Let's see, oh yeah, so Kyle and I drove down to Penticton from Edmonton which is about a 12 hour drive. On the way there, there were massive forest fires along the 97C near Kelowna, which almost brought our trip to a halt. But it did not! Here are some pics.
And yes, that does say it's 37 degrees outside... which wasn't the high, it got up to 39 later that same day!
My parents, sister and Brady flew into Vancouver and drove across BC to meet us there. They saw trees an mountains on the way there. Pretty much the same thing we saw.
The first day we get there we decide to rent a boat and go tubing. Go figure, in the Okanagan Valley, where it never rains, it rains! So after a half hour of boating, we were chased off the lake by lightning.
That's ok though, because wine tours don't require sunlight! So off we went winery hopping. Unfortunately my dad and Brady didn't find it as entertaining as we did. Oh, do I love Soaring Eagle's White Merlot --- definitely recommend stopping in there if you ever get a chance.
We then had dinner at Theo's restaurant, the best greek food in town. The food was delicious (sorry I meant DELUCIOUS for you Aimee!). To make the evening more interesting, we sat next to Pat Quinn and yes he alternates food chews and gum chews.
The next day we were blessed with gorgeous sunshine -- the whole reason for visiting Penticton! In the morning, we went tubing down the canal and it was great. We then spent the afternoon on the beach. I cut my little toe on something in the sand and then couldn't play frisbee anymore :( I know, I'm a wuss!
After, we played a game of minigolf. Totally awesome! They even had little fans with misters to keep us cool while golfing.
Next was a bbq dinner back at out apartment/condo we rented. Here was the view:
That evening, we decided to crank the tap wide open, liquor wise, that is. Good times.
The next morning, we then decided to go hiking up the side of a hill (for westerners) or mountain (for those of you from Ontario). So when we left it was nice and sunny... until we got to the top of the hill. Then the storm of the year hit us with full force and fury. It hailed the size of quarters and down-poured to the point where you couldn't keep your eyes open. We were totally drenched. My toes were swimming in my shoes. To top things off, as we are coming down the mountain, the trail begins to wash out from the runoff from the top of the hill! Watch the video.
Video:
http://www.blogger.com/video-play.mp4?contentId=e7bfd68cafdc63b0&type=video%2Fmp4
That night, the gang headed back to Vancouver to catch their flights, and then Kyle and I were off the following morning to head back to Edmonton.
Good times! And that is why I have ranked Penticton in my top 3 favourite places in Canada :)
