Harrison Lake and RV Camping

We are so blessed to have these healing springs and this glorious lake and tourist town so close to Vancouver.  I love coming in the spring when it’s not as busy as the summer rush hour. Here and now it’s only for the intrepid with ice still on the lake.  It’s so beautiful though. The snow capped mountain crags are magestic.

Waking in the 2017 Alp Adventurer truck camper I was looking out at hemlock, blue sky and magnificent mountains. I took Gilbert for a walk along the beach early morning thinking of all the times before I’d come that way.  Three dogs have been walked here, Shinto, Stuart and Gilbert. I brought my parents out here in the 80’s for a weekend in the cabins of the Harrison Hot Spring Resort.  I”ve hiked in the region, brought canoes and motorboats. We’ve stayed in so many of the hotels, favouring the Bungalow Cabins, Harrison Hot Springs Resort, Ramada/Executive, and the Beach Hotel.  We’ve swum in the lake , off road motorcycled, quadded  and camped all around the western and northern shore where I used to hunt.  The wilderness hot springs in the back woods were great hikes when we were younger.

Now I”m so enjoying RV Life.  I had a marvellous soak in the public pool where people always seem a little weird.  Today a lady was wearing sandals and I thought, “I hope she showered.”  Then another girl had a ginger ale by the pool side despite countless signs saying no drinks.  The kids and old people are always cute seeming to merge in mood and appearance. I’m observing not judging because I was rather pleased to get the senior rate. 

Back at the Adventurer camper Laura was reading her iPad. She’s become an Amazon junkie, loving to read selections before buying a book. I’m reading a book I should have read a selection on.  Good action scenes but the characters seem written by a shallow young man who likes to drink.  A bit like a millennial hipster version of Sean Connery in James Bond.  Coming off more like Mr. Bean despite the accurate discussion of weapons, possibly from Wikipedia.  Still I’m speed reading through knowing it’s not everyday I’m blessed with a great novel.  I’ve enjoyed some westerns I’ve read this last week. It’s not like I’m seeking intellectual stimulation. RV reading isn’t much higher up from Beach reading.

I made us bacon sandwiches with maple bacon and fresh buns. Suzy’s, the ultimate bacon and egg sandwich cafe , was closed for renovation.  We’re roughing it here.   I had to turn on the RV propane stove and get out the frying pan. Of course despite having the fan on I set off the smoke detector alarm. I finished getting  the bacon crisp like Laura likes it with the windows and door open.  The sandwiches were delicious.  Almost as good as Suzy’s.  I made more Millena Expresso coffee with cream and honey.  Decadent.  We read for a bit more after that.  My main concern is how to make this seat feel like a couch. I’m experimenting with a pile of pillows.  

Now Laura and I have returned from a late afternoon walk with Gilbert. He loves RV camping.  2 long dog walks today. 

Oh yes, I failed to mention, this morning he met a young little dog with a whole bunch of attitude growling at him and trying to hump him despite being smaller than Gilbert who was quite nonplussed by all the pugilistic behaviour. It became rapidly evident that the poor little dog was out of his league.   I was so proud of Gilbert. Blind and old, he didn’t even bother engaging in militaristic display.  Rather he lifted his leg and pissed on the dog. He did it twice. At first I thought he was blind and hadn’t intended to pee on his adversary but the second time I figured it was intentional. It had it’s effect with the little aggressive dog quite stymied before running off to catch up with his owner. Dogs are supposed to be on leash anyway.  I remember  Stuart who would piss on the shoes of any guy who raised his voice at me as if to remind him that if he bothered me he had Stuart, the Scotty, to contend with too.

Now Laura on this walk has let Gilbert pee on everything.  She’s much more patient and lets him sniff to his heart’s content.  He sniffed everything.I didn’t mind enjoying the view of the lake and watching the ambulance come to rescue a woman and child who apparently had tried to walk on the ice. They fell through but didn’t get a Darwin Award because they rapidly got out and the ambulance arrived with blankets.  I don’t know why people stay home and watch tv when outside there’s so much sitcom material.  

Now we’re back at the RV. Gilbert has drunk a whole bowl of water and gone to sleep.  I’ve tried out the sewer hose and emptied the black and grey water tanks because I can. Laura has downloaded another novel and is reading. I’m blogging.  Life is good.  The sun is setting and I’m going to have fry up the steaks because I don’t have a little propane tank for the barbecue.  I just have to remind myself we’re roughing it.  Fried steak instead of barbecue. I’ll have to wash the frying pan before I can use it for the steaks too. I don’t know how much of this stress I can take.

