Blind Bay & Salmon Arm, B.C.

Blind Bay & Salmon Arm, B.C.

September 16th - 18th, 2019

It feels great to be settled in one place for a couple of weeks. We've lucked out, once more, by finding a house/pet sit here, in Blind Bay, with a super view overlooking Shuswap Lake. 

The view from our room

We arrived on Sunday evening, and spent time with our host, Sharron, who introduced us to her 6 cats, and their routine. When we were shown our room we were in awe at the view that awaited us. The evening passed as we shot the breeze, and began to appreciate Sharron's sense of humour and her huge heart. 

After Sharron left for her travels the next afternoon, we went into Salmon Arm, about 25 minutes east of Blind Bay, to do some grocery shopping for the week. 

We were grateful for the rainfall that occurred later that day, and also yesterday afternoon, as it gave us the excuse to really veg out and totally relax and enjoy getting to know our new feline friends. In the morning, we explored the lakeside route, past Eagle Bay, and then on to where the road ended, just short of the tip of the peninsula. 

An island in the bay

We also discovered a wonderful local grocery store that will be more convenient for us for the remainder of our stay.

Our local Grocery Store, in Blind Bay - it's actually so much bigger than it looks from the outside

Today, Wednesday, we traveled back to Salmon Arm, a city of about 18,000 people, that has all the amenities and services available for its population, and for the surrounding townships. It is nicely placed on one of the arms of the Shuswap Lake. The city is a haven for tourists in the summer, with many beaches, camping facilities, and house boat rentals. It also boasts of having the longest wooden wharf in North America.

The longest wooden wharf in North America

Houseboats may be rented from the wharf

We had a picnic lunch overlooking the wharf, and then spent a couple of hours on the wharf, itself, watching the different water fowl that frequent the area. The temperature, which had been steady at around a cool 18 degrees, climbed up to 25 today, and the warmth of the sun was a welcome reminder of the 'Indian Summer', which can sometimes surprise us. 

We were thrilled with our new camera, as Mark was able to get some awesome close-ups of herons, an osprey, a small variety of ducks, and a Western grebe. 

This hawk was trying to capture a small duck. It finally gave up as it looked as though it couldn't lift it out of the water. 

The Osprey was enjoying his fishy lunch!

We met and chatted with several people as they shared their sightings of birds in the locality. One couple, who live on Salt Spring Island, just east of Vancouver Island, shared their expertise on capturing and identifying different water fowl. As it happened, they also had someone from Trusted Housesitters looking after their home, dog, and chickens. (Trusted House Sitters is the company through whom we often arrange house/pet sits). They mentioned the possibility of us doing a future sit for them!

Another couple, visiting with their daughter and future son-in-law, lived in Medicine Hat, Alberta, but were thinking of returning to their roots in Manitoulin Island, just a couple of hours from Elliot Lake! We shared stories of our travels and felt we had made new friends. 

Leaving the wharf, we walked back to the car through the park, with it's gazebo and an amazing sand castle sculpture, which had been built by Sandcastles for Hospice, to raise awareness of the local hospice organization. 

Returning to our 'home', it was great to be greeted by our purring pets! Having six cats to look after, there's always one or two to remind us that fussing and petting is part of the agreement! Each one has their own personality. To my surprise, it didn't take long for me to remember their names. Mark, of course, had almost learned their names even before we arrived! 

Fluffy

Ginger

Tom

Velvet

Misty and Smokey

Velvet loves nothing more than sitting on our chests!

Doesn't matter who it is - she just loves all the fussin'!

Finally, we were treated to an amazing sunset over the lake, with a promise of another fine day, tomorrow. 

P.S. For those of you who know me, and my joke about the wide mouth frog, you will understand why I love this clock so much, that Sharron has in her home!