Sunshine Valley RV Resort - Gratitude

Thank you God for this day. Thank you for my sobriety. I am so grateful to have celebrated 28 years with my cake at Burnaby Men’s Fellowship. Marty was so gracious and kind presenting it to be and handing on the 28 years medallion key chain that George passed on.  Manny was so inspiring too with his sharing on his taking 6 years.  It was a fabulous evening,  Fellowship. Camaraderie.  Celebration.  So many young guys from the local treatment centres beginning the journey of rccovery.  I’m so thankful I began and stayed the course.  Thanks to you God.  You are the first principle.  I am your imagination Thy will not my will be done.

I’m am your creation. You are the creator.  CS Lewis says ‘stop looking for God in the wall’.  I was looking down and seeking salvation, nirvana, Samadhi in the ‘spirits’.  Carl Jung said.  ‘Spiritus contra spiritus’

It was so exciting and challenging to pack up stow and get on the road.  The Thor Motorhome has a huge slide that opens the whole drive side of the home.  The first step is to take in the awning on the passenger side and the slide on the driver’s side,  I have to ensure there are no socks or shoes that impede the travel of the slide inward. Once that is done I have to retract the jacks with the automatic switch by the drivers window Madigan was disconcerted by the slide coming in , Then he was even more shocked by the rocking and groaning of the jacks coming down.  It felt like a camel settling to the ground.  

Laura arrived when I had the hose disconnected and was mostly stowed, I had to find room in the underneath bins or cupboards to stow all the daily ‘things’ of existence, I have too much clothing. I have too many pots. I have too many old bathrooms ‘stuff’. I have too many duplicates. But it all got done. All that was needed when Laura arrived was for the Star Link to be dismantled and electrical cord disconnected.  

With her managing Madigan and an extra co pilot eyes I pulled out of the Burnaby site and made it to the highway.  The bus is longer and huge,  I’m learning the experience of driving this machine and the sounds and feeling of it.  It’s all so challenging yet we kept going.  On the highway every bump seemed an event.  Changing lanes, slowing and stopping, all felt new and tense,  The false smoke alarm was a challenge indeed.  We pulled over at the RV rest site only to find it full of squatters and fearful we’d not have room to pass through but we did.

I was inwardly praying the whole way and more so here.  And then we were on the road again. It’s a clunky drive. It’s a big machine. I’m used to motorcycles and sports cars and remember the same experience when I bought the F350 truck.  Now this is that plus .  Yet we did it.

Laura was such a comfort.  Just the presence of another is reassuring.  We are not lone creatures. We thrive together.  I like company.  

Sunshine Valley RV Resort was such a welcoming site. The staff were wonderful. We now have this love flat space with lots of fellow RV folk about.  In minutes I was leveled and had the slide out and the water and electricity hooked up.  I unloaded the barbecue and propane tank. It turns out there’s a propane barbecue connector so Idon’t need to take an extra tank. More room I have an out door kitchen,  I had the lawn chair and canvas rocking chair out. Laura had brought the electric bike charger I ordered on Amazon.  I had the bike off the rack at the back and plugged in a charging.  

That was Friday.  We’d left at noon and were here at three taking an hour lonnger because of the traffic jam at Langley.  I was exhausted but loved the experience. Success after success.  And glory. What a glorious place outdoors,  Out of the city.  It was a cloudy day but we were in the country and it felt so good and my home with all my amenities were with me. I am so thankful.  Laura was as pleased and said show. Madigan was a little kangaroo jumping all over and enjoying being taken for walks and sniffs and piddles

Life is good

I love the Thor Hurricane.  I love the elegance and luxury and convenience.  

We watched Blue Bloods after heating beef pot pies.  There’s the dinette table for sit down meals Then there’s the couch.   I like lining down to watch tv. Laura likes sitting up.  Madigan likes going from one of us to the other to bug us.  We had cashews and wild cherries.

What a great Friday night

Saturday I had my international AA meeting at 8 am on zoom and so enjoyed seeing my fellow doctors with a new design for living.  I shared that I was 28 years and Terry put up his digital 28 year cake.  I’m really grateful.

