It’s the truth, on August 6th – we had a special day planned on the Kettle Valley Railway and we were robbed at gunpoint.
However, we expected it, planned for it, and the money went to charity! ♥
My dear son’s birthday is August 9th and this is our third annual birthday Kettle Valley ride on the steam train.
We ride on open-air cars and it’s fun, extremely memorable and a treat to boot. You never know what you will see animal wise, as we saw a bear a couple years ago. (Mind you, we had a bear and three cubs in town last week also and so we know they are around).
This year, to be different, I booked us for the Train Robbery and barbeque event. On the train the sheriff (dressed in western clothes and wearing a gun belt) is on board to protect us from the infamous Garnet Valley gang. Sadly he has a terrible record of protecting the train which he admits – zero time so far! 🙂
On the train there are other volunteers, also dressed in western garb, including saloon gals, and near the end of the ride, the train is held up by the gang on horseback. The gang is very polite and it’s all in fun as they rob us quite gently albeit at gunpoint while the sheriff is held at bay – tricked again! (shocked exclamation)
The dozen or so riders ride up and down the train putting on a show, and firing off their pistols. When our money and robbers depart – the sheriff (then) boldly stands up to and fires his gun to fend them off, albeit after the fact, and too late to prevent the Gang from leaving with our money. ♥
The train resumes with plume of steam and blowing of the whistle.
Soon everyone is enjoying a fulsome barbeque together, more food than needed of course, so the Garnet Gang joins the meal and celebration in full leathers and chaps, even posing for pictures.
A great day is had by all!
Enjoy the slideshow ♥
- A little trivia – the Garnet Gang are all volunteers and some travel a long distance at their own expense. They provide their own costumes, and travel expenses and horses of course. They have been robbing the train for 27 years, raising money and entertaining train passengers and in the process over the years they have donated plus $250,000 to the group of charities in the Okanagan.
Life and Random Thinking 
What a fun way to give it all away! 🙂 Happy birthday to your son!
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Hi Wynne, we enjoyed the Peachfest parade today. Some awesome American people visiting and they brought floats with them and marching bands! We don’t have marching bands like the USA does. Spokane had a float, so did Deer Lake, Leavenworth, and a few more – the names escape me. We found nice spots in the shade and close enough to see and far enough we didn’t get sprayed with water, or pelted with candy! – David
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What fun. A great report, David. Thanks for sharing your experience.
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Thank you Jane 🙂 It’s fun for me to enjoy these events, not just for tourists!
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It sounds like it was a really fun event. And for charity, even better!
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Hi Debra, it was fun and memorable absolutely. It’s Peachfest now for five days and the bands every day have been great. I think Ironman is in less than two weeks which is always a big event here. 3000 athletes and at least that many volunteers. The streets are lined with people cheering them on and clapping. My son likes to ride his bike downtown late in the day to clap for the ones still on the course coming in at 10 and 11 at night. That takes huge strength, those folks have been racing since 8 am or so. The volunteers are still there ready to feed them and massage them at the finish line. Best wishes always Debra.
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I’m happy to hear that Penticton is flourishing with events again!
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Sounds like SO much fun & collecting money for charity … by robbers on horseback … makes it’s even MORE fun & a huge community service. That just makes my heart happy.
What a wonderful birthday trip & special day.
Oh, & we have bears in our area, too. Early this morning we had a visit from one on our porch. He’s been visiting us & our neighbors all summer, devastating bird feeders & helping himself to the contents of garbage cans & generally making a mess. We’ve all caught him on our security cameras. BUT they are also showing up downtown. Apparently they woke up hungry this year.
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Wow, hearing about your bears sounds a little dangerous. Bears here are infrequent in town but in the orchards here and in Summerland they are frequent visitors and we see them a lot in the summer. On our long bike ride recently we saw skat and knew they were around but we were noisy and not concerned.
The train robbery was fun and the robbers were so nice to chat with at the bbq. They looked hot though! They were wearing a lot of leather, coats, vests, chaps, hats, handkerchiefs and it was later in the day but still at least 31 C. The weather is definitely cooling off here now but still in the low 30’s daily for Peachfest (a five day festival) and in two weeks is Ironman ! You would enjoy that I think, about 3000 athletes and it’s fun cheering the participants from Canada and internationally. – Dave
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It WOULD be a wonderful get-away. Things are so crazy & extreme lately … politics, weather, bears downtown at night … it would be such a nice change.
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So fun!!
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It really was LA, and perfect for creating family memories and going regularly on the train creates traditions. We went last year just before Christmas and it was snowing lightly. We had nice warm inside cars and had hot chocolate and Santa Claus caught the train. I think you would have appreciated that event also. Best wishes, Dave
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💗
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What fun! I would love to do something like that. A few years ago. we joined a Murder Mystery on a train going from Vancouver to Whistler which was fun.
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Hi Darlene, a murder mystery on a train – it sounds like it could be a book and the train would be the Orient Express maybe? I don’t know if that train is still running, it’s a shame really. Thank you for your welcome comment!
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It was a lot of fun. The theme was the 1930s and we all dressed in period costumes. It could be a book. 😊
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Dave, this was such a fun day for your family! Happy Birthday to your son!🎉 I love it when events like that are so special that they become a tradition. Near our cabin there is a similar train, the Cumbres and Toltec, also staffed mainly by volunteers. It is unfortunately more pricey than your experience and had been closed for several years due to lockdowns and fear of fire during a drought season. This year there are a lot of happy people, both volunteers and passengers, as the train is operational again. They don’t have a gang of robbers. That sounds like a hoot!
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I chuckled hearing “hoot”! Thank you always for the messages you share!
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What a fun and creative idea!
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It was so much fun Cindy and we were planning our return visit for July this morning – going to get tickets for extended family to join us this year. I am glad you liked this post Cindy. The robbers in costume are all a fun group and join us after the train ride for pictures at the bbq. – thumbs up – David
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