Vernon (n̓łəłt̓pmíw̓scin̓)

In the Nsyilxcən language of the Syilx (Okanagan) people, “n̓łəłt̓pmíw̓scin̓“, means “jumping over place where the creek narrows”.

Before our recent trip to the Okanagan and beyond I really didn’t know Vernon at all. We drove through it once, as I recall, but that was the extent of my acquaintance.

The old friends in Vernon with whom we tarried a while on this trip were, by chance, the very first folks that The Girl introduced me to when she brought me to Canada way back in 2006. At that time these friends lived in East Vancouver. Some time later – having tired of the big city – they purchased a smallholding of somewhat more than twenty acres in rural Lumby in the BC interior. Here they enjoyed a bucolic existence until a couple of years ago.

Since then our friends have moved again – into a single-story dwelling in a ‘seniors’ village’ on the outskirts of Vernon. During the congenial couple of days that we spent with them they showed around the rural delights of this hitherto unknown (to me!) part of the province. Everything looked particularly verdant and prosperous and really most welcoming.

We did not actually dine at this stylish bar/restaurant overlooking the town, but the menu looked good and the views (the which we had specifically driven up to see) are spectacular.

The few days that we spend in and around Vernon were filled with fascinating diversions – for which we thank our friends most sincerely. This post is not sufficiently expansive to do justice to all of the sights that we saw, but I do want to mention two stops in particular.

The first was at Planet Bee, the which – as you may rapidly have surmised – is a fabulous honey farm. We could not resist making some purchases, not least of some of their glorious ‘Nectar of the Sun’ mead.

Pure indulgence!

We also loved the Davison Orchards. I am going to leave you to their website, as they can sell themselves far better than can I. Both of these operations (along with the Okanagan wineries – about which more in a subsequent post) exemplify the cornucopian nature of this fabulous part of the world.

I think that it may be a good thing that they are not within daily reach of our humble abode.