Oliver, Day Six

Our time in Oliver is over. We couldn't have had better weather and we toured our share of wineries. Penny's parents liver here after her dad retired from the Vancouver Sun many years ago. Because of her many visits up here she has become quite the Okanagan wine connoisseur. She became a member of the Tinhorn Winery Crush Club and gets a selection of six bottles of their wine shipped to her house twice a year. She also gets a 15% discount on everything including the fancy on premises restaurant. This is where we were last night.

Tonight we ate one of the two large crabs I bought in Campbell River before we left. What can I say? Steamed crab, melted butter and garlic. Yes, it was wonderful!

Tomorrow we move on to Kelowna after a stop in Oliver to fill the propane tank. Somehow I allowed it to go dry and we finished up the week here with having to heat our hot water on the induction stove. Tines are tough!

Flashback

Penny and Croft on Vancouver's Granville Street, Theatre Row 1961. Foncie's Fotos. 16 years old. Date Night!

Who Am I With?

People are asking, "Who is your traveling companion"?

Her name is Penny, a woman I have known since my mid teens, almost 60 years. We met in 1960, dated from 1961 until 1963 (grades ten to twelve) and have remained friends ever since. A while ago we started talking on the phone and texting. She volunteers at the Victoria Cancer Center and was able to offer a sympathetic ear and an insight that I was lacking. Our conversations went on for hours. When I had to go down to Victoria to meet with Norma's Pension Office, we met for lunch. I had last seen her 6 years before at our last High School Reunion but during our lengthy lunch the years just seemed to evaporate.

She is unattached, has a son just a year or so younger than Brooks, is retired from the banking industry and owns a condo in Victoria. Like me, she loves to travel but also like me, is not excited about doing it alone. She is an excellent chef and loves cooking and eating gourmet meals! Which just by chance as do I!

We are traveling as friends but are both open to whatever develops. So far we are having a great time and she is teaching me to laugh again and the rapid weight loss I was slightly concerned about seems to have stopped. So far, everything is on the plus side.

Oliver, Day Five

Another quiet day in the hot Okanagan (after a bit of morning rain) for us until we drove down the road to our dinner reservation at the Tinhorn Creek Winery restaurant. We ate on the patio, enjoying a great meal of Arctic Char for me and Braised Lamb Belly for my friend. We shared a nice bottle of Oldfield Reserve Pinot Noir. Also featured was a great view of the valley and vineyards.

Oliver Day Four

It was a do nothing day. Well, except for a frantic early morning trip to Canadian Tire to replace a coffee maker that decided to give up the ghost. It was less than a month old so I took it with me (no packaging or receipt) and after checking their computer, they allowed me to exchange it for a better brand. Other than that we did nothing. Dinner was another batch of the Shrimp Pasta Alfredo, a baguette and a very nice bottle of wine!

On a personal note, I am learning to laugh again and my appetite is returning!

Okanagan Trip!

Many of you know I was getting ready for a nice trip down the Oregon Coast. That is until I got a quote for travel medical insurance of $900 for a month. My friend who is traveling with me was hit with $1,500 for the month so it was a no brainer to switch to a tour of BC's Okanagan Wine Country. The following are cut and pastes from Facebook.

Change Of Plans
Not an unusual thing for me. Medical insurance costs have caused me to substitute destinations for my little vacation . Instead of Oregon's Pinot Noir I will be sampling British Columbia's Pinot Noir!

I am off to BC's Okanagan on Friday morning for a very leisurely voyage of discovery, I must admit to a certain feeling of relief for avoiding contributing my hard earned dollars to Trump's America. The wine here is just as good but the politics oh so much better!

Plus I will have a lot more money to spend on wine and food. I will not be missing out on the crab either as I will be taking a couple of very large fresh frozen ones with me. Add garlic butter to suit.

So aside from missing a possible meeting with my American friends Bill and Dee, this change of plans will turn out for the best.

Princeton

Sunday morning in Princeton, BC and it is raining and cold! What is going on? This is the Okanagan!

We had a nice visit with my old workmate/friend Keith Olsen, resident and former mayor of Princeton. We spent an hour or so catching up on each others lives.

Today, on to Oliver and the start of the wine tours! And hopefully some better weather!

Oliver!

We left Princeton around 10:00 am, stopped at the fabulous fruit/vegetable stand in Keremeos to stock up and carried on to Oliver. My buddy Rick no longer owns the Maple Leaf RV Park so no deals here and we ended up paying $50 per night but for a week we got one day free. So we are staying for a week.

We drove back to Tinhorn Creek Winery for a tasting and bought a nice bottle of 2015 Oldfield Reserve Pinot Noir. It will go nicely tomorrow night with one of two slabs of salmon we brought with us.

Oliver Day One

Nice breakfast of eggs, toast and hash browns and then headed out to tour three wineries. Tasted many wines and bought one bottle at each place. We are stocking up!

Dinner was a beautiful slab of Sockeye Salmon.

