Visiting Pemberton and Penticton

As I was waiting for my Permanent Residence Card to arrive, we planned to stay in Canada for 2 weeks. We hoped that it would arrive within that time frame as instructions were that I could not enter the again country without it.

A stop at Stanley Park

We did grandkids activities for 1 week, then because my card had not yet arrived, Dale took Zoey and Fynn across the border, back to their parents. We decided that we’d take this opportunity to see for ourselves just what the duty would be for bringing wine with us. Those of you who know us well know that between the wine clubs we belong to, we have quite a few cases of wine.

Dale met up with Clayton and Jen and returned their 2 kids, then he headed for a Costco and bought 6 bottles of wine. Well we learned that we will not try to bring our wine with us into Canada. Two bottles were duty-free and the remaining 4 bottles totaled about $55.00. The duty was about $50 Canadian. Not a great deal!!

Prior to this trip, we started looking at areas we might want to live in. We thought that this week would be a good time to start looking at these areas. A friend gave me a list of cities that seemed to be a good fit for us to land in. We then sat down with our Vancouver friends and their feeling was that the cities suggested would have too harsh of a winter. In addition, they were further than we felt we had time to visit.

Our Vancouver friends suggested that we visit Pemberton (just north of Whistler) and Penticton, (south of Kelowna).

A farm in Pemberton

We loved the little town of Pemberton, the farm fresh food was great. We skied Whistler last year and loved it, however, it was a bit confining in the town with tall mountains all around. We visited the 2 grocery stores and found organic food and lots of gluten-free items. We were told that the farmers market features good fresh local produce.

Camping in Pemberton

We then went onto Penticton, about a 6-hour drive from Vancouver. Penticton is in the Okanagan Valley, just north of the Montana border. The city borders the Okanagan Lake.

The Okanagan Valley appears to be home to many smaller communities where various fruits are grown. There are about 300 wineries with about 90 in the Penticton area. We found a favorite for only $14 Canadian and are most anxious to visit the winery.

Along the river, there is a great ice cream shop housed in a small structure shaped like a peach. A great kid play structure is located just off of the shore with slides that go into the water and a small climbing wall. We were told that the farmers market stretches for several blocks, starting at the river.

The Peach

Running along the beach

3 ski resorts are fairly close by, one only 45 minutes away and Banff is 6 hours away.

We will come back in the winter and try the ski areas and the areas we didn't make it to during this week. We then will come back in the spring and stay thru the summer. We want to get an idea of winter and summer weather.