Saturday, July 25, 2009

Busted Flat in Penticton

Ok, so, we had planned to pick cherries in Oliver for at least a month. But we quickly realized picking was not all it was cracked up to be. We budgeted our last month of adventure based on making sixty dollars a day, minimum. But by the end of week two we noticed we were going to be lucky to make half that. And even though everyone kept telling us,
"oh don't worry the cherries aren't ripe yet," or,

"just wait till you are picking the good trees you will make tons of money," we were not feeling too optimistic. I don't know how you'd feel, but I found it difficult to get out of bed/tent at five am, for thirty bucks. Nevertheless, we soldiered on, until this...



Ash's hand post-op


And the leg


sexy staples.

Ashley, who, as I pointed out was the most accomplished picker, was also the most daring on her 12 ft ladder, (refer to previous post for a picture of said ladder.) Anyway, she ended up falling out of the tree and had to be rushed to, not one but two hospitals, before having emergency surgery on her left leg and hand.


The offending tree. I wont bore you with all of the details except to say that Ash's fall was the result of bad pruning, poor crop, and pushy, illiterate, (at least in English,) and under-informed supervisors.


Lauren pointing out the spot where Ash fell for her workers comp file. Just a side note, those amazing outhouse pictures in the previous post would never have been available for the Property Spot, if Ash hadn't taken her spill, so I guess there is a silver lining. Right Ash?

After Ashley got taken to the small hospital in Oliver, via ambulance, and had her initial x-rays, we were told that she would have to have immediate surgery in Penticton, forty-five minutes to the north. So Lauren and I, slightly spooked packed up our home in Oliver and followed Ashley's second ambulance of the day to lovely Penticton.




Well actually, Lo and I spent our first night camping in a sad little provincial park, our saddest camp since Loose Bay, near the town of Okanagan Falls, or OK Falls if you're a local. A small out-post half way between Oliver and Penticton.



I joked to Lauren that it was no surprise that they called this place OK Falls.


The local liquor store/bar/hotel... not a lot to do in OK Falls.




But Lauren and I did put on some make-up and skirts for the first time in weeks, so I'd say we made the best of our one night in town.

Ashley's social worker, (yes they give you one of those when you tell the doctor performing your invasive ortho-surgery that you live in a tent,) got us set up with some colleagues of hers in Penticton for the next couple days. So we left our OK campsite, and our odd Mennonite neighbors behind and headed to the big bad city of Penticton


Our sweet spot at Dale and Elmie's


I loved that horse, even if he was more into the grass.



O and surprise surprise Lauren was into the cat. By the way Bruiser, how appropriate, was the fattest cat I'd ever seen.

I am happy to report that Ashley is healing nicely and that our adventure will continue in Calgary, where Lauren and I have recently been employed at the Chinook Centre as members of the maintanence crew. Stay tuned...

Friday, July 24, 2009

Life in the Orchard


Our old girl made it to Oliver


Our first campsite at Loose Bay


You may be wondering where the Bay is, well there isn't one. In fact this place was more like a desert. Loose Bay is marketed as "the" place for aspiring pickers. Instead it was full of buzzards, bats and questionable looking Quebecors. We thankfully only had to spend one night here, which was lucky because this place will forever be imprinted in my brain as the most terrifying place in British Columbia.


yes they call it Loose "Bay" but bring your own water, cause this place is a desert


The pimpest pad in the Bay


you like?


perhaps Loose Bays best angle. We vowed never to return to Loose Bay, and so our second night in the South Okanagan we forced Rhonda to do some hairy "offroading" and camped at a place we named the Great Lakes, because great they were, well, not great. But hey at least there was actual water there.


On our third day in Oliver we got hired at Garry's Orchard. It must have been some good Canada Day luck. Here is our new home.


nice overalls Lo

We love to hang out in the car


Hey Ash


group reading


Here she is world, the hippy fruit picker

Our super sexy outhouse, by they way, we later learned that this is actually illegal in the orchards because the law requires that bathrooms provided for pickers be cleanable. And you can't clean an outhouse now can you?




I have been subjected to so much "friendship" and so many 'bian jokes




Oh um


Home Sweet Home


The tree house


personal supply

nice earrings Lo


Hey get out of my "cherritory." All puns aside Ash, was actually the pimpest picker.

Who says money doesn't grow on trees?

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Cherryville

Hmm.


Headin' to Cherryville, we got a lot of strange looks and comments like, "Only two things to do in Cherryville, grow pot or cut lumber."


Round the campfire. Shocker, I am having a s'more


down by the river


Don't let go of that rope, or we'll float away.







This is how they "camp" out here.


It is crazy that we went swimming (bathing) in the lake, and you can see snow-capped mountains in the background. Don't get those in Ontario




The three travellers

Doesn't Lauren look classy?


I'm collecting all the Milwaukee ladies




Hmm, we seem to always need one of those. I tried desperately to use my credit card at the pay phone to call everyone I know back home.


The local store, best sausage rolls of life.


Jimmy the kitty. Even I had to admit she was pretty cute.