Laura's Internet Cafe

I’ve spent a $100 extra some months on cell connections and communications. I have hi speed internet in my office, have paid for wifi hubs, tengointernet for trailer park camping, airport internet and cellphone sticks and cell connections just to be in the ‘net’ and on the ‘grid’ . I ‘need’ to have instant convenient communication. I am on 24/7 call 6 days a week and actually occasionally this year for the first time get paid for this connectivity, not all of it by any means.  It’s thousands a year and the office ‘write off’ portion is only a little.
Everywhere I go these days my phone picks up Shaw. Laura has Shaw cable. The plan was to get Shaw Internet here so we can both use Shaw on the Go around the city.  The big screen TV was a gift from me to her for our mutual entertainment. She got the Shaw. I think I paid for the hook up as I’ve now done for the Wifi.  We’re both using it. It’s operating now. When I called out I was ‘in’ , Laura called back. “I’m a wifi cafe now!”  $50 a month compared to the Tengointernet $40 a week coupled with the other service which worked just great for $10 a month with a $100 hub till computer upgrades made the hub obsolete and the company stopped providing that ‘connectivity’.  With shaw I expect to get rid of everything but the Telus office.  No more cell phone charges for going over the ‘plan’.
“I like when you write here.” Laura said.  She’s so sexy.  I imagine smart sensitive women the world over saying things like that to their gullible egoistic men, “I like when you game on the internet at my place”.  “I like when you read Facebook at my place’.  They reel the men in.  The fact is Laura, like a lot of men loving women, just like to see the guys happy. She’s making me another coffee right now in Laura’s Internet Cafe.  She’s been giving Gilbert treats all morning.  She likes me because I bring my dog over. The guys come to visit.
George is the big blond male cat I got Laura one day at the Pet store. He was on display from the SPCA, like a slave in the window.  Mean bastard. Looked so cute in the window.  Got him home and he shat on the bed and scratched everyone and tried to bite me. He was almost feral a week later, isolating and hiding from us till I forced ‘socialization’ on him pulling him out from his hiding place and barring the under the bed from further escape. The hermit took to the cupboard above the fridge.  Hi rise view.  Basement dwelling causes surliness. His paranoia slowly lifted as he watched from on high and saw that we weren’t eating cats and beating them and doing awful things to him.  Laura’s love its irrisistible. Everyday she cooed and talked and brought him treats. When I came he looked at me like I was some sort of evil monster.  He didn’t know what to make of Gilbert.
Days and weeks and months went by. I gave him tweets every visit.  Gilbert dropped his ball in front of him when George ventured down to the ground.  It wasn’t long before Laura noticed that George was roaming about the place when she wasn’t there. Then there was the time he slept on her bed.
He’s a suck now.  He waits outside the washroom when she has a bath.  He pokes at the ball when Gilbert rolls it to him.  He runs under my feet to get to the perch by the window.  We’ll never know what happened to him before he came to Laura’s but other than a little social distancing you’d never know. He just loves Laura and accepts us.
Laura’s Internet Cafe has it’s regulars.  Laura’s family visits and she’s glad they’ll have the internet to keep in touch with other family.
We’ve become dependent on this connectivity.
I’ve got the family and friends I know in real life. I’ve got some casual acquaintances that I’ve come to know a whole lot better thanks to the internet. Facebook has even introduced me to some strangers who I’ve come to truly enjoy because our values and interests and political and spiritual leanings jive.  I want to meet them in real life some day.  I remember my parents once calling up old neighbours and going for coffee with them. It ’s that kind of thing.
Then there’s the whole ‘internet cafe’ . Another third space beyond the library. It’s a place I ‘ve just loved. I’ve sat at my computer in my home. I ‘ve carried this lap top everywhere a distant cry from my old writing notebook but nonetheless related.
And now here I am, Laura’s Internet Cafe.  The little dog has climbed up on the bed beside me and is leaning against me. I love the feel of his body when he does that, affection.  I don’t like the internet cafe’s much since I’ve got a dog. I don’t like anywhere my dog isn’t welcome.  We don’t go to restaurant’s much as a result.  I always liked to eat at home in front of the tv though there was a time when I had so many dinner parties for dozens and dozens of friends.  Another time of connectivity.  That’s infrequent now. Neither Laura or I have ‘dining rooms’ anymore .
We have had parties in restaurants. That’s what people do a lot in bigger cities like Vancouver.  The little apartments are glorified bed rooms and everything else is outside in the city.  It’s a bit limitted in the winter but the summer with the beaches and parks makes this work well.  There’s winter  third space in the malls.  Old people and young seem content to take up space on the benches meant for resting shoppers. Shoppers don’t rest. They are frenzied consumers so third space seekers are moving into those bench spaces. They’re like the rats and coyotes moving into the rest of the city.  There’s always been the restaurants and cafe’s, but so often they encourage consumption. More and more there are coffeeshops like Europe which simply enjoy ‘regulars’ and get by with that.
Now there’s here.  Laura just brought me some quiche. I ‘m going to stop and eat.  I can upload this immediately.  Next I’ll surf the web and read Facebook seeing if anyone else is looking for a political argument or has a picture of a really cute dog.  Facebook is bipolar that way these days.
It’s snowing outside. I walked Gilbert.  He sniffed the other early risers signs.  A man was out shovelling. A young couple were climbing into their car.  I’d say they were going out for breakfast.  Adventurous in this Winnipeg winter in Vancouver. Schools closed .  Buses unable to get up hills.  Fender benders.  A few inches of snow.  Now it’s a mix of drizzle and snow.  Mild.  Slushy.
It’s nice to be in the warm with Laura. She’s very beautiful.  Gilbert and I are blessed to have such a friend and now I really must get to that Quiche.  I want to follow up on my nephew Graemes adventure in Costa Rica. I can do that in real time thanks to all this connectivity.  I do remember the rotary phone and black and white tv.  The things other people take for granted.  The young don’t know shit.

