Which Route Home?
When I woke up on the final day, I had two routes planned to get home. It was all dependent on the fire situation on highway 20 west.
We packed up our campsites. And the bikes were loaded. Highway 20 west was still closed, so route option Number 2 was put into play.
We would have to backtrack east on highway 20 for about 45 minutes. Then head north on highway 97 to the Oroville/Osoyoos border crossing.
The wildfire smoke got thicker the more north we rode. We stopped in Tonasket for fuel for the bikes and us. Had breakfast at Shannon’s Cafe & Deli, right on the highway. Homecooked, yummy food!
Crossing the border went without a hitch. Weren’t sure what to expect since Cheryl had forgotten her passport at home. They let her into the U.S. at the Peace Arch, but would they let her out? hahaha.
Fresh fruit signs were everywh. And fruit stands started popping up. I couldn’t resist the temptation and had to stop for some fresh Okanogan fruit…delicious!!
Wildfires Ahead
From Osoyoos, we headed west on highway 3. This is a spectacular road for a motorcycle, it just wasn’t one of Cheryl’s Bucket List items, the Cascades.
Just west of Hedley, we could see smoke billowing from a mountain ahead. As we rode closer, we could see which mountain it was coming from. There is a Wildlife Viewing Pullout that had clear views of the fires. So, we pulled off for a few minutes. There were multiple spots where smoke rose from the forest. In one area, we could see the flames from the Viewing area. Very eerie!!
Princeton was the next stop for fuel and a break. The break stops were spaced nicely along highway 3. Great to have a break every couple of hours. We continued on, enjoying the twistys and curves of highway 3. Hope was the next break interval.
Not knowing the exact time we would arrive at a ferry terminal, we aimed for the Tsawwassean Ferry Terminal. It offers more sailings to get to Nanaimo, compared to Horseshoe Bay. We checked in at the booth at 5:00p.m., and made it on the 5:45p.m. ferry.
There was a delay from the previous ferry, so we loaded late. Then they directed us motorcycles to the basement of the ferry. All snuggled in with the semi’s. The whales treated us to sprays on the way to Nanaimo. Very nice treat.
We docked around 8:30p.m., had a quick off-load, and zoomed home.
Two days after we arrived home, all hell broke loose in the Okanagan and interior B.C. The wildfires took over and grew out of hand. People were evacuated and bans on nonessential travel into six communities were put into place. Osoyoos was one of those communities. We rode through there just in time. Otherwise, we would have had to taken a different route home.
