"O, Canada..."

A weekend away without the kiddos!!!!! (I could have had only that much information about our trip and been excited. But it was to an amazing and somewhat obscure destination in a different country? Did I luck out or what?)

Rip and a few others from various distributors were given the opportunity to go to Kelowna, B.C. with their wives, compliments of the Mike's Hard Lemonade guys. The same gentleman who started Mike's owns a boutique winery called Mission Hill Family Estates Winery, and we were going to be treated to a VIP tour. Like Rip told me before we left, "they're going to take very good care of us. . ."

Did.They.Ever. We stayed in a spacious & luxurious resort called The Cove, right on the shores of Lake Okanagan. The view from our balcony was of a pristine and sparkling lake, as well as of the mountains on the other side of the valley.

Who would have known that there was such a gem of a city just a few hours from Vancouver? There was a quaint and adorable downtown, the friendliest people, and spectacular vineyards all up and down the Okanagan Valley. It's a really unique climate (so I was told), as it's extremely moderate due to the mountains on either side of the valley and the lake right down the center. It's a desert, actually. Which is apparently perfect for growing grapes. "In Canada?" you ask? Oh yes!!!!

So we sampled wines from several vineyards, ate gourmet food (BTW. . .gross. I would rather have Subway than rabbit sausage, lamb, and venison carpaccio ANYDAY!!!), and actually got to sleep through the night. Wine AND sleep? Who needs more???!!!???

Sadly, poor Rip got an ear infection on the second day, so we had to take a cab to a health clinic, then the pharmacy. But I will say that the inexpensive Chinese food we ate that night while we waited for the prescriptions was the best food of the trip!!! Well, except for this delightful Mike's Hard *Pink* Lemonade sampler we had for dessert the last night.

All this, then a nice long flight home with no one climbing on me, begging for snacks, complaining, crying, or asking me to watch "Dora Saves the Mermaid Kingdom" again. "O, Canada!"