I made Laura and me bacon sandwiches on toast,  I’ve a smaller coffee bean grinder so I’m still having Ethiopian coffee with honey and milk. Laura took Madigan for a walk and he pooped He always seems to poop on his morning walks with her.  Gifts for his momma love.   I went to the hotsprings and pool first thing in the morning. There were only a few people there.  I felt really good about showing self care to my back which has been so stiff recently. Since the jets on the hot tub in Burnaby died I’ve not been going to the pool so much.  Just and excuse.  I was swimming twice a week 10 laps but with summer the kids come.  So I swam here and felt the unused muscles and joints.  Creaking.  Aging.  It was good.  I’ve been walking more. In the afternoon the bike was charged and I was able to to ride about the nearby townsite for a half hour. It does 28 km an hour without pedaling but with pedaling I can go a bit faster. I enjoy the power assist and was again most impressed with the Motorino Folding 4electric bike.  What fun!  

Laura and I had a long walk with Madigan.  I showed her the Japanese museum for the WWII internment camp where they moved Japanese families inland away from the hundreds miles of coast.  It’s developing just fine there.  Tasteful and thoughtful.  Later I saw that they were set up by the big barn like structure with a band and food outlets. They’ve now got weekly music events.  Later we heard the sound of rock and roll in the evening.

I barbecued the most delicious New York Strip steaks which we all enjoyed.  Madigan is the most spoiled under the table dog.  He gets a third of Laura and my steaks. We had potatoes salad and garlic toast.  

Another couple of episodes of Blue Bloods with Tom Selleck.  The sun had come out and the sunset was lovely.  

I actually had another bout in the hot tubs and a shower and lay on the couch reading a western for an hour or so.

It was that kind of vacation day.  Idyllic, In this amazing machine with the most beautiful kind and intelligent companion and the crazy dog,  Another walk and tv and then bed,  The sky vent in the bed opens so we had fresh night air.  

I am so thankful God.  I really am thankful,  This is one of those truly blessed gifts that come from working and the contrast and the fulfillment of service and contribution and a touch of hedonist R&R.  Away from the wars with loved ones feeling that special break and sense of reward.  Rest.  Peace.  Comfort.  

I’m so thankful that Scotia Bank and Traveland helped arrange for me to have this wonderful machine , this possibility of home on wheels, I’ve been escaping to the country most every weekend or holiday I have had and since I had my sailboat I’m finally again in the right machine for being in town and getting away on the weekend.  I feel especially blessed.  This really is heaven on earth. BC is truly God’s country.  

Thank you Jesus. Thank you God.  Thank you Holy Spirit.

I’ve woken this morning from a great sleep.  There was a gorgeous angel in bed beside me protected by a crazy neurotic pups wagging his tail and growling, eyes all enthusiastic. I have sat and prayed and given thanks and even had my first coffee. It’s a sunny day. Bright and green and blue sky.  Heaven on earth.  Thank you God.  Thank you Omnipotent, Omniprsent , Omnipotential, Loving God.  

  

Valentine’s Day Harrison Hotsprings Resort

Laura and I had a great time at Harrison Hotsprings Resort.  Gilbert loved it as usual.  Laura was the best looking girl there  I told her after our first night there that she was too young for me. I was going to have to date older women. The hotsprings was essential but they really need an in house  chiropracter. I retrospect I could have booked a massage. It really was a fun time for an old guy.

I walked Gilbert around the lake in the morning picking up coffee and our breakfast sandwiches from Suzy’s Cafe.  

We so enjoyed returning to the the hotsprings each day. . So many young people in love and a few of us good looking  older  folk.  Gilbert loved the walks around the lake. The geese and ducks were returning. I played  with the Go Pro and IPhone Pro 11 cameras.    We loved room service. The pepper corn steak was superb.

We watched Parasites and truly loved it, a Korean movies subtitled about a con artist family that moved in on an architect and his wife encountering another con artist couple competing over the same family. Incredible plot and great acting. The next night we watched 1917 and also loved it. Superb stark cinematography. Moving true story.  A splendid weekend.  Typical of Harrison’s .  The Harrison Resort is the best, so elegant and such great service and dog friendly. Before Gilbert we used to love dining and dancing at the Copper Room. 

