as well as numerous protected plants and trees (including the black cotton trees).  Chad and Richard showed us around... Chad is a bull rider at the rodeo and explained all the rules to me – he only has to stay on for 8 seconds, but seeing his damaged shoulder, I understand that 8 seconds is a very long time!  Whilst here we saw 2 Coyotes and a Painted Turtle as well as various birds – the sun even made an appearance.  It was interesting to learn more about the First Nations culture and belief system as well as gaining an understanding into their current issues.

Me looking mean with a gun (eeek - was that really wise!?!)

 Proud that I actually hit the target!!

After a winery lunch, we had some free time.  One of the hosts kindly organised a trip to a rifle range, where we got to shoot some targets... this was fantastic until I progressed to the big bullets and got a huge kickback on my shoulder!  This was something I would never do at home, but gave me a huge amount of additional respect for guns.
Tonight we the team got together for a homemade curry with some of Doug’s hosts friends – yummy!

7 May 2010
The morning was spent at Nk’Mip (aka the Rattlesnake centre).  We were shown round by Bob who explained all about Sage smudges and the wildlife found in the desert in Osoyoos.  I also stroked a Gopher Snake called Scarlet.
We then checked into the Walnut Beach Resort for our R&R couple of days... full use has been made of the hot tub (see Sue’s photos!) as well as the robes!  The plan of action was to do nothing, and apart from a night out to the Black Sage Pub, that is what was achieved!

8 May 2010
Today was a day filled with nothing (and a little shopping).  We all tried to recover from sore heads, and I got a little homesick, but coped with it by heading to the hot tub!!

9 May 2010... Goodbye Canada, Hello USA!
A bright and early start to the day had us trying (in earnest) to eat up all the food from the weekend.  I managed to do some Skyping before squishing my finger in the patio door.  This was not a great plan and it is currently the size of a sausage and turning black!
Crossing the border was more straightforward that I had imagined, and we landed in Wenatchee in time for a Wendy’s lunch, before heading towards Leavenworth to meet our new hosts.
I am staying with Gary& Zondra on Lake Wenatchee in the most amazing log cabin (set over three floors).  All I can say is I am totally spoilt and have what can only be described as a breathtaking view from my room.  I also made friends with some Humming Birds (too cute) and made it out on the lake.  Our BBQ dinner was fantastic and accompanied by yet another yummy glass of white wine taken on the balcony overlooking the lake (this place is too good to be true, I will wake up tomorrow in the UK and realise it’s all a dream!!).  Oh!  I also managed to catch some TV tonight (an episode of Trauma) before heading to bed (and sleeping like a log)

10 May 2010
An early start to meet the team in Leavenworth on the trip into town I saw a beautiful deer next to the road (not squished!).  Chad was driving us today and the first stop was Pangborn Airport for a tour of the airport and to visit a replica of Pangborns plane that flew the Pacific.
We then headed over to the confluence technology centre where we saw ”the internet” – well some of Yahoo’s servers in a massive data centre (so pretty much the internet!!).  This was a fascinating trip given that I understand that Godalming is likely to be getting a data centre in the near future.
Lunch was at Arby’s, very nice, but limited options for Penny (who is our resident vegetarian).  Thankfully the consumption of wine has diminished at lunchtime, giving us greater opportunities to concentrate in the afternoon!
We then went to the Wenatchee museum to learn about the apple trade, railway and Native American’s.  This was really interesting, and Billie (our tour guide) really knew her stuff.  The team then headed to my host’s home on Lake Wenatchee for a much needed hike and evening social with various hosts and Rotarians.  I then managed to get an episode of Chuck in before heading to bed!

Photo's to follow!!!