The whole trip along the Hope/Princeton is just beautiful. Then to end up in the Okanagan at Hwy 97 is the prize in my mind. From Osoyoos to Kelowna and beyond is as the locals say, "God's country."
Grew up in Penticton, and had 5 cousins in Osoyoos, where I spent at least 2 weeks every summer. There can be no better memories than that for a kid. I still can feel my feet burning on that road along the lakeshore all doused in oil to keep the dust down. The old Hotel, the packinghouse, the bandshell, the concession stand. Desert Park and betting on the horses. Rafting on the Ashinola River. Its enough to make ya weep. What a place!
We went to Osoyoos for a week every summer in the mid 1960s. Surf Side Cabins and the Poplars Motel......and great ice cream at Avalon Drove In (cocoa-coco and coco-mint Sundays!. Loved having the midnight swims when the water was still warm but the air was cooler!
Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments. We will have another vintage Osoyoos episode this Friday May 3, focusing on the summers of 1965/67. I hope it'll bring back more memories and smiles. See you then!
@ReelLifeCanada "Gavin captured some footage of nearby forest fire..." Ahhhh yes, some things truly _are_ timeless in Canada, such as the four seasons: autumn, winter, spring, and SMOKE!!
@ReelLifeCanada "Gavin captured some footage of a nearby forest fire..." Ahhhh yes, some things truly _are_ timeless in Canada, such as the four seasons: autumn, winter, spring, and SMOKE!!
I was 9 years old in 1977 and visited the Okanagan from Edmonton and I thought that it was the coolest place. Flint stones park was pretty fun. To bad the area has turned into a giant homeless camp.
My family has had a cabin on Osoyoos Lake since the 50's. My dad and his brothers and sisters would have been about the same age as these youngsters playing in the lake. The region has changed a lot since then! Even in the last 30 years since I've been around there have been many changes. Those turtles look terrified lol; there are still some turtles around, but they are quite rare to see these days, unfortunately.
"Gavin captured some footage of a nearby forest fire..." Ahhhh yes, some things truly _are_ timeless in Canada, such as the four seasons: autumn, winter, spring, and SMOKE!!
I’m 70 year old now as of 2024, my parent took us 3 boys every year to Osoyoos. I remember the old roads from Vancouver, switch back roads thru Fraser canyon and hope Princeton highway to get to Okanagan valley. Penticton was an still is great place Skaha lake.
I love love love these films. We left Edmonton to cross the Roger’s pass for an our first vacation to the Okanagan in 1964. I didn’t know my parents were so cutting edge. What a great time to live. Fantastic memories. Took my kids there for 10 years when they were young. Still take the wife there every second year.
Nice flashback ! I can remember family/childhood camping trips to Penticton on the shores of Skaha Lake, at the Sunny Bay Campground. We ate fresh peaches off the trees amongst the tents and paddled around on rented paddle boards. Cheers ! 🇨🇦😎🤙
My parents and I dove the Hope Princeton in the 1960's, in a blue Mercedes 190D of the very same vintage. It brought back memories and chuckles. Thank you for bringing it to us!
Thank you Francois for doing such a great job with our treasured family films, it turned out better than I expected. I will answer the question regarding the vehicle, it is a 1960 Mercedes Benz 220, I still have a recollection of the excitement when he brought the new car home.
how long did it last and was it kept around for a while after? or just another family car? ( inlaws had 2 door datsun car... sold it to buy van... damn it lol)
@@superdupermax My father loved his Mercedes 220, it was a column shifted 4 speed so it was a bit of fun to drive. The 220 was eventually traded in on a 1966 250s, 4 on the floor, another fun car to drive. My father was quite a car enthusiast and had a number of Mercedes and BMW cars during his life.
In 1962 from home in Edmonton, the 6 of us drove thru BC to Vancouver, the Seattle World's Fair, the farm of a relative in Cherry Hill Oregon, then home thru the Okanagan, probably thru Osoyoos. Likely that's when we went by the Grand Coulee dam the day before, also. I'm still looking for us in these videos. LOL. I think in 1962 we switched from a 1952 Chev to a yellow 1960 Oldsmobile, pulling a small ALJO trailer. We spent most of our time at the 2 camps north of Summerland and days in Penticton. Loaded up with fruit and drove home fast. Actually that Saturday going home in 1962, around Banff, we heard on the radio that Marilyn Monroe had died. Sad.
