North Thompson River ~ Chinook Cove ~ Barriere, BC

Kamloops, BC and the surrounding area have much to offer.  We decided we would like to enjoy our hometown area more and so we planned a two day RV stay with friends up the North Thompson Valley in Barriere, BC.  Our RV trips are usually much longer but with so much here to see, why not spend time in the comfort of our RV.  Our mini holiday begins.

Chinook Cove, Barriere, BC

We stayed at Chinook Cove Golf and RV.  The golf course is absolutely beautiful.  The course is so well kept and the weather, although we had nighttime showers, was perfect with sunshine during the days.  Perfect RV’ing and golfing weather.  I enjoyed the scenery and the ride around the golf course more than I did the golfing, lol.  This is a view of the flat half, wait till you see the next half!  The hills and valleys aren’t easy to see in these photos but they were there!

Chinook Cove Golf and RV Park

I am not a very accomplished golfer, although I have swung those clubs a zillion times at many golf balls, but this was the most intimidating golf course I have ever been on.  I likely only golfed about three of the nine holes, rather than lose the pretty golf balls I have!  I would suggest that anyone going might want to carry extra golf balls with them.  The fellas lost a few of them on our round.

RV Park at Chinook Cove

The RV Park is not large with 18 great spots and nice facilities, as well.  It is only a 45 minute drive from our home in Kamloops and makes for a good place to spend a few days, especially for those who enjoy a challenging round of golf. 

Green hills on the Yellowhead Hwy

These lush green hills are slightly different than the sage hills we have closer to Kamloops but we have still not reached our dry days of summer yet, so the green will not stay so lush, I’m sure.  No drought but we’ve had them in the past.  This area is part of the McLure Fire in 2003 that destroyed over 65 thousand acres.  The spikey outline at the top of these hills are what is left of the trees that burned.

North Thompson River

Droughts can be a danger with fire season as well as lightening, arson and human carelessness, which was the cause of this 2003 fire.  Thankfully, much of the terrain has new growth since that time and creates a much nicer sight than it did back then, it was a sad sight to see.  The North Thompson River weaves its way through the valley and creates some beautiful scenery.

Ranch land at McLure, BC

Being a passenger in the truck definitely allows me to see more and usually with my camera ready.  I had hoped I would get the rainbow showing under the irrigation sprinkler and there it is. Takes little to excite me for photos. lol Much of Kamloops and area is ranching country and we see many horses on this part of the North Thompson Valley. 

Young buck

Timing was good for me with my camera as well as for this young buck as he ran across the busy highway.  Not all wildlife are this lucky.  This wouldn’t be an unusual sight so hopefully most drivers would be watchful for them. 

Ranching on Westsyde Road

We had been following the Yellowhead Highway north from Kamloops on the east side of the North Thompson River to Barriere and today we are on the Westsyde Road on the west side of the River.  The valley width is not large and as on the Yellowhead, this road rarely loses sight of the river.  Peaceful days of summer with horses grazing in the field are such a calming sight to see.

Whispering Pines 

Our drive took us as far as Whispering Pines when Mother Nature decided to rain on this off road racing fun.  These facilities host numerous events throughout the summer but hopefully most of them would happen on a warm summer day.

There are many things going on during our summer months but we hope to get out and enjoy some more of our local areas before the summer ends.

Canada Day ~ 2019 ~ Kamloops, BC

Canada Day is always a special day for us Canadians and has become a bigger celebration in Kamloops at Riverside Park over the years.  It attracts thousands of us that come to see the artists of the area and the food vendors as well as plenty of entertainment.

Group Drum Roll

We arrived just as the drumming began.  It was a Guinness World Record attempt with multicultural drummers performing.  They attempted at “Most Nationalities in a Simultaneous Drum Circle” last year but didn’t make it so the hope was to be successful to break the record for “Largest Group Drum Roll” this year.  I’ve heard no news on that yet.  They passed out small drums for the spectators to join in, grandson using one in corner of photo. 

Crowds and more crowds

This well shaded park was packed with vendors and those who came to enjoy the day.  Riverside Park has been the centre of summer activities for so many years but not many the size of this one.  It does lead to parking difficulties but if one is willing to walk, spots can be found.  The City of Kamloops offers free bus service for the day so that sure simplifies things for those who wish to use them.  

Kids bouncy castle fun

There is a nice playground for the youngsters in the park but for this special day, they offer plenty of extras like this bouncy castle shown here.  No shortage of lineups of kids waiting to get into it and have their turn at fun.  Patience applies in several areas of the Park today, lineups are long. 

Kamloops Lawn Bowling

Lawn bowling has had this area in Riverside here for many years.  As a matter of fact, these greens were ready for play in 1923!  The Kamloops Lawn Bowling Club was formed the year before and has been active ever since, but with some changes in rules, as women were only allowed to use the green when men were not back then.  There are tournaments for those who enjoy the competition of lawn bowling but social bowling is happening with no set teams, just to have fun with those who show up on any day. 

A Special Gift

There were dozens of very talented artists with booths displaying their talents in the Park.  They sell their jewelry, knitted goods, pottery, paintings, woodworks, face painting….. the list could go on.  There was one booth that especially caught my attention and that was “A Special Gift”.  These ladies plus one other work all year round producing these amazing quilts and a never ending list of other items.  

Dressed for the occasion

So many visitors wore red clothes of some sort and accessories of red, whether flags or other things, but these ones definitely caught my attention.

Thompson River beach at Riverside Park

Riverside Park is right on the Thompson River and has always been a popular swimming area, too.  The day was still early but with the forecast to reach 30c (86f), the beach would soon be full of more swimmers, to be sure.  Then they can move onto the food vendors, which offers Multicultural Society foods from many different cultural groups that represent Kamloops residents, as well. 

Kamloops Mounted Patrol

Rick Wanless (c) has been attending these events and so many others with his horses and team mates since 1992 as the Kamloops Mounted Patrol and they still draw plenty of attention wherever they go.  Great to see Mr. Wanless still a part of this great Patrol team.  To learn more of the Patrol, click here.

Riverside Park on Canada Day

FolkFest lineups of local and regional cultural performers promotes diversity in dance, music, style and language on the stage of the Rotary Bandshell and were being enjoyed by this large audience.  Sights of food vendors, all vendors and more around Riverside Park.  Music in the Park kicked off July 1 evening with classic rock band Shattered Blue and wow, were they good!  Lead singer had an AMAZING voice, scheduled to play again July 19^th.  One of the best free concerts you may see but the whole lineup looks great. 

View from the top of overpass walk

The cap off for the whole evening was the fantastic fireworks, but no photos for it, never been good at night shots, lol.  We’d been down to the festivities twice and just weren’t going for a third visit, too late for us old folks.  Sorry we missed it but we heard from several that it was incredible.

 

There are more photos of Riverside Park on my blog showing quieter times.  Click here to see that.