California sunset ~ Marina, CA

Our travels up the California coastline have us driving through sunshine, cloudy skies and even some rain.  I would much prefer we not deal with rain, but as long as it does not interfere with our sightseeing, we’ll manage.  I’ve sent word out to the weatherman!

Marina Dunes Rv park at Marina, CA

We are booking the RV parks as we travel and usually stay in unfamiliar places to explore where we haven’t done before.  This will be our first visit to Marina, just north of Monterey, CA. where we had stayed on a previous visit to the coast.  We booked into the Marina Dunes RV Park and did find it expensive for just an overnight stop when not taking advantage of their amenities. RV parks near the water are pretty rare but we wanted to be within walking distance of the ocean.

Marina State Park, CA

The location was great for our stay.  We had easy access to Marina State Beach, with the entrance right across the street and a fenced pathway to follow.  The clouds had gathered and were not allowing the sun to shine down on us but we headed over to watch the sunset.

Seascape beyond the dunes

The dunes are a great sight, with blooming flowers that add color to the growing darkness.  The sun is still trying to shine down but struggles to fit between those dark clouds.

Are we there yet?

The wind was pretty strong and the chill in the April air warranted jackets for our walk but we trudged up the sandy walk to get ourselves to the beach.  We followed our friends up the heavily travelled path but we saw few others out on this cool and windy night.

Enjoying the view

More clouds are gathering and not offering much chance of a cloudless sunset, but there is always hope.  The wind blows and the waves crash; it is wonderful to see, feel and hear the ocean. We are enjoying the view.

Clouds cover the sun

I am determined to see the sun set and look forward to watching it from the beach so we wait awhile longer.  Will the dark bank of clouds move away in time to watch the sun slide down behind the horizon? 

April sunset at Marina, CA

Alas, it did not.  I’d hoped to see what I thought to be a “perfect” sunset but the weatherman missed the memo.  But… the sunset was beautiful anyway, with sunrays beaming through the clouds.  How could I think otherwise; we were enjoying our travels and adventures and now we were watching a sunset on the beach with great friends. Perfect!

Boating on Kootenay Bay, B.C.

In a quiet cove on the west side of Crawford Bay is the marina on Kootenay Lake, one of the spots in B.C. we love to RV. There are several sailboats moored and I can understand why they would choose this location. 

Crawford Bay Marina

This is such a beautiful lake and one could have some wonderful trips just sailing on a sunny day, practically in their own back yard. I believe some of these would belong to sailors from surrounding communities as well. There are also several motor boats, some of which could be considered great RV for the lake, with all the comforts of home.

                                                              RV'ing sailboat style

Kootenay Lake has more boats in the summer time, but we’ve been here in other months and it is fairly quiet, just the occasional motorboat, fishing boat or sailboat.
The lake is so large that it is not likely ever crowded. There are marina’s scattered all around the lake. We saw more on our trip up 3A to Creston, B.C., with access to boat launches at Boswell or Kuskanook or the ferry landing at the end of Kootenay Lake Rd.

We often talk about how nice it would be to boat around the lake and enjoy the scenery from that perspective. Maybe one day……………..

Victoria Day weekend

View of Kamloops Lake, Savona, B.C.

It was the Victoria Day long weekend and we weren't able to go RV'ing, but we did get an evening visit with our son and his family where they were RV'ing for their long weekend. They have property on the north side of Kamloops Lake, opposite Savona. It is a little over an hours drive from Kamloops and is an absolutely beautiful location. The picture above is taken as we leave the main road to access their property and the view of Kamloops Lake is so gorgeous. They have room for our RV so when retirement and time allows us to, we will enjoy this beautiful spot.

Kamloops Lake is a jewel and has only recently received some of the attention it deserves with the Tobiano Resort development, which has a marina. It is the only marina on the lake and makes summer boating much easier. Boat traffic seems to be increasing since the marina opened last year. This is a great new thing for many Kamloops boaters to be able to explore the lake and it's little coves, but I think the residents of Savona have always known they had a jewel.