Papa and Nana On the Go   GRANDPARENT RAMBLINGS – AS FAR AS THE MONEY WILL TAKE US

Kelowna, be careful.  You are dangerously close to becoming something you don’t want to become.  I am sure there are some, just like anywhere that would want the change and the profit that comes with it.  I love profit and money is great but I don’t really see much point in living in a world that does not have a Kelowna here and there.  The beauty is spectacular.  The wineries and vineyards are great, though some a little pretentious, the food offerings are outstanding, the recreational opportunities are fantastic.  Please don’t blow it.

I have already mentioned a couple of people and places that are special there, such as Andrea, Sammy and her friend, the Okanagan Lavender and Herb Farm, the Myra Canyon Trestles and the Myra Canyon Ranch.  But there are many more wonderful places there and things to do or if you choose, not do anything at all.

If you stay there please stay at the Myra Canyon Ranch.  Peaceful, away from downtown but worth the drive.  Close to the wilderness with the occasional bear passing through, horseback riding, and a great breakfast.

Yes, I have already shown this. Too bad. Myra Canyon Ranch is worth going to for the homemade bread. And the hot tub with the view of the world. And, well, lots of other stuff too!

Be sure to eat at RauDZ.  Award winning and for a good reason.  Be sure to see Jerry in the bar.  Nicest bartender you will ever meet.  Mixes and matches quite well.  The food is stunning for the palate and visually.  If you can afford to get to Kelowna you can probably afford the food.

Best bartender. Jerry at RauDZ

Sweet tooth?  Well go to the source.  Get your honey some honey from Arlo’s Honey Farm.  They’re “super” if you know what I mean.  Since it is right down the road from the lavender farm and all of the other fruit and field offering you can get quite a choice in honey.  Bees on the premises so take you anti-venom if you need it!

Worker housing at Arlo’s Honey Farm.

Underpaid workers at Arlo’s.

There is much more of course.  Haven’t really talked about the wine very much.  A matter of taste but I think there are some very good wines but not as good as the prices on some of them would suggest.  Matter of taste, literally and figuratively.  But we did have fun!

Just a quick post. This is the view from the door of our room at Rocky Ledges B&B below Kaslo.

While wine is the drawing card in the Okanagan, there is much more.  The Okanagan Lavender and Herb Farm is a prime example.  A blog simply cannot communicate the sensory pleasure to the olfactory system you experience here.  A worker there, Andrea, tutored us in the finer points of Lavender production and harvesting as she gathered flowers for an approaching wedding.  Canadians that we have met have all been kind and warm.  She was no exception, soon communicating as if we had known her for a very long time.  Sorry that I can only give you the visual.  There is so much more.

The Pender Islands are behind us now.  Somewhere on a trip you might get the feeling that it was not planned like it should have been.  Planning trips is a bit of an art though some would prefer there was no planning at all.  I can’t go that far, though I do like to have some serendipity on a journey.  I worry too much about not having a place to sleep at night.  Too old for winging it on a bed.  Especially when driving out in the middle of nowhere.  But I am actually talking more about trip structure.  So now we are in Vancouver.  There are few urban areas I enjoy more.  Even so, it is hard moving from the more sublime, natural world to the controlled chaos of a large city.

Given the above, it may not be too surprising that we were drawn to those aspects of Vancouver that have a natural component.  Stanley Park is one of the best urban parks anywhere.  Only on one side is it bordered by city, condominiums, businesses, banks and the usual urban offerings,  though in a package that is unique in how it is presented.  On the other borders of the park is water, bays, channels and passages with views to floatplanes taking flight, sailboats, cruise ships, ferries, rowers, kayakers, paddle boarders, and freighters.   On the interior are soaring Douglas fir, ponds, trails, a marvelous aquarium, playgrounds, large art pieces,  historic sites and sights.  Bikes for rental are readily available with trails that extend 15 or so miles around or in the park with extensions around the inner harbor and into the city for many more miles.

A cloudy day, but, hey! it’s the Northwest! Vancouver skyline complete with cruise ships and the sails of Canada Place.

Unfortunately for us, the weather has not been good.  Even so, we managed to enjoy bicycling around the park, enjoying the aquarium, cycling to good restaurants and shopping.  Hope you enjoy some of the experiences we had.

Sorry to anyone checking our site. Our internet access has been poor. Weather finally getting better now that it is time for Daryn, Robin and Little Nora to head home tomorrow. Vancouver is just about the ideal urban environment. Had my first Japadog today. Have to love that seaweed!

You pay to get rid of your trash on these islands. But if your ferry leaves early there is no place to drop it off. So while it looks like Nana is feeding Little Nora from the trash bag in her lap its egg that is safe to eat. Snug fit back there!

For about twice the money I could have gone to Disney World.  Well, paid the admission for a day, certainly wouldn’t cover the extras.  But for this money I got no rides, “Small World”, or teens in mouse outfits.  I got plants.  Many of the plants had flowers.  They had pretty colors, nice shapes, lots of petals and even some bugs crawling around on them.  They were a sight to see.  That is, if you could plow your way through the gray hair, groups from Japan and Brazil, children run amok, and 400 millimeter lenses barring the way like guard posts at an old Soviet border crossing.  But, it was worth it.

Robert and Jennie Butchart, the latter the primary mover and shaker, began the development of Butchart Gardens prior to 1908 in Mr. Jennie’s former limestone quarry.  Women do love to remodel and this was a really big project.  Well it paid off, for now, all these years later, it is THE attraction on Vancouver Island.  Lots, this word meaning vast hoards in Canadian, visit this place daily.  Much of it isn’t really that natural, hybrids and all, not the ones with the little gas and electric engines, but mixed up genes with the result that what use to only be little tiny flowers could hurt you if they fell on your head.  Many of the colors simply did not appear real.  Not possible.  They are so bright and glowing that it is like getting slapped in the eyes.  Hard!

It would all be a bit more natural if they didn’t put five thousand light fixtures all over the place so they could make more money showing the plants at night, something God did not intend, except by anything brighter than a full moon.  So you better take close ups.  A few grand vistas are available to the careful framer.  I don’t know if that is me or not but I tried.  It would also be a little more tolerable if they didn’t charge quite so much for food.  I think they purposefully bring in huge busloads of people from what must be Chinatown in Victoria or even across the strait in Vancouver.  They do this to clog up the paths making your journey through the gardens a four to five hour epic adventure requiring food servicing somewhere along the way.  Nice people, though.  Smiling and clicking.  I apologize if that was too much a stereotype.  But I must confess.  This is my second visit.  Ever up this way again and I would probably do it again.  Even Anthony Bourdain will eat an In-and-Out burger off the semi-secret menu.

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