Truer words have never been spoken. I was a kid during the 60s and a teenager in the 70s. We had reasonably strict parents, of course (most of us did!), but we also had a ton of freedom and spent 95% of our days playing outside, with all the other kids in the neighbourhood - playing games and having adventures that we made up ourselves. There was the odd bully here and there, but mostly the kids came from larger families (at least 2, most had 3, many had 4+) and we all knew how to get a long, and have fun. We would take the bus to the movies, to the roller rink, sometimes to the mall. We respected the other parents, our teachers and the police. None of that was negotiable! Be a good kid, make it through school, be kind to others, don't be an a-hole. We had a great childhood for sure, I don't think we understood then how lucky we were.
Every generation has its challenges. They had very little health and safety in the work place, car accidents killed way more people relatively back then (the baby and kids you see in the video almost certainly were not wearing seatbelts on the drive while mom and dad smoked like a chimney in the car), medicine wasn’t as good. I grew up in the 80’s and it’s easily to look back with rose tinted glasses, but we had our challenges as well. The biggest issues I see facing young people today are the personal social skills being hampered. Most young people I’ve noticed are terrified to call someone on the phone. It’s only really a problem when dealing with other generations though, as young people are fine communicating with each other. The fear of increased automation making people redundant is also a huge hazard, but with the boomer generation aging out, jobs will be more prevalent.
Cool video. 5:24 I believe the floatplane is Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing owned by Jim Browne who also owned a local radio station. I remember seeing it in its shelter on the lake in the 70’s.
Several observations. Summertime and the lack of traffic. People were just beginning to discover travelling by car in 1962. Today those roads are jammed with big trucks, campers, cars and bikes. Too much traffic. The people were much fitter in the 1960's . I talked to someone yesterday about this. Today it seems everyone is overweight. It was rare back then. People worked and played all the time. The shot of the radar dish and the "tour" in the lift truck...6 people including little kids jammed in a bucket to be hoisted up....no belts, no safety harnesses, no coddling....common sense was expected and given. Simpler times and probably better times. Oh. The red, 1960 Mercedes was exactly like the red 1960 Mercedes I purchased for $1900 in Calgary in 1980..... :)
4:34 They must have made a U-Turn, because they were heading north, almost in Peachland, and the Observatory is in Willowbrook, about 40K behind them... ;-)
My husbands family is one of the founding families of Kelowna w/ roots from Glenmore to Vernon previously owning all of the orchards through the area. Additionally a direct blood relation to the Icelandic founders of a known lumber co as well. This is so cool I can't wait to show him, his parents would have been just toddlers at this time but both born and raised in the Okanagan.
From 0:42 until 0:53 is along Hwy #3 between Princeton and Hedley, yet from 0:54 to 1:06 is in Manning Park. Similkameen River in both instances. Wife and I have been going to this area, at least once a year, since 1983 and it is interesting to see the way things were back in the day...
I suppose it's a toss up between Christina Lake and Osoyoos, but likely close. As for the MB? It's a 220. Thanks for watching, plenty more episodes to come.
Soldier resettlement homes are still included in the odd orchard home, my Dad sold fruit trees from Cannor Nurseries in Chilliwack in the 1930s to some Osoyoos, Oliver farmers, still live in Osoyoos, no better peaches on earth.
Hehehe, so true, I'm one myself. We migrated 12 years ago from Calgary to Vernon. It was meant as point of humour and pride, after all, the Okanagan is simply amazing, especially in summer.
Oh so back in the 60's there were areas that did have hot temperatures! It metioned that osoyoos would have temperatures up to 38 degrees. I thought the climate change people have said if has never been that hot til now! Well in the 60's in osoyoos it was. Another lie revealed 😊
The Okanagan Lake is now full of oil streaks from over use. And sadly its no longer safe to even sit on the beaches with out being harassed or watch people use the lake with a bar of soap as their bathing location. needles and broken glass in the sand. So sad
I love Osoyoos BC Canada, I moved there in early July of 2008 I worked as a stuco worker, it was up to 42 degrees celsius and the lightning storms at night time are very freaky. It's a semi desert, but a very beautiful place. If your just passing through Osoyoos BC in the summer all you will smell is sun tan lotion, and barbeque.😜🤸🤸🤸🤸🇨🇦😎😎🥵🥵👙🩲🎽
The whole trip along the Hope/Princeton is just beautiful. Then to end up in the Okanagan at Hwy 97 is the prize in my mind. From Osoyoos to Kelowna and beyond is as the locals say, "God's country."