I’ve been going to Harrison’s every year for decades. I’ve camped in the campgrounds or along the lake. We stayed in many of the hotels and cabins. Last year we came up with the camper. Then we use the public hot springs pool. The resort is the most elegant.  Special. 

Harrison Hotsprings, Harrison Lake and the environs is just a never ending wonderland so close to Vancouver but another world away.

Valentines’ with Laura and Gilbert was the best.  Thank you Harrison Hotsprings Resort.  

Riverside Cabins, Princeton, BC

Laura and I loved Riverside Cabins in Princeton BC.  It was the May Long Weekend and we attached a couple of days off to that to get more of a holiday.  I've stayed in most every place in Princeton over the thirty years I've been coming up there. So often these cabins have been full.  Where we'd call the Princeton Castle Restort Cabins elegant, with their in suite hot tubs, Riverside Cabins  are rustic and homey.  Gilbert our old blind cockapoo dog loved them.

Laura and I liked swimming in the river years ago when we'd been there before. This weekend the river was rushing full and so many places in the interior had flooded. Laura had phoned the owner that week to confirm that the cabins themselves weren't flooded.

Instead of putting our lawn chairs on the beach, we put them up beside the cabin.

The rooms were clean with stove, sink, fridge , cable television,shower, huge hot water tank, microwave, and coffee maker. We stopped at the Save On Foods a block away and brought back chips, yoghurt, drinks and snacks.

Each morning we walked up to Thomasina's Cafe and had omelettes and cappuccino.  One night I picked up a pizza we loved from DQ mall, while another night I picked up delicious steaks from Little Creek Grill.  I came back so late once only A&W was open but Laura enjoyed the onion rings and Mossa burgers.  She actually made sandwiches in the kitchen for lunch.

We walked Gilbert on the dike each night.  Everything in town was walking distance. I love the Home Hardware. They really treat Gilbert like he's special with treats he is too excited to eat at the time but demands once we get back to the cabin.

Princeton Outdoor Supply Store is the best.    In the past I've bought binoculars, fishing lures, and camouflage clothing there.  This time I got a locally made antler handled hunting knife.  Laura loved the Shopper's Drug Mart and came away with eye liner.  It was sweet being in town but feeling out of town down by the river.  There's such peace and quiet there.

We didn't have wi fi in the room but just had to walk out into the driveway to get the signal.  This meant we could connect, gather mail and download whatever, but we certainly got a break from 'internet'.

I drove up into the woods and enjoyed just driving around the back country in my Ford F350 Cowboy Cadillac. I actually sighted in my Winchester Coyote 300 win mag short.  With shells $2.50 a piece it's easy to shoot off $20 to $30 without a thought.  I was glad to have my breakdown Ruger 22 rifle along to slaughter coke cans at pennies a shell.  I didn't see any bear or bear sign or rabbits but I did see 2 grouse and there were lots of deer in the town.  I could have gone fly fishing for rainbow as I've caught those in the north.

But I was reading the great Peter Rimmer novel and Laura thought that being on vacation we shouldn't get out of bed before noon. We did have great walks around the town. Everyone was so friendly.

I did ride my electric bicycle up into the hills.It is great on the flat but took a lot of pedalling to ascend. I was advised to have the brakes adjusted after I'd ridden it a bit.  This became imperative after the brakes stopped working coming down the mountain. If I thought my heart was working pedalling uphill downhill it was surviving a maximal stress test. I eventually slowed down on the flat.

The sun and blue sky were wonderful.  It got so hot I realized it was time for my summer haircut. Eikonic Hair Salon did a fine job according to Laura and friends.

Our stay at Riverside Cabins was  perfect. We do hope to come back and stay there again. The owners were so considerate and welcoming.

