Camping - Too many challenges to count!

I just returned from the Interior. It was my husband's birthdays wish to go camping. I completed so many challenges, I have combined them all into one post:

-1st time in a cattle drive: On the way to our camping spot, we passed by an active cattle drive. I have never seen one or let alone been in a truck along side the farmers herding their cattle. It was a neat experience. However, all of the cow poop on the road stuck into the tires.

-1st time hunting (including 1st time wearing camo, and 1st time using scents):  the camo was comfortable although I looked like a red neck and the scents didn't work. With the hunting I have seen a lot more scenery than I ever have before. Although the attempts were futile, I enjoyed the hike.

-1st time camping since my cancer surgery and camping in -6: I didn't know how my leg would react. I compensated by lying on my other side and am bruised because of it. However, my leg did not hinder my movement at all. The camping in -6, well, it was cold. The wind was so blustery that it almost blew the tent down and it kept reigniting the fire that we had put out hours earlier which was the most interesting thing I have ever seen. I have to say layers were the most helpful. I was wearing two layers of everything including hats and the tent and air mattress was a total of 11 layers. I felt very warm, but a bit like a princess. I wouldn't have handled it any other way.

-1st time riding on the Coquihalla in awful weather: We drove the coquihalla a total of three times. In those times, I saw enough rain and fog that combined made the lines on the road the only thing visible, and enough snow that should have made the average driver turn around. However, we made it through.

-1st time in doing a "turn and burn": My husband forgot some very needed items in order for his trip to be successful. We left our campsite at three in the morning, arrived back home at 10:30 (after having a nap in the canyon for about an hour) and then at 11:30 started making our way back up to where we had previously stayed. It was exhausting.

Thanks for reading

Lynn

November 3rd: I forgot to add one more 1st into this blog: 1st time sky writing with a burning stick. I have never done this before, which is almost sad to say. It was neat to spell words out for my husband to look at. The o's looked the best. I spelled words such as birthday, holidays etc. It was a fun way to end my holiday.

Out of Gas

It has been another interesting day.

While out this evening, my truck ran out of fuel. Luckily my husband was following me and it was two blocks away from home. We also still had the jerry can we used for our trip to the Yukon. I was very fortunate or it could have been a lot worse.

I have never ran out of fuel before. I wasn't sure what was wrong with the truck. The battery light came on, and the RPM on the gauge started going up and down. I lost power but at first I thought it had just stalled. When I pulled over and tried to turn it back on, it wasn't turning over.

When the fuel was added, all it needed was a few good pumps on the gas pedal and it started right back up. I will try to ensure it doesn't happen again, but if it does, I know what to expect the next time. I also have no plans to get rid of the jerry can. It has paid for itself again and again.

Thanks for reading
Lynn

Fort Langley Grave Tales

I booked these events some time ago and was looking forward to going.

My husband, mother in law and I took part in this event. We met at Fort Langley in the evening and this tour took about 3 hours.
It explained some more aspects of the history of Fort Langley including:

Popular street names in Langley such as Allard, Mavis were named after these families.
Several big trees in the town were used as Signal Trees. The trees likely indicated the start of the Fort.

It also included some more ghostly history of things that occur around the Fort that can't be explained away that easy.

I think it was interesting to get this sense of history of Langley. It was fascinating to hear some personal experiences by local residents and to help get a deeper understanding of the people who were here over several hundred years and what their lives were like.

It wasn't scary but it was a bit eerie. A few of the stories were quite dark and some showed such love that it transcends time, but all presented Fort Langley as it really was. As the host puts it, there's no need to whitewash history. It made me see the community I live in a bit differently. Because of this, I would recommend the tour, if you are an adult and understand the nature of it.

Thanks for reading

Lynn

Elgin Heritage Park

It has been another difficult week with my health. I hope I am feeling better soon.

 In my travels to the doctor and pharmacist my husband took me to this park to help me get out of the house and perhaps feel a little bit better. I had never been there before but the Nicomekl River, a river I regularly volunteer to enhance, flows right through it.

It was quite a sight! The salmon have returned and it was great to see them rising and jumping out of the water.

My husband tried his hand at fishing and managed to actually catch one! It was a wild coho, so he couldn't keep it, but it was the first fish he caught in the river. It was neat to see the fish he caught get put back and to see the smile on my husband's face.

He also removed a bunch of fish line from the side of the creek bed as fish can get trapped in it.

When we returned home from our walk, my husband emailed the place I volunteer to ask them if the amount of dead fish we had seen during our walk was a normal amount. Sadly, my husband found out that there may be something going on in this part of the river and that the number of fish that have died is not normal. The DFO has been called in to determine what's going on. I hope they find out what is causing this and soon.

Thanks for reading

Lynn

Serpentine Sanctuary

It's been a bit of a difficult week. I haven't been feeling that well and although things have died down a bit for my volunteering, it has taken it's toll.

However, tonight after work I went for a walk in Surrey. I have been there before. In fact, it used to be one of my favourite places to walk. However, I haven't been there since before I got sick. It must be 1 year and 1/2 since I last visited there. I will make it a priority to get there again before that much time passes.

The Spring and Coho salmon are running right now. It was neat to see the fish rising to the surface of the river and to see the seals leaping through the water with a salmon in their teeth. It was a really special place to visit and a really special time to go.

Here are some pictures:

Thanks for reading

Lynn

Hope - the book

It's been a busy time for myself recently. Lots of volunteer projects etc.

However, I had about an hour to myself yesterday in which I took the time to read.

Jack Layton's funeral was something I blogged about in August. In order to keep his memory alive, a book of essays from various famous Canadians discussing his influence was recently published only as an E-book. I chose to read this. I took about an hour to read and I found it very interesting. It was a nice tribute to a real Canadian who truly believed in a better Canada. He influenced so many people and was so optimistic about the future of Canada that it was almost infectious.

I quite enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who knew and is interested in Mr. Layton's legacy.

Thanks for reading
Lynn

New to me vehicle

It has been a while in coming, but I now have a new to me vehicle. It's a bit of a hand me down and has covered a lot of miles. However, I am comfortable driving it and it is now registered just to me!

The last time I had a vehicle was in 2004. I gave up my vehicle for school up North. It was worth the sacrifice, but I have missed my freedom.

I am looking forward to this opportunity.

Thanks for reading

Lynn

Breakfast for dinner

I grew up with this tradition. Whenever one of us was feeling ill, we would have breakfast for dinner. I tried this with my husband some years ago with disastrous effects. Things didn't go his way and my husband ended up throwing the whole dinner away.

However, today it ended a bit better. We had eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, toast and pancakes. I had a bit of each and it stayed down! So I would consider that a success!

I would like to continue on this tradition so that when I'm sick again I can make this dinner again. Hopefully it will be a while before I have to make this for dinner again.

Thanks for reading

Lynn

End of September Review

It is rather hard to believe September is over. It seems like my vacation was forever ago. However it would appear my stomach didn't like to travel or I got an ulcer along the way. In the coming days the tests will come back.
I also finished up on a huge project where I regularly volunteer.
I am kind of looking forward to feeling better. I predict big changes next year for myself and would like to be in as good of shape as I can.

Here is an overview of the challenges I completed in September:

Communal Hotel room with separate shower and bathroom
Cooking for 10 people in an hour and a half
Trying different food
Driving long distances including in weather
Trying cauliflower Pakora


I think that's all I can think of at this point. Hopefully October will be a bit better.

Thanks for reading
Lynn