Sun/Mon August 25/26th 2013- Twin Lakes Rv Park, Penticton, BC

Sunday 25th in the morning we lingered over breakfast (fried tomatoes on toast … yumm!!) and headed over to play golf. What a beautiful course. No one in front, and no-one behind, we took our time and played a very relaxed game. Back at camp we made a Sunday roast lamb and roast potatoes, mint sauce, gravy etc etc ….. SO GOOD!!! Lovely day.We then went and watched more deer going through the RV park and eating apricots and apples off the trees in the park

Lovely course, great views

Deer Crossing... 12th Tee

Yummy Apricots

And Apples

Apricots are the favourite -- YUP!!!

Sheesh these things are high up

Monday 26th was spent driving down to Osoyoos, which is on the southern tip of the Okanagan Valley and on the northern tip of the Sonoran desert. After looking at a few RV parks, we ended up at The Inkameep Rv resort and immediately knew that this was our style of place. There is a desert cultural centre on site as well as a winery, a beach, and a golf course. The lake front sites were tempting but we chose a site with a view of the mountains and lots of open space. Booked from this Wednesday for 2 weeks. On the way back to camp we stopped and bought some fresh local fruit and a snack of homemade samosas (actually we stopped twice and did a samosa taste comparison … fun)  Many of the fruit farms are run by people originally from East India.

Back at camp Derek put on the ‘chef’s’ hat and BBQ’d up some steak, stir-fry veggies and fresh corn on the cob..... compliments to the chef!!!! A very successful day.  Janice’s back playing up a bit… kind of annoying for her.

Sun Aug 11 - Sat Aug 24th Burnaby and Vancouver

Sunday August  11^th – Saturday Aug  24^th

After a late start to the day we all did our best to rally round.  Nephew Jordie came round to take Braden and Grant to Wreck Beach for the afternoon… and Derek and Janice chilled at the camp. After the guys got back in the evening we ordered our favourite pizza and wings and enjoyed sharing it with the three lads.  It was good to know that they had a good day. They deserved it.

Monday 12th we (reluctantly) had to take Braden and Grant to the airport. We had a breakfast with them at the White Spot, before seeing them off … It was so tough saying goodbye. What a treat to have them with us for the last few days.  The one drawback of this lifestyle is missing family and friends… thankful to have Braden and Grant here and also grateful for all the friends we have been able to catch up during our time here in Vancouver. 

Bye Guys.... sob sob!!!!

Tuesday 13th was spent getting the place back in order and cleaned up, and doing some shopping for the week ahead.

Norm and Sue came over from the island to visit on the Wednesday 14^th and we had a great meal and lots of laughs before they headed back for the 7pm ferry. 

Friday 16^th Sue and Praj came over for dinner and we had another great night comparing notes on favourite wines and places to visit in the Okanagan.

On Sunday 18^th we got the Skytrain in to Yaletown to have lunch with friend Beverly and afterwards we walked with Bev and Coco along the seawall. 

Terry Fox Sculptures

Little Beached Baby Seal

Bev and Janice - Seawall Vancouver

Monday 19th was gloomy and rainy…so the laundry got done

Tuesday 20^th we decided to take the trip up Grouse Mountain. We had an amazing day. We went up on the Gondola to the main area and then took the chair lift to the top to see even more fabulous views across Vancouver and the islands. We saw the grizzly bears and then went to Altitudes for a late lunch. Felt like another vacation sitting in the sunshine on the patio looking out over Vancouver and eating Mussels,  Watermelon and beet salad  with Ahi Tuna…. Fabulous. 

Wooden carving of Grizzly bear

On Chairlift

And me!!

At the top of Grouse Mountain

We drove to Stanley park on Wednesday 21^st with the bikes on the back and rode the seawall route around the park, not a tiring as expected and certainly lots of fun…so…we did it again!. Then off to Bard on the Beach to watch Measure for Measure. A wonderful performance and a great day.

A Human totem.... No comments!!!

Janice and Derek... acting like fools

Thursday 22nd, friends from Derek’s work days  came over and we had a bit of a red wine session, great company and learning about Buddhism and picking their brains on the Okanagan. 

