OMG!!! AN EVENTFUL FEW DAYS!!!!

I am now sitting at April's waiting for Aryn to pick me up.  There is zero parking anywhere near her place so I am parked here at Ape's place and Aryn is driving right across Vancouver to pick me up.  I shall be there til the 7th.

What an amazing week it has been.  I spent a great deal of time with Kathy and the kids.  One day I went to Anne's for the whole day.  It was pretty exhausting but so awesome to see her again.  It has been way too long.  She has been through so much, losing her husband not very long ago and needed to just talk about it.  She doesn't have a ton of friends to unload with so I was happy to provide a listening post.  We had some very happy trips down memory lane and some hearty good laughs.

On Monday (or maybe it was Tuesday) Kerry, Kathy and I hauled the trailer up to Tunkwa Lake to stake out  a group camping spot.  And we found and staked out a beauty.  Oh my!  It was down in a dip, very private, surrounded by trees on three sides, and a beautiful amazing view of the little lake on the fourth side.  There was a plethora of fish jumping, eagles flying right in front of us, osprey swooping about and even a bear meandering across the lake.  At one point we saw something swimming toward our bank from across the lake that looked odd.  And as it got closer we saw that it was a beaver pulling a fairly good sized log!  How Canadian can you actually get?

Over the next day everybody arrived and set up.  Stan, Stan's daughter and family, my Kevin and family, April and Aryn and partners, Kathy's three girls, one with two kids, another with an interesting live in.  It was quite the crew and believe it or not everybody got along and the kids were amazing.  And another thing worth mentioning...THE FOOD.  Everybody brought the most awesome stuff to eat.

My brother's family brought a giant pork to smoke in their smoker and pull.  They also brought a real outdoor pizza cooker.  They brought corned beef to make hash.  April brought delicious taco meat for tacos in a bag.  There were acres of hot dogs, French toast, bacon, breakfast sandwiches and on and on.  I brought the stuff to make subjit and marshmallow squares, which did not come to fruition, for a crazy reason.

At some point it came to our attention that we were surrounded by forest fires.  One of them was uncomfortably close, a few miles away.  This did make a few of us nervous and some of us very cavalier about it all.  Then on Friday night we had a lightening storm like no lightening storm before.  Holy hell!  The storm, no rain mind you, was insane and by the next morning the smoke that was rising way way up into the sky from the nearby forest fire was massive.  You could actually see the fire.

So before you know it everybody except Kevin, Aryn, April and I packed it up and took off...to Kathy's and her daughter Jo's.  They live near each other in Kamloops.  We told them we were staying one more night and would be there in the morning.  We just weren't quite ready to give it up.  I am still not, but the park ranger came roaring down the little road to our site about an hour after they all left and hollered, "Out!!!  Everybody out right now!!!!!"  Crap!!!

So we threw everything into our vehicles willy nilly and got out of there.  Kevin went home to Penticton but Aryn and April and I did go to Kamloops.  And Tunkwa is still standing as far as I can tell.

We had so much fun in Kamloops!  We all stayed between the two houses, indoors because the smoke was crazy bad.  But all the food and booze that came back with us made that a hell of a rootin' tootin' time I tell ya!!!  The first night I was so tired I couldn't function and little Ainsley very very kindly gave up her bed for me.  The next night Aryn and I stayed at Kathy's with them and with my brother.  Aryn and I and Stan went back to Kathy's fairly early in the evening and had the most wonderful visit.  Really wonderful.  

So off to Vancouver the next day.  Everybody came to Kathy's in the morning loaded down with hot dog makings.  So for breakfast we all ate hot dogs and then some of us hit the road.  The traffic was basically stop and go and bumper to bumper from half way between bear tunnel and ten mile creek (for those that know the area and for those that don't...well that is the earliest I have seen it choke up).  It was like that all the way to the hov lane in Langley.  It normally takes three hours from Kamloops to Van but yesterday it was 8 hours.  I didn't mind.  I have Serius radio and I decided to have a reasonable patient attitude. (WHAT???!!!) You always get there eventually.  I stopped at the Flying J, a massive awesome truck stop, bought sub sandwiches for dinner for April and Myles and I and kept agoin'.

So now it is Mon morning, Aryn will be along soon to pick me up.  She has to go to work today so I am going to take advantage and go up to the Pho place for lunch.  I love pho and haven't had it since I stayed at their place and granddog sat.  Then I am going to LONDON DRUGS!!!!  I haven't been to a London Drugs for yonks! I am excited.

So that is the catch up.  Monte and I have really been missing each other...after being together  for two years, it's really odd not seeing each other.  And now it's time to go home and clean the spare room, company will be coming, get my second shot and prepare for a colonoscopy.  Yippeedoodle!!!!

So that's it.  I will text in a day or two.  I hope all your hollies are going well.  TTYL

Pics, tons of pics, tomorrow.

"Travelling in the company of those we love, is home in motion."  Leigh Hunt