Hibernating the Harley Davidson Motorcycle

Trev Deely has a great storage plan. I used it last year for the few months of winter.  This year they’ve even dropped their rates. I love that the experts ‘winterize’ my bike. Then in spring before I take it back I ask them to check it all over so that I am reassured of  a summer of safety.
I bought my 2009 HD Electraglide from Trev Deely when it was a year old and had very low mileage.  It’s been a great bike ever since.  Motorcycling all over BC, Washington and Oregon before the Sturges South Dakota trip last year I’ve had no complaints. It’s the greatest American freeway motorcycle ever made. I’d rented Electraglides in New England and Texas before buying myself one too.
Gilbert, my cockapoo, has grown up on this Harley.  He’s 4 and 1/2 year old and began riding on a motorcycle when he was only a puppy.  Last summer he did 5 hours on the back of my bike when we drove north to Merritt to attend the Sturges North motorcycle rally and hear Burton Cummings incredible music.  It was a sunny day so we detoured to Ashcroft and just rode round the high country before heading to the campsite and fair grounds at Merritt.
Today Gilber rode with me on our this ride of 2014 season.  Until March 1, 2015, the Harley is hibernating at Trev Deeley where the crew take good care of all the babies.
A Trev Deely fall sale was going on today.  Great deals on 2014 and 2015 Harley’s.  I loved the new Street Glide.  
Great end of the Harley season sunshine biking day.   