Knight's Inn, Barriere, BC

Laura and I and Gilbert, the cockapoo, loved our May long weekend stay at Knight's Inn, Barriere, BC.  Barriere is a truly lovely little town about 65 km noth of the beautiful city of Kamloops BC. We'd driven through Barriere several times in the past but never stayed.
Looking at the map and wanting access to lakes, waterways and logging roads we chose Barriere for this long weekend. We had an Yamaha 450, an F350 Ford pick up and had planned to be towing a pontoon boat with our fisherman friend Tom.  Tom became sick before the trip so he and my boat got left behind.
Now we have to return with the boat because I've seen the rivers and lakes.  They are spectacular. Barriere Lakes are especially pristine.  Great fishing.  And in the summer the swimming must be good too.
Planning a week before our trip we found Knight's Inn on the internet and compared this 'dog friendly' place with several other motels nearby.  What was attractive was the in resort restaurant.  We aren't drinkers so the bar wasn't as much of an attraction, but the possibility of an in house night spot to get snacks and cokes was also attractive.
I phoned with a credit card and held a room.
It was raining in almost all of BC that weekend but the temperatures in Kamloops were warmer than Vancouver.  The 4 hour drive really wasn't arduous with the Coquahalla and the beautiful BC Scenery.  Laura and I realized as I drove that we had been too long trapped in the urban traffic jam and parking lot jungle. The wide open skies, blue skies with lots  of cumulus clouds, it was sunny on our drive, and the gorgeous green forested hills as far the eye could see on that high mountain highway: just cleared the cobwebs from the mind.
Both Laura and I love Kamloops so it was nice to stop in the city to get last minute items we didn't think Barriere might have, like speciality cheeses and Blue Sky Gingerale.  As it turned out there actually was a well stocked IGA and local Market store in the town of Barriere.  In the past, when I worked up north, it was the norm for northern towns to be limitted to basic foods and lots of junk foods.  Whatever the reason, it seems increasingly there's a great variety with a whole lot of what was once called 'yuppie foods' available.  Barriere actually has just about everything a small town could want with pharmacy, health centre, RCMP, a couple of gas stations, and mall.
Knights Inn is right in the centre on the highway where the town begins.
The manager was East Indian. An incredibly helpful young man. I asked him where his family was originally from.
"Punjab," he said.
"My grandparents came from Scotland and Ireland."  I told him I'd been to India but only to the south and so wanted to visit the north.
"Sikh or Hindu?" I asked.
"Sikh." he said.
I told him I'd hunted with my Sikh friend, Sonny and had the priviledge to attend an incredibly beautiful Sikh wedding. My Hindu friend's brilliant and beautiful daughter had married a really strong fine charactered Sikh.  The two of them could have been on the cover of a wedding magazine.
This young manager showed me the choice of rooms. Upstairs there were these spacious new rooms with two double beds but on the main floor he also had a single room with queen bed. It was small but the bathroom was spacious. We chose the main floor room because it was close to the back door. This made it really easy to take Gilbert out to the fenced back yard.  Also I didn't have to carry luggage up and down stairs.  As I planned to be daily going out in the truck with the ATV I'd be hauling equipment back and forth.  I asked him and he said that my truck and ATV would be safe because they haven't had a problem with theft because they have cameras around the parking lot. Everything was as the internet said and as we'd been told over the phone.
Laura loved the room.  She's happy if a place is clean and there's a large bath. It wasn't Harrison Hot Springs Spa or the Merriott I've taken her to but it's was a classic northern room. We had fridge and coffee and a view of a meadow with a horse. Gilbert stayed with her when I went out in the woods both of us still concerned with him over using his injured back.  Besides his idea of bear hunting is barking and scaring them away. He's really only a good bird dog.  While I was away,  she and he visitted the horse in the next pasture each day.  The two of them enjoyed nice walks around the Inn. She told me "Gilbert sniffed everything and peed on most everything else."
What we most loved though was the restaurant.  We think it was the hub of the town.  Every day it opened at 7 am and closed around 8 or 9 pm.  All the locals seemed to congregate there. Men discussing machinery and women talking about their children and grand children. It was the best place for great eves dropping. We heard how to fix a water pump, where the best vegetables to buy were, what was happening in the school and all about the local events.
