To those who say the city's mired in smoke and that nobody tubes the Penticton River Channel after Labour Day, we give you ample proof of the opposite.
Today, Penticton was at its late-summer best. Temperatures in the mid-20s, not a hint of the smokeshow we've endured for the past week, and waterfront areas alive with folks enjoying the ambience.
And at the Channel, Candace Heinz of Surrey got ready to celebrate her 35th birthday in style -- with a group float and tanning session.
"We're here for my birthday," said Heinz to great cheers from the assembled throng. "I'm with my sister and my chosen sister -- she's been in our family since I was in about grade six -- and good friends that we've met mostly through soccer."
Turns out Heinz and just about the entire group are soccer players. Mostly Division 1 and 2, and one who toils in the lofty Premier League and at one time played with England's vaunted Crystal Palace Football Club.
"We usually come to Penticton for the May long weekend soccer tournaments," Heinz continued, "but because everything was closed down due of COVID, we figured we'd do a birthday weekend instead."
The entire posse toured the Naramata Wine Bench Saturday, and plan for a downtown "distillery tour" Sunday evening. "Everything looks amazing downtown," she added.
Heinz, who's a flight attendant and is currently working toward her commercial pilot's license, also instructs firefighting and "water evacuation." But there was no water evacuation today until the party had floated all the way to Skaha Lake.
And they weren't the only tubers on the channel today. By mid-afternoon, the waterway was dotted with them.
Rain is in the forecast for midweek, but not before two more days of smokeless (and generally sunny) skies.