Hay Bay Home

My brother, Ron and Sister in Law, Adell have bought a second home near Nappanee on Hay Bay. I confess, I love that family are living on a place called Hay Bay.  Driving through the Ontario country side with fall colours of red and orange and yellow we see a sign Hay Bay Women’s Society.  I don’t think it’s narcissism to appreciate the location by name but a sense of deep belonging. Next year I’m hoping to get back to Scotland to the Aberdeen area from whence grandad came, where a Hay is apparently a dime a dozen.  One of my brother’s realtors was a Hay too.  Makes it feel all sort of right in an odd way.
Last time I was here I was attending my nephew Andrew and his bride Tanya’s wedding at the Canada Club wearing the blue Hay Hunting kilt.
When I flew into Ottawa to attend the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine Conference my brother met me and Gilbert my cockapoo at the Ottawa Airport.  Great to be with family. Nephew Allan , just completed undergrad psychology waiting to begin masters program.  Over delicious Italian at Poccopazzo family owned restaurant I got to catch up on the latest doings of chemical engineer movie making nephew Graeme and geologist nephew Andrew and his beautiful  publisher wife Tanya.  Graeme’s horror movie Ragnarock Cabin has opening to coincide with Halloween this year.  Tanya and Andrew were on a pumpkin hunt in preparation for a Halloween party. It all seems so civilized.  I feel like I’ve descended from alien planet out in the wild west when I come home to this happy normalcy.  My brother and sister in law are both retired so we no longer commiserate over the challenges of work with all it’s attendant frustrations.  My stories only serve to remind them of their past.  Ron continues his investing from home while I’ve never seen my high school principal Adell not bustling about with home making.  Her primary student this visit is Eva, Allan’s little brown Chewy the wooky  looking cockapoo.
Having just bought another house, all the talk is about landscaping and decorating. They’d just moved the weekend before.  When my conference finished Adell and Allan picked me up with Gilbert already on board and we drove the two hours from the city to their new rural retreat.  I loved seeing the quaint hobby farms along the river. The red barns of Ontario are so picturesque with the red leaves of autumn sumac. Cattle and horses were interspersed with hay fields and corn. Graeme and Andrew have seen deer in the forest on the way here.  Adell pointed to the white swans in the marsh nearby.
The house isn’t visible from the road.  Nearly 5 acres of waterfront.  Down a short road between spruce and pine is the garage  at the first level. The roof of the large two level home sits next to the parking at the lower level.  We entered through the great veranda on the second floor. “I hope to screen this all in next year, “ Adell said as she showed me the upper rooms, a regular Marriott guest suite where I’d be staying.  Bamboo hardwood floors throughout the upper guest area.  Down the bamboo stairs is the music room. Adell sings soprano with several choirs still.  When I told her about attending Carmen recently she said, “I love singing opera but don’t much like attending it anymore.”  I’ll always remember her as the beautiful young girl solo in the church whose voice touched the heavens.  Ron’s veritable collection of guitars was in the music room.  The great living room had a heated cement floor and large fireplace. Dining room and kitchen were part of the pattern with the glass panel doorway looking out on the huge expanse of front yard opening onto the lake. From there I saw Gilbert and Eva running wide circles about the property at breakneck cockapoo speed.  Everything is large, large walk in pantry, large cupboards.  “There’s no basement ,” said Adell .  Of course that explains the need for the storage spaces.  Ron has a couple of sheds in addition to his garage.  The master suite is beyond the large two person whirlpool tub. It has lots of walk in cupboards and another elegant bathroom. It opens onto a a patio where no doubt the Lord and Lady of the house can take afternoon tea and contemplate their apple tree orchard.
Allan and I bought day fishing licenses at the Napanee Canadian Tire.  With Ron’s kevlar canoe and fishing gear, fishing rods, an Adell packed picnic and Gilbert in a life jacket in the middle of the boat, Allan and I, like countless coer de bois before us, set out on the great fishing adventure.  Ron had taken a break from driving his tractor pulling his rotor tiller through his planned potato garden to push out his wheeled aluminum Fendock.  We pushed off from shore before he figured how to lay down the wood flooring.
Allan paddled in the bow while I j stroked in the stern.  For a guy who at his age was white water canoeing the Winnipeg River, I couldn’t recall the last time I’d paddled.  The technique is never lost but the muscles sure weren’t happy.  Neighbours further along the shore waved and spoke to us as we passed.  They were all out doing yard work, burning leaves in fires,  chatting on lakeside decks.
“How far are we going, Allen?"
“Getting tired already, Uncle,”
“No just wondering,” I lied.
“There’s a marsh a long the shore up ahead, where mom sees the swans,"
At last we stopped paddling and Allan put a Canadian Wiggler on my line.  I began casting. “This was dad’s favourite lure, “ I told him and then went on to tell about Dad taking Ron and  I fishing in Northern Saskatchewan, catching pickerel and cooking the fillets over a driftwood fire on the shore.  We casted either side only once tangling lines and the wind pushed us along the outside of marsh.  Allan told me about his research interests in early child education.  He’d applied for research grants and was waiting to hear.
