Thurs Sept 5th -Saturday Sept 7th Derek and Lin arrive - Vancouver and Back

Sept 5th - Vancouver
Today we got up early, did a final tidy and check, turned on timers and turned off the water and off we went. It took us a while to drive to Vancouver, but we enjoyed the drive. Unfortunately Janice couldn't drive (safely) with her bad ankle so Derek had to take the helm the whole way. We arrived mid afternoon and after settling in to our room (and switching rooms) we went out and Janice got her nails done locally while Derek tossed around for an hour. We then went straight to the Cactus Club restaurant and had a fabulous meal. Afterward Janice poured a long-awaited bath and soaked for over an hour. (Derek treated her to some bath salts). It was so lovely having a hotel room for a night.. like a mini-holiday. 

Sept 6th - Pick up Derek and Lin- Dinner at Evan and Kyle
What a great day. Not only did we get to pick up our friends, Derek and Lin from the airport for a 16 day adventure with us, we also got to see Evan and Kyle. 

We picked up D and L and headed back to the hotel to unload their stuff, then headed over to Evan and Kyles, where we were treated to a fabulous homemade meal of seasoned pork, sweet potatoes, beans, salad, followed by an amazing homemade cinnamon-apple baked cake/strudel ... WOW!!! We had a wonderful evening with them and shared some stories... it was so lovely to see them again after not being able to see the for so long.  After dinner and a lovely visit, we headed back to the hotel for an early night ... Derek and Lin were shattered (8 hour time difference)

Saturday Sept 7th- Vancouver-Osoyoos 

 Evan and Kyle kindly invited us back for breakfast at their place and they did us proud, with a yummy cooked breakfast. Even some Mimosas to toast with. After a tearful goodbye, and loaded with treats from them, we headed out for the long drive back to Osoyoos. It was a mainly clear day and we all enjoyed the changing topography en-route and the views. We arrived about 6pm and set to making dinner. So good to have our friends with us for the next two weeks as we wind our way to Calgary. 

Tuesday Sept 3-Wed Sept 4th- getting organized

Tuesday Sept 3-Wed Sept 4th- getting organized
Not only were these two days spent getting organized for our two great friends to arrive from UK on Friday, we also spent it getting our selves excited about their visit. They have been friends for 45 years. So we were happy to spend these two days getting ourselves organized, working out sleeping arrangements and clearing space for them to put their stuff etc. Didn't take any photos (again) so better skip this post and jump on to the next one!!!!

Monday Sept 2nd - Driving and wineries.

Monday Sept 2nd - Wineries and driving around.

Viewpoint on Hwy 3 above Osoyoos

And again

Osoyoos from viewpoint

Today we went on a drive up above Osoyoos to the two viewpoints, then we did some winery tours.Janice's Favourite winery (as far as the wine goes) is Young and Wyse... their Cab Sauv is stellar..... Derek's favourite wine is from Desert Hills Winery.  But to be very hoenst we are both blown away by the quality and uniqueness of the wines produced throughout the Okanagan... there are so many and each have their own style and blends.  We also visited Gehringer Bros Winery and hoped to see Walter Gehringer who Janice worked with in her earlier life working for a winery in Ontario many years ago... he wasn't there, but maybe we can drop by again to see him. Our stop at Tinhorn Creek Winery was great .. they have a small area of vines with different varieties growing and at this time of year visitors can taste the grapes. A bonus of visiting this time of year.

Campsite is white row in foreground

Upper viewpoint

Tasting at Tinhorn Creek Winery

And again

Sat / Sun Aug 31 - Sept 1st - Hanging out

Labour Day Weekend Sat Aug 31- Sun Sept 1 - Hanging out and visits

This weekend is a bit of a blur... we didn't take any photos. We did some shopping, did a couple of laundry loads and basically hug out locally. Derek did manage to get in a 38km bike ride on Saturday, as Janice kept her foot up and tried to improve the ankle. He rode up through the wine country and stopped for a tasting at Desert Hills Winery and came home bursting with enthusiasm over their wines, with a determination to get Janice back there for a tasting too. It is labour day weekend and almost everything is busy. We continue to enjoy this RV resort for it's great location and the size of the individual sites. We have been eating lots if local fruits and continued tasting some wonderful samosas (or is that Samosae?) at the local fruit stands. 
On Sunday Sept 1st our good friends Dave and Mark who were driving through after visiting family in Nelson, came by the share a glass of wine and a few snacks. It was so good to see them. They left to go to their B and B in Okanagan Falls and we settled down for a relaxing evening playing Backgammon and chatting. Great weekend. Sorry no photos... gotta remember to take some. having too much fun!!!

Wed Aug 28th - Friday Aug 30th - Nk'Mip, Osoyoos and a mis-step!!

