We have returned from our holiday and go back to work tomorrow. We had a fantastic time visiting the Okanagan. We stayed in Summerland, centrally located between Kelowna and Oliver close to Penticton. It was our anniversary on 08/08/08 and wanted to do something special. We drove the Coquihalla Highway to get to Summerland. It is beautiful scenery and a very pleasant drive. The most disturbing thing about the drive is to see the damage the pine beetle has done to the trees. The mountains are covered with dead, brown pines. It is really sad. Global warming is helping these beetles to get a strong foothold in the BC forests and it is very hard to get rid of them.

We had a great time on the Kettle Valley Steam train. It is a turn of the century locomotive complete with a bank robbery and bar-be-que. Very touristy and I loved it.

We visited all of the wineries in Penticton, most in Summerland, Peachland and Oliver and several in Kelowna. So many good experiences, I can’t recall them all. I’ll include some pics.

Of course, we went golfing at 1:16 in the afternoon of the hottest day of the year for Summerland. It was 39 degrees. Diane’s truck temperature gauge registered 108 Fahrenheit. We golfed with a friendly couple who were visiting from Toronto. What do you do when you leave the golf course? Stop at more wineries on the way home.


I loved Kelowna. It is a great town to visit. It is so much like Nevada, though. A little too hot. But I really liked it there. As we drove along the highway looking out at the Okanagan it reminded me a little bit of the Laughlin/Bullhead run but on a much larger more lovely scale.

We rented a little villa with our own swimming pool. I loved this since it is one thing I miss from living in the desert. I swam everyday. It was great to come home at the end of the day, swim, bar-be-que and drink very nice wine. We ended up bringing home 74 bottles to add to the cellar. Very special occasion wines. We said before we left that we might bring back a case or two. But knowing us, and remembering our trip to Paso Robles that one or two case thing was a fantasy.

On the way home we took the southern route through Keremeos to hit all the fruit and vegetable stands. We brought home peaches, nectarines, apricots melon, cherries and blueberries. Corn, squash and tomatoes. And in case I forgot to mention. More wine. We found and vineyard/winery/fruit stand. It was really excellent wine.


Well, I treated myself to a going back to work massage today. All the stress of wining and dining to work out of my muscles.

Thanks to Doug and Dixon for the moon :) and the singing.


Thanks to Bob and Dave for the calls and well wishes.

I guess it’s time to get my clothes ready for work tomorrow.