a wonderful time at Kleanza and Seeley Lake

The pink salmon were running up the creek - the adult males were quite humpback by this time and very white and scarred. There were hundreds in the creek jumping and the females were on their sides digging up the gravel with the males hovering right behind them.Hopefully you can see this humpie male with a green sleek female beside him in the picture. It was great weather so were were able to stay and watch them for a long time. Kleanza Creek Provincial Park is just wonderful - has the IT factor. No services ( not even a tap with water ) so you camp there prepared. There was 30 sites ( a few doubles and a triple as well ). Half are right on the creek/river. We left today at 11:00 am, taking our time. On the way back, we stopped at Seeley Lake Provincial Park ( 20 sites ) to see if that would be a nice place in the future. Way too close to the highway. Today though, we parked in the day use area, and I read my book on this picnic table and Donald had a snooze in the RV. A Perfect day.

kleanza creek tommorow

After work tomorrow we shall be off to Kleanza Creek Provincial Park ( if we can get a spot ) to relax, read a book or maybe do some shopping in Terrace. The trees there are lovely big dripping cedars of the rainforest. The sites run right alongside the river. The weather looks "iffy" but what does that matter??? You got to get out there as much as you can with the RV! When we mention about having an RV ( a nice RV with micro/slide etc - no roughing it ) some people always remark about how much rv's cost etc. I always reply that it's our "cottage" - and if you had a cottage you would be going every weekend during the summer and on your vacations. The taxes and upkeep on a cottage property can add up as well, so I think an RV is a great alternative. The other thing is that with the RV you are not stuck to one place ( in order to justify the cost of keeping up the one place ) and we can go where we want and see new things or partake in festivals in other towns. Always something going on! If we do not go to Kleanza tomorrow, we shall likely take in the Bulkley Valley Fall Fair. Anyone like fresh BBQ lamb kabobs from the 4-H kids??? MMMM.

sad to leave

Ah - we were very sad to leave the rv lot for another year. A neighbour will water the plants till the late fall and most should make it through the winter. Now there's a word - winter. Yuck. I will be working through another winter and reading the blogs of those lucky ones who are going to be heading south with great envy. It won't be long till we will be one of them! This weekend we are again in the RV - we just haven't decided which direction and where. So, with a good attitude we shall be making a plan tonight and the rv is just about ready to go. Most of the Hardwall gang are away taking their university students back to school so we might be on our own, and that's ok. The other thing to do is to make some plans and preparations for our trip to Victoria at the end of September for the wedding of the oldest son!

Where there is smoke, there is fire.

On Saturday, Donald and I went to the beach for a few hours as we were leaving the next day. As you looked across the lake, there was the big smoke of another forest fire. It was behind the ridge, so were not sure how far away the fire was from that particular ridge. At suppertime, it had cleared over the top of the mountain and started to burn its way down the front side. At this point we could see the flames and red, especially when it was darkening into night. We watched this till about 11 pm. Very scary for those residents below ( Sorrento BC ). On the radio news the next morning, it was mentioned the RCMP were delivering evacuation notices all night. By the time we departed from the RV lot, it was 7 km from the town of Sorrento.

adventure to a lumber mill

After the Roots and Blues festival, we have spent a relaxing week visiting neighbours at happy hour time and puttering about the RV. Donald has an idea to build some stairs and a small retaining wall at the end of where the RV is sited. Along with this wall, he also has plans to build an arbour with trellising and planters to create a little shade area. This will be a project for next year. So, we drove to Chase to see about some timbers, as the 2 building centres in Scotch Creek do not have what he wants. It turns out neither does the building centre in Chase. So, off for another adventure. Remember when we wanted rock, we went off to find the quarry?? Well, this time is was off to find a lumber mill. We found one - Last Chance Lumber = on Little Shuswap Lake. No one was around, but we drove looking at the cedar timbers and managed to get a couple of phone numbers. A beautiful drive to the mill overlooking the lake - the skies in the pictures are hazy due to the nearby forest fire - more on that tomorrow!