Anchored in West Van

After our relaxing stay at the Ainsworth Hot Spring Resort and enjoying our daily swim in the mineral waters we knew our state of well-being had improved sufficiently to meet the challenges of the Okanagan Wine Valley. The demands of wine tasting required much concentration and after selecting the vineyards to visit we earnestly began in Osoyoos, an area that boasts over l4 estate wineries. We visited Nk'Mip Cellars, the first aboriginally owned winery in North America.

It is located high above Osoyoos, on a desert landscape and the buildings are exquisitely designed to reflect the beauty of the Arizona-like terrain. Our timing was a little off, with closing at 5:00 pm only twenty minutes away. I was so intrigued with story of the creation of this winery that Allen was left entirely on his own to do the tastings, while I read about its incredible evolution.

We paced ourselves better in Penticton, where we checked into the Penticton Hotel Casino situated in the heart of town on the edge Okanagan Lake. The view from our room's balcony was spectacular, with its panoramic views of the mountains surrounding the lake below. We enjoyed dining at the restaurant, a few steps from the Hotel surrounded by the Lake on all sides and glass walls to invite the majestic views inward. We side-stepped the Casino in favour of betting on the best value of wine purchases from our favorite vineyards, including my long-time favorite, Mission Hill Estate Winery. Honestly after visiting three wineries and giving each one our devoted attention we simply were too exhausted to muster another tasting. Besides our car was quickly filling up with wine bottles designated for Vancouver to be shared with my sister and hubby who also enjoy BC wines, or more precisely have never been known to reject any wine!

Our final lap of the trip was through the beautiful town of Rossland and a scenic southern route across the Rockies rather than on the Trans-Canada. That was the last time we actually witnessed a genuine winter scene. The town is nestled in the mountains and is the home of Nancy Greene, one of the few Canadian Olympic athletes I fondly remember and now is an Ottawa Senator, not with the NHL! We definitely want to return to ski the slopes of the Red Mountain Ski Resort, where the atmosphere is quaint and very idylic. The sun was shining brightly and if we had our skis with us, we would not have been able to drive away quite so easily.

A week has slipped by already since we arrived in Vancouver and bunked in with my sister's family who have been so good to us, making our visit extra special. On Sunday we drove up to Whistler for the afternoon, just to enjoy the village before the Olympics prevents us from being there without a security pass. Although it was a rather drizzly gray day, with a low lying fog that blocked any sighting of the actual slopes we had fun wandering about hearing all the languages being spoken from the influx of international visitors and enjoying a bistro lunch where we could people-watch as we sipped a little BC vino.

Back to the reason this trip has transpired; because Allen is an official Olympic Volunteer! On Monday he began training in his new bright aqua uniform at Canada Place, where the Iconic Sails of the city are located. All the volunteers are wearing the most brilliant turquoise attire imaginable; fortunately he's not alone and blends in with the sea of blue clad volunteers.

I've been adapting well to my new home. With the household gone during the day I am free to go to regular yoga classes near by at Glen Eagle Community Centre or sometimes travel down Marine Drive to the stunningly designed West Van Acqua Centre for fitness classes or doing lapses in the 25 meter chlorine-free pool. Then I return home to take Allie, my sister's golden lab-collie for a walk down to the beach. The roads in this community are all quite steep and the homes hidden by the heavily treed area so, Allie takes the lead at the intersections and shows me the way to the beach. I just instinctively trust she knows exactly where she intends to go.

The pressure is on for me, Oprah is about to begin, I am writing this blog and I want to have the spaghetti simmering before the family returns home for dinner. The sun broke through the clouds today for the first time and it cast such a beautiful glow on this incredibly gorgeous setting. Yes the crocuses are protruding through the soil, the forsythia bushes are in bloom and there's no snow on the ground at Whistler. I'm told there is snow on the slopes, but if you can't see beyond the fog, you just have to believe. As we are constantly reminded by the CTV Olympic commercial, "Do You Believe?"