Grew up in Penticton, and had 5 cousins in Osoyoos, where I spent at least 2 weeks every summer. There can be no better memories than that for a kid. I still can feel my feet burning on that road along the lakeshore all doused in oil to keep the dust down. The old Hotel, the packinghouse, the bandshell, the concession stand. Desert Park and betting on the horses. Rafting on the Ashinola River. Its enough to make ya weep. What a place!
We went to Osoyoos for a week every summer in the mid 1960s. Surf Side Cabins and the Poplars Motel......and great ice cream at Avalon Drove In (cocoa-coco and coco-mint Sundays!. Loved having the midnight swims when the water was still warm but the air was cooler!
What a beautiful time and place!
Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments. We will have another vintage Osoyoos episode this Friday May 3, focusing on the summers of 1965/67. I hope it'll bring back more memories and smiles. See you then!
@ReelLifeCanada "Gavin captured some footage of nearby forest fire..."
Ahhhh yes, some things truly _are_ timeless in Canada, such as the four seasons:
autumn, winter, spring, and SMOKE!!
@ReelLifeCanada
"Gavin captured some footage of a nearby forest fire..."
Ahhhh yes, some things truly _are_ timeless in Canada, such as the four seasons:
autumn, winter, spring, and SMOKE!!
I was 9 years old in 1977 and visited the Okanagan from Edmonton and I thought that it was the coolest place. Flint stones park was pretty fun.
To bad the area has turned into a giant homeless camp.
Grew up on beach front property on Okanagan lake in the 1960’s, still to this day, consider it to be the finest days of my life.
Did you see the movie My American Cousin? I thought it was a pretty good portrayal. In 1959 we went to Manitoba and Yellowstone Park.
@@GordoGambler That movie was written and directed by a good friend of mine.
@@rozinant1237 great movie!!
@@rozinant1237 I watched it less than a year ago, here on utube!
Please pass on to Sandy that I enjoyed her film immensely when it was first released. One of the best Canadian movies of the 80s.
So fun to relive my childhood and to visit familiar landscapes
Asa kid in the 60's, first day of summer vacation was ALWAYS Crew Cut day, just like those kids by the look of things!
My family has had a cabin on Osoyoos Lake since the 50's. My dad and his brothers and sisters would have been about the same age as these youngsters playing in the lake. The region has changed a lot since then! Even in the last 30 years since I've been around there have been many changes. Those turtles look terrified lol; there are still some turtles around, but they are quite rare to see these days, unfortunately.
"Gavin captured some footage of a nearby forest fire..."
Ahhhh yes, some things truly _are_ timeless in Canada, such as the four seasons:
autumn, winter, spring, and SMOKE!!
I’m 70 year old now as of 2024, my parent took us 3 boys every year to Osoyoos.
I remember the old roads from Vancouver, switch back roads thru Fraser canyon and hope Princeton highway to get to Okanagan valley.
Penticton was an still is great place Skaha lake.
A couple of great family camping trips there for our family. Often at cherry picking time. The swimming clips were exactly how I remember it!
Was there in 69 when i was 14. Hotter than hell. We stopped for a swim to cool down. The good ol days before the hordes came and wrecked the place.
I love love love these films. We left Edmonton to cross the Roger’s pass for an our first vacation to the Okanagan in 1964. I didn’t know my parents were so cutting edge. What a great time to live. Fantastic memories. Took my kids there for 10 years when they were young. Still take the wife there every second year.
I live in the South Okanagan and recognize so many scenes from this film. God's gorgeous country❣️
Well, perhaps He could have a chat with our PM and remind him that it is indeed NOT his country to do as he wants ?
@@DutchVai you must be a very bitter person where everything in your life is related to politics
@@Don-du7du On the contrary, I'm sweet as custard pie and politics are kept at bay due to being a criminal organization.
