Wine, Sun, and Exploration

ODO: 365164

The Okanagon is absolutely breathtaking. For those of you who have not yet been, put it on your bucket list. Autumn loved Kelowna and the surrounding "lands", Hazen loved the back country-but we'll get to that. The best part about the Okanagon is the variety of things there are to do, so we spent the last week trying a bit of everything. Here's some of what we've been up to.

Upon arriving in Kelowna we were itching to get outside. We wanted to get a better lay of the land so we headed out on a hike at Mission Creek. We were greeted by beautiful, rushing water, wooden bridges and small paths carved into the mountainside by the feet of people like us. Since we did not have a map and had come on a bit of a whim, we had a hard time figuring out which path would lead us to the top. Then we came across the friendliest man and his dogs who gave us the locals' inside scoop. We soon made it to the top where a gorgeous panoramic view of the city below was waiting for us. That's one thing we've realized so far about this area-smile at people and they will help you with whatever you need. 

After a couple of days in Kelowna we headed off into the back-country to take a sabbatical from the Wal-Mart we had since called home. We found this great website a few weeks before we left Victoria that lists all the places you can camp for free in BC. Check it out if you're planning to get off the beaten path this summer (Sites and Trails). We thought it would be easy enough to find these locations-the directions seemed straight forward, if perhaps a bit brief. Once on the road it became quite clear that we were truly going to be roughing it. 

In case any of you were wondering, a VW van can do surprisingly well up steep and rocky slopes. 

We followed what little signs there were only to decide there was no campground and we should turn around. We saw another couple parked on the side of the road about 10KM back and pulled over to ask if they knew of a good place to park for the night. The knew of the place we were searching for and assured us that it existed. We got back in Westy to try it for a second time only to discover that our destination was a short 500 m around the corner we had never taken. It was an adventure but the utopia that awaited  was well worth the 2 hours we spent exploring dirty, dusty roads.

Autumn spent the afternoon reading, Hazen fishing, and we had the first fire of the summer.

We wanted to take advantage of the amazing wineries sprinkled around the Okanagon-and take advantage we did. We got cleaned up-a shower when living in a van is the most luxurious of feelings- and headed off to Mission Hill and Quail's Gate. We hit a few more further down the Okanagon but these two were the highlights. 

 

Tours and tastings at both left us slightly tipsy but marginally more knowledgable about the correct way to swirl, sniff, and slurp a glass of wine. If you want to try it yourself, here's what we remember: 

1. Look into your glass. Hold it in front of a light and tilt it at a 45 degree angle. The color of the miniscus can tell you the age of the wine; pale (white) or bright (red) is a young wine. When the body of the wine becomes a caramel (white) or brick (red) color it is an aged wine.

2. Sniff the wine. Then swirl it. Then sniff it again. The smell should change because you are "opening up" the wine by aerating it. 

3. Taste it three times. First to cleanse, second to taste, third to judge. Upon the third taste, the correct way is to take a bit, tilt your head forward, and do that thing you did when you were a kid - let it fall out of your mouth but slurp it back in so that nothing actually falls out. If you're like us, skip this - it's pretentious and you look funny. Just drink the wine. 

Rules of the Road continued:

5. A smile goes a long way

6. When you think you can't go any further, always go around just one more corner.

7. You will never appreciate a shower, clean feet, or a glass of ice cold water more than you do when you live in a van.