I found the best bike path/running trail!

I like that I run in the morning. I beat the heat and get my day off to a good start.

I do not like the heat.

I hate it.

Most people are surprised to hear that it is hot in parts of British Columbia. My sister lives in Kelowna which is in the Okanagan Valley. The Okanagan Valley is home to Okanagan Lake - a vast expanse of water that is quite deep. It is also alleged to be the home of Ogopogo, a Loch Ness monster type of monster. Since the lake is quite deep and large, people assume there must be a monster. Oh, and people have spotted it, I guess.

Did I neglect to mention that the Okanagan Valley is also home to many award-winning vineyards?

Does that help to explain the presence of a lake monster? Perhaps, perhaps not. You be the judge.

I am forced to run 3 miles (5 kilometers or thereabouts - when in Rome) in the middle of the afternoon. Bad idea, but what choice do I have?

I ask at our hotel if there is a marked path or something nearby. The clerk is more than happy to direct me to the Mission Creek Bike Path. The bike path is a 16 km (8 km out and 8 back) packed dirt/stone trail that winds next to Mission Creek. It is well-maintained and beautiful! I feel connected to nature running on this trail.

Not only do I see birds of all sorts, but I see plants and insects that I don't regularly see at home, if at all. The trail does have its share of users. I can see people running, walking, and biking. People have kids and dogs.

And it also abuts some of the best scenery I have seen in ages. I can see past the creek to the mountains in the distance. Jutting up from the landscape, they motivate me to push harder to get to the 2.5 km mark. I almost don't want to turn around. Almost.

I do my share of sweating. That's nothing new. But I do make a note that I want to run in the morning. The morning. It is much too warm in the middle of the day.

Thank God for the shade of the trees along the banks of the river. Rarely was I in the open sun.