I did not want to leave Canada without checking out the wine country around the Okanagan Valley...so...I made a slight detour this morning. Instead of continuing on the Trans-Canada Highway, I swung south on Route 5, hooking up with Route 97c into the town of Penticton, B.C.
Route 5 was a pretty decent road...four lanes all the way to the town of Merritt. At Merritt, I switched over to Route 97c which is described as a "High Mountain Road"...that means that you drive "up" into the mountains and travel on top for a hundred miles or so before coming "down" into the Okanagan Valley. Lots of warnings about ice, snow, dangerous curves, fog, etc. I didn't encounter any ice or snow, but there was plenty of rain and fog along the way.
I arrived in Penticton around 11:30AM with the last fifteen miles or so on a narrow winding road several hundred feet above the edge of Lake Okanaga. I stopped first at the La Frenz Winery and, after taking a few minutes to let my palms dry and allow color to return to my knuckles, I went in for a "tasting". La Frenz produces a pretty full line of wines...Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Cabernet, Merlot, etc. I tasted several of these, and they were all very good. Right down the road was the Red Rooster Winery...I had their "Meritage" blend with my elk dinner in Banff, so I wanted to be sure to make a stop at the Winery to try their other wines. I have to say that everything that I tasted there was excellent, and I ended up buying six bottles each of their 2007 Pinot Gris and 2005 Meritage.
My tastings finished, I had a decision to make on the route to Vancouver...take the southern route on the "Crow's Nest Highway" or back up 97c/5 to the Trans-Canada Highway. I opted for the latter after being told by several people that it was less "mountainous". All that I can tell you is that the route that I picked was plenty mountainous! And...this is the best part...I got to drive all 150 miles of it in an absolutely driving rainstorm whipped further by heavy wind gusts off the mountains. I saw a lot of accidents...just west of the town of Princeton, a semi jackknifed in the middle of the eastbound lanes and had traffic backed up for 15 miles. Up here, they often put small white crosses at the sight of fatal accidents...before Princeton, I drove through a stretch of highway where there were so many crosses that I thought that I was driving up the driveway to "Vlad the Impaler's" castle.
Finally, about 50 miles east of Vancouver, I put the last of the mountains behind me and, shortly after that, the rain stopped and the sun peaked out.
I finally arrived at my hotel shortly after 5:00PM, that last 150 miles having taken well over four hours to drive.
I expected to like Vancouver, and I was not disappointed. It's big and spread out with different parts of the city separated by water. For a city of it's size, it's also amazingly clean...very little litter on the streets. It's also incredibly diverse...a bubbling "stew" of nationalities, particularly Asian. And, best of all, it's a food lover's dream with every conceivable cuisine under the sun available.
Many years ago, I read about a Malaysian dish called "Singapore Pepper Crab" (also called "Chili Crab"). In the years since, I've looked for that dish everywhere without success...the closest I came to finding it was at a small restaurant in Pattaya, Thailand, but they were out of crab. So, figured that if there was a place outside of Malaysia that had it, it would be here in Vancouver. As it turned out, there were dozens of places that served it.
I chose a restaurant called "Tropika" based on a Zagat review that I found on-line.
Singapore Pepper Crab was everything that I imagined...and more! Spicy, garlicky and slightly sweet, it was absolutely delicious as was an appetizer of shredded pork stuffed "sticky rice" steamed in banana leaves...Wow!
I'm also being "spoiled" at my hotel...the Delta Suites Vancouver. I've got a great view of the city, a big comfy bed, a jacuzzi tub and not one, but two, big-screen televisions. So, between my hotel and all the great restaurants, I might be a bit tardy on my next several blog postings...bear with me.
I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. I'm having "dim sum" at a place in Vancouver's Chinatown, then I'm heading over to a sports bar next to my hotel to watch (hopefully) the UM/Utah game. For dinner, I'm having sushi at a place called "Tojo's" which has been widely described as having the best sushi in the world outside of Japan...now that's going to be something!
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