There really are lakes outside of the Okanagan!

When we left the sunny Okanagan last summer for Chilliwack, Corey and I worried what we'd do with our summer weekends. Living in Kelowna, we had become accustomed to having the lake a short walk away, and of spending our evenings or weekends, with Bethany in the swing or walking by the water. That lake was was of the biggest draws for me when I moved up there and Bethany and I aside, one of Corey's great loves. He grew up with Okanagan lake and all it's beauty and attitude. It can be as calm and gentle as a lake or as turmultuous and dangerous as the ocean. Either way, it's incredible.

Now I grew up in Hope, and knew that there were lakes like Kawkawa lake (aka. Bird Poop city), Harrison Lake (we spent time there in the summer), Cultus Lake, where I'd spent a large portion of my time alone studying after high school and other various lakes. But none seemed good enough to compare to "our lake" back home. Last summer pasted in a whirl wind of chaos and aside from one trip to Cultus we really didn't explore what we had.

This summer, we vowed to make different. It's no secret that we aren't moving back to the interior anytime soon, we've settled here, found a church, Corey has a good job, I have a good job and we are slowly developing friendships. So, why not make the best of it.

Our first adventure included spending a whole weekend at Harrison lake, it's a half hour drive from our house and has a beautiful sandy beach, a man made swimming lake attached that's warm and silty and it's beautiful. It's also ridiculously busy and we spent 30 minutes each day trying to find parking. We had a blast (photos to come soon, I promise), playing and laughing and Mommy got a great sun burn! It was awesome, gotta love that fair skin.

Last weekend, we decided to head for a different lake a little further away. Manning park is Hope's backdoor so after church we packed up the car and the munchkin and headed out to Lightning Lakes. It's about 1.5 hours from here and well worth the drive. It's very mountainous, calm, cold, and a chain of beautiful lakes. The park had a plethera of gophers running around that had Bethany facinated and we had a great time (aside from one child having a MAJOR meltdown about having to do something so aweful like eat supper). I again, will post photos soon of this adventure.

So, maybe life outside of the Okanagan is survivable. No, the lakes aren't the same but they hold their own beauty and wonder. Both weekends made us really greatful for the things that God has given us. We really are blessed, take a look and you'll see....


Untitled from Ashley Stone on Vimeo.