Girl Meets Canada: Blackberry Sunrise

The ongoing story of a girl and her van on an epic journey across Canada.

Day 16 (Tues, May 25th)

I need to mention two more things about Hope before we can all move on.

#1 Angie and I went for a walk along the river and we saw the miraculous Jesus Ducks. These little bags of donuts run on water. So Cute! They sort of moved like the Road Runner; you could just imagine their feet turning into a circle as they skittered across the water.

Yes, I’m sure they have a “proper” name. And I’m sure Angie will let us all know what it is.

#2 I’d been into the one and only coffee shop (by my standards — must include wi-fi and Americanos) in Hope several times. The Blue Moose. They had a breakfast pizza that intrigued me. I love pizza. And I love dinner food for breakfast. So pizza for breakfast is no stranger to me. But a pizza with breakfast toppings? Eggs and bacon? I just had to try it. So that was the last thing I did before I said goodbye to fair Hope.

Verdict? Delicious!

Day 17/18 (May 26/27)

I owe an apology to Kelowna. I’ve always harboured feelings of meh towards the city. To make a long and boring story short, it turns out I was thinking of Kamloops. Oops! Kelowna is beautiful and full of lovely people. I was well cared for by friends and family of friends, and even enjoyed some sun (spoiler alert, I will have more to say about my feelings of snow in May in a future post…).

But let’s skip all the feel-good mushy stuff and talk about something we all enjoy.

Alcohol!

Before I left Victoria, some of my friends and I were drinking (milk. I swear it!) and they all started to give me tasks to do while on my road trip. I’ve had varying degrees of success with these tasks — more on that later.

It was the guys that gave me challenges involving alcohol. (No, Frank, I am NOT going to talk about your challenge. You dog, you.) And, of course, these are the tasks I’ve approached with the most verve and gusto. Chris told me to check out as many local breweries and beers as I could, and Brian told me to make up a new drink for every province I visit.

Boys, game on!

In a small liquor store in Oliver, the nicest of employees led me through all the local beers they stocked. She also told me I had to try the Cannery Brewery Naramata Nut Brown Ale, but I had to drink it icy cold. So she called around town until she found a place that had it on tap and sent me there. I bought a sampling of other beers from her, then headed up to the Golf Course to try my cold Naramata. Oliver, its liquor store employees, and golf course all get a thumbs up from me! (So does the Naramata, but it comes from Penticton.)

Now, I should probably explain the bottle of tequila. When I was cleaning out my room I found an unopened bottle at the back of my closet. Ah, right! The impulse buy from the airport duty-free when I came home from Ecuador last summer! Might as well bring it along…

So, I was at my campsite the other day, getting ready to head into Alberta. Time to dream up my first drink, in honour of BC! Well, I have some beer…and some tequila…

You know that drink where you take a beer and drop a shot of something in it, and it tastes like rootbeer? (I can’t google this. At the coffee shop I’m in, any search with “beer” or “tobacco” is blocked. Seriously.) I was hoping for some taste revelation like that. Beer + Tequila = Strawberry Milkshake?

I took the Tin Whistle Brewery Blackberry Porter I’d bought in Oliver, and added a shot of tequila. The result?

A beer that tasted like blackberries and tequila.

Not bad, actually. I call it Blackberry Sunrise.

Photo Credits

Jesus Ducks © Sarah Gignac

Naramata Nut Brown Ale — Promotional Photo

Tin Whistle Brewing Co. Logo

This article was first published on Raggedy Threads in May 2010.