Sitting next to Okanagan Lake in BC’s southern interior, Kelowna has a population of just under 195 000. Originally inhabited by the Indigenous Syilx people, Charles Pandosy became the first European settler when he arrived in 1859. In 1905, just shy of 50 years later , Kelowna was incorporated into the province of British Columbia with a population of 600.

Since then, the humble town grew into the city it is today- the fourth-largest in BC with a population of 127 000. From May 5 to 7, we stayed in this beautiful city to take in the sights. Here are ten thoughts from our little getaway:

  1. I gotta say, most of the drive to Kelowna was crazy. Seriously, we drove through everything from rain and thunderstorms, drove along the mountain through the clouds, and of course basked in the beautiful almost-summer sunlight. It was a little scary too, because there were times with very little visibility due to fog or rain. It was especially bad during certain stretches where big semitrailers were kicking up dirt and mud onto the windshield.
  2. By the time we hit the transfer to Highway 5A though, we were almost out of gas. This gave us an opportunity to take a little break from driving, as we headed down the mountain to Merritt. The city of 800 is hugely important to BC’s transportation network, connecting 3 highways: the 5, 5A, and 8. You would never know by just driving through it though, because it looked like your typical highway town that’s all laid out along one main stretch. There is the Nicola Valley Museum, but we didn’t get a chance to visit, unfortunately.
  3. Our first stop once arriving in Kelowna proper was to grab some food. Luckily enough, we found a (paid) parking spot right in front of Ichiban Sushi, where we enjoyed some top-notch Japanese food. After that, it was off to our AirBnb at the north-side of the city, which was actually really, really nice. Our host did a great job cleaning and preparing the studio apartment for our visit, and even left us with some fruits, drinks, spices, and cooking utensils. It felt like a pretty decent hotel; 10/10 would stay again.
  4. During our visit, we took a look around the Okanagan Military Museum, which showcased variety of artifacts from both World Wars, modern warfare, and even some police exhibits. It was especially interesting, because we were lucky enough to visit the World War I Centennial exhibit, which included an old-timey grenade, tobacco tin, and more.
  5. We also visited the Okanagan Heritage Museum. It was weird, because there was a parking lot which was free except for one row, because apparently that specific row was owned by the city. The museum itself housed some pretty cool stuff, like a storefront taken directly from the ond Kelowna Chinatown and a buggy from Expo 86. As much as I like military history, I thought the exhibits in this museum were much richer.
  6. No trip to Kelowna would be complete without a stroll along the water at the City Park. So on our second day in the city, we grabbed some ice cream from Moo-Lix, and headed out. Luckily, the whole day was sunny and we were able to enjoy the blue skies with what seemed to be the rest of Kelowna (it was really crowded, but who can blame them?).
  7. Have you ever had this with this? Because if you haven’t, you really should grab some at either Save-on-Foods or Walmart and try it. We grabbed it from the former to cook for dinner, and it was so, so good. We got some fresh shrimp from the counter as well, and fried it with butter and garlic which tasted delicious. Again, a huge shoutout to our host for making some cooking utensils and spices available for our use.
  8. After dinner we took it easy by watching the Ducks score 3 goals in the final 3 minute of Game 5 against the Oilers (wooooo) and take the game in 2OT. We then settled in for a few games of Mario Kart and 1-2 Switch on my Nintendo Switch. It was my first real experience with the system’s flexibility (I used it almost exclusively in portable mode prior to this), and I was taken aback at how easy the transition was.
  9. Before leaving for home, we headed to West Kelowna to visit the Mission Hill winery. Being at the top of a mountain, the view was breathtaking. It was perfect- the skies were blue, sun was out, and weather was warm. No better way to end our little trip to the interior by seeing what the area’s all about.
  10. Even the drive back was really nice. No more of the rainstorms and crazy weather from the first day- just straight up sunshine. There was a bit more traffic than when we were going there, but that wasn’t much of an issue as we made it to Harrison Hot Springs in about two hours. When we got there, we walked around and took a few pictures before heading home.

Before this trip, I hadn’t been to Kelowna in forever (well this part of Kelowna at least- I was at UBC-O in Fall 2013 for a case competition). It was nice to get away from the hustle-and-bustle of city life in Vancouver, and just take it easy for a couple days. That’s not to say that the city is boring though, as there were certainly things to do around here. The only bummer was that upon returning to Vancouver, I noticed a small chip in my windshield which was probably from one of the trucks on the highway.

Well that just about wraps it up! This Thinkin’ 10 was a little more text-heavy than the previous ones (Snowpocalypse 2016 and the Evergreen Extension), but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. What did you think about the change in format and tone?