When the wind picked up and it looked like we’d be blown too far away we paddled back into the lee of the point coming aground in the weeds.
 “My hands are freezing from the water, “ said Allen.
“I put my gloves on an hour ago,” I said.
Gilbert was sleeping in the middle of the boat. I was enjoying the cup of thermos coffee and sandwich Adell had packed.  A flock of Canada Geese rose up from the marsh and flew back to Vancouver British Columbia.  That’s where all the Canada Geese from all over the world congregate for seminars on how to avoid being shot by hunters in the rest of Canada.
We talked some more. Allan changed my lure from the Canadian wiggler to the Red Devil. "I always catch a jack whenever I fish with a red devil,” i told him then cast.  Immediately a large fish caught the hook and tugged. I watched the disturbance on the surface. “I’ve caught one, “ i shouted.  “It’s just a rock,” Allan said.  Gilbert rose to the excitement.
Sure enough I pulled in a large northern pike alongside the canoe shouting at Allan to get the net.  Untangling the net from Gilbert’s feet doing twisting pretzel contortions behind him Allan had the net and put it under the fish. “It’s too big for the net,” he said.  He couldn’t get it under the body but the head and hook got caught in the top of the net.  Gilbert was looking the fish right in it’s glassy eyes threatening to jump overboard then suddenly the hook was free in the net and the fish was lying across the opening.. “Quck grab the gils, “ I said.
“I’m not putting my fingers near those teeth, “ said Allen as Gilbert whined and the fished impatient took a massive flick of it’s whale sized tail to Jonah into the reaches of Hay Bay.
“I wanted to eat that fish. “ I said to Allen, “I never knew you were a catch and release sort of Eastern guy.”
“You didn’t pull it up beside me where I could get the net under it. I should have just used the camera to show it wasn’t all that big.”
“Admit it, you’re too weak to lift such a mighty fish."
With all that excitement and all following casts catching weeds we paddled back to the dock.  Ron had again left his tractor and rotor tilling to stand on his now decked dock with Eva waiting for the return of the Canadian couer de bois.  Eva and Gilbert were ecstatic with the reunion and yet another excuse to run wild circles all over the property.  Exhausted I collapsed in Ron’s great leather chair and watched pink finch and blue jays avail themselves of the feeder outside the main window.  I love looking out on the lake between the wedge of forest.  Every once in a while Ron came by on his mini  orange Scots by John Deere tractor to deposit wood by the door.  Allan collected it and stacked it by the fireplace. I enjoyed the warmth while Adell made a roast beef dinner which we all enjoyed later at the dining table.
That night we drove to Kingston a half hour or so away to watch Judge the movie my friend Dr. George Chalmers emailed a recommendations for.  We both love Robert Downey Jr and Duvall. Their performances in this incredible drama of family and small town America should get Downey at least an Oscar.  It was incredible acting that had me in tears at one point. My brother took care of my elderly father at times and the compassion the movie showed of son caring for dying father was very much like the sensitivity that had been shown in On Golden Pond.
Back home Adell handed me pumpkin pie for a snack,.  After that I collapsed in bed with Gilbert the cockapoo climbing up to lie on a pillow beside my head.  This morning it’s raining.  Adell made us all bacon and eggs.
Next Ron called out that we’re all going for a drive in the country side. Adell and he were discussing earlier that they’d not explored their neighbour hood and wanted to see what’s on the other side of the lake.  By the time I caught up with the plans Ron was in the Suburu with Allan, Gilbert and Eva.  Adell was waiting to lock the door behind me as I slipped on my shoes.  There was a drizzling Vancouver rain till we got to a ferry which took us across to higher land.  There we drove up to Lake on a Mountain where the dogs had a jolly time on leash exploring this ancient mysterious lake.  What they call here a mountain though wouldn’t cut muster in BC.  There was a great view of the waterways and I saw where Lake Ontario became the Reach.
Picton was the town and harbour we landed in.  A quaint little place with old stone houses here and there with the red brick two stories. Pretty little tourist site. We drove on from there to Desronto in the Mohawk territory then on to Napanee, the little town I really liked. It’s 20 minutes from their home but we’d gone all around the backside of Hay Bay to get there from the other side.  We stopped for burgers and fries at Shoeless Joe’s Napanee.  Great food and great service.  Ron and Allan were happy with the sports scores on the telly at each booth.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had such a fine cheese burger with mushrooms remembering times I’d taken Dad for burgers, something he really enjoyed in his last years.  Of course, Cheeseburger in Paradise by Jimmy Buffet will always be a favourite sailor song of mine. Gilbert and Eva shared a charbroil barbecued burger paddy between them and just wanted more.
After a couple of shopping stops, Cartronicpowersports for Honda 3000eu generator and Marks for socks,  we got back home where the dogs ran the length of the yard and back, glad to be free.  Ron’s been playing Four Strong Winds on the guitar with Adell singing.  I’ve just finished an after burger nap in the guest room.  It’s so relaxing in the country.  I love this house and  family. The dogs are simply the best little characters happy as can be with each other and their surroundings.