Osoyoos Getaway

Last weekend, Kevin, Bradyn and I took a mini vacation to Osoyoos. What a fabulous 4-day adventure. We left at 9:00 Friday morning, and headed down to Washington via the Peach Arch border crossing in White Rock. Although the 45 minute wait was annoying, it didn't dampen our spirits much.

After making it across the border, we then travelled south to the Sedro-Woolley cut-off and turned east on Hwy 20. What a drive! Country scenery and neat 'small town USA' places along the way. In North Cascades National Park, we stopped in Newhalem and checked out 'Old Number Six'. (I kept thinking how much Poppa would love to see this - next summer?)

We grabbed some sandwiches from the store, took a few minutes for a bathroom break, and headed on our way.

Next stop, Winthrop. No, wait... the next stop was an outhouse in Cascades Park because Miss B decided 20 minutes after we left Newhalem that she really did have to go pee. After that, we had to pull off into a camping area for her to pee beside a rock. Once we did get there, we were delighted to come across Winthrop - a neat little Western themed town. I would have loved to spend more time browsing through all the shops, but alas, we had a destination to reach that day.

Bradyn and Daddy in front of the general store.

Main street.

Wanted criminals.

After a stop at the Walmart in Omak and a panicked moment at the border, we arrived in Osoyoos at 7:35 pm. (Border side note: After looking at our passports, asking where we came from, where we were going and how much money we'd spent, the border guard looked at Bradyn and said 'Bradyn, is this your mommy & daddy?' I panicked. You know how 4 year olds can be... what if she was in a bugger mood and said No? What if she froze up and the woman took that as a bad sign? Thankfully, Bradyn didn't miss a beat and responded with a shy 'Yes'. Whew!)

Bradyn hasn't stayed in a hotel since she was 6 months old, so she was VERY excited to arrive in our room and check out her own queen sized bed. Here she is, settled in on our first night, listening to her stories on her headphones. Little did we all know that only a few short hours later we would be bolted awake out of a dead sleep by a fire alarm at 1:50 am and have to go outside for 45 minutes. (Well, Kevin and I were bolted awake...Bradyn slept through it until I picked her up to leave the room!)

Bradyn was up at 8:30 the next morning, ready to get going. After checking out the view from our balcony, she convinced Kevin to take her down to the indoor pool for a swim while I went to pick up a few groceries for breakfasts and lunches.

By 10:30 am Saturday morning we were down on the beach, right below our balcony, and settled in for the day. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting Osoyoos, the lake is apparently the warmest in Canada (it must be - I was in there all the time!), and you could walk out the length of a football field and still only be up to your waist in water. Add that to the 35 degree weather, and you have a recipe for perfection. Who needs Mexico?

On day two, I was a little more relaxed about the water, and let Bradyn wander out to the end of the volleyball net by herself with her water wings on. It was so nice to sit back and watch our little water baby. She had so much fun!

Putting the finishing touches on her masterpiece. (OK, so she had a little help, but she did a great job decorating)

Despite all the #45 suntan lotion, our beach babe got a little too much sun on her cheeks Sunday. Although she never said anything about it hurting, I felt horrible every time I looked at her! At least she wasn't as burned as me. (Yes Sherri, I did wear suntan lotion thank you very much - I just missed a bunch of spots - not used to using the stuff on myself.)

Family photo on our balcony after our last holiday supper.

On Monday morning we reluctantly packed up and headed for home via the Hope-Princeton Hwy. We stopped for lunch at a diner in Princeton, had an outhouse break in Manning Park and made another pit-stop beside the highway, but still managed to arrive home by 5:30. I've already told Kevin to start saving more airmiles - I want to go for a week next year!

P.S. - Here's a video of Bradyn playing in the water. She had a system where she counted to three on her fingers, then jumped in and swam around. Too cute!