Another holiday and the end of the 2010 camping season .....

 We just spent 13 days touring down to the Fraser Valley and then up through the Okanagan before heading through Salmon Am and then towards home ! The whole trip was spent dodging rain as we only had maybe 2 days where we didn't get rain ..... didn't matter WHERE we were ! LOL !

We spent two nights in Hope , BC . We have driven through this little town so many times over the years but never stopped so this was the perfect time to do it . We stayed at a campground right on river and watched the fisherman fishing salmon ...... so fun to watch and being the salmon run was a record one this year , it was worth watching and listening to the fish ! Of course , we had some sun , went for a walk and got absolutely dumped on from the sky ! Hope is right in the mountains so any cloud you see is bound to hit at some point ! Another great thing about Hope is it is famous for it's chainsaw carvings which are scattered all over the town along with totem poles . We really enjoyed visiting this small town and walking around the town was such an adventure !

After leaving Hope we headed just an hour down the freeway to visit my family and celebrate my Dad's birthday . Was so nice to see everybody and meet the newest addition to my nephew's family . My brother came and shared some wine with us in the Taj one night and even tried out the hide-a-bed which he says was very comfy ....... not that he probably really knew as it was GOOD wine ! LOL ! Keith & I also went out for a quiet lunch with my sister and her husband . So nice to spend some quiet time with them as they do so much for my parents and my sister fed 18 for supper the one night ! It was bedlum ! LOL ! I know Dad & Mom were happy to see us as it has been well over a year since I saw them .

 A nice surprise while we were away as well as a " old " friend stopped by my parents .... Joani is much younger then me but I haven't seen her in 30+ years ! She was my youngest sister's very best friend in the world and suffered a great loss ( as did our family ) when my sister passed away at the age of 5 1/2 yrs in 1966 ! Seeing Joani was like reconnecting with a part that was missing in my life ! Thanks Joani for being " there " even after all these years ! And a nice turn also deserves one so Keith & I stopped in her cute little clothing store in Enderby , BC called LITTLE CITY BOUTIQUE ...... beautiful clothing from a beautiful lady ! unfortunately I don't fit any of those beautiful clothes ......... LOL !

 We spent a few days in Kelowna visiting Keith's family but parked in the Taj in a RV park ..... and yes , we got rain .......... and one day of sun :-)  Keith's sister-in-law from Winnipeg came to Kelowna at the same time so we got a good visit in with her too ! Nice to have seen her as I hadn't since Gary passed away 2 years ago .

One quick stop overnight in Salmon Arm and a nice visit with Lisa and Brayden ! Always nice to see them ..... next time hopefully Wayne will be around . Sadly his Mom passsed away a week or so ago ... our deepest sympathy to the Costa family .

 We had a long day ( we had been traveling 2-4 hrs a day if that so 6 hrs was a LONG day ! LOL ! ) from Salmon Arm as we headed straight up to our favorite campsite as we had bought the corn at DeMille's in Salmon Arm for a corn roast that Merv and Kim from Canyon Creek Campground hosted on Friday night . A fun time was had by all and even a few new people joined us ... a family of 8 from Switzerland that were touring the North ! The best part was the rain held off ....... but man is was cool ! 2 degrees C at 10 pm and -3 this morning !!! Fall is definitely here !

 This morning we packed up the Taj and made the long trek home .... 45 minutes , 3 construction zones , some rough road and no Tim Horton's coffee to be found anywhere ! LOL ! Soooooooooooo nice to be home and then the reality of  unloading a summer worth of packratting became reality as Keith decided that Taj would be unloaded for the winter ................. No , he does NOT sit still for anything ! 6 hours later Taj is pretty well empty and waiting for a couple drinks of antifreeze to keep him warm ! ..........


........and the camping season of 2010 is over for us ! We have had a wonderful season through hot weather , forest fire smoke and turned over 10,000 miles on Taj ! Saw some amazing country .... all in our beautiful province of British Columbia ...... and visiting family and friends !!!  Thanks to everybody that fed us or entertained us with their stories .................... thanks Christina for being a great housesitter / dog sitter so we could get away without the furbabies and not feel guilty bout leaving them ..... they were well spoiled !!!

 Time to kick back with some cozy clothes , dogs at my feet and do some creating in my room !!! Definitely so ready to just hide out in my room and play !!! LOL !

The view from the Taj this morning through a steamy window !

 Have a great week and stay warm !