Crazy Day

 Feb 13.  Hope to Champoeg State Park, Or.

Crazy day.  Our first job over the border was to get cell phone service.  There was a long lineup at the At&t store.  It took us 2 hours. Once we got to the front of the line the service was quick.

Traffic was nuts through Seattle as usual, and it doesn't stop till you're past Tacoma. Then a brief respite till we hit Portland during rush hour.  We didn't make it to the campground before dark and had to navigate down narrow country roads to reach the park. In the dark we overshot our turnoff and had to back up to make our turn.  When we arrived in the dark the campsite was full, except for the 2 handicapped sites.  There was a sign saying no camping unless it was unoccupied after 7 pm.  There was a number to call for reservations but a couple walking by said they got no answer.  So we set up.

Patty said she felt guilty taking up a handicapped site.  And I said, there's no handicapped person going to show up in the dark to camp here.  How I was to run my words!

At 11 pm we got a knock on the door.  Hello, you're camped in my spot.  Of course it was a handicapped person showing up in the dark to camp!  We felt terrible. But Areta turned out to be the loveliest person.  She didn't want us to move but she had to plug her wheelchair in so she wedged her car up next to us so she could plug in.

In the morning we offered to pay her for the site but she wouldn't hear of it.  She did let us pay the $7 they charge for an extra car.  

Too hectic for photo taking!

We're on the Road

Feb 12

We're on the road.

We left home at 10 am. After a snow less winter, it snowed the last few days. Roads were bare till Lac la Hache then it got a bit slushy. No fun to drive in but once we got past Clinton all was well. Until the engine light came on in our pickup. Our plan was to camp out in Costco in Abbotsford, but a check of the I-Overlander app showed that you can't park overnight there anymore. I called the nearby Walmart and they were fine but we decided instead to stop in Hope and buy a diagnostic tool for the engine light. 

We camped at the Hope Campsite run by the local Band and Leo and Mark head off to the auto parts store.  The salesperson told them it was probably just the gas tank cap not put on properly.  That turned out to be the error code so they reset it and we were good to go.

It was a really nice Campsite right on the Fraser River with views of snow dusted mountains.  Nice clean washrooms.

Ornament of the Day

 

According to Google, ornaments in the shape of a honeybee are hung on Christmas trees, as a symbol for good luck or prosperity to come.

A Christmas present from my sister.  I almost threw it out with the gift wrap but discovered it when a lump of tissue paper felt heavy.

Santa was good to us, bringing us mostly small, consumable gifts, which is how we like it.

We hosted a potluck on Friday (Christmas Eve's Eve). It was a fun evening with 11 guests.

On Christmas we were invited to our friends for a delicious dinner.  Though it's unseasonably warm out with no snow in the forecast, it's been very windy.  We went for a short walk, but it was not very pleasant.

Out Christmas Carolling

 

Christmas is Coming

 

We drove out to our bluebird route to get a pine Christmas tree.  We walked around for 5 minutes to find the perfect tree.

We have inherited a few more pieces of furniture so finding a spot for the tree was difficult.  We also inherited some Christmas ornaments so it took a full day to decorate it.

Finishing touch. Leo places the angel on the top.

Now it forms part of our house light display.  Note the lack of snow.

The Advent wreath is made, 

And the wreaths are on the doors.

I had a bit of a Christmas baking disaster. I inherited my mother's Joy of Cooking and decided to bake her recipe for Stollen.  But the yeast I used was too old and it didn't rise, so I added more yeast, then it overproofed and I wound up with

Six loaves that rose horizontally rather than vertically.  So we are working our way through 6 loaves of 1 inch high stollen.  Tastes just like my mom's though.

I started over with brand new yeast and just to be sure I used my own recipe. Everything turned out fine.

We've had a leucistic house fich visiting our feeder.

And yesterday a ruffled grouse ran into our window and then sat in a tree for a few minutes to recover.

Yes, they are both blurry, taken through the window.

Long Time No See

Not dead, just not up to much.

 In November we went out for sushi with friends.

They finally reinstalled the pedestrian bridge that washed out when the creek valley flooded so were able to do our circular hike through the meadows on the far side of the creek.

Our first snowfall didn't arrive till December 2.  It didn't last long, and we are expecting a green Christmas.

 

Sybille and Dave dropped by on their way back from Turkey and we went for a walk at Scout Island.

Leo spotted an ermine while running in the creek valley.

Birthday Girl!

It was a significant birthday this year. I turned 65!  I look forward to getting my first OAP cheque in the mail next month. (Actually it will just be deposited automatically in my bank account.)

I celebrated by going on our usual Wednesday walk in the Creek Valley, then we had our friends over for birthday cake.  Later we headed out to Dugan Lake where a birthday present was waiting for me in the woods.

We roasted widners in the campfire, and checked out the western grebes and  goldeneye on the lake.

Good times!