Our Annual Vacation in BC

Another yearly vacation in BC at our home away from home has come and gone. This was the first time we went during summer months - anticipating warm weather and lots of sunshine! Good thing we weren't counting on that to make or break the vacation! In fact this is what we drove home through (once back in Alberta though).



THE DRIVE HOME!

Back to our time in BC!

One day Peter took me on a romantic picnic in the woods. It turned out to be either more, or maybe less, than we bargained for! We are pretty sure we saw bear tracks along the way to our destination. No person in their right mind would go around with "bare" feet sliding down the drying rained on pathway! And driving out later we did see a black bear cross the roadway! So I do believe our romantic picnic had the potential of being a teddy bears' picnic.

Teddy Bears' Picnic by J. W. Bratton & J. Kennedy

If you go down to the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go down to the woods today
You better go in disguise.
For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain because
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.

No matter what, while watching over our shoulders we were able to have a hurried picnic lunch along the river bank looking upstream to the Lower Bugaboo Falls. They were gorgeous! Especially when the sun peeked through the clouds to brighten them up!



LOWER BUGABOO FALLS



STILL SMILING!

On our way to Bugaboo Falls we made one other side trip earlier that day. Our oldest son would be so proud of us! We drove up Swansea Mountain until the Forestry Service Road came to an end and we had to hike the last half a kilometer or so to the top. There are two hang-gliding ramps up there. I cannot imagine running and leaping off, trusting the airwaves to take you upwards and not plunging down into the valley below! But for those who enjoy such adventure what a beautiful place to soar with the birds!



TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN - HANG GLIDING RAMP!



INCREDIBLE VIEWS FROM THE TOP!



"OUR" MOUNTAIN

Some things never change!

Some things don't change! The party just grew, that's all! And so it should be!

LAKE LOUISE (BOW RIVER) - JULY/AUGUST 1998

PHYLLIS LAKE (CLEARWATER RIVER) - AUGUST 2008

Weekend of Yard Work!

Getting some yard work done can be fun and rewarding! Most people think spending the long weekend in the great outdoors is great - but the great outdoors of your own property getting it whipped into shape? Sure! Even with a new trailer sitting out back begging to be used, we needed to get our priorities straightened out for the weekend. Our poor front yard has been neglected for three years now. It got the basic mowing and weeding (for the most part) but the bark bed under the trees was in sorry shape! I'm glad to announce this is no longer true. NOW we can plan on camping this weekend with the kids. We are really really looking forward to this time together with them in another great outdoors. God's other great outdoors!



HOW MANY TOOLS DOES IT TAKE TO GET THE JOB DONE?



GETTING LANDSCAPE FABRIC DOWN - NO WEEDS!



SPREADING OUT THE CEDAR MULCH.

Peter and I make a great team! We put the fabric down together crawling around under the trees and around the cedars. Then I shovelled mulch from the pile into wheelbarrows and he spread it around and packed it in. We had a truck load of cedar mulch delivered early Friday morning (took the day off) and dumped on a tarp on the road out front. It was very important to get it in place as quickly as we could. The last bit for the back yard that didn't make it there is dragged to the side of the house - still wrapped up in the tarp. I think the tarp won't hold back water anymore. Oh well, it's one of the ones purchased to cover the wood etc while building the station. I think it has served it's purpose over and over again!



GLAD IT IS DONE!

Now all we have to finish doing is getting some more barrel planters for next year to place around in the cedar and reseed part of the front lawn. There is always something more isn't there? I'm just glad to be this far! Now about that camping ....



LET'S GO!

Chain Lakes

READY TO GO!

We picked up the new trailer! We both really like it and are anxious to get lots of good use out of it, even this season! So much so we went camping right away with Cor and Joanne. They were heading out for the weekend and once they knew we were picking up a our trailer on Friday they invited us to join them. Cor was amazing as he helped Peter adjust to all the new things you wish you knew, but don't, about a trailer. Lots comes from experience and we gleaned from their experience! So first of all a big huge THANK YOU to them for making our first camping trip out a good experience!

