Penticton is one of my favourite places in BC, but it is a bit weather-permitting. It's definitely a summer resort town, but if the weather and time permit, the detour down to Penticton can be well worth it.

In fact, I may even recommend going all the way down to Osoyoos and then taking Highway 3 through Princeton. The road's smaller, but it's gorgeous and you get to avoid Merritt. The Coke works well, of course, but it'd involve driving back up from Penticton the way you came on the 97 to get to Westbank.

On second thought, taking the 97 twice doesn't sound like a bad idea when this is your view: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:T...BC,_Canada.jpg