There’s a light at the end of the tunnel… in this case, that would be the extremely cool (literally) abandoned Othello railway tunnels near Hope, British Columbia. Yes, we’ve been travelling! Not too far away from home, just touristing in the backyard, as it were. (This is about 5-ish hours driving hours from home, not counting numerous stops to get up close and personal with the roadside flora. Marvelous botanizing this time of year, especially as it has been rather more wet than usual and the wildflowers are very happy.) Couldn’t resist sharing this photo of my travelling companions, heading out into the light while I lingered behind, trying to hold the camera still enough for a steady(ish) shot.
The dry, sagebrush-covered hills south of Cache Creek, B.C. were alive with the ephemeral blooms of Bitter-root, Lewisia rediviva. Fragile, ephemeral, and extremely beautiful. Just a sample of the wonderful flowers we encountered.
And the scenery was pretty incredible, too. Here’s the locally famous “Spotted Lake” near Osoyoos, B.C. (just north of the United States border). Crystalline salt pans in perfectly round formation; a sacred First Nations site as well as an interesting natural phenomenon.
And then there was the fauna. Like these guys. Bighorn sheep near Kamloops, B.C.
Blue skies, dry hills, and lush farms in the valleys where the rivers and streams provide welcome irrigation water. This is near Keremeos, B.C., an area of orchards and vineyards – the fruit basket of B.C.
What a very full week or so this has turned out to be. I won’t go into details, but it has been packed with eventful things. Mostly good, I am happy to say.
Just home for two days, then off again tomorrow to the Provincial Performing Arts Festival in Penticton, with happy anticipation of the pleasures to come of watching and listening and marveling at the talented young musicians, singers and dancers from all over B.C. who converge once a year to represent their local festivals, to perform, compete, take master classes and workshops, and delight their audiences with their passion and mastery of their chosen arts.
I’ll be back to the books soon, once I stop moving.
I can’t quite believe that May has come to a close so quickly; that now we are in June! Blink, and a day goes by…
Hope you are all having a lovely spring!
Leaves & Pages 
Wow looks amazing!
Thank you! Yes, we found it so. 😉
The archway pic looks like a book cover to a good suspense novel! Gorgeous pics. I can’t wait until we retire and get to travel in BC. We live in Pennsylvania US so it’s a long way away from us.
Oh, you’ll enjoy B.C. if you ever make it here. It’s quite wonderful, in all of its many very different regions. A dream of mine is to travel in the eastern provinces and states; so far I’ve only properly been as far east as Manitoba, and in the U.S. only in Washington, Oregon and California. Love the thought of the endless roads winding through our shared continent, and how it’s all within reach if one can just summon up the resources (and courage!) to set off on a grand travelling adventure. 🙂
Oh–! Instant nostalgia when looking at the Kamloops picture…loved going fishing and ‘cabin roughing it’ there when I was younger. So beautiful…and many happy times were spent there. Have fun!
So glad I brought back happy memories! 🙂
What a whirlwind! The photos are lovely and making me very jealous. It’s been far too long since I went inland and I do miss the rest of the province!
It was a first time visit to Oliver-Osoyoos; still need to get down into the Kootenays proper, off the main over-the-Rockies Rogers Pass route. And haven’t yet been to Haida Gwai, or much farther north than Fort Fraser/Vanderhoof. B.C. is really big… 😉 (And I LOVE the lower mainland coastal region and Vancouver Island – so different from anywhere else in B.C.) We are rather lucky in our province, aren’t we?
Thanks for reminding me of my honeymoon in BC!
You’re very welcome. 🙂 Where did you go? (Every region is interesting in B.C., in many different ways – we have such a widely varied province. Love it here!)
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