We woke up in Kelowna on an August Sunday morning without a firm idea of what we were going to do that day. Over a coffee at the hotel, the plan started to form around the idea of having brunch in Kamloops. My wife had found a really interesting place with a number of delicious sounding gluten-free menu items, and since I drag her to enough sandwich and beer places on our travels, I was 100% in on this one.

We built a loose idea of an itinerary before hitting the road. There was no debate on stop one – the Kangaroo Creek Farm was less than twenty minutes up the highway and was a bargain at $5 to roam around and play with animals. I mean, how could anyone not want to cuddle baby ‘roos?

I got to hold a baby wallaroo named Huggy Bear who was less than four months old. So cute, I almost wanted to carry him back to the car and drive off with a new member of our family.

There was a lot more than kangaroos here. My wife, a long-time fan of goats, seems to have some sort of magical touch with them. Check out this one, almost falling asleep while enjoying a cheek rub.

My wife really has the same magical touch with all animals. This young ‘roo was half asleep but still ate out of her hand.

I couldn’t tell what my wife enjoyed most about the Kangaroo Creek Farm – the kangaroos/wallaroos or the goats. Certainly, all of the animals seemed to enjoy her equally.

I think it was probably the goats. She spent a long time feeding this one, and I suspect she would have taken him home if she could.

Leaving the farm, we pointed the car north and shortly realized the error of our loose day trip planning. We had been thinking that Kamloops was a mere hour away but it was really closer to two hours away. As we were on vacation and were both craving brunch, we made the drive. And it was a lovely, picturesque, appetite building drive.

Much later than we planned, we enjoyed a really delicious brunch at Mittz Kitchen in Kamloops. I wouldn’t normally say anything was tasty enough for a two hour drive, but this meal was. If we lived in Kamloops, we’d be here every weekend. My wife had some exceptional gluten free french toast and I had a decidedly non-gluten free brunch of fried chicken on biscuits with country gravy and some deep-fried smashed potatoes. Had we googled the distance back in Kelowna, we probably wouldn’t have done this. So glad we were lazy Sunday morning planners this time.

On the drive back to Kelowna, we stopped into Gray Monk winery to take in the scenery and sample some of their wines. I really liked a couple of Pinot Gris bottles they had, but a muscat took the cake and we bought a bottle to enjoy later on our Okanagan vacation.

After the wine tastings, my wife, the good sport she is, agreed to a stop at Boundary Brewing so I could sample some beers from a relatively new brewery just north of Kelowna. You can tell from my smile that I was enjoying this visit (and I hadn’t even tried that amazing cherry sour beer on the left yet!)

Add another great day trip to the list of ones we’ve had over the years. Even though this one was probably the least planned out, it turned out pretty much perfect. We got so see much more of British Columbia than we were expecting to!