So here’s my best solution to feeling stressed riding shotgun.

She is oblivious to all potentialities and trusts her owner’s driving explicitly. Such is the peace of the zen existence of the family pet.

I’m working on finding my groove. I’m getting there…

Visiting some wineries helped. Road 13, as I mentioned, was our first stop. The current owners have been producing wine since 2003 and renamed it (for its location, it’s on “Road 13”) from its previous incarnation as Golden Mile Cellars. In all four of our stops, we were particularly interested in what wouldn’t be readily available in our local liquor store, and found a couple of interest there. It’s been a good decade or more since I’ve visited any Okanagan wineries and I’ve noticed they have really “upped” their game in terms of marketing and packaging the “winery” experience. Road 13 had built this castle-looking building for their tasting room.

Then it was on to Burrowing Owl who boasted a guest lodge with a swimming pool, again perched high on a hillside, overlooking their vineyards. This time we got smart and left the RV in turn-around area near the truck loading zone at the back of the cluster of buildings. It was hot and sunny and the tasting room would be boring for the kids, so we wandered into the winery restaurant to see if the kids could sit and have a cold drink while we shopped. Gervase was VERY unimpressed with the reception or lack thereof and not happy to be told the kids couldn’t sit there unless we were going to order lunch. We love their wines and bought some bottles, but left feeling a bit disappointed with the whole experience. Burrowing Owl seems a bit full of themselves…the winery has been producing wine since 1998 and is still lead by founder Jim Wyse.

Then down near Osoyoos, practically at the Canada/US border we stopped at a small winery, Young and Wyse Collection. This place was very interesting to us…note the name connection with Burrowing Owl! After 10 years of working at Burrowing Owl, the family winery, longtime winemaker Stephen Wyse and his partner Michelle Young decided to start their own winery and this year is their 17th vintage. They only sell from the winery, restaurants, and select retail outlets… none of their product is available in liquor stores. We thought most of what we tasted was fantastic and the small, homey atmosphere in the tasting room was a lot of fun. Now the RV is heavier with the purchases you see Gervase happily toting…

Gorgeous Osoyoos!

Carrying his case of wine back to the RV…

Then Nk’Mip (pronounced Ink Meep) was a whole other experience. We had headed there with the intent to go horseback riding, but it was mercilessly hot and Shannon decided against it. The Osoyoos First Nation has taken marketing their winery experience to a whole other level…it’s a resort with campground, horseback riding, resort accommodations, restaurant, tasting room and cultural centre. Some marketing genius has turned that whole thing into a huge money-maker. It was hopping!

One of the great things about this RV, I’m learning, is the flexibility it affords. Everything is with us. A conversation with the fellow behind the tasting bar at Nk’Mip lead us to a cute little beach in Osoyoos to cool off. No going home to get the swimsuit and towel because we just decided to do this…it’s all here with us. Very nice!