Kalamalka Lake

Whenever I'm on a highway and the road passes a lake, I always want to go down to the water's edge and go swimming or boating. Whenever I can, at least I soak my feet and look around. Talking Bernie into stopping for a few minutes got ever so much easier once he got a fishing rod. On several of our trips between Victoria and Edmonton, we would stop to let the twins run around, but he'd also get out the rod and tackle. Now that I own a little folding inflatable kayak, we take it along on any road trips. He doesn't mind me going out on the water in my boat, and I don't mind him fishing from the shore. Sometimes he takes a turn in the kayak too.
Our grown son Ben is on the way back to Edmonton after building greenhouses, picking fruit and para-sailing in Kelowna. (Whenever I feel like I'm a kick-ass kayaking enthusiast, there's always reminders that other sports like para-sailing are far more enthusiastic.) While on the road, he stopped in Vernon and found free wifi at the public library (LOVE public libraries!), so he sent us this photo taken from Highway 97.

Kalamalka Lake, taken by Ben

His note reads:

You could be paddling this. Deep, 5 degree water with fish the size of your arm and a million kinds of wildlife scattered along the shore. Next summer maybe?

Gotta say, he knows how to pitch a paddling destination! After some time at Kalamalka Lake, he left Vernon and headed towards Golden. There, he found what he describes as the best swimming hole in the Rockies. Ten feet deep and clear as glass.

When he can't find a boat to borrow, he just swims a little and floats around. Nice.