As soon as we pulled out from the RV dealership we got on the QE II which rapidly became the Deerfoot Trail running from north to south Calgary. Our destination for the weekend was west of Nanton and the quickest way there was through the city. I guess if we can go on the busiest freeway in the busiest city on a sunny Friday afternoon during rush hour, we can drive anywhere! We were relieved though to arrive at the quiet little Provincial Park in the south west foothills of this beautiful province we live in! Cor and Joanne had a site reserved for us so we only had to pull in, unhook and take all our camping gear from the back of the truck and load it into our yet unused trailer! Probably easier said than done! With Cor's help Peter got our new little home in place and we set up housekeeping!



WHEW! WE'VE ARRIVED!



"LEARNER" AND THE "LEARNED"

There are no individual fire pits anymore in the campsites so we had to fore go that important part of camping and sit around the "coffee table" and visit. (We had good visits both Friday and Saturday night!) We were so excited to sleep in our new "home sweet home" we couldn't get to sleep Friday night! When we finally did, we slept very well.



"PRETEND IT'S A FIRE!"

Saturday morning we had a fun morning cooking our first meal in our little home on wheels. We cooked and ate inside since nothing was set up outside yet.



BEFORE BREAKFAST



AFTER BREAKFAST

Saturday we went into Nanton and went to the Air Museum featuring a Lancaster bomber from WW II. It is a very interesting collection of war planes and items gleaned from that time period. The plain metal building from outside hides this fact! After spending a number of hours wandering inside and watching a well documented film concerning the strategy involved during bombing raids we wandered the town looking for a coffee shop. The obvious one in town was closed due to a family funeral. We finally managed to find a little roadside cafe that satisfied the craving.



LANCASTER BOMBER



MORE PRETENDING!

After a very filling bar-b-que supper cooked individually and shared at one site we went for a long walk to see how far up the lake we could see. The wildflowers were gorgeous and so much like many seen in the mountainsides themselves. The area around Chain Lakes is unique with shrubs domineering the foliage instead of stands of trees, but very pleasing to the eye! The weather was warm and breezy, which helped keep the mosquitoes blowing right on by! (Each morning the air was calm - windy by afternoon - and once again calm by evening.)



LOOKING BACK TOWARDS THE CAMPGROUND



LOOKING OUT TOWARDS THE MOUNTAINS



LOTS OF FLOWERS TO EXAMINE!

Before we were ready for it, Sunday afternoon arrived and it was time to pull away and head our separate directions! A good first camping experience and looking forward to more this summer.

Trip to Small Town Saskatchewan!

After our cruise we found ourselves, reluctantly at first, making a business trip to a small town just over the border into Saskatchewan. Peter wasn't sure how much work he could do for a small but growing church on the edge of town that wanted his help with expansion drawings. (Engineers and an Architect who are certified in Saskatchewan have to ultimately put their stamp of approval on the drawings.) He finally agreed to come up with some ideas on paper they could then proceed with.

There we were! It was suddenly time to go and we had no place to stay and a facility for Peter to set up the laptop and be close for extra emergency checks and measurements. Someone in the church graciously allowed us make use of their fifth wheel parked out back so we didn't have to drive an hour northwest or east to stay in a hotel. We didn't realize though just how small the town was when it came to places to eat. But this added to the charm of spending a few days there!

We drove out Thursday afternoon (after a meeting in Stettler) and arrived in time for an evening meeting with the committee for church expansion. Along the way we checked out Wainwright - which we've never done before and I'd always wanted to. We enjoyed the scenery and marvelled how quiet the route was. When you spend a lot of time on the QE II, this is a wonderful change! While Peter was in his meeting I had a heart to heart visit with the project manager's wife (in big comfy chairs in the church nursery)! We've met before briefly a few times, but she shared her years growing up and challenges parenting like we've known one another for years. The building we were in was the congregation through which she came to know the Lord. The hours flew by while we talked!

The next morning we went to the only little restaurant we could find within walking distance of the church and had breakfast. We enjoyed watching gentleman after gentleman walk in and join one another for a morning coffee, maybe toast, and chat. Of the eight sitting and talking, three offered us some more coffee. By the time we left, eleven men and one young lady were all sitting together drinking coffee and visiting. They were the only patrons at that early hour, and us! This was one more inspiration for us to get that holiday trailer we've missed for three summers now and find some more small towns and the commaradarie of farmers waiting for the crops to grow!

Since it was the only eating place in town we had supper there as well plus one more breakfast Saturday morning. The "owner" of the cafe asked Peter on Saturday he wanted his "usual"? He remembered what it was as well. After privately chuckling we realized we really did need to be leaving - when you become one of the "usual" with a favorite on the menu!