We spent Friday 23rd tidying up and preparing to get mobile again, more laundry and then had Mich and JP over for drinks and snacks. So off out of Vancouver tomorrow to see what the lower mainland and Okanagan is all about.

Saturday 24^{th - Leaving Vancouver}

Packing up to Leave Burnaby-Cariboo RV Park

With mixed feelings we left Vancouver, but were looking forward to new adventures. We had already booked a site at Twin Lakes RV and golf resort and were pleasantly surprised at this small but lovely RV resort, surrounded by the golf course. We were told on check in that tomorrow that the roads will be a mess with a triathlon going through the area… so decided to make the best of it and play golf.!!! We immediately set up and went to book a tee time for tomorrow.  We settled in at camp and enjoyed our traditional glass of bubbly stuff before watching a whole bunch of deer walking through the area, we soon made friends with the folk in the next 2 sites (from Yorkshire and Newfoundland) … and we laughed the evening away with them.

Saturday Aug 10th - Wedding bells

Saturday Aug 10th

 (sorry about the lack of Photos but the happy couple prefer they are not put on the internet)

Inside of the church

Magic happened today!!! The wedding went off without a hitch and was so very beautiful.  While people were waiting for Evan and Kyle to arrive, there were a group of Buddhists at the front of the church chanting a Buddhist mantra, which had the effect of calming everyone down and creating a wonderful peaceful mood that settled over the guests. Evan and Kyle walked down the aisle together and looked so handsome on their light grey suits. Janice was choking back tears.

Here they come

Happy couple but not THE happy couple!!!!

The ceremony included the pouring of water from Lake Ontario (Grant and Braden brought a bottle in their case) and water from Great Slave Lake (where Kyle was born) and a bottle from the lake where the two of them have spent many happy summers camping… all poured into a vase holding the rings…very lovely symbolism.  The whole service was very beautiful.

The three Musketeers

A rose between two thorns, LOVE 'em

They arrived

After the service we blew bubbles as they left the church and then, after a photo session, we dropped Braden and Grant off at the reception Hall (Wise Hall) to help set up, while we drove back to the RV site to drop the truck off and took a cab back to the reception. What a fabulous night. The room looked fantastic, thanks to Richard.The reception Evan and Kyle got when they arrived in the limo was just amazing. The evening started with a stunning song sung by a friend of Evan and Kyles (brought Janice to tears …. again!!!!)  The food was delicious (Buffet style), broken up by demands for the happy couple to kiss, but with a twist, where the people asking had to demonstrate (on stage) how Evan and Kyle  were to kiss…  great fun!!  And then came the speeches.  We both gave speeches, as did Kyles sister and the best people and Evan and Kyle.  All well received. The cake cutting was emotional as Evan and Kyle used the knife that Derek and Janice and Janice’s Mum and Dad had used at their weddings. He and Kyle had taken it in to be re-silvered and it looked beautiful. 

Then the dancing began … and boy did we boogie the night away. It was so good to celebrate this wonderful day with family and friends. A day and an evening to remember. Evan and Kyle got a great send off in their limo with the remaining guests standing in lines with sparklers and a big cheer.  We headed back to the RV on a cab and then Derek, Janice, Grant and Braden had a very special time with a private family nightcap/toast to our beautiful, colourful (and now extended) family and to the success of the day… we laughed and talked into the early hours and loved every minute of it.

Sun Aug 4th to Friday Aug 9th 2013.. pre-wedding week!

Sunday Aug 4^th – Friday Aug 9^th

What a busy and fun week. We raced around getting organized on Monday and looked forward to spending the day on Tuesday with Evan and Kyle, but… their timetable got delayed and we didn’t actually get to see them until 8pm however it was so good to see them before the big day.

Wednesday was such a big day…. And a great day. We got to pick our lovely boys Braden and Grant up at the airport and take them back to the trailer and crack open some bubbly in celebration.

In the evening we headed to Evan and Kyle’s for a lovely BBQ and salads and after visiting and chatting we all got a production line going wrapping ribbons and attaching cards to about 100 small jars of homemade strawberry/peppercorn mint jam (Mint from our garden and Kyles Mum’s garden). They are to be given to guests at the wedding reception. 

