Summerland, BC, Canada

We headed back home today but not before one last stop at a winery in Summerland. I love this winery! It is called Dirty Laundry Vineyard (you can check out their website here: http://www.dirtylaundry.ca/phone/index.html). It is one of the most beautiful wineries I have visited and they have an excellent gift shop. They also have some of the oldest vinifera vines in the Okanagan Valley. As the story goes, the winery gets its character from a 19th-century Chinese Laundromat which fronted for a brothel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FUN!

 

And on the way through Chilliwack, corn country, there are these really convenient little huts.

 

 

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Kelowna, BC, Canada

Our first adventure this morning was hiking part of the Myra Canyon section of the Kettle Valley railway. The railway was built between 1910 and 1915 and when completed consisted of 325 miles (500 kilometres) of rail over and through three mountain ranges. Myra Canyon is a deep, steep, wide chasm and the railway hung on the sides of the canyon, using nearly seven miles (eleven kilometres) of track to reach around something less than one kilometer wide. It took 19 wooden trestles of various lengths and heights to do it. Today the tracks are gone except for the small section we rode yesterday on the steam train. The old rail bed is now an excellent place to hike or bike.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then spent another lovely afternoon with Sam tasting wine.

 

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Kelowna, BC, Canada

I have wanted to visit the Okanagan Valley wine region of Canada for a few years now so a friend and I decided to set up a brief trip. Larry and I headed north to the Vancouver area to meet up with the other couple then we drove east to Kelowna. It is a 4-5 hour journey.

 

 

First thing the next morning we took a ride on the Kettle Valley steam railway. We rode the only remaining 10 miles of track on the restored 1912 locomotive the "3716".

 

 

 

 

There was some spectacular scenery ...

 

 

 

... plus on-board entertainment.

 

 

In the afternoon we met up with our tour guide, Sam, for a custom winery tour. He was very knowledgeable and drove us around in a cherry-red 1956 Cadillac Sedan de Ville that he is restoring himself.

 

 

 

We really enjoyed this!

 

 

And we weren't the only ones enjoying the fruit of the vine!

 

 

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