Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Woke up this morning, had myself a run.

I was reminded last night that I am supposed to be training for a half marathon in August, so I thought I better get back into routine. The only problem is that the intense heat here makes it really hard to run.

I decided that today would be a day to relax after all of the hijinx on the Shuswaps, so I decided to find a beach. After I visited an orchard and bought some cherries (which are perfectly in season right now), I asked about where the good beaches are. I was informed that the most popular ones are right down the street from my motel, however they are very full during the day. Then I was told that further down the street, as the road travels out of the City limits, there were several beaches that were much quieter (and, as a result, cleaner!). So I decided to try one of those.

After lunch I packed my beach stuff and headed down Lakeshore Avenue and checked out several beach accesses, but ended up staying at the first one I found. The parking lot was on top of a cliff, and I would have to climb down a narrow path to get to the beach. I thought it would be fun.

When I got down there I laid out my towel and proceeded to read my book and try to work on the nasty farmer’s tan I was developing. After about an hour I started to check out the rest of the beach. I noticed a woman about fifty yards down the beach who appeared to be wearing a skimpy bathing suit. Her back was to me, and it looked like she wasn’t wearing a bathing suit at all. Then she turned around, and I discovered that, in fact, she was not wearing a bathing suit at all.

I was a bit startled and looked up the other side of the beach to see if anyone else could see her. Surely somebody would notice, since there were several people in the water and on the beach sunning themselves. That’s when I actually noticed an elderly gentleman of generous proportions proceed to take of his bathing suit and waddle into the water.

And then I realized that I was the only person wearing a bathing suit, with the exception of people who were either arriving at or leaving the beach. Of course, these people at one point would be without a suit as well. I had found Kelowna’s nude beach. There were people partying on boats dancing away to the music they had playing, others were on the beach just lying there. This was a total nude party on the beach. I was mostly confused as to how it took me an entire hour to realize this.

And it’s not what one would expect. These were not supermodels. These were mostly elderly gentlemen (some elderly ladies) who were just trying to enjoy the sun.

And no, I did not join them. I didn’t bring my suntan lotion and I did not want to risk a burn on sensitive areas.

After another hour of reading I left the beach and went back to the motel. Later that night I visited the Lake City Casino in downtown Kelowna and went to bed early.

Tomorrow, I think, I will head south into the desert.