Are you over Napa Valley? If you’d like to go on a wine tour somewhere new and different, why not give the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia a try?

As the New York Times reported, this wine-producing valley has grown up in the past couple of decades. Once the home of the type of cheap wine that college students tend to consume in quantity, the Okanagan Valley now produces a variety of wines capable of pleasing more mature palates.

One great thing about the region is its variety-you can taste everything from high-quality fruit wines to syrah to chardonnay and Pinot blanc. Another bonus is the scenery. The New York Times explains:

It’s the kind of environment that affects your taste buds: the best glasses I tasted seemed to have the same brimming clarity as the lake itself. And it’s smart to enjoy the wine in situ: between the bureaucracy of wine imports and the jingoistic fervor with which British Columbian wine is consumed in swank restaurants in Vancouver and Whistler, little of the stuff makes it down south of the border.

You can either fly in to Canada and rent a car or drive your own car up. Some of the vineyards have guesthouses, should you not want to designate a driver. If you are flying in to Canada, you will need a US passport book for sure. IF you are driving in, you can use a passport book or one of the following Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative-compliant documents:

  • A US passport card
  • An enhanced driver’s license (EDL), only available in certain states
  • A NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST card

Of course, you need a passport book to fly and there’s always a chance you might have to fly back home for an emergency, so a passport book is your best bet.

If you haven’t used your passport in some time, check it-it may be time to apply for your US passport renewal. Unlike new applications, US passport renewals can generally be processed by mail. The processing time is the same as it would be for a new passport- at least 6 weeks for regular processing and 3 weeks for the government’s expedited processing.

However, if you need your US passport renewal processed more quickly, you do have a couple of options. You can either make an appointment at a passport office for a same-day passport (assuming you have a passport office nearby, which may not be the case), or you can use a private passport expediting company to process your US passport renewal.

An expediting company is much faster and more convenient. There’s no need to make an appointment at a passport office and no need to drive out of your way.  Once you send your documents in, the expediting company delivers them to the Department of State. RushMyPassport can get your application processed in as little as 24 hours.

Apply for your US passport renewal today!