Our Last Day Of Travel

We'll be back in Kelowna this afternoon. The car was packed and heading down Sharon's driveway by 8:00 A.M.  The kids all came out onto the porch to wave good bye. I think they all wanted to make sure we left. The grand kids loved their stilts. They love being as tall as the adults.

We caught the 10:00 ferry from Duke Point. It  is a good ride when you get parked right beside the window. I lost 3 out of 5 card games of kings in the corner. I wish Sharon was with us on the ride cuz I always win when I play her.

I started to laugh just after I snapped this picture while driving thru the mountains. I thought Ruth was asleep but she heard the camera snap. Without opening her eyes she said "Dad's sad, Dad's mad".  She was right . I hate this weather. I thought we would miss this but I guess we got home a little too soon.

The closer we got to Kelowna the better it got. It was actually quite nice as we drove into the valley. We managed to snap a picture of out house while we entered the city limits. Ours is one of those little white dots across the lake.

We stopped in to our neighbours to pick up the mail. Art and Inga seemed to do well over this last 6 months. It was nice to know that our renters were no trouble. Seems that the renters kept out common driveway clean all winter and brought Art's garbage cans up the hill for them every Friday.

Our house is still standing. The renters are there until Tuesday so we will be staying with Carrie and Brad for a few days. I'm glad we have kids here in Kelowna. It will be nice to see them.

When we drove down the driveway on Oct 1 , 2013  our odometor read 217646.5 . We have driven a total of 25639 Kilometres these last 6 months. What a trip. It sure was fun.

Saturday's Events

We woke up to find what we are sure is Cougar Scat right outside the door in Sharon and Chris's front road. We kept Daisy close for the rest of the day.

Around noon I went with Paul down to his church in town and tuned the piano there. It's a really cool old building. Made from logs harvested here on the island.

The piano is a Willis from the early 1900's and is in good condition considering it's age. It still has the original ivories and they are in perfect condition.

Dinner was chinese food that I made and Ruth made fresh noodles from scratch.

On To The Island

Our last night with Dave and Megan was very nice. The chicken was cooked perfect.

We had a nice fire while the chicken cooled. 

Dinner was great. Good conversation and lots of laughs.

We were on the road out of Portland by 10:00 A.M. 

What a beautiful down town .

We were at the boarder in a traffic jam by about 3:30 in the afternoon.

We were making good time until now.

We missed the 5:00 ferry to the island . Daisy was mad about that.

 It meant she had to eat dinner in the truck. She's such a good sport.

We arrived at Sharon's around 9:00.  Hit the sack and had a great sleep.

I got up after everyone had left. Ruth and Sharon went to some sort of exercise class and Chris went to work. To keep busy I tuned their piano. 

After I did theirs I wandered down to the lodge and tuned the piano there. 

Daisy came with me for company. She stared out the window for about an hour while I worked.

I don't blame her. It looks nicer out there than in here.

 I needed to fix the music desk on the piano so I found Paul in his shop . He fired up his table saw and did the cut that I needed .  He's got a dream shop.

 When I finished that piano I went back to the house to find the kids watching a show on T.V.

Chris was making dinner.

Sharon was relaxing while waiting for dinner. It was a nice evening for all.

Our Drive To Dave And Megan's Thru The Redwood Forest

So we headed into the Redwood forest about 8:00 A.M. Tuesday morning. 

It was a beautiful ride. The trees were magnificent.

Thank goodness someone had the inside to preserve this forest for everyone to enjoy.

It doesn't really show how tall these trees are when taking a picture like this.

The ride beside the Pacific Ocean was beautiful.

Such a rugged shoreline.

The elk were in a field as we got back into the mountains.

Here is Dave mid afternoon sucking back another Busch .

He is actually one of the best Jazz Players on this continent.

I saw a poster today of him from the early 90"s that was advertising him 

for a concert and saying he was one of North America's best international pianists.

I had my tools in the truck and his piano sounded a little off .

 It seemed like tuning his piano the natural thing to do.  It turned out sounding great.

I'm like "The Holy Tuner."

 They have a new wood smoker.

Yumm. This is going to be one great dinner.

So the girls went into the garden for fresh salad fixins.

 Nothing like a garden to make Ruth smile.

Here's the girls relaxing before dinner.

Our Day In Napa Valley

 This was our first winery. The setting was absolutely gorgeous.

We didn't have a tasting or buy any wine. Just wandered around. I love looking at how these places are put together.

This is my kind of dining room.

The vineyards are all on the flats unlike the Okanagan where the vineyards are all on slopes.

I loved this bronze statue. Such a happy boy.

I found it interesting that they grow the grapes on metal braces and not using pressure treated posts like they do in the Okanagan.

We went to the Sattui winery for lunch. This is the entrance to their picnic area.

There are a couple of picnic areas on this property.

This is a winery that was built by an Italian family in the late 1800's

 that brought the old country to America.

I'm not sure what Ruth was pointing at. I seem to remember

 there was a pretty little bird sitting in this tree.

This old oak tree was gorgeous.

Multy levels.

Every where we walked there was something beautiful to look at.

Here she is saying "THE GOOD STUFF IS IN HERE. HURRY UP"

So we bought some wine and a great great couple of tasting sandwiches. 

Headed out into the picnic area and wasted a few hours. It was a great afternoon.

We bought a dish of veggies for Daisy.

Her favorite was the zucchini.

It was worth the visit. Likely one of the nicest wineries we have ever been to.

 

The Napa Valley was a great stop. We enjoyed the ride.