Blue Monday ~ May 24, 2010

I took these photos of blue signage on a recent trip to the interior City of Kamloops. 

Read more about Kamloops here and here if you like.

Join Sally and the gang for more Blue Monday here.

Scenic Sunday in Kamloops

Kamloops, British Columbia is a very different place from where I live in Vancouver. Kamloops is about 4 hours drive north and is located in what is called the Interior of the province. It is cattle country and for years this small city was more like a frontier town.

[Panoramic shot of the North Shore, Kamloops]

I'm happy to say that in the past decade or so things have changed a lot. New commercial buildings have gone up aplenty. New areas of the city have seen significant residential development and there are new facilities and services to be used such as the new downtown library and the one that will open on April 19, 2010 on the north shore. There are also new hotels and restaurants.

[Photo of the newest hotel opened in February 2010]

If you are a golfer there are numerous golf resorts. If you are a mountain biker, the city is known for it's mountain bike trails. If you love the outdoors the entire region is known for fishing and camping. If you like hot weather you are also in luck as the summer temperatures can frequently get over 30ºCelsius. So you will likely want to hang out in one of the city's many beautiful parks just to stay cool and relax. Or you might participate in a community or national event like Canada's birthday on Canada Day, July 1st.

[Collage of photos taken at park on Canada Day 2009. 
Click on photo to enlarge]

Whatever you want to do, you will likely be able to do it in Kamloops. But you better hurry. Those real estate prices have been going up, up and up.

Here now are a few photos taken downtown in February 2010.

[Plaza Hotel, a landmark in the city centre]

[Zack's Coffee shop, a long time business in downtown core]

[City sidewalks are nice and wide downtown and planter pots await Spring]

[Traffic is not exceptionally heavy]

[Buildings downtown retain their history. Big malls are on the hill & across the river]

[This mall has undergone about 3 complete renovations in last 40 years]

[One of the local radio stations]

[Bus routes are extensive and run every 15-30 minutes depending on time of day]

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More Images of Kamloops

It's been a week or so now since I returned home from Kamloops. I didn't get a chance to post some of my photos when I was there. I am always too busy when there to do much sightseeing or blogging in the way I would like.

Hopefully these snap shots I captured on my errand days will give you a good sense of the area. Maybe I can get some photos of different areas next time. You can click on any of the photos to enlarge.

I also found this wonderful and short video tonight. I am not a mountain biker but Kamloops is a well known area for mountain biking so for those fans, you might really like this. I think it also gives a good view of the surrounding terrain. Isn't it beautiful?

Click here to learn more about the city and surrounding area.

Click here to visit some Kamloops webcams

Click here for a map to see where Kamloops is located.

Scenic Sunset

Southwest facing view of the mountains in North Kamloops, BC.

Sky Above the Valley

This was the sky above Kamloops this week.

Images of Kamloops

I am visiting in the Interior of British Columbia this week in a town called Kamloops. It is about 4.5 hours drive from my home to here.

The weather and scenery in winter is rather dull. It has been foggy all week but today the sun came through. As you can see there is very little snow here. Kamloops doesn't get much snow in winter these days but this year has been very mild both here and at home in Vancouver.

I hope you enjoy these few pictures. Perhaps you can see that the geography is quite dry and this is a semi-arid area with some desert scenery and temperatures in summer. It can be quite lovely on a nice day and the area is a wonderful area for those that love ranching or the great outdoors.