First day on the road and we saw both a bear and a wolf. The bear I mistook for a large black rock until it lifted its head and the wolf I thought was an oversized coyote trotting along the roadside. Further down the way we spotted a sign for a Wildlife Interpretive Centre and I wondered if I should stop for a few lessons since my skills seemed somewhat lacking, especially for a true blooded Canadian girl. However, we continued on to Rockridge Canyon, which is a Young Life camp near Princeton, BC. Rick and Gail Butler are on property staff there and invited us for a lovely dinner and visit after a brief tour of the property. That is one of the joys I’m expecting from this trip; catching up with old friends.
The second day, after a leisurely start of 8:30 a.m., we continued our drive east (you will hear me say that a number of times in the next few weeks!) on the number 3 highway through the Kootenays, stopping to play in the snow, enjoy a picnic lunch in Grand Forks’ City Park, and finally reach Fernie at 6:00 p.m. The Mount Fernie Provincial Park does not officially open until May 17 so camping is free as we learned from a young man who is also camping here. He and his two buddies attend College of the Rockies and thought free rent was too good to pass up even if it means tenting in subzero temperatures. He also told us where to find free showers – which we plan to check out in the morning.
After just two days of travelling we are carving out a routine as Don and Margaret promised we would. We agree on a campsite, I direct his parking, he sets the van level, I prepare the food, he BBQ’s, I tend the campfire, he washes the dishes, I dry them and put them away, he visits with the neighbours, I join in then we both come in for the night, we work/play on our computers, I take one last trip to the “you-know-where”, then bedtime. We will celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary next month and I still think we make a pretty good team.
PS Since I am a rookie at this blog stuff – and having trouble loading my photos into the text without them showing up full size, I ask for your patience on the visual end of things. The good thing? I tend to improve over time, like a good wine!
