Warning! Long!
Bonjour les filles!!! Je suis dans la belle....
Cranbrook, BC. aka the most boring town of all the small boring towns we have visited. I usually like small towns, but the ones that we have been driving through on our way out of the Okanagan Valley have not been all that cute. In fact, they've been fairly run-down/trailer park-ish, with lots of sketchy looking old people/transient hippy-types wandering around.
Loads and loads of fun in anyones book. (not)
I would have to say that the best part of this trip was right at the beginning when we were in Banff and I got to see Marla's show. I loooove the Banff Centre. I got to talk to the teachers too, which was cool.
After Banff, we drove past Golden and stayed the night in Revelstoke (the first of the wild west towns). You know how the small, old towns in Ontario usually have a British feel to them? All the small towns here are wild west looking, with false front shops and whatnot. They're somewhat cute, but it feels like walking through a cheesy Western movie set sometimes. Anyway, at Revelstoke (which had the most oddly designed roads known to humanity and was really busy with tourists/campers) we stayed in the first of three *drumroll* Super 8 Motels. Can you hear my enthusiasm? Super 8's are fine, if somewhat basic, but it would be nice if we could stay at somewhere just a little bit more upscale. Say, a nice Holiday Inn? But no, we're doing this trip on a budget, so Super 8 it is.
Anyway, in Revelstoke, we went and toured the Revelstoke Dam (which was HUGE). We only stayed one night and then we drove to Vernon.....I can't remember what we did there....Oh yeah! We visited the historic O'Keefe ranch. I'm slightly obsessed with pioneer/historic villages/ranches/forts, so I thought this was really fun. That evening we ate at this wonderful Italian restaurant in Vernon and then drove to Kelowna. In Kelowna, we stayed in another Super 8 (woopee.) The next morning, we did a tour of an orchard, bought some fruit (because what else are you going to do in the Okanagan Valley?) and then drove south to this town called Oliver, to tour a winery (another thing you have to do in the Okanagan). The winery, unfortunately, turned out to be two hours away, which we hadn't anticipated, so we were all a bit grumpy by the time we got there. It was the Iniskillin winery. There's one in southern Ontario, and this one is a branch of it. The tour was actually pretty cool because it was only the four of us on it, and we got to taste six different wines (and also learn how to taste properly). They also provided an abundance of cheese and crackers. :D
After that, we drove back to Kelowna and walked around the waterfront. The next day, we drove back through Oliver, to the town of Osoyoos, home of Canada's only desert! Yay....! We took a boardwalk tour around a patch of desert at the Desert Centre, and then drove to our Econolodge in Osoyoos, where we just ordered pizza and stayed in for the night. Oh! I forgot something! Before leaving Kelowna, we visited the Mission Hill Winery in the morning. The architecture there was unbelieveable. It's on a huge hill/small mountain (as the name suggests) and is designed to be sort of a pseudo-Spanish/Medieval, Acropolis look-alike, only more modern. I know that's kind of a crappy description, but if you saw a picture, you would know what I meant.
Okay, so Osoyoos. We stayed one night, and then yeterday we took the longest drive (it took us 8 hours with about three stops at towns I can't remember - they all looked the same) through the Kootenay mountains and down to where I am now (Cranbrook). Today we're driving back to Alberta to Waterton Park for two nights, and then! home! Yay!
Okay, I must go now and pack my bags! (and also, this is long enough anyway)
Cheers!
Cranbrook, BC. aka the most boring town of all the small boring towns we have visited. I usually like small towns, but the ones that we have been driving through on our way out of the Okanagan Valley have not been all that cute. In fact, they've been fairly run-down/trailer park-ish, with lots of sketchy looking old people/transient hippy-types wandering around.
Loads and loads of fun in anyones book. (not)
I would have to say that the best part of this trip was right at the beginning when we were in Banff and I got to see Marla's show. I loooove the Banff Centre. I got to talk to the teachers too, which was cool.
After Banff, we drove past Golden and stayed the night in Revelstoke (the first of the wild west towns). You know how the small, old towns in Ontario usually have a British feel to them? All the small towns here are wild west looking, with false front shops and whatnot. They're somewhat cute, but it feels like walking through a cheesy Western movie set sometimes. Anyway, at Revelstoke (which had the most oddly designed roads known to humanity and was really busy with tourists/campers) we stayed in the first of three *drumroll* Super 8 Motels. Can you hear my enthusiasm? Super 8's are fine, if somewhat basic, but it would be nice if we could stay at somewhere just a little bit more upscale. Say, a nice Holiday Inn? But no, we're doing this trip on a budget, so Super 8 it is.
Anyway, in Revelstoke, we went and toured the Revelstoke Dam (which was HUGE). We only stayed one night and then we drove to Vernon.....I can't remember what we did there....Oh yeah! We visited the historic O'Keefe ranch. I'm slightly obsessed with pioneer/historic villages/ranches/forts, so I thought this was really fun. That evening we ate at this wonderful Italian restaurant in Vernon and then drove to Kelowna. In Kelowna, we stayed in another Super 8 (woopee.) The next morning, we did a tour of an orchard, bought some fruit (because what else are you going to do in the Okanagan Valley?) and then drove south to this town called Oliver, to tour a winery (another thing you have to do in the Okanagan). The winery, unfortunately, turned out to be two hours away, which we hadn't anticipated, so we were all a bit grumpy by the time we got there. It was the Iniskillin winery. There's one in southern Ontario, and this one is a branch of it. The tour was actually pretty cool because it was only the four of us on it, and we got to taste six different wines (and also learn how to taste properly). They also provided an abundance of cheese and crackers. :D
After that, we drove back to Kelowna and walked around the waterfront. The next day, we drove back through Oliver, to the town of Osoyoos, home of Canada's only desert! Yay....! We took a boardwalk tour around a patch of desert at the Desert Centre, and then drove to our Econolodge in Osoyoos, where we just ordered pizza and stayed in for the night. Oh! I forgot something! Before leaving Kelowna, we visited the Mission Hill Winery in the morning. The architecture there was unbelieveable. It's on a huge hill/small mountain (as the name suggests) and is designed to be sort of a pseudo-Spanish/Medieval, Acropolis look-alike, only more modern. I know that's kind of a crappy description, but if you saw a picture, you would know what I meant.
Okay, so Osoyoos. We stayed one night, and then yeterday we took the longest drive (it took us 8 hours with about three stops at towns I can't remember - they all looked the same) through the Kootenay mountains and down to where I am now (Cranbrook). Today we're driving back to Alberta to Waterton Park for two nights, and then! home! Yay!
Okay, I must go now and pack my bags! (and also, this is long enough anyway)
Cheers!