Sunday, May 3, 2009

Okanagan Spring Wine Festival - Saturday

I flew in to Kelowna on Friday evening and arrived just in time for dinner. We went off to The Keg in town here, which is a really great steak restaurant. Except I have broken up with beef! So what is a girl to do? Order crab!! This Dungeness crab was amazing!!CIMG5364

On Saturday morning I decided to head out to the Mission Creek Greenway for a quick run. I love this trail - it is flat, quiet, and the scenery is amazing! Since Wednesday's run was so painful I figured flat would be just what I needed for a run. Since triathlon season is starting I swapped my regular laces out for Yankz, and this was my first run with them in these shoes.

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The shoes felt awesome - not too snug, not too loose. It was a gorgeous day out there. I decided 4 miles seemed like the right amount to run today. Everything felt great - no shin pain, no knee issues...nothing. Yay for recovery!! As I was heading back to my car there was a lady running with a little dog and I made it my mission to catch up to her and pass her. Just as I was coming into the final stretch I finally caught up with her and took off in front! Every once in awhile you need to have those little things to motivate you.CIMG5372

After the run it was time to head home, shower up, and head down south towards Oliver to start celebrating the Spring Wine Festival! We had lunch planned at Burrowing Owl Estate Winery, which just happens to be on the bike course for the WCOC Olympic triathlon that I'll be racing in a few weeks. We drove a ways on the bike course and I was able to check out all of the hills, the condition of the pavement, and any obstacles along the way (like the two cattle guards that advise cyclists to dismount and walk their bikes across...that should be interesting...). Lunch at Burrowing Owl was amazing. I had a baked Sockeye salmon sandwich on a homemade croissant. Good stuff!CIMG5389

After lunch it was back to driving the bike course and visiting a few other wineries! The scenery along the bike route is just amazing. It should be a fantastic race!!CIMG5391

We also stopped by Tuc-el-Nuit Lake, where the swim is going to be.CIMG5396CIMG5399 Once we were done tasting and checking out the course it was on to a special Seafood & Chardonnay Winemaker's dinner at Sumac Ridge. We started off with a sparkling wine reception...

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...and we were then treated to some amazing food and wine. My favourite by far were the fish and chips. I also sat next to a really interesting couple who enjoy cycling. They were telling me about a bike tour company that they took a trip with to bike through Provence. Now that sounds like an amazing vacation!!

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Anyhow, on to more winefesting today!! Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!!

15 comments:

Run Sarah said...

Glad you had a pain-free run...I forgot how beautiful Kelowna is, gorgeous photos!

Keith said...

Thanks for the photos! Good thing I just had breakfast. I was just about ready to crawl through the screen. And the scenery is fantastic. Looks like this trip gets marked down as a winner in big red letters!

Pia [Kaukomara] said...

Thank you for your wonderful blog and amazing pictures! Good luck with training and greetings from Finland.

Lindsay said...

love the pics - looks like a great weekend. the action shot is way cool!

Road Warrior said...

Now THAT is a weekend. I'm quite jealous!

teacherwoman said...

Nice work with the pain free run! Feels great, doesn't it?!

Great photos. Sounds like a great time.

Meg said...

this entry just made me crave so many different things...wine, crab, coissants...yum!

Run For Life said...

That looks like a fantastic weekend!!!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Love the pics -- i really need to head out west one of these days!

Wes said...

I put Yankz in all my shoes now. I never tie them again.

Marlene said...

Yay for no pain!

Looks like that is going to be a beautiful route for the tri. Can't wait to hear about it!

ShirleyPerly said...

Does indeed look to be a very scenic course. Maybe they'll lay down some mats over the cattle guards? I doubt anyone is going to dismount and walk their bike over it, LOL.

FLATOUT JIM said...

Great White North looks like an interesting race. May have to check it out sometime.

joyRuN said...

I am jealous! Looks & sounds like a phenomenal weekend :) Good food, great running, gorgeous scenery - can't ask for much more. Oh, yeah - and WINE!!!

Rainmaker said...

Mmm...looks like some good food you had there. I was out visiting your home country this weekend - good food there as well!