Nice flashback ! I can remember family/childhood camping trips to Penticton on the shores of Skaha Lake, at the Sunny Bay Campground. We ate fresh peaches off the trees amongst the tents and paddled around on rented paddle boards. Cheers ! 🇨🇦😎🤙
I live in the South Okanagan and recognize so many scenes from this film. God's gorgeous country️
My parents and I dove the Hope Princeton in the 1960's, in a blue Mercedes 190D of the very same vintage. It brought back memories and chuckles. Thank you for bringing it to us!
awesome to see that old footage
Just awesome love the OK
Thank you for sharing! Very much appreciate :)
That was my childhood.
Thank you Francois for doing such a great job with our treasured family films, it turned out better than I expected. I will answer the question regarding the vehicle, it is a 1960 Mercedes Benz 220, I still have a recollection of the excitement when he brought the new car home.
how long did it last and was it kept around for a while after? or just another family car? ( inlaws had 2 door datsun car... sold it to buy van... damn it lol)
@@superdupermax My father loved his Mercedes 220, it was a column shifted 4 speed so it was a bit of fun to drive. The 220 was eventually traded in on a 1966 250s, 4 on the floor, another fun car to drive. My father was quite a car enthusiast and had a number of Mercedes and BMW cars during his life.
@@bretmire I had a 1968 230 (110 chassis, same as your dad's 220) , 6cyl, 4 on the floor, super fun as well. 1968 was the last year 👍
In 1962 from home in Edmonton, the 6 of us drove thru BC to Vancouver, the Seattle World's Fair, the farm of a relative in Cherry Hill Oregon, then home thru the Okanagan, probably thru Osoyoos. Likely that's when we went by the Grand Coulee dam the day before, also.
I'm still looking for us in these videos. LOL. I think in 1962 we switched from a 1952 Chev to a yellow 1960 Oldsmobile, pulling a small ALJO trailer.
We spent most of our time at the 2 camps north of Summerland and days in Penticton. Loaded up with fruit and drove home fast.
Actually that Saturday going home in 1962, around Banff, we heard on the radio that Marilyn Monroe had died. Sad.
Thank you for posting. We used togo in the early sixties, too! Great memories.
I remember when Kelowna was like Tuscany and had canals and orchards........now sadly it just looks like surrey
ya... and with worse traffic? 🙄
im 24 years old in 2024 and i love looking at decades i haven't experienced it looks to me that things seemed much less complicated
Truer words have never been spoken. I was a kid during the 60s and a teenager in the 70s. We had reasonably strict parents, of course (most of us did!), but we also had a ton of freedom and spent 95% of our days playing outside, with all the other kids in the neighbourhood - playing games and having adventures that we made up ourselves. There was the odd bully here and there, but mostly the kids came from larger families (at least 2, most had 3, many had 4+) and we all knew how to get a long, and have fun. We would take the bus to the movies, to the roller rink, sometimes to the mall. We respected the other parents, our teachers and the police. None of that was negotiable! Be a good kid, make it through school, be kind to others, don't be an a-hole. We had a great childhood for sure, I don't think we understood then how lucky we were.
No video games, no TV, no internet... it sucked.
That’s called Anemonia my friend
Life was generally worse back then except for one thing: housing was actually affordable :\
Every generation has its challenges. They had very little health and safety in the work place, car accidents killed way more people relatively back then (the baby and kids you see in the video almost certainly were not wearing seatbelts on the drive while mom and dad smoked like a chimney in the car), medicine wasn’t as good.
I grew up in the 80’s and it’s easily to look back with rose tinted glasses, but we had our challenges as well.
The biggest issues I see facing young people today are the personal social skills being hampered. Most young people I’ve noticed are terrified to call someone on the phone. It’s only really a problem when dealing with other generations though, as young people are fine communicating with each other.
The fear of increased automation making people redundant is also a huge hazard, but with the boomer generation aging out, jobs will be more prevalent.
Funny seeing those old Highways garbage cans, I last remember seeing them on the Malahat Drive lookout in the 70's
Cool video.
5:24 I believe the floatplane is Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing owned by Jim Browne who also owned a local radio station. I remember seeing it in its shelter on the lake in the 70’s.
Thanks for identifying the aircraft, I was a challenge with it. I've not many Staggerwings on floats, it must have sounded amazing on take off.
@@ReelLifeCanada
It did!😁
Cool classic.
I remember hitch hiking through there in 1972
Walking down the road, helping yourself to a piece of fresh fruit.
SUPER!!! thanks for sharing!!
Several observations.
Summertime and the lack of traffic. People were just beginning to discover travelling by car in 1962. Today those roads are jammed with big trucks, campers, cars and bikes. Too much traffic.
