Kelowna may either be regarded as the Vegas of Canada, or the Napa Valley of Canada.
It is certainly nothing at all like Las Vegas, and I mean that in a good way. And as far as a Napa comparison goes, this place is full of friendly natives, great food, a humongous fresh water lake, and vineyard after vineyard of superb grapes, yielding very good wines.
I only sampled a few since it’s not wise to drink anything at all and ride a motorcycle. However, with dinner at the Mission Winery, I paired up a Sauvignon Blanc from down Osoyoos way at the now infamous border crossing mentioned in the previous post. I also had a glass of the Viognier, a vibrant wine that had an amazing taste of peach.
We checked into the Super8. The desk clerks were super cool, there was a spa, hot tub, indoor pool, a diner, and gym.. at a Super8?! Yep. Price reflected it too.. C$145 per night. Ouch. Oh well. It’s vacation. Shout out to Manvir Gil. He invited me to visit India with him. He is Sikh, and just a super amazing guy. (I was watching a news broadcast, and my patter is now Trumpified. Amazing. You’ll love it. It’s gonna be the best. ;-p)
I took the bike into the Bentley BMW Motorrad dealership for service. I opted not to get the tires swapped out, but did get an oil change and a road inspection. Everything checked out, and I am good on the tires.. front 80% remaining, rear 75% remain. Having logged around 3800 miles to date, that’s pretty good tire wear for motorcycles, especially loaded down.
The road to the Northwest we learned was pretty much shut down owing to the wildfires. The smoky haze really hampered the view of Kelowna, which is a lake side area with beaches, mountains, ski resorts. They even have pianos put in the open for anyone to play, right along the beach.
It was a long day. I have been suffering from headaches for a few weeks now. They come on quickly, and go away after a few minutes. Painful and annoying. While the bike was being serviced, I grabbed a pricy cab over the hospital in town across the lake from West Kelowna. Turns out that Yanks are not given a free ride, nor is anyone else, at Canadian Health Services. Here is the minimum Emergency Room price if you have no valid insurance…$1115.00! Still that is probably cheaper than what you’d pay at home out of the “affordable deductible” Affordable if you are Bill Gates.
I was able to get m blood pressure checked, and rule out that as a cause of the headaches.
I also had the opportunity to meet Wilson, a volunteer service dog. A very welcoming fellow, this one!
I headed back to Bentley where Vick, Dave, and Jay took good care of me. They suggested I make sure my helmet properly fits. Already a perfect fit, we ruled out another possible cause.
I headed to WalMart where I was outside working on my computer on a bench, and a nice woman, Courtney, walks up, taking a work break. Turns out she is in the eye department, and tried to help me get an appointment, to also rule out vision as a cause of the headaches. I ended up going to Stickle & Strawn. Again, super duper nice folks. They had some advanced gear, and verified that my vision is better than 20/20, except for reading. I need to get some UV blue blocking reading glasses! Other than that, not a cause for the headache.
Bed rest and hydration were recommended by everyone involved.
So Be It.