After traipsing around the globe so much, I am pretty excited to be back home in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. After all, a place with the logo super natural BC must be pretty darn great, right?
Turns out that’s a rhetorical question. Of course it’s great! It’s fantastical! A place with temperate rainforest, desert-esque ranchlands, snow-capped peaks, arctic tundra, and great plains. There is truly something for everyone in B.C.
So, how have I been reacquainting myself with the homeland? Well, apparently I am now addicted to road trips, so last week when I had the chance to do a wee trip through the Okanagan Valley, I was all over it. I took the Hope-Princeton Hwy up, which I think is a much prettier and way more fun to drive version of the Coquihalla. It is also a lot better than the Coq in terms of snow, except through Manning Park area. I visited Oliver, Penticton, Kelowna, and Kamloops, and drove through a number of the small towns in between. The Okanagan Valley is famous for its arid climate and vast amount of vineyards and very swimmable lakes. This is a great place to vacation in winter or summer, with skiing/snowshoeing popular in the winter and camping, hiking, houseboating, drinking of wine, and lake activities being popular in the summer. Since I was last there, probably 4-5 years ago, the Okanagan has really developed, with many varieties of foods, unique boutiques, lots of yoga options, and so forth. I got some delicious cupcakes at CupCasions in Kelowna for a Valentine’s treat for me, the friend I was staying with, and her boyfriend and friend.
FUNNY STORY: My friend was at work all day and I was out visiting with another friend from university who i hadn’t seen in ages. We ended up at the liquor store, of course, where the lovely cashiers were giving out roses for Valentines. I thought it would be a nice treat to get some mini cupcakes to enjoy after our kickboxing class, so I stopped and picked up 6 of those as well. I dropped the cupcakes, all done up in a white box with a ribbon, and the rose, which I installed in a vase, off at my friend’s house before meeting her at kickboxing. I hadn’t mentioned getting them to her and she arrived home before I did after class. When I walked in, I asked – did you find them?! And she said, oh! you must’ve met Sean! (her boyfriend, thinking he’d dropped the goodies off as a surprise). I said no, I hadn’t, and explained the story behind the treats. She started laughing her head off and said she had texted him a picture of the cupcakes and rose and said thank you. He of course, responded ??????? and called a minute later. Boy totally got showed up on Valentines Day! 😉
Anywho, Kamloops was also lovely. We walked by the river, seeing just a ton of bald eagles, some quite close. Very cool! I was introduced to a delicious red, and I’m not usually a red fan, called Apothic. This is a California wine, and this particular vintage was 2012. Very delicious indeed! It is always nice to catch up with wonderful old friends, and I am truly lucky in being able to count Collin and Dar as two such people. Looking forward to some great hiking trips this summer!
Seeing as the Coq was getting another snowstorm, I decided to go down through the Fraser Canyon via Cache Creek to get home. Great choice! Not only was I treated to beautiful views, but the road was completely bare. Yay!
tRNscontinental 