Weekend in Kelowna

Wow - it has been a busy ten days! Oh how I long for the days of no to-do lists, endless sofa sitting and limitless free time.

Since my last post, I have spent 6 days in Kelowna, which is approximately a four hour drive from downtown Vancouver, completed four more rounds of golf, watched wildfires, pop across to Edmonton, squeezed in a bit of work and finally finished writing a business plan!!

Most importantly, the trip to Kelowna was a fantastic experience with wall to wall sunshine at temperatures in the mid-thirties. Following, a week of working at a Dealer event with MB and the golf, Nancy joined me at the hotel for a weekend of relaxation and fun. We visited three local wineries and vineyards, including Mission Hill, which I discovered was where our wedding wine was from. Following a wander round the town centre and along the beaches, we enjoyed a trip out on a speed boat on the lake. This proved to be immense fun, especially with a couple of dips in the water to cool off from the afternoon heat.

While out on the lake, we noticed a plume of smoke from one corner of the lake which gradually developed over the afternoon. As you can see by the photos this turned out to be the start of the now infamous Kelowna wildfires, which resulted in over 17,000 residents having to be evacuated from their homes. From the waterside this was an impressive sight, but I have a great deal more respect for firefighters as I could only imagine the battle on their hands. Even now, as I write, the fires are not fully under control and there are still people staying away from their houses. For us we made it back to Vancouver safe and sound, which only a two hour delay on the return journey due to closed roads.