Oliver Day Two

Lazy morning, breakfast and visits to two more wineries. We didn't find any wine we couldn't walk away from but did buy a nice bottle of Burrowing Owl port and a bottle of very expensive balsamic vinegar. Back at the rig now enjoying a nice vodka and V8 before dinner. Dinner was the rest of the Sockeye.

Oliver, Day Three

We decided this morning that this was going to be a "do nothing" day But after a message from our friend Contessa we decided to book a spot in their RV park north of Kelowna for next week (Sept 1 - 8). That done we went to check out a nearby winery that came highly recommended but which disappointed our taste buds - except for their Merlot which we purchased two bottles of. Maybe tomorrow will be our "do nothing" day.

Dinner tonight was a fabulous Shrimp Linguine with Alfredo sauce with Russian Red Garlic added. Delicious. 

Change Of Plans

Not an unusual thing for me. Medical insurance costs have caused me to substitute destinations for my little vacation . Instead of Oregon's Pinot Noir I will be sampling British Columbia's Pinot Noir!

I am off to BC's Okanagan on Friday morning for a very leisurely voyage of discovery, I must admit to a certain feeling of relief for avoiding contributing my hard earned dollars to Trump's America. The wine here is just as good but the politics oh so much better!

Plus I will have a lot more money to spend on wine and food. I will not be missing out on the crab either as I will be taking a couple of very large fresh frozen ones with me. Add garlic butter to suit.

So aside from missing a possible meeting with my American friends Bill and Dee, this change of plans will turn out for the best.

Wanderlust!

The endless paperwork is nearing an end, summer is drawing to a close and I want to get out of town! The Oregon Coast has always been a favorite destination although I have usually been in too big a hurry to explore it on the way south and on the way back north, well.... weather.

The motorhome is almost ready to go and I am planning a trip down the Washington / Oregon Coast later this month. A leisurely pace with lots of time to explore small seaside towns, coffee shops and seafood! Staying with my usual method of travel I have no itinerary, no reservations and no final destination. Maybe as far as California, maybe not My moves will occur whenever I tire of a place or think I have seen all there is to see. Travel days will be short and my feet will spend more time "up" than on the pedals. I will be gone four to five weeks.

I am going to have a good time! Did I mention I am going to eat a lot of crab dipped in garlic and butter? And Oregon's Pinot Noir?

A Great Sendoff!

Norma got to celebrate what would have been her 77th birthday with a great sendoff! Her Celebration Of Life was held on our lawn Saturday afternoon with a gathering of many friends and political allies!

Our good friends Sharon (her main political ally) and Rick came a couple of days early to help me get things ready and Brooks and his friend CJ came on Friday. Brooks rented chairs, tables and a sound system which we set up on the front porch looking out over the lawn. Everything worked beautifully!

Our granddaughter Jayde emceed the whole affair with help from Sharon. Between them they read out about a dozen letters from politicians Norma has worked with and for over the years, These tributes included letters from the current Premier John Horgan, two former Premiers (Clark and Harcourt), the current Minister of The Environment George Heyman and a former Minister of Education Moe Sihota. Many other organizer friends also sent letters with many humerous and some serious stories of Norma. She was hugely respected among her peers. Our old friend and former Premier Dan Miller was also here and spoke a beautiful tribute to Norma.

Here are a few lines from the letter from our long time friend and former Premier of BC, Glen Clark;

"Norma Randle was a hero of mine.......... Inside the NDP there are a few Norma Randles. Men and women (mostly women) who do all the hard work - the unglamorous work of organizing and trench warfare. Because of Norma, people like me could get elected. And because of Norma, I got a chance to be part of a government that tried to make a difference."

I found these words particularity touching because Norma loved Glen Clark and there was nothing she was more proud of than the countless weeks, days and hours she spent getting him elected. He was her hero as well!

There was some doubt in my mind that I could pull it off without tears but I managed to get through my speech. After thanking everyone I recounted some of my stories about Norma including the one of how we met and of some of her other antics over the past 55 years we were together. Jayde did a fantastic job keeping everything on track and moving along and Brooks, after watching Jayde and I get through it decided to forget his pledge to not speak and gave a wonderful tribute to his mom.

It was a wonderful day. The weather was perfect and the food prepared by Brooks and CJ was even better. My biggest mistake was in forgetting to give my camera to Sierrah to get some photos so if anyone has any photos, please send them to me.

Norma was so loved and respected and would be so pleased with her Celebration. It was a wonderful day and may help provide some closure for her friends and family. Her loss leaves a hole in our hearts that will be very hard to fill!

Here is a photo of our immediate family provided by our friend Les. It is LindaLee, Brooks, Jayde, Sierrah and myself.

And some photos taken by Richard

Goodbye Honda!

The Honda is going! She accompanied us on so many adventures and was a faithful companion. I remember the day my dad proudly drove it home (brand new) in 1988! But sadly at just over 300,000 KM it has reached the time it has to go. I donated it to the Kidney Foundation who has promised to have it gone by Thursday. It is leaking oil as fast as I can put it in and something serious is wrong with the electrical system. It would cost far more to fix it than it is worth and I simply do not need two cars now. I am sad to see it go. Here it is in Veracruz, Mexico with it's fresh paint job!