Today was the first day since we arrived of completely sunny and warm weather. Luckily we researched the weather forecast on Saturday, which helped us designate today as our day of water activities.
We floated down the Penticton River channel on rented inner tubes, and for the first portion of our journey we were surrounded by a flock of eight ducks who were happily swimming alongside us. It was so relaxing and we didn't get too hot because we were seated in a bit of water. An hour or so later, we arrived at the halfway mark. A guy told us to come to shore but we were on the opposite side, so instead of getting off our tubes and dragging them behind us, we stayed seated. He swam towards us and started pulling our tubes and it took us a full minute before we decided to be decent human beings and get off and help him. Later I realized that he had to disrobe in order to rescue us. We took a bus back to where we started and retrieved our car.
Then we grabbed a quick lunch at Il Vecchio's, an Italian deli where we could choose two meats and a cheese for our sandwiches. We took our meal to the beach, tanned for a bit, and then headed for the main attractions of our day: parasailing and pedal-boating.
It was my first time ever parasailing and I would gladly do it again--if only it was a bit more affordable. The views were spectacular and the feeling of the wind under my feet was amazing. We got pretty high up and had a few bumpy spots because of the "duelling" northern and southern winds (I never took geography in high school so these terms are beyond me). And we got dunked in the water a couple of times before landing back on the boat--much appreciated and enjoyed on a hot day like today.
We rented pedal-boats next for an hour (Nicky and mine had steering issues!) and then the girls went on a banana boat, from which they came back with a myriad of double entendres and war wounds. By the time we finished funding the wages of everyone working that day it was around 7:30pm, so we raced back home to get changed before heading out to dinner at Hillside Estate Bistro, where we had our delicious lunch yesterday.
I don't know what it is about Okanagan restaurants, but the service is quite slow; ideal for long chats and relaxing, but not when you're outside on a cold and dark patio. It is a very Mediterranean pace that is missing in big(ger) cities like Vancouver, one that is appreciated when time is not an issue.
I can't believe that it is already our third and final night here. Why must time go by so quickly?
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