Tuesday Sept 10th - MissionHill, Lunch at Volcanic, Myra Canyon

Tue Sept 10^th – Mission Hill, Volcanic Winery, Myra Canyon Rail trail
NB: To save confusion our friends are Derek and Lin... so now we have 2 Dereks.. both with the same last name (no relation)

Yummy Tickleberry's ice cream

Well… what a day…. Very long and huge fun. We started out toward Kelowna with stops along the way to look at houses etc in Summerland and a stop In Peachland to enjoy the lake views (and see a Sycamore/Maple cross tree).. plus s top at the famous Tickleberry's for an ice cream treat.  We then drove to Mission Hill winery to show Derek and Lin this amazingly and beautiful building with it’s bell tower and fabulous architecture and views. We then went to Volcanic winery for a great lunch of gourmet smoked salmon and an angus burger with homemade vegetable chips. While it wasn’t as good as the first time Derek and I went, it was still good and we would recommend it as a lunch stop for anyone coming to the area who does not want to break the bank at Quails Gate or Mission Hill restaurants.

Unidentified visitor outside Tickleberry's

Derek (the other Derek) in Peachland

Fruit from Sycamore/Maple tree

At Mission Hill Winery

We left there and headed through downtown Kelowna and eventually, after a little bit of re-direction we made it to the Myra Station end of the Myra Canyon rail trail so we could see the trestles and enjoy the views. This section of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail (look it up…. Amazing and great walking/cycling) has several old trestles which have been re-constructed after a devastating forest fire in 2003. Janice managed to walk with her hiking sticks and we went a few kilometres to walk across a few of the trestles and through one of the tunnels. The drive up to the start point was pretty hair-raising.. but very much worth the trouble. After the walk we decide to go a different route home which turned out to start with a a 25 kilometre dirt road that wound through First Nation’s land and had us all bouncing around in our seats, wondering if we were actually going to see civilization again… quite the experience.. which had us silently questioning the GPS!!!!

Lin and gimp ringin the bell at the mission

Mission Hill Winery

However we did make it and our perseverance was rewarded toward the end of the dirt road, with the sighting of a young bear lazily eating at the edge of the forest at dusk…. Very exciting for us all!! The drive back became a bit of an ordeal but Derek got us all safely back tot camp before 10pm and we had another fire with some cheese, crackers and a nightcap. What a wonderful day… so much fun. 

Smoked Salmon Rose appetizer --YUM

Visitor on the Sun Umbrella

 VIEWS FROM OUR WALK ON THE MYRA CANYON TRESTLE RAIL TRAIL:::

Time with good friends...... PRICELESS!!!

That's Derek and Lin by the way

Janice had quite a conversation with this Raven (crow??)

JUST PLAIN HAPPY TO SEE A BEAR!!!!

LOVELY MOON!!!