Kamloops

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.

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For a long time, a bit subconsciously, I’ve focused my travels on places far away. I don’t think I ascribed a particular value to distance, but when planning trips I have had a tendency to think foreign, and with that, usually came a long flight or two. There’s still a lot of the world I want to see, but over the last year plus living in western Canada, I’m realizing that a lot of the world I haven’t yet laid eyes on and want to experience is actually within the borders of my own country.

My wife and I planned and just returned from a relatively short journey to the Okanagan Valley, in British Columbia, two provinces over. We’ve been married four years, and to celebrate our anniversary, we take an annual honeymoon. This one, honeymoon #5, smacked me in the face and reminded me how enormous, varied and downright beautiful and fun Canada is. Lush valleys, mountains, lakes and rivers were the backdrop. Wine tastings, outstanding food, craft beer (for me at least), two animal parks and a couple of days of road trips were the activities. Throughout it all, this trip satisfied the need within me to explore while also comforting me. During an internationally turbulent week politically (aren’t they all these days), it was good to be away, yet still be at home.

I’ll write a lot more about our Okanagan experiences but know I loved every minute of it. The sights, tastes and experiences were new, and in an inexplicable way, familiar too.