Day 4 - Manning Park to Bromley Rock Provincial Park

Distance: 80.3 km
Average speed: 18.6 km/h
Riding time: 4 hours 18 minutes
Campground: Bromley Rock Provincial Park
Cumulative distance: 316.2 km

We were disappointed with the state of the shoulder for most of the ride today. Either it was cracked or covered in stones. If it was even there. Therefore we were forced to encroach on the road. But for the most part the cars were generous in giving us as much room as they could, even crossing over the yellow line.

As we got within ten kilometres of Princeton the shoulder became reliable once more but there was a slight drizzle that hounded us instead. We descended a five kilometre hill and by the end of it our fingers were sore from having applied the brakes for so long. It should have been fun, watching all the effort we put into climbing these last few days quickly slip away, but with the inconsistent shoulder and wet conditions we had to stay alert.

Rob says that if he gets more than ten days of rain he will be disappointed in our trip so we have seven more days of bad weather before that happens. But he will probably regret cursing the rain when we reach the hot sun of the prairies.

We had a warm welcome in Princeton (where Rob became very distraught when he learned that they had no Tim Hortons there) when we took our lunch break. We spoke to a woman who is a host for the Warm Shower Organization which provides shelter for people on bike tours. We also met a man who wished he could be doing the same thing.

Our campsite is by the Similkameen River which is calmer and deeper than yesterday's. It was a First Nations fishing site in the past. We are going to head down to the beach later today but we aren't too keen on swimming because the weather is still overcast with eminent rain.

Boku decided to go into the water though, and he suffered by shivering all evening. Last night we made too much rice so Rob poured the whole lot of it in Boku's bowl. He hasn't touched it since. To try and ease his discomfort Josianne wrapped him in his blanket and even hand fed him some of his kibble. What a big baby.

We look forward to finally getting to the Okanagan tomorrow.