Peter was able to present a concept to the committe who once again gathered mid Saturday morning and allow them to dream and plan in a much more constructive manner. They were happy. We were happy. A job well done and an unexpected interlude in the rush of running a construction related business mid summer.

What did we enjoy along the way?

- Being a small blessing to a growing congregation with a heart for community outreach. This passion was evident over and over again throughout the church and the planning needs.

- Being warmly welcomed in a small rural community when we were evidently strangers from "the city". Who else locks their vehicle doors when going into breakfast? The honk of the horn gave it away!

- Falling asleep to the sound of a cow somewhere in the field just behind the church. No vehicles passed by until morning!

- Being tourists on the way home and travelling over route different than on the one we came.

- Seeing a 2000' long (yes!) trestle bridge just west of Wainwright over the Battle River Valley. It was constructed in the early 1900's and still in use today!

- Seeing a CN train pass over the amazingly long trestle bridge!

- Trying out restaurants and cafes sight unseen, whether or not the food is great!

- Finding a couple of country churches not far from Camrose that ask to have their church yard cemetaries explored! Making future weekend plans already that will "take us over the fence".

- Further research into our purchase of a holiday trailer at Nisku. Hmm. Getting closer!

It's nice when trips that you expect to be difficult and you go into them cautiously because of so many unknowns turn out to be a pleasure. We weren't treated like strangers where ever we went. From the shopping in Wainwright to the family cafe in Small Town Saskatchewan!

STATION JUST EAST OF DONALDA

STATION IN WAINWRIGHT

PETER'S TEMPORARY OFFICE

BUILDING IN NEED OF CHANGES

TRESTLE BRIDGE STILL IN USE!

NEXT PLACE TO VISIT!

Vancouver to Home

The rest of the trip was good - much slower paced than the cruise - but we enjoyed the stop in Revelstoke and the chance to see a bit of my (Lorraine's) family history.



BACK AT VANCOUVER PORT!



BRIEF STOP AT "THE LAST SPIKE"



HOUSE BUILT BY MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER
ON RAILWAY STREET IN REVELSTOKE



WHERE MY MOM WENT SWIMMING AS A TEENAGER
WILLIAMSON LAKE - JUST OUTSIDE OF REVELSTOKE



REVELSTOKE RAILWAY MUSEUM

We also had a chance to briefly stop in at the Town Museum and see the collection the Curator had on the Anderson family - newspaper articles, photos etc. She was very pleasant and accomodating which gave us an unexpected view into our past (Ron's and mine). We also had a chance to visit the cemetary and see some of the gravesites of relatives. Great-grandparents on both Mom's sides of the family were buried there along with a Great Aunt and Uncle, Cousin of Mom's plus other relatives of Mom's. As well we drove to the top of Mount Revelstoke, almost! The last six kilometers were still under snow. That seemed so strange since it was so warm down in the valley at the townsite!

We enjoyed a couple of evenings in the hotel hot-tub visiting and meeting others who wandered in as well. We tried out a Chinese Food restaurant in downtown Revelstoke and enjoyed the ample continental breakfast at our own hotel.



YES, SNOW IN MID JUNE!



REVELSTOKE FROM UP THE MOUNTAIN!

Will the summer hold anymore adventures? I think quicker than we would realize! It wasn't too long after this trip we found ourselves "over the fence" again and visiting another part of our province that we hadn't really checked out before. Plus just a tiny, tiny little piece of Saskatchewan. Next Blog!

FRIDAY AT SEA HEADING HOME!

LATE EVENING STOLL ON DECK!

There are very very few pics for this day! The water was a bit rough as the weather was inclement for a large part of the day. I guess if it is going to rain we might as well be at sea! But by late evening, after the stage show, the night skies cleared and it was calm and quite warm! Maybe because we were also back into the channel between Vancouver Island and the Main land? Not sure. We did enjoy one last evening walk on the Promenade Deck though!

To fill in space a bit I can show you our collection of towel animals! If you read the blogs before this you will have already seen a lobster and an elephant! Here's the rest.

A RABBIT

A PIG

A MONKEY

Bev and I each bought the book of instructions to make these towel creatures. So MAYBE sometime if you come visit we will have "greeters" like these in our own guest spaces!