Holidaze – Day 2

Not too much going on today – it was our collapse day. We slept in and had a leisurely breakfast and then after another sleep we went into Clear Lake and spent some time on the grassy area near the beach. We read, slept, drank cappuccino, visited with passing dogs and their owners. All in all it was a dogs day!!
On our way back to the campsite we went to a town called Onanoll (yes it is on the knoll of a hill – hooee!! someone was very creative with this name!) We stopped at the Home Hardware and got plastic to line the add-on room; the forecast was calling for rain and then we stopped and purchased some wood for the fire at the Friends of Clear Lake Wood project. Man what terrible wood it was! Wet Wet Wet! Alan and I spent most of our fire-side time after supper fanning the flames to keep it hot enough to burn. We were looking forward to spending a nice quiet evening by the fire but instead we had to work for every bit of flame there was! Grrrrr. The fire pit design itself does not allow much air to get into the box. So after giving up on it and letting it die down, which did not take long, we went to bed. Nights here are chilly but once we are under the covers it is ok. I wish I had brought a toque. It seems silly to sleep with a toque on in the middle of summer but it really is cool. I think a more appropriate term would be it is cold. Certainly not the hot nights of July we have had some years!

Holidaze – Day 1

We slept in to 1030!!! Holy Cow! We never do that! But it was so good to sleep. I don’t give my body enough sleep, obviously. Alan and I ate a late breakky thing and then we set up the add-on screen room to the trailer. Once that was done we went to pick up a couple of things we had forgotten (Murphy’s Law) and then came back to start supper – hamburgers served with mushroom, spinach and garlic sauté. Alan’s sister Pat made us some desserts – that was so nice of her. Then after supper and doing the dishes we went on a “honk”. This word ”honk” has been in my family for years. Every night for two weeks at Shuswap Lake Campground in BC Mum, Dad, Rachel, and I after supper would go for a leisurely walk around the campground. The “honk” would inevitably end up at the corner store where we would pick up an ice cream treat. We would spend time visiting with people there and getting to know the store managers – my Dad liked to do this. Then we would meander back to our site and light a fire.
This is what Alan and I did too. Although we didn’t get to go to the ice cream store we had a lovely “honk” down by the lake and around the town. We came back and lit a pithy fire – the wood was to green – and were in bed by 2300. A lovely day..

Holidaze 2008

So we got away at somewhere around the 1600 time after finishing packing all our gear in to trailer and double checking to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything. We arrived in Riding Mountain National Park about 1930. The park is beautiful and upon first glance we were very glad we had chosen to come here.

We get our campsite and are traveling around the bend where our site is located. A guy and what looks to be his son flag our truck down. “Just to let you know,” he says in a hushed tone, “a bear just went across the road.” Oh great, a bear. Nothing freaks me out more when camping than bears, or even just the thought of bears. Images fill my mind about the bear in The Clan of the Cave Bear ripping peoples heads off. I know this is a bit extreme and would probably never happen but the possibility is there, I’m sure! Although when I was younger our family had a couple of experiences with bears up in Loop Creek at the top of Rodgers Pass in BC. One time the bear tried to get into the tent trailer and its snout was coming through the canvas. My Mum was clanging pans together and My Dad took a cast iron frying pan and swung it like a baseball bat. It hit the bear smack on nose – we could hear it yelping as it ran away. So from that time on I have been very afraid of bears.

When Alan and I hear this news about the bear being in such close proximity to us Alan turns and looks at me; my face must have told him a thousand things. He asks, “You going to be ok with this?” It takes me a minute or so to answer as I am mentally weighing out the pros and cons of the situation (my husband deserves a medal for all the mental waiting with me he has to put up with) but finally I say it will be fine. We scope out our site and get things set up and fall into bed exhausted from the expectation and the realization that we are actually on holidays!!!!! Yay!