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| Ranch of the Bonaparte Nation |
Weather: Bright sunny day - but 0 degrees!
Met up with two bus loads of tourists from the Evergreen touring group at breakfast this morning. The dining room was pretty small so it was a bit chaotic trying to find a seat.
After breakfast, we were off to the town of Kamloops - previously a "hill billy" town. It was a very loooooong drive. We went from a landscape of lush green trees and snow, to a dry, almost barren landscape.
Our first stop was at a ranch where we were shown some of the Indian traditions from the Bonaparte Nation people. It was really hot and most of us were still rugged up from Whistler.
We were then taken on a tour of the ranch. It was a bit of a let down as I was expecting horses, cowboys, cattle, a real functioning ranch.
Next stop was a little town called Lilloet and, when I say "little", I mean "little". We stopped at a German bakery for lunch then had free time to look around. Not much to see. The town consisted of the main strip and that's about it. They may not have much, but they had a pub and a bar. The town is mainly inhabited by the First Nation people.
Then we were off to Kamloops and where we would spend the night. Yet another town with not much to see. As soon as we arrived, Marilyn and I dumped our stuff in our rooms and went for a walk to discover the town.
It felt like a ghost town - there was no one in the streets and it was a Saturday on a long weekend. We finally saw a local boy who was riding his bike and asked him for directions to the Kamloops river and made our way over. We finally found the locals hanging around the park on the shore of the river, enjoying the gloriously sunny and warm afternoon.
This town may not be much to look at, but they have a place called "The Heights" that has new housing and green grass and this is where the golf course was. Where the "rich" live. How appropriate.
We had a wonderful meal with great company - Marilyn and I sat with Steve and Dulcie. Then it was back to the hotel and bed.
Tomorrow we're off to Banff where, we were informed, we will lose an hour as we'll be on mountain time.