Wed  Aug 28th - Thurs Aug 29th - Nk'Mip (pronounced Inkameep)
We packed up as planned and took highway 97 into Osoyoos arriving mid-day at the Nk'Mip RV resort and settled in to site c-100. Very nice resort.. great for people of all ages. Nice beach area and the upper level where we are backs on to a vineyard and the sites are huge.. lots of room and beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. We basically set up and relaxed and went a long walk around the site and drove around the upper "resort/winery/golf course" area to check it out. 
The difficulty with not keeping up with the blog and not taking any photographs is that I forget what we did on certain days and Thursday is one of those days, so I should get to the only part that I remember...
We went for a stroll after a lovely steak dinner and as we were returning to the rig,  Janice somehow managed to go sideways on her ankle and after a few colourful words, relaized that she could not out any weight on the said ankle (without more colourful words), so Derek helped her back to the rig, trying to persuade her to go to the hospital, but we decided that she should just ice it and see how it is in the morning..... 

View from Hwy 97

Friday Aug 30th

Elephant Island Orchard Winery

NICE HOSPITAL in Penticton... Xrays revealed a chipped bone and, together with much swelling and bruising, it was decided that crutches were the order of the day. With our UK visitors arriving in a week, Janice is not happy to be hobbling on one foot..... so time for a treat. We left the hospital and headed out to visit Elephant Island Orchard Winery for a tasting (recommended by 'best people' at the wedding).... what a great place... all fruit wines... the Cherry wine is amazing and Janice fell in love with the apple based champagne with a hint of Black Currant ... Pink Elephant. We also dropped in a couple of other wineries and had some late lunch at the Red Rooster Winery Bistro... lovely. So despite the setback we continue to enjoy this absolutely fabulous area of Canada

Smiling again.. Lunch at Red Rooster Winery

Tuesday Aug 27th - Kelowna and Wineries

Tuesday Aug 27th - Kelowna and Wineries

Today was such an amazing day. One of those days when we sit back and just feel very blessed and lucky to be on this adventure of ours. We headed in to Kelowna and stopped on the way to look at Summerland and Peachland... both lovely towns. After checking out an RV resort (Holiday Park) on the North side of Kelowna... (which was nice, but a bit of an RV jungle - many permanent spots etc).. we decided that we wanted a 'winery lunch'. Heading South of Kelowna and after a brief stop at Quails Gate, 

Vines at Quails Gate

View from Quails Gate

which looks lovely but was fully booked we back tracked a short way and stopped at Volcanic Winery for lunch and were totally blown away by the fantastic food. Wild Coho Salmon on a bed of curried risotto with fruit salsa, beet and other veggies..... every bite was a taste sensation. All quaffed down with a beautiful crisp Gewurztraminer. 

Lunch at Volcanic Winery

Delicious, Dry, Crisp, Aromatic

 





We then drove around looking at properties... this area is to be taken seriously folks!!!! A stop at Mission Hill Winery confirmed all the reports of fabulous architecture and beautiful setting... a definite return is in the plan!!! 
The drive between Osoyoos and Keremeos yesterday was gorgeous, but today's drive between  Penticton and Kelowna also had us oohhing and aahhing our merry way North and again South. The drive takes you along several lakes with small mountains rising either side... very picturesque. It sure helps when the weather cooperates. A balmy 25 degrees today.
When we returned to camp we had a quick look at the deer and took a couple of photos before getting some snacks together, sat  outside and played a few games of Backgammon. Just a wonderful day. Looking forward to the next leg of our journey as we move to Inkameep RV Resort tomorrow.

THE Most Amazing Lunch

View at Mission Hill

Roses at Mission Hill

Back at Twin Lakes RV Park.. Apricot Tree

Our Site #7 At Twin Lakes

Last evening Here at Twin Lakes..

Sun/Mon August 25/26th 2013- Twin Lakes Rv Park, Penticton, BC

Sunday 25th in the morning we lingered over breakfast (fried tomatoes on toast … yumm!!) and headed over to play golf. What a beautiful course. No one in front, and no-one behind, we took our time and played a very relaxed game. Back at camp we made a Sunday roast lamb and roast potatoes, mint sauce, gravy etc etc ….. SO GOOD!!! Lovely day.We then went and watched more deer going through the RV park and eating apricots and apples off the trees in the park

Lovely course, great views

Deer Crossing... 12th Tee

Yummy Apricots

And Apples

Apricots are the favourite -- YUP!!!

Sheesh these things are high up

Monday 26th was spent driving down to Osoyoos, which is on the southern tip of the Okanagan Valley and on the northern tip of the Sonoran desert. After looking at a few RV parks, we ended up at The Inkameep Rv resort and immediately knew that this was our style of place. There is a desert cultural centre on site as well as a winery, a beach, and a golf course. The lake front sites were tempting but we chose a site with a view of the mountains and lots of open space. Booked from this Wednesday for 2 weeks. On the way back to camp we stopped and bought some fresh local fruit and a snack of homemade samosas (actually we stopped twice and did a samosa taste comparison … fun)  Many of the fruit farms are run by people originally from East India.

Back at camp Derek put on the ‘chef’s’ hat and BBQ’d up some steak, stir-fry veggies and fresh corn on the cob..... compliments to the chef!!!! A very successful day.  Janice’s back playing up a bit… kind of annoying for her.