It felt good to be back in Canada.  Safer, I suppose…not from violence or anything like that, but from a nightmare if I ever got into an accident or something.  I bought extra insurance for the tour because I was going to the States, but you always hear these horror stories of people losing their homes because they got into a car accident down there.  I suppose I should be fearful of accidents no matter what country I’m in, but at least in Canada I know I’d be taken care of (provided I survived).

Being back in BC also meant that from this point on the tour would be in familiar surroundings.  This made for easier planning as I was sticking to a pretty robust travel schedule.  I still haven’t stayed in one place for more than one night and this was going to continue, but I knew what I wanted to see, where I wanted to stay, and what I wanted to buy.

On the latter, it was wine.  Wine was the driver for the first tour, it’s been a dominant feature of every tour since, and it will be included in this one…albeit in a far more condensed form.  Today’s plan was to ride from Scott & Gill’s place in Port Moody to Oliver via the Crowsnest Highway, and make a few stops at some of my favourite wineries along the way.  Tomorrow I would continue up the Okanagan valley to Vernon and then cut into the Kootenays.  This would allow me some morning-midday wine stops tomorrow as well.  As usual, I would be limited by what I could carry on Midnight.

After some eggs benedict with Scott in North Vancouver, I was on the TransCanada Highway heading east by 10:30am.  I don’t care for the TransCanada (see yesterday’s post).  The sun was right in my eyes the whole time and the traffic was relentless and my ass was already sore by the time I reached Abbotsford.  All I need to do is get to Hope, I thought.  Hope means mountains and trees and a smaller highway.  

Hope really is a cool little town.  The mountains tower above it and the Fraser makes a sharp turn west after descended down a gorge for several hundred kilometres.  The TransCanada #1, Crowsnest #3, and the Yellowhead #5 all convene at Hope, so there’s a real Crossroads feel.  I wonder what it would be like to stay here for a night.

The temperature was around 30 so I had to get moving.  Sitting around in my gear at that temperature is uncomfortable.  It took about an hour and a half to get over the Cascades and into the Similkameen Valley at Princeton, where it got even hotter.  I tried not to stop too often, it was already after 2:00 and the wineries will close at 5:00…and Keremeos was another hour at least.

The ride down the Similkameen Valley has a real Western vibe…like Western Movies.  The road is straight, but it follows the Similkameen River the entire way.  The eastern Cascades are pretty tall but they are barren so you see brown/grey rock faces interspersed with brown grass and withered trees.  Abandoned mines dot the hillsides.  They could have shot The Apple Dumpling Gang here.  It is a stark difference from the lushness of the Lower Mainland and the Cascade Mountains I rode through to get here.  It was also hot.  Damn hot.

I rode straight through Keremeos- the fruit stand capital of Canada (a term I support).  It was already after 3:00 and I was racing against the clock.  Luckily, my first stop was just about 20km down the road at Seven Stones Winery.  Seven Stones has one of the best Syrahs in the valley (perhaps the best…I may do a blind tasting against Desert Hills to determine that).  They are released once a year and they go very quickly.  Usually if you don’t order them online after they announce the release, you don’t get any.  I had called George the owner a few days prior and had three bottles set aside for me.

After a tasting I decided to go ‘all-in.’  Maybe it was the four hours of riding in the heat talking…maybe it was the excitement at being back in the Okanagan wine tasting again…or maybe it was a reluctance to start hauling wine on the bike…whatever it was, I ordered an entire case of wine and paid for shipping.  I got a half case of their Syrah, and then filled the rest of the case with a couple of roses, their Heritage, and some whites.  George was great to chat with and he remembered our encounter with him last year when I was trying to order his Syrahs for our wedding.  Unfortunately the Saskatchewan Government liquor policies got in the way of that so I was cheated out of having a top notch red at our wedding.  In fact, I didn’t get any of their Syrah because I decided to forego purchasing one because at the time I was still expecting to get a few cases for the wedding.  Oh well, I just made up for it.

I left Seven Stones feeling a little better.  The break was nice.  I had pretty much ridden nonstop from North Vancouver, stopping only for fuel.  I could never have done that on Silver- Midnight is a much more comfortable bike to ride.

I continued east and eventually started to descend into the Okanagan Valley at Osoyoos.  On the way down I was confronted with forest fires on either side of the highway…they were just smouldering, but the news of forest fires in southern BC has gone national.  Rock Creek lost about 30 houses the other day.  Oliver, where I was staying, was evacuated two days ago.  Thankfully the fire was eventually dealt with and the evacuation order was lifted.  After roaring past Osoyoos and heading north up the Golden Mile on Hwy 97, I veered off onto Black Sage Road so I could get to Desert Hills.

Desert Hills has the best wines in the country.  All of them are solid, all of them are worth buying, so I am a member of their wine club.  I get three 6-bottle shipments a year at 15% off, and I can choose whatever is in those shipments, although they do provide an initial list (you have a week to call them to amend it).  The summer shipment was in process, so after my tasting Randy the owner brought out my order and I changed it slightly.  I replaced their white blend (which I already have) with their unoaked chardonnay.  I’m not usually a chardonnay fan but I think it’s because I don’t care for oak with my whites.  Regardless, this was something different to add to my cellar.  I did walk out with one bottle for the trip: their Gewurtztraminer.  It is the best wine in the entire valley, and when I can get a bottle I savour every sip.  I thought I’d enjoy some after riding all day.

At Desert Hills, Randy recommended Quinta Ferreira, which is also not the Black Sage Road but it is about 10km north. I thought I’d try it out (because new things are exciting), but on the way I stopped at Silver Sage.  I just had to, even though I’ve been there so many times and I know their selection pretty well.  I did not do a tasting, as the room was crowded and I didn’t feel like waiting.  Instead, I picked up two bottles of dessert wines: the Pearle and the Blueberry.

It was now after 5pm and I was able to get to Quinta Ferreira before they closed.  It’s always fun to go to a new winery- you never know what to expect and you can do a tasting without any preconceived notions.  I found their whites good but their reds really shined.  They even had a rose that tasted like a red.  I ended up with their flagship meritage blend and called it a day.

I tried hard to get into the wine tasting but found it difficult.  I think wine tasting has to be its own thing…not something you tuck into the end of a day of riding.  Maybe it was the heat.  Maybe I was getting fatigued from too many days on the road.  Whatever it was, I was ready to turn my back on wine and head to my motel where I wasted no time in jumping into their pool.  After a half hour soak I showered and headed out for some dinner.  I hadn’t eaten anything since that eggs benedict in the morning.

I couldn’t choose between my usual Savvios and the Firehall Bistro down the street so I did both.  I had some calamari and a beer at Savvios, walked around town for a while, then had a sandwich at the Firehall Bistro.  The entire time I was watching the forest fire up in the mountains.  The whole town was peppered with firefighters too.  They were all out eating at the restaurants and walking around town. That must be hard work.  They all looked black and dirty and tired.

So did I, for that matter.  I walked around town in the hot, dry summer air for a bit before heading back to the Cactus Tree Inn where I crashed.