Fun in the Sun!

                                                  Summertime is here and we are in Kelowna.

     There are so many things to do that it can be hard to choose but here are some of our favorites:

       1] Boating - this photo is taken on a cruise of Lake Okanagan. It is a really beautiful natural lake almost 60 miles long and surrounded by mountains. Lake Okanagan even comes with a monster - OGOPOGO [sort of a cute version of the Nessie] but we have not seen him yet.


      2] Biking - this photo is taken in Myra Canyon,    

a great bike trail made of the old rail beds that curve around the canyon. To bike it you bike over 17 railroad trestles [yup, sort of scary because you are on a cliff side] and through three tunnels [yup, sort of scary because it is dark] but you have beautiful views down to Kelowna and Lake Okanagan although you are too far away to search for Ogopogo.


     3] Hiking - this photo is taken on Knox Mountain, beautiful hiking trails that curve around the mountain with great pic-nic spots and yes - stunning views [is that Ogopogo in the distance?]. You can actually hike from Kelowna up to the mountain but we just did the easy hike around the edge.

 5] Kayaking - this photo is taken in our personal "yacht" on Lake Okanagan from Kalamoir Beach. Once again, beautiful views but this time of all the surrounding mountains. And still no sign of Ogopogo!

                                                 

So that is how we have Fun in the Sun !!

How do you enjoy summertime?

  

 

Table with a View

    Talk about a TABLE WITH A VIEW??

This is the breakfast table at "A View to Remember" - WOW!  The view is stunning: out over the vineyards to the lake in the background. The guests here tend to spend a lot of time at the breakfast table and then they usually come back in afternoon for wine and chat.
It is such a beautiful place to hang out that it is hard to leave.

   

When Kirk and I do leave,

we often look for a different sort of  Table With A View - a Pic-Nic Table!

 And these are a couple of my top pics: Above we have the boardwalk in Peachland, a charming old fashioned lake town with a path that runs by the lake, stores, beach, ice cream stands. It is really lovely with flowers in baskets and beds and lots of places to sit and pic-nic. PS yes, that is my cute yellow bike with a bike basket just made for a pic-nic.

 This pic-nic table with view is at Cedar Creek Park on the east side of the lake - sort of a remote spot with a beach and some hiking trails. But it certainly does have a view. 

Wine Me Up!

 So by now all of my readers know that one of our hobbies is WINE. To be more specific, visiting wineries. This part of the world has over 100 wineries!!! Too much to taste, not enough time. Kirk has to stay sober for driving and check- in but I can just have a good time. Each winery here in the Okanangan Valley is more lovely than the last and it is hard to pick our favorites but here goes: Above is Summerhill Winery which is famous for sparkling wine - such fun - and of course it's stunning view of the lake.

                                           

My absolute favorite winery has to be Dirty Laundry Winery. It is in a hundred year old "house of ill repute" now a winery, tasting room and bistro. The tasting room is decorated with vintage "unmentionables" and the bistro looks right down on the tracks of the Kettle Valley Steam Locomotive. Of course after lunch we had to take train ride. Well, needless to say, Kirk enjoyed that more than I did!

Here I am at Arrowleaf Cellars. This winery had the nicest sommelier and the best pic-nic spot also some very nice Viogner which happens to be my favorite wine. We stopped here as part of a tour of some of the East Side wineries including the very popular Grey Monk Estate however we really prefer the smaller more intimate wineries like Arrowleaf and there are a lot of those in this area.

One of the best small wineries is Greata Ranch Estate Winery. It is actually the sister winery to the much bigger and not as appealing to us CedarCreek Estate Winery. The deck off the tasting room at Greata Ranch wins best view for sure. It hangs right out over Lake Okanagan with nothing between you and the lake but a great glass of "Peachland White" and lots of grape vines. STUNNING!

                                                               Where is your favorite winery??