Life's a Stitch

Reunions - Chapter Three

Post covid reunion #3 took place in Clearwater, BC at Dutch Lake. Their brochure describes it as halfway between Edmonton and Vancouver, but in reality it involved an additional two hours for the Alberta crew. That's a long haul with two little ones in the car.

The two campsites they arranged were perfect. We set up our living area on one and used the other for a parking lot. We had a living room, play space and dining room next to their camper, plus the micro mini in-law suite for us.

It was a week of firsts for me.

The fish hatchery across the road provided free fishing lessons complete with gear. I caught my first fish ever.

Being an established geocacher with over 700 finds, I had yet to find one with the most difficult terrain rating of 5, reserved for those that are more challenging to locate. This one, situated on Turtle Island, required kayaking a bit over 2 kilometres there and back, if you count the fact that we circumnavigated the island to find a safe landing spot. My-nine year-old grandson and I made it a successful adventure.

Knowing my affinity for treasure hunting activities, he later took me out for my first experience with a metal detector.

E's birthday included visits to two waterfalls in Wells Grey Provincial Park. The first was Helmcken Falls, the largest in the park. 

The second was Moul Falls, requiring a 90 minute hike (total in and out) and the added thrill of  the ability to go behind the falls. 

I volunteered to stay high enough above the falls in order to fulfill my responsibility as volunteer official photographer, besides my mother would be proud of me for remaining behind to pray for their safe return 😉. You could say my bravery has its limits. 

 

 

Reunion #2

I was so sad to see M and KC go home. I especially miss our deck time:

But a week later, after 503 days, we were reunited with Bryant and Sammy. They arrived from the airport with B’s friend since the age of 2, Skylar. Indescribable happiness again!

Two kids down and one to go, the third reunion scheduled to happen tomorrow. Thankfully we all made it through Covid-free and are happily vaccinated. 

 

First a two day break at Logan Lake, which feels like  our camping home. Our fourth time there in three years, we use it to break up long drives to other western Canadian destinations. it’s a particularly beautiful route:

Today C went fishing while I set up painting time on the picnic table:

 

We were visited by a friendly wee critter:

I was fine until he attempted to scamper up my leg onto the table.

 

C did his usual questioning of my need to pack along two small kitchen appliances. He didn’t complain, though, when the old toaster oven was used for homemade pizza.

And I’m sure he’ll be appreciative of slow cooker pernil (Puerto Rican pork) enchiladas when it’s our turn to make dinner for E and family.

 

So far it’s another relaxing camping trip: geocaching, painting, knitting and reading. A second camping trip with a joyous reunion on one end.  

 

 

The heavy lifting

M and KC are problem solvers. She is a planner and he is a doer with lots of practical experience. Between them they can figure out the most complex of problems. This visit the  first one was fixing the espresso machine I bought a few years ago with Airmiles points. M diagnosed a faulty solenoid, ordered a replacement and the two of them reassembled the machine successfully. 

At my request, C built a custom king size headboard made from driftwood gathered at the local beach. Framed in metal, it weighed a tonne. When I came home from a grocery run, the three of them had wrangled it up two flights of stairs. 

We hadn’t been able to find one to fit our adjustable beds and this one was just what I wanted, complete with Easter eggs, unexpected treasures, many found on a beach. There’s sand and stones, pebbles and shells, including a scallop shell (still to be added) in commemoration of our pilgrimages on the Camino de Santiago.

There’s a cut crystal, like a jewel you might find in a treasure chest.

For continuity in design, it’s similar to the ones we’ve used as drawer pulls in our house and for bathroom wall hooks:

I love the rainbows they project with the afternoon sun. More magic from C’s workshop.

You can tell by the clouds

You can tell by the clouds that the weather is changing. That can be good or bad, depending on your location. Lakefront camping gave us a good view of the prognostic skies. 

Yes, things changed. The winds whipped up as the temperatures rose. Although the heat felt lower than it actually was, we were unable to keep our awning extended for sun protection and were no longer able to cook or eat outside. The gale coated us, and everything else, with sand. Father's Day morning saw our sweet potato waffle production move inside our tiny trailer. Not what I had in mind, but it was still delicious. 

After ten days we packed up, excited to return home for the first reunion with one of our children after a long year. M and KC came in from Calgary to enjoy the house while we were gone. So much pandemic dreariness dispensed with in an instant, the second we saw them!

Our post camping challenge was coping with the Pacific Northwest heatwave. Air conditioning is not a thing here. Living by the water it always cools down in the evening. Until now. When building our house we questioned the expense of roughing in central a/c and were told it was good for resale. Now were glad to have the option given the way global warming is progressing.

Meals were planned that didn’t involve generating kitchen heat. KC took his turn at our favourite pizza recipe, cooked outside on the gas grill.

The clouds shifted again, and it quickly went from a record setting 38C (100.4) to 22C (71.6F), far more comfortable. Outside cooking migrated back into the kitchen, where simultaneously being created were homemade pasta, waffles and two batches of sugar free butter rum ice cream, one with cherries and the other, pineapple.