Bloganagan

New Book Launch: Gifts of the Okanagan

I'm so excited about my latest project Gifts of the Okanagan - in bookstores now! For this photo essay of the Okanagan Valley, I teamed up with my husband Bruce Kemp, who I have to credit with the stunning cover photo. We hope that our images will reveal the deep connection we feel with our home and our true pleasure in sharing the beauty and wonders that surround us every day. Take a preview peek. Now available in bookstores or order direct.

Drought Mountain Hike

It looked like rain early this morning and I was ready to bail (out - not the boat - although with all the rain we've had this bummersummer it could have gone either way), but the octogenarian mountain goat convinced me that the sun would eventually shine so I laced up the boots, collected him and pointed Happy Tot (my peppy little Yaris) up Drought Mountain. Locals in the Westbank/West Kelowna area probably know which hump I'm talking about, but for everybody else, Drought is the ridge behind Gorman Lumber. From the summit you can see the Peachland cutoff to the Coquihalla Connector in one direction and the whole of West Kelowna in the other. There's quite a network of trails on Drought, so we mix 'n' match. One day the hike may be 5-K another time it's six or seven. 

Selah Outdoor Explorations Voyageur Canoe Tour

“Preparez!” I raise my paddle over the water. “En avant!” Down it goes in time with the lead stroke, Laurie Bowen, who sits alone in the bow. Jordie, her husband and partner in  Selah Outdoor Explorations, is calling orders from the stern of a 29-foot freighter canoe that’s dressed in the finery of the Hudson’s Bay Company fur brigade. It’s timely that I’m paddling Okanagan Lake with the rest of the 11-person crew. This year marks the bicentennial of David Stuart’s trek through the Okanagan and the opening of a vital fur trade route that flourished for decades.

Travel With a Challenge Okanagan Story

Check out the July/August 2011 issue of Travel with a Challenge web magazine, showcasing Grandma Wears Hiking Boots and the Okanagan Valley. The magazine focuses on alternative travel: ecological, educational and cultural/historical travel, distinctive cuisine and volunteer vacations worldwide. Travel with a Challenge is a nine-year-old globally popular travel information website largely addressing the interests and agendas of the educated, proactive mature traveler, aged 45 to 80 years old.  About 65% of readers are women, and 74% of all readers have at least one post-graduate degree.  The TWAC website attracts 1.6 million readers a year, 74% Americans and Canadians, 20% British and Europeans, the rest Australians, New Zealanders and others. 

 

Kelowna Wine Trails

I am one lucky grandma to live in the middle of the Westside Wine Trail, one of five newly designated routes on the Kelowna Wine Trails. My neighbours include Okanagan wine industry icons like Mission Hill (love hearing the bells of the carillon every day) and Quail's Gate; wineries like Little Straw, that despite a relatively new name, are producing vintages from vines that date to the 1960s; wineries dedicated to organic production like Kalala; old favourites like Mt. Boucherie and newbies like Volcanic Hills.

Baergnaescht B&B

With the postal strike on, Grandma (Wears Hiking Boots )was out delivering a book order to Baergnaescht B&B, a  great country hideaway on Anarchist Mountain east of Osoyoos. I met Silvia Albrecht, who together with her husband, Fritz Schuepbach, has built the hacienda style accommodations from scratch. The couple ran a B&B in Canmore for many years before deciding to relocate to the Okanagan. Silvia jokes about the name of their establishment - it's Swiss German for mountain nest or mountain bed - and says that people just ask for the place with the name they can't pronounce.

Davison Orchards Event

It's a couple of years since my last foray to Davison Orchards in Vernon, BC. On that trip we introduced my grandson, Alex, to jack 'o' lanterns in the raw and let him pick his own pumpkin from the field. Yesterday I was back to participate in Davison's new Taste & Explore our Local Abundance event. It was a fun day for me with the Grandma Wears Hiking Boots table set up between the Vernon Outdoors Club and my old buddy Rosanne Van Ee whose Outdoor Adventures feature large in the book. 

Gellatly Bay Trails & Parks

Grandma was there to say, "Hi," to the 70+ local supporters who met this morning at Gellatly Nut Farm Regional Park in West Kelowna to lace up their hiking boots in the society's 14th annual March for Parks. See the full photo album on Facebook: Grandma Wears Hiking Boots.

Hester Creek Estate Winery

I'm embarrassed to admit that until a couple of weeks ago, I'd never made it to Hester Creek winery on the Golden Mile south of Oliver, despite the fact that it is one of the Valley's longest established wineries with vines dating to 1968. Big mistake! I'm delighted that the reason for my trip was to deliver a pile of Grandma Wears Hiking Boots for sale in their absolutely gorgeous gift shop, which is part of the Tuscan style multi-purpose building that includes an executive meeting/dining room, demonstration kitchen (I'm dying to get down for one of their chef's show & tell & eat events), tasting counter and expansive patio. The view from the patio is vintage Okanagan with sight lines all the way down to Osoyoos Lake. 

April 3 Meet Grandma: Coles Penticton

Looking for fun things to do with the kids in the long "I'm bored" summer holidays? Need some new ideas for visiting friends and family? I've got lots of suggestions for Okanagan outings. Drop by for a chat on Sunday, April 3 at the Coles bookstore in Cherry Lane Mall, Penticton. I'll be there from 1 to 3 and I'll be glad to sign your copy of Grandma Wears Hiking Boots.