No, the title is not the name of a restaurant.

Oliver and Osoyoos are the two most southerly towns in the Okanagan Valley. Oliver bills itself as the wine capital of Canada.

So last week we decided to visit this region to experience some wineries and to taste and perhaps buy some of their wines.

1-C_22_0172 This is Highway 97 just south of Vernon along Kalamalka Lake. This is the north-south route through the Okanagan Valley.

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There still are many orchards in this area, though vineyards have replaced much of the fruit plantings.

We first stopped at Le Vieux Pin Winery in Oliver to buy a couple bottle of their excellent Syrahs. We then drove to Osoyoos to La Stella Winery and bought a couple bottles of their Italian style offerings. Tastings were not available at either of these wineries because of limited production. But we are familiar with their wines and knew what we wanted, though some were sold out.

3-C_22_0184 Cherry trees were the only blossoms at this time.

4-C_22_0187 The next day we chose to visit Phantom Creek Estates in Oliver. This winery has been open for only two years, yet they have 200 acres in vineyards.

5-C_22_0186 This is the entrance to the winery. The interior is even more impressive.

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Nhir led us on a tasting of some of the wines, of which we purchased two bottles (one white and one red).

8-M_22_0081 We then drove a short distance down Black Sage Road to this small winery.

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Here we were enthusiastically greeted by Adam, the Tasting Room manager. He was excited that someone from Ontario was dropping in. But then we discovered that he was also from Sudbury - one never knows when these chance encounters will  happen. We left this winery with two more bottles. We`ve drunk one of them and will bring the Syrah home.

Another objective of this trip was to photograph the Arrowleaf Balsamroot flowers. But I was somewhat disappointed because we found very few blooming plants. This was one that I photographed.

10-C_22_0188Arrowleaf Balsamroot But alas, I had forgotten what else grows in the hills in this arid land.

11-C_22_0189 These prickly cactus barbs were no fun. Some went right through my jeans and others stuck to my shoes.

I`m so glad that I hadn`t lain down to photograph the flowers!

12-C_22_0190 Back in Coldstream, I hiked into Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park searching for these same flowers.

13-C_22_0191 This is one of the flowers just popping up. I liked the circular pattern the previous season`s dead stems formed around the emerging flower.

Lately I`ve had better luck photographing these flowers around Vernon. I will post some images later.

We are currently packing up and preparing to head home. We`re leaving on Monday morning.

Our first two nights will be in Canmore. By the time we reach the prairies we`re hoping that the signs of this week`s snow storm will be no more. I`ll post when possible along this journey. Stay tuned.