Our quarantine is over so we are out and about. However, despite how well BC has been doing around COVID, there was an outbreak of 35 infections in Kelowna (30 miles South of us) due to young folk partying in hotel rooms so it is creeping closer.
Yesterday, we took our e-bikes to a winery in Lake Country, just South of Vernon, and then rode about 30 minutes to another, had a tasting, and then rode back to the car and drove down to the lake to go swimming.
The wineries of the Okanagan are getting better known and wine tasting is quite popular. Many have stunning views and impressive architecture as well as delicious wine. The tasting rooms vary in their levels of caution around the virus. When we saw the crowds at the first winery we visited yesterday, we decided not to taste, but the second one had it figured out with outdoor only tasting and plenty of rooms between tables.
Arrowleaf, pictured above, has a gorgeous setting and view and we really love their Pinot Gris. We are planning a two-day wine-tasting trip either later this week or when we come back to Vernon in mid-September. We’ll head down to the Southern end of the valley to Osoyoos and spend one night, tasting at several wineries down there. The Southern end of the Okanagan is almost desert like and is the warmest place in Western Canada so perfect for those grapes that need that hot, dry climate.
Vernon, the town in which John owns a house and where we are now, is at the Northern end of the Okanagan Valley, which is both lake country and the fruit basket of Canada. All up and down the valley, stretching from the US border at the South End to Salmon Arm at the North end (I love thinking of a salmon with arms but it actually refers to one of the four arms of the lake), are lakes and farmland surrounded by hillsides covered in orchards and vineyards.
We take full advantage of the lakes, mostly for swimming but sometimes for kayaking or picnicking. Kalamalka lake (Kal lake for short), which is the one that abuts Vernon, is extra stunning because of the calcium carbonate deposits that result in the very green and turquoise color of the water in summer. It was singled out by National Geographic as one of the 10 most beautiful lakes in the world in 2018.
We frequently go for a hike and end up with a swim, as we did this afternoon. There’s one beach in Kal Lake Park that allows dogs so that’s where we usually go so that Moose can come with us. I wouldn’t call him an athlete but he sure does love the water.
Just before we arrived two weeks ago, the older brother of one of Anders’ (John’s son) friends died jumping from a popular cliff over the lake. It’s very sad and it turns out that there are several people who die out on the lake every year so, while it’s beautiful, it is still wild, wet, and can be dangerous. The cliff he jumped from is just to the left of the rock, covered in young people, you can see in this photo.
Biking of all types is also very popular here. They have done an amazing thing and repurposed the old railway track along Kal lake and transformed it into the Okanagan Rail Trail, a 50km biking and walking trail that makes it possible to ride all the way from Vernon to Kelowna.
In addition, for fans of downhill mountain biking, SilverStar, a downhill and cross-country ski resort in the winter, becomes a bike park in the summer. Last year, I had two friends visit me here in Vernon and my friend Barbara, an avid mountain biker, and I went up to SilverStar and spent a day on the downhill trails. The photo below is from last summer of Barbara in full protective gear having fun.
I’m not up for downhill this year given my need to heal my broken shoulder but I hope to get back up there next summer.
After all the exercise and wine tasting yesterday, John and I celebrated by going out to dinner at a restaurant, indoors! It was a blast from the past and a very nice thing to do after all this time. We had a room to ourselves. For some reason, as we were heading out, the proprietor offered to take our photo (noting that she would cleanse the phone both before and after) so we let her do so and here is the result.
Honestly, it feels a bit crazy to be wine tasting, swimming in lakes, and going out to dinner as I read in the paper every day about California’s astronomical infection rate. Realizing that my friends and family and all of California may be heading back toward lockdown makes me very concerned and even more appreciative to be here. But I’m also aware that things here could change at any moment if the province lets down its guard. But, for now, things are pretty good and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they will stay that way. Stay safe everyone.
Until next week.
April