 Some photos from the BBQ evening:

WoooHoooo!!!! We did it!!!!

Time to celebrate a job well done

On Thursday, the boys attended the rehearsal at the church and Derek and Janice went downtown to pick up a shirt for Evan, which took quite a long, time…. traffic in Vancouver is incredible, especially with a 2500 HD diesel truck! We then met everyone at the rehearsal get-together at a local pub/restaurant on Commercial Drive. We got to meet Kyle’s family (His birth Mom and her partner, his sister and her partner), and had some time to chat with their ‘best people’ (Gaylords), and also with Janice’s brother and his wife and her daughter. It was a great night and we totally enjoyed meeting more of Kyles family.

Friday was spent doing some more final errands and a quick drive with B and G around Stanley Park. We had a lovely steak dinner and then opted for a reasonably early night after making sure we all had our clothes organized for the big day tomorrow.

Tuesday July 22nd to Sat Aug 3rd 2013 - Aldergrove to Burnaby

Tuesday July 22^th  to Saturday July 27^th

The rest if this week was spent recuperating from the accident and cleaning the rig. We enjoyed meeting some people around the resort and spent  lovely evening with a group of Sikh men who invited us over for some ‘hot stuff’ and conversation… great evening. They brought out some roti and spicy dip and chicken etc ….  Very nice guys. We also took the opportunity to do some ‘wedding’ shopping and planning and organizing a ‘cyber’ shower for the happy couple. On Friday we went to some friends in White Rock for dinner and they gave us a quick tour of the area. Beautiful! Lovely dinner and it was great catching up with friends from Derek’s work. We will hopefully have them over for dinner when we move to Burnaby.

On Saturday we packed up and moved to Burnaby-Cariboo RV resort (site 34) and were set up around noon, so time to walk to Lougheed Mall to scout around. Decided to get the stitches out off Janice’s  forehead so after a mad dash by taxi back to the RV, pick up the truck, and get to an after hours medical clinic… finally got the stitches removed and Janice feels much much better… just a bit of concealer and nobody will notice the scar.

Sunday July 28^th – Saturday Aug 3^rd

Okay.. you go first Derek

This week we spent some time heading down to Vancouver on the Sky-train to visit good friends Dave and Mark, who made us more than welcome, despite some personal challenges they are facing.  Also saw another good friend Mich who came to the ‘rig’ for lunch. Had a lovely visit and promised to see each other again before we leave.  Also went on a 12km walk around Burnaby Lake and picked (and ate) wild blackberries all the way round… Lovely.!! We had hoped to spend a short time with Evan and Kyle this week, but it was not to be. Quite disappointing, but he is so very busy and stressed, getting ready for the big day, which is the reason why we are here, we are excited ourselves to see our oldest child wed… and to someone we love too!!  How lucky we are.

Blackberries everywhere

We did manage to get a metal storage box for the bed of the truck and we did some more ‘wedding prep’ shopping and some preparation for having visitors in the trailer (first will be Braden and Grant next week and then Derek and Lin in early September).

Janice still suffering some pretty bothersome concussion symptoms, but happy that she is in one piece and on the mend. On Saturday night Dave and Mark invited us to join them to see a Pride week play (Eleanor Rigby, The Untold Story) … it was musical presentation, with dancing and a narrator and was excellent… totally enjoyed it. We took the Skytrain back to the RV park and were both rather desperate for a loo, when we were stopped in our tracks by a huge black bear standing right by our rig…. Not sure who was more shocked, us or the bear. It was a staring match for a few seconds, but yogi decided to just lumber into the woods behind our trailer and we took a nosedive inside, fighting each other to be first for the loo!!! (Janice says it was a close call when she saw the bear!!!!!)

The best ones were always up high

Lovely trees en route

Turtle hanging out in the sun

Got all our ducks in a row

White Pigeon

At the RV site with and ice cream treat

Time to relax on the roof after the walk

Gazebo in front of our RV site

Site 34 Burnaby-Cariboo RV resort.