The waitresses were incredible.  Friendly down home. Really good looking. City folk forget what fresh air, exercise and good food does to skin.  They had a great sense of humor too.  Lovely personalities.  The reduced insaniety in the country.   Less  beaurocratic stress,  less of the drugs and alcohol and rage in general makes for a whole different demographic.  People just aren't being shot in the community despite everyone owning guns.  If people are dying it's  not from drug overdoses but from getting into a tractor or logging accident.
The food was to die for too. Knight's Inn has a really terrific chef.
"It's just like my mom's cooking," Laura said.
"This is the kind of meal my father loved best, "  I said.
Each morning we had what Canadians call a 'trucker's breakfast'.  Eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes, toast.  They had bennies and all sorts of other choices but I just loved their "Mountan Man" breakfast.  Armour Mountain is visible from the Inn, which explained the breakfast sensation's name.
The lunch sandwiches and daily home made soups were equally delicious.  I've tasted a lot of beef barley soups but this one was truly outstanding. As well as a full menu they had daily specials. One night we both had meatloaf and this was the one Laura thought her mom could have made.  What delicious gravy.  We also had a really awesome pizza that they served in the pub.  Better than most Vancouver pizza places.
Alright I loved the home made pie.  Berries and apple with vanilla ice cream. What is northern rural Canada if it's not the home made pie.  Best in the world.  And a bottomless pot of coffee refills kept us sitting there a while reading our phones and sharing the humor on each.
Our city boy Prime Minister Trudeau had just got caught physically bullying in the house of parliament grabbing conservative men and elbowing NDP women, a level of out of control uncouth p aggression  never before seen in the polite hallowed House of Parliament. It was a news filled weekend of 'spin doctoring' and damage control.  With heavy rain outside,  it was fun to sit inside 'playing Facebook', posting political humor and arguing with strangers.
Laura and Gilbert hung out in the Inn when I actually got out on the Yamaha 450 ATV. The rain stopped so I got a chance to really  the cross country ski and snowmobile trails nearby.  I saw lots of deer, a couple of young bucks, a really big black bear that ran away from me really fast, and several big hares that sped away from my ATV. Another afternoon I hiked up the Barriere Lakes trails enjoying the views.  Pine trees and spruce.  Something to be appreciated.
Rather stupidly I ripped the wall on my tire coming too close to a cattle guard.  Thankfully I was in cell range because it turned out I didn't have a jack.  I was actually glad that I'd discovered this deficiency in cellular range relatively near to town.  Having had the truck 5 years I'd never had to change a tire, having got new tires after I purchased the truck second hand from a fellow we only later learned was a truly unsavoury character.
I called Laura and asked her to talk to Knights Inn management because the towing services I found on line were all closed.  The really helpful Knights Inn manager got in touch with the local expert at North River Towing.  There was some emergency phone number they knew and next thing I know this really great guy calls me back.
I explained where I was and  North River Towing found me at the 5 km mark on the trail.  This big bearded guy really knew alot about trucks and towing. I didn't even know Ford had a special locking nut on each wheel to protect against theft and another locking tool to attach to the end of the piece used to unscrew the spare tire.  I had to search the truck all over showing him different parts till I found what was needed.  Then I held the light while he worked. He got right in under the truck with his winch.  I'd unloaded the ATV for him but still, he was amazingly fast and fearless.  It was muddy raining and dark.
I know I've changed tires on cars but not on a big truck in the mud at night on a logging road in the middle of nowhere.  I really did appreciate his skill and knowledge. Told me he'd come to Barriere in 1963 and talked about watching the community develop.  I sure was thankful for his help.  I enjoyed all his knowledge too, not only did the work but explained why he did things. He'd had a lot of experience and could have been a college instructor.
Next day Laura and I were sad to be leaving Knights Inn.  It really was a friendly homey place. They had just done a whole lot of renovations especially inside the rooms but there was just a little heart warming touch of Indian 'juryrig" in the door handles.  They had the northern standard push shut door lock from my childhood schooldays but a piece of wire had been thread through the door so someone could more easily pull them open from the outside.  In India I saw a lot of these 'solutions' . Mountain men think the same way. You see this kind of thinking in the old homesteads. I liked that.  And all round that was the flavour of the place, country homey, clean and friendly, Canadin north.
We really did like our stay there and would gladly come back again.