Camping With The Family

No smoke and the lake was calm

Hey everyone! I am back from camping with my man's family around Oliver, BC. This is the second time I've gone on their big family trip and it was great! My man's family has been going to the same campground since his mom was a kid. A ton of friends and family now come for the same week every summer. We were able to go for the whole week this time and it was a great way to end the summer.

We left early Saturday morning to beat the heat for the 4 hour drive. We made good time and got there just before the campground lets you check in. We got to see the legend of the chain across the lane, that my man's family and friends have spoken about. I guess I should clarify that "camping" is more like glamping but we are in a tent. Anyways back to the trip.

Before we left for camping my man's mom told us that heavy rain was expected for the first night and to get a tarp. I am so thankful that we got one and put it on when we set up the

Tarp to keep the rain out!

tent. It started raining incredibly hard around midnight and my man's poor sister didn't put a tarp up until later and her stuff got soaked. The rest of the week the weather was really nice. There was some windy days and an afternoon shower another day, but there was no smoke! There was a fire on the other side of the hills but we didn't get any smoke from it. Last year was so smokey and awful that we really lucked out. 
We spent a lot of time down by the water and going for walks around the area. Most evenings we ended up at one of the sites and played music. My man brought his accordion and there were a couple guitars. After music sometimes we would play board games with the family. It's hard to get all the siblings together as some have children so you can't leave them along. We did our best to play with everyone. 
One morning, we went with my man's parents to Osoyoos to get their bike tire fixed. I have never been there so it was fun to get to walk around a bit. It seemed a bit small and kind of resort like, but it was still interesting to see. We didn't spend much time there, just long enough to get the tire fixed. 
Every year the whole family goes for ice cream at Tickleberry's. The ice cream sizes are huge and they have so many flavours to choose from! This year I was smarter and got a child's size waffle cone, which is still two scoops of ice cream and massive! Somehow I ate the whole thing and wasn't dying. I played it safe with the flavours though. Stuck with my favourite of cookies 'n cream then on top got espresso flake. After ice cream, we tagged along with my man's parents again to go into Penticton, another place that I haven't been. We walked along the beach and then went to a used bookstore. There were so many books in the store that it was a little overwhelming. It was a little hard to know where to start looking. We didn't have much time to look but I did end up getting a book, even though we all agreed that the prices were still pretty high for a used bookstore. To end the day, I went with some of the family to a few wineries. This was only the second time that I have ever gone wine tasting. I had a lot of fun. I am learning more about wine just from going and I got to know some of the family better. While driving we decided to do a girl's wine tasting trip the next day. I am so fortunate with my man's family being so welcoming and inviting me along to the girl's trip and just in general welcoming me into the family. 

Driving home was pretty overcast

Wine tasting with the girl's and one niece was a blast. Typically when I am with my man's family, we are there together. It was really nice to spend time with just his sister and 2 sister's in law. I may have bought 6 bottles of wine from the 6 wineries we went to over the two days. When we got back from the wineries we picked up the men and all the kids and headed over to a cider mill. Last year I had asked if we could check it out and I loved all of their ciders. This year they had some different ones. We ended up getting a couple of the new flavours. This was our last day in Oliver and it was kind of sad. I wasn't ready to leave yet. I was ready to sleep in a real bed again, but I wasn't ready to get back to reality.
Now that I am back, I am applying for jobs that will fit around my school schedule, which is proving to be difficult. I am going into my 4th and final year of my Child and Youth Care Counselling Degree and have my practicum. My practicum hours are what is making finding a job difficult. But I will keep looking and applying! 
I hope everyone has had an amazing summer!

Song of the Day: Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver (we played this around one of the campfires and I forgot how much I love this song!!) 

Taking the City Boy to the Farm

Hello everyone! I hope you're all enjoying your summer! I can't believe that summer holidays are already half over and I go back to school soon. I am writing this late at night as we finish packing and getting ready to leave early in the morning for camping with my man's family. Last week we flew out to Alberta to spend a week with my family. It has been crazy busy!
As I said, my man and I flew to Alberta to visit my family last week. He had never been to Southern Alberta or spent much time on a farm. We landed in Calgary from Vancouver and got to have lunch with my cousin. I haven't seen her in over a year and was so glad that she was able to have lunch with us. We got to see her new work place and catch up quickly before she had to go to work and my mom picked us up to drive 3 hours south to the farm. It makes for a long travel day flying then driving, but it was interesting to see how things have changed since the last time I was home and to see my man's reactions to how different Alberta looks then BC. 
My parents no longer farm the land they live on, but still own a small portion of it where the house is. Which is in the middle of nowhere with very few neighbors and an amazing view of Chief Mountain. We kept pretty busy while we were there and went of many adventures. I also got to catch up with some friends that I haven't seen in forever. I did miss my high school reunion by one week but I'm okay with that. 
Our first adventure was riding E-bikes in Waterton. My parents have their own and we rented some for my man and I. We rode them part way up to Red Rock Canyon. The road up is closed to vehicles after the big fire there 2 years ago. Some of the other roads are still closed, but most of the park is still open. Things didn't start out so good, as the E-bike we got for my man was not working! My dad and him fiddled around with things and kept trying to

Road to Red Rock Canyon

figure out why the assist wasn't working and finally as they jiggled some wires they got it to work. So we continued our trip. I have never ridden an E-bike before and was kind of nervous, but it was a blast! Those things go! The speed limit in the town of Waterton is 30km/h and it was surprising that with very little effort on the bike I was going that speed. When we got to the road to Red Rock Canyon on some of the hills, I got the speed up to around 40km/h! If I had a place to store a bike I would definitely be getting an E-bike. 
A couple days later, with the addition of my brother and his fiancee, we went down into the States to go over Logan's Pass and kayak on Lake MacDonald. I try to go over the Pass every time I come home, but since it is only open a few months of the year it isn't always that easy. Going over Logan's Pass is an amazing drive through the mountains. It is hard to describe, but something

In my brother's Jeep on Logan's Pass

everyone should get to see, I think. We took 5 kayaks and the paddle board out on the lake and had a blast. We were lucky that it was calm day, warm day. I am not very good at kayaking, but really enjoy the paddle board, though for this trip I got pulled along behind my dad when they noticed I was struggling to keep up. My brother wanted to try out the paddle board, so I switched into the kayak for a bit. My brother had a blast on the board. I only crushed my finger twice while in the kayak and then my dad pulled me back to where we started. It was great to get to spend more time with my brother and his fiancee. I don't get to see them much living so far away. 
In the evenings we played card games and horseshoes. My parents built a horseshoe pit in the yard years ago, but I have never really played. I don't have the greatest aim and my dad got attacked a few times by my horseshoes bouncing towards him. He started standing closer to me to avoid rogue horseshoes. I did get better as we played though! I even scored some points! 

On Logan's Pass at one of the pullouts

Taking my man to my parents farm was interesting as he grew up in the Lower Mainland and hadn't really spent anytime on a farm. He and I love to go on walks in the evenings and one thing he brought up was that there wasn't really somewhere to walk. When we are in the city we can go to the park or walk to the store, on the farm it's pretty much just up and down the lane unless you drive somewhere else. I never really thought about this because when I lived on the farm we were always busy and working on the farm.
We were there for a week, but I think I could have stayed a little longer. It felt like we were busy every day and didn't really have a day to just relax and hang out at the house. Some days it is hard living so far from my family, but moving to BC has been the greatest adventure so far and I wouldn't have met my man if I wasn't out here!
Tomorrow morning we are off camping for a week so I should be getting to bed!
Have a wonderful week everyone!


Song of the Day: Lyin' Eyes by The Eagles