"Life is too short to drink bad wine" - Anon.

Back from holiday...it was a grand time! Usually when we go home for a visit, we high-tail it there & back, as it's a 10-12 hour drive. And every time we do, we pass through towns and places that we always think would be fun to explore. So, this time - we did! We took 4 days to make the trip back, and it was fabulous. Also, we got to check out a handful of the fantastic wineries en route. Starting with this one - Skimmerhorn in Creston...picked up a couple of very tasty bottles to start the proceedings:

Then we spent a night in Nelson with my brother & his girlfriend, where we had some excellent Indian food, and got to connect with an old music-school friend of Mr.Q's. We had a lovely visit, and briefly considered camping on the beach...Fortunately, we decided not to, as a Rather Big Storm kicked up that night. We hit the road at the crack of noon, and got as far as Greenwood - a wee little town (Canada's Smallest City, in fact!) that has always intrigued Mr.Q. Upon hearing that there was outdoor live music at a venue with great BBQ burgers (and being unable to find a campsite!) we decided to get a hotel and spend the night. It was, as you can see, the height of contemporary interior design:

Before hitting the road the next morning, we stopped at one of the best cafes ever:

Where breakfast was literally just out of the oven:

It was actually as good as my mother's - and I don't say that lightly!

So fortified, we got another 2 hours down the road to Osoyoos, where we planned a stop at a winery I've wanted to check out for several years.

The city, from the Anti-Christ hill (OK, yes, technically it's the Anarchist, but the other name more accurately describes how I feel about going down that Very Steep Hill!)

And, our destination: Nk'Mip Cellars...

The vineyard:

In front of the wine shop (where of course we bought more wine!):

The cool bi-lingual signs around the grounds:

At the entrance to the Cultural Centre parking lot:

There's a lot to explore, and we didn't have a lot of time - but hopefully next summer we'll make it back for a few days. There's a campground right on the lake, and events at the Cultural Centre, tours of the winery, and if I'm not mistaken, guided walks around the desert as well as trail riding. I could easily spend 2 or 3 days without even leaving the resort/vineyard property!

We made one other stop in Osoyoos for wine:

And that's about where the picture-taking stopped. We got distracted by the lake (it was about 30 degrees by 10:00 a.m.!) and decided to see about another hotel. Then we took our pool noodles down to the water, where we spent much of the afternoon watching the para-sailers over the lake, and debating whether we had the money (& the nerve!) to try it. (We decided we'd give it a go if we make it back next year.)

Coincidentally, Little Sis & her wee fambly were also in Osoyoos for the night, on the spur of the moment, so we met them at another beach & played in the water with her laddy. Then we spent the evening reading in our air-conditioned hotel room (it got up to 37 by mid-afternoon...oy!); though we did go for a walk at about 11:00 to watch the heat lightning over the hills.

Next morning, we hit two more wineries around Keremeos - about 30 minutes from Osoyoos -most notably, Forbidden Fruit Wines, where I almost had a publicly-inappropriate response upon tasting their "Caught Apricot Mistal". I swear to Bob, it tastes like sunshine! We also stopped at Orofino Vineyards, where they were not quite as warm and friendly as at Forbidden Fruit, but we did pick up some very nice Riesling.

A couple of fruit stands (fresh-picked freestone peaches!) and garage sales later, we finally headed back to the Big City - having taken 3 days to achieve about 6 hours worth of driving. Delightful!

Now that we're home again...It's good to see the cats; I haven't missed the traffic!; we need another wine rack; and I've cast on for what will hopefully work out to be my Rhinebeck sweater. And our grocery-shop this morning was based mainly around what would work well with some of the wines we brought home...I 'spect the Blog will feature a bit of those experiments over the next while! (Tonight: pasta tossed with fresh-grated parmesan, and slices of baby zucchini, sautéed in lemon juice, with some of the Riesling mentioned above; fresh peaches for dessert!)