Okanagan Valley

We only had a 100 km drive to Kelowna so we had ample time to explore the Okanagan with no specific plans. I was interested in some of the wineries but since I was the only driver I was unable to enjoy this. We did stop at Jackson-Triggs to use their facilities and at Black Sage Vineyard where I bought Malbec flavoured sea salt since I had no room in my carry-on for wine. I did get a taste of their award winning Malbec and it was very good. Down the road I spotted a u-pick cherry sign so we picked 2 pounds of cherries at $2.50 per pound to take home. There were other stops we could have made but my navigator of the day was more interested in looking at the scenery so we tended to pass all the turnoffs! At this point in the trip I wasn’t about to turn back. It was for this reason that she spent most of the road trip in the back seat! So we arrived in West Kelowna late afternoon and had an early dinner as Nancy had decided to leave for her Maple Ridge home today. We made sure she got on the bus and then the two sisters carried on to Kelowna. We walked around the pretty waterfront for an hour and then made our way to our hotel in Vernon, getting there just before dark set in. Across the parking lot was Lake City Casino but neither of us had any Canadian money nor were we interested in finding an ATM. It was a quiet, relaxing evening. We finished two bottles of wine that each had a few ounces of wine. Our total wine consumption for this trip was a meagre 3 bottles....one Washington Riesling, a French Bordeaux and a Napa Pinot Grigio. We should have been trying the local wine but our choices were based on the best deal and all 3 were very good.Read more