How I Spent My Vacation

Ah...so it is back home for me. I didn't get a chance to update the blog too much while I was visiting the folks in BC, but here's a rundown on my week. You last heard about my absolutely stonkerish 15 miler on Monday.

Tuesday:

Happy Canada Day! We had tickets to an event that started at 11:00 am and was about 2 hours away at Tinhorn Creek Winery so we were on the road early. They were releasing their brand new vintages of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that day so they planned a bit of a celebration. (Get it, they released a red and a white..!) The day started with a hike through the vines on to a short trail up to Stamp Mill that was led by one of the owners of Tinhorn. The trail went uphill quite a bit and afforded some great views of the area. It was probably about 2 miles round trip I want to say. Afterwards we went back down to the winery where they were playing a game. A merlot, a pinot and a chardonnay were all poured in a black glass and you had to guess which was the pinot based on smell alone. They also served us a fantastic lunch of grilled salmon and chicken and a glass on their new releases to go with. It was a really terrific event. After that it was more wine tasting and relaxing at home.

Wednesday:

Time to test out this running thing again! I went for a 3.4 mile run down a big hill to Mission Hill and Quails Gate wineries, then back up again. That hill kicked my behind. I felt a couple of twinges in my left knee on the downhill in the beginning, but everything felt fine on the straight and uphill portions. The views along the way were amazing however. I rushed home and tried to put on my swimsuit as quickly as possible (do you have any idea how hard that is if you are a little sweaty?) then rushed to catch the last half hour of adult lane swim at the public pool. I got 550m in. Then it was off for more wine tasting...

Thursday:

This time I ran a 3.25 mi loop out to Quails Gate and Mission Hill then back home, but it was still down a big hill and up a big hill. The uphill still kicked my behind. And I still loved the views. This was an amazing neighbourhood to run in. We had to be on the road by 9:00 am to make it to a tasting event we booked so there was no time for swimming today. All this wine tasting...a pretty rough vacation, eh?

Friday:

It was time to head back to the pool today. I fit in 1000m and it went pretty well. My front crawl is coming along and I'm feeling fairly comfortable with it. We took a break from wine tasting for the day and Neil and I went to see Wanted instead. Wow...that movie was fantastic. Terrific effects and a story line that kept you totally engaged. Loved it, loved it, loved it. That night Mark Knopfler was playing in Kelowna and we were able to get tickets. He was there touring with his band as a solo artist, but he still played a few Dire Straits tunes for us. To hear Romeo & Juliet (my favourite Dire Straits song), Sultans of Swing, Brothers in Arms and Telegraph Road live was amazing.

Saturday:

We were planning to hit the road to get back to Calgary, but I wanted to get my 16 miler in before leaving. This run was so amazing that it deserves its own blog post. After some lunch we were back on the road. We saw some mountain sheep, a black bear, and a group of four grizzly bears on our drive through the Rockies. The black bear was in the ditch of the highway and a park ranger in a pick up was using his truck to try and keep the bear from wandering on to the highway. Back home at 10:30 pm... Now it is time to catch up on the 165 new blog posts I have missed!