Kastle's Journey: Kelowna, here we come. Ray for pictures and wine for me! Part 1 Sept 29

Early Monday morning and we're out the door at 5:30 am to Duke Point to catch the ferry. It's a little early, but once we are up, we go. :) It's a very wet drive in the dark this morning. I drove a little slower as I didn't want to meet up with an Elk on the highway, which is quite common in the early hours. Car against Elk, they both lose. This picture's taken by a local resident in Lake Cowichan a week ago.

At the terminal, we got pastry and coffee so we didn't have to eat on the ferry. We don't like their food at all and it's so expensive. I don't mind paying the price if it is half decent. We stayed in the car as we we're parked right up front. A little bumpy with the wind and rain, but not too bad. I even snoozed for an hour.

As we were near the front of the line, we're offloaded quickly and on our way. It poured all the way to Hope and then cleared up and the rest of the trip is with dry roads. Going up the Coquihalla we saw the area where the forest fire crossed the road a couple of weeks ago. You can still see some smoke up in the canyons on the other side of the river. Huge area of black trees on both sides of the mountain tops.

Lunch stop is in Merritt at Mary Brown Chicken. They have the best fried chicken and we bought enough to have for dinner, so we didn't have to go out again after checking in to our Air B&B.

Once we were on the Okanagan Connector it started to get very smokey coming down off the mountains. There's fires in both Peachland and south of the border.

We arrived at 3 pm, which is check in time. A long day of driving for me. It's nice to just take in the view and relax. This suite is called "Sunset View" and it's a lovely one, if the smoke and clouds were not there. There's 2 bedrooms and is halfway between downtown Kelowna and Big White Ski Hill. Unfortunately neither of the 2 couples we offered up the second bedroom to, could make it.

Full kitchen, but I'm not going to cook this trip. lol

Our room with King Bed.

Other room with Queen size bed.

We have a nice patio to sit on undercover.

The have a nice propane firepit area, with a hot tub next to the house.

I have garden envy lol Where could I put a rock garden like this?

After a great night's sleep, we enjoyed coffee with our apple turnovers from a bakery the hosts provided as a welcome. Delicious.

After a lazy morning waiting for the sun to come out, we headed downtown to walk the waterfront.

Hot Sands Beach in the City Park is an area Ray spent a lot of time as a teenager living in Kelowna.

There was a celebration for Truth and Reconciliation Day.

Lunch at 11 am at the Cactus Club. Delicious. Needed food in my belly before all the wine tasting. We walked back through the gardens in the park to the car.

First stop is Cedar Creek Winery. We're happy to support our local Okanagan wines. They've experienced a rough couple of years. This year fortunately, they seem to be having a bumper crop.

Summer of 2021 Okanagan wildfires cause significant risk of smoke taint in grapes, leading to quality issues, lost vintages, and financial losses for wineries, as seen with the 2021 harvest where some wineries couldn't bottle their wine due to smoke damage. While wineries cannot control the fires, they are developing strategies to mitigate the impact, such as relocating vulnerable varietals and physically protecting their properties.

Jan 2024 The Okanagan Valley suffered a devastating deep freeze in January 2024, causing widespread damage to grape vines, with temperatures dropping to -30°C and beyond. This resulted in an estimated 90-97% crop loss for the 2024 vintage, forcing many wineries to import produce B.C. wine from U.S. grapes and leading to concerns about the availability of 100% B.C. wines in the market. The industry is responding with replanting efforts, lobbying for temporary government support, and working with American growers to mitigate the challenges and ensure the future of the region's wine production.

Next stop is Summerhill Pyramid Winery. Pretty Cool. We bought several bottles from here.

Every bottle of wine is stored in their pyramid at least a month. Many blind taste test proved the pyramid produces a better product.

Some of their awards

Some people definitely have a bigger "Snack Bracket" than we do. The couple came via helicopter for their wine tasting. Listening to them at the tasting bar they obviously know the owners.

Our final tasting for today is at Priest Winery. I enjoyed their wines as well, so a few more in the car. :)

Ray hoped for more fall colours, but the evening temps aren't low yet Further proof of global warming.

We headed back to the suite and I went for a little nap lol. I needed a clear head before going out for dinner at our friends Gerry and Frannie Herron. We've not seen them since Arizona, when they owned a house in Chandler (a suburb of Phoenix). Great to catch up. We arrived shortly after 5 and stayed until 8:15 or so. We brought 2 bottles of wine that we purchased today, one to drink and one for them to save. They served us a delicious steak dinner. Thanks a bunch. Gerry and Fran built the house over three years with Gerry doing all the finishing work. His gardens are fabulous, all created over the last 2 years. Amazing. You have heard the term "green thumb", in Gerry's case it's green fingers! What gracious hosts, Fran shooed us off any time we offered to help!