Some Waterfront Walkers in Kelowna, BC

Andrea of Westbank, B.C.

Chris with her husband with Newfoundland

Sandra of Kelowna, B.C.

Amy enjoying her new home in Canada

Claire of Kelowna, B.C.

Pauline, Helen, Irene, Anita & Miriam enjoying a February winter walk together

"I was born in Fort Macleod, Alberta. I am the youngest of 11 children. There is an eight year difference between my brother and I so when I was growing up I spent a lot of time with my parents. I did a lot of traveling with them down to Arizona, Utah and California. I am a mother of four children, twin girls and two boys. Between my sibblings and I there are three sets of twins in our family. I also have a brother with 7 boys so we end up spending a lot of our trips away trying to visit everyone. My Husband is a helicopter pilot. We have moved around a lot with his job living in Lethbridge, Prince George, Fort St. John, Hinton, and now here in Westbank, B.C.. I love doing crafts and right now I stamp cards and teach card-making classes. I also create cards for others. I love walking and being outside. Walking with others makes the time fly by so fast I don’t even know I am exercising. I look forward to it."

I was born in a little seaside town in England, Clacton-on-Sea. I have fond memories of playing in a little park beside the sea. We moved to Canada in 1955 and since my Dad was in the armed forces we moved about every three years and then finally settled in Ottawa. Our vacations were spent camping and exploring all the wonderful regions we were stationed at the time. I married my high school sweetheart, Steve, 34 years ago and have 2 awesome sons, Sean and Lee. I decided to take the nontraditional approach when it came to my career and worked as a Sheet Metal Fabricator, studied Electronic Engineering and worked for a Pneumatic/Automation Distributor company. My husband retired after 35 years and we decide to move out west. Leaving behind the stress of a very high pressure job was something I had to do for my health. As we were getting ready to make the big move I always kept a quote by Walt Disney in mind “ all your dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them.”

I was born and raised in Assiniboia, a small town in south Saskatchewan. Growing up, I swam, rode my bike and did gymnastics as activities. I was always active, when I was younger. I moved to B.C. in 1986, and my son was born the day after. I'm a mother of two grown up children, Tina, 22 and Justin 20. My husband Troye and I were just recently married and we are enjoying renovating our home and yard. I enjoy walking, hiking, swimming, tai chi, gardening, woodworking, photography and cross stitching. I'm always looking for new things to try. I have always been a walker, I've taken it up again about two years ago on my own and decided to join a group to meet new people and have someone to walk with. I find I lose motivation when I do stuff on my own. I have terrible back aches and been going to chiropractor. Since I've been walking and hiking on a regular basis, it's more tolerable and I can move better. Even if I'm really tired before I start walking, it always wakes me up and I can go on with my day.

"I was born in Beijing, the capital of China. I went to work in ShenZhen ,Guangdong province, the south of china ,since 1991. I came Canada on 4th of February and moved to Peachland, B.C.. I first came to Canada to study English. The language skill could bring me the benifit for my future career. The second reason,my daughter can get good education in Canada. I like the nature beauty of the mountains, lakes, oceans and well protected wild lifes. I like the friendly, kind Canadian people and mulityculturelist of the society. I hope I can speak English fluently. My child can go to university and my family can settle down in the Okanagan and have a health relaxing family life. I enjoy breathing the fresh air, hearing the bird singing, letting the sunshine shower my body and soul. I'd like to meet new friends while we enjoy the wild flowers beside winding trail."

My husband and I lived in Southern California for 42 years before retiring to Kelowna 4-1/2 years ago. We raised 3 children and have 4 grandchildren all living in California. I joined Walkingwomen as a way to meet other women who enjoy walking in the outdoors and for the exercise. The friendships I've made and the discovery of new areas to walk has been what I've liked the most. My favourite place to walk is Kelowna's Mission Creek Greenway in the fall.