The people were much fitter in the 1960's . I talked to someone yesterday about this. Today it seems everyone is overweight. It was rare back then. People worked and played all the time.
The shot of the radar dish and the "tour" in the lift truck...6 people including little kids jammed in a bucket to be hoisted up....no belts, no safety harnesses, no coddling....common sense was expected and given.
Simpler times and probably better times.
Oh. The red, 1960 Mercedes was exactly like the red 1960 Mercedes I purchased for $1900 in Calgary in 1980..... :)
4:34
They must have made a U-Turn, because they were heading north, almost in Peachland, and the Observatory is in Willowbrook, about 40K behind them...
;-)
My husbands family is one of the founding families of Kelowna w/ roots from Glenmore to Vernon previously owning all of the orchards through the area. Additionally a direct blood relation to the Icelandic founders of a known lumber co as well. This is so cool I can't wait to show him, his parents would have been just toddlers at this time but both born and raised in the Okanagan.
Back when Canada was at its best.
for some people
Boy Oysoyoos Lake was beautiful back then, now it's overcrowded and polluted. 😟
From 0:42 until 0:53 is along Hwy #3 between Princeton and Hedley, yet from 0:54 to 1:06 is in Manning Park. Similkameen River in both instances.
Wife and I have been going to this area, at least once a year, since 1983 and it is interesting to see the way things were back in the day...
The children in the video are old enough now to be in their '70's.
Well everyone who looks 20 here are very old today or maybe pass away
That kid at 3:10 that is just so casually happy about catching that monster fish, from the shore, on a literal stick. 🤣
my first trip there was in 70 coming from Banff
Christina Lake affectionatos have long argued that's the warmest Lake.
What model of Mercedes-Benz did the family drive?
I suppose it's a toss up between Christina Lake and Osoyoos, but likely close. As for the MB? It's a 220. Thanks for watching, plenty more episodes to come.
Back when earth's human population was sustainable and it was actually enjoyable to visit places that weren't overrun by ignorant people.
How old were you then
Would've been nice back then to compared the hell it is now.
A feeling of Anemoia sets in for me
Soldier resettlement homes are still included in the odd orchard home, my Dad sold fruit trees from Cannor Nurseries in Chilliwack in the 1930s to some Osoyoos, Oliver farmers, still live in Osoyoos, no better peaches on earth.
British Columbia's Lake of the Ozarks.
Nah, I think some of the Gulf Islands have that title.... :)
They'd have got better quality if they used their phones to shoot this. But at least they had Starlink ;)
And we Albertans never stopped coming, I've lived in Vancouver since 1966
Hehehe, so true, I'm one myself. We migrated 12 years ago from Calgary to Vernon. It was meant as point of humour and pride, after all, the Okanagan is simply amazing, especially in summer.
Albertans are the ones that keep it from going over the edge into some ultra leftwing sh-t hole,
Pronunciation of Osoyoos is coastal. Locals have no soy only sue.
No kidding! I grew up in Oliver and cringed every time he said it that way. oh-SUE-yis Said quite different than from how it is spelled!
Exactly right! There is no “soy” sound in Osoyoos.😂
Garbage Gobbler at 1:44 !!
2:20 temperature info
38 Celsius is just over 100 Fahrenheit. Growing up there, I certainly saw it hotter than that! A lot hotter.
Oh so back in the 60's there were areas that did have hot temperatures! It metioned that osoyoos would have temperatures up to 38 degrees. I thought the climate change people have said if has never been that hot til now! Well in the 60's in osoyoos it was. Another lie revealed 😊
don't be an idiot
White people: "Life was so much better back then! Wish we could go back to that wonderful place and time!"
Non-white people: "Nope."
The Okanagan Lake is now full of oil streaks from over use. And sadly its no longer safe to even sit on the beaches with out being harassed or watch people use the lake with a bar of soap as their bathing location. needles and broken glass in the sand. So sad
I love Osoyoos BC Canada, I moved there in early July of 2008 I worked as a stuco worker, it was up to 42 degrees celsius and the lightning storms at night time are very freaky. It's a semi desert, but a very beautiful place. If your just passing through Osoyoos BC in the summer all you will smell is sun tan lotion, and barbeque.😜🤸🤸🤸🤸🇨🇦😎😎🥵🥵👙🩲🎽