Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Number Three and the End

Another photo essay for my third trip to Peachland:
Another friday morning saw us leisurely escaping the city, winding our way to and beyond Hope. Along the number three, through mountains, following rivers, past farms and small towns...


until we arrived in the okanogan, stunned by the incredibly blueness of the lake!


The first two days were full of exploring the lake by boat, first down to Penticton, then up to Kelowna and underneath the floating bridge.


The nights were spent drinking fine wine and eating rich food in the warm night breeze, leisurely walks and massages.


Monday brought a day of touring some local wineries - Mount Boucherie, Little Straw, and a return trip to Mission Hill, for we were drawn to the grandeur of the architecture...


...and the desire to take a tour, which of course we did. Debriefed on the history of the winery, the backgrounds of the proprietor and chief wine maker, into the cellar to see row upon row of huge oak barrels...(and a collection of ancient vessels for carrying wine and sacred oils)



then back up into the hot and bright of the day to learn about the architecture, the four massive brass bells each uniquely cast for a member of the family, the ancient Austrian well uncovered at a mosque, restored and brought to Canada. To finish it off, we returned to the dark for a lesson in wine tasting!


To end off our visit to the winery, we sat in the lush green grass, admired the view, the pink orb of a sun, and eight minutes of the beautiful, deep, resonant voices of the bells singing in the tower.


As all good things come to an end, so did our final summer trip to Peachland.


And so too did our summer vacation, but we can safely say that we did the very best that we could to make the most of our dying summer days, sun worshipping and boating to the very last minute!
It wasn't the summer that I was expecting to have, in my heart I couldn't imagine a summer spent anywhere or anyhow but they way it had been every summer before. This summer marked the beginning of change, a move away from comfortable familiarity, but also a move toward novelty and exploration. It was, despite any doubts, a summer well spent.

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