Boys and their Toys.

Still got it?

Steven decided on Day 1 to see if he could still ski. I warned him not to, after all, it's been 15 or more years since he got up on ski's and I could just picture broken bones and/or a bad back or shoulder, and with hunting season just a few days away, well, I didn't want to have to say: "I told you so....." However, he decided to ignore me (Me! Me who knows All, and predicts All!)

Well, it just goes to show that, amazingly enough, I am not always right. Who knew? He couldn't slalom, but he did get up on two ski's and had no injuries to show for it, nor a pulled back or shoulder. The Hunt shall go on!

If that wasn't enough excitement (for me anyhow) he then decided to go tubing with 2 of his cousins. They had quite a ride, with some spills and chills, but once again, everyone arrived back on the beach intact. What do I know? I know that being in your 50's doesn't mean that the fun is over!

Summer's Last Hurrah!

Steven's side of the family, on his Mom's side, has a family reunion every three years. This year it was back at Camp Arbuckle, in the Okanagan, for the 3rd time, although the last time at this spot was in 1997. We headed off, into the clouds and over the Roger's Pass. There was a lot of snow on the Roger's, but when we got to camp we were lucky enough to have HOT weather, the one day was over 30 C, perfect!

After a 6-8 hour drive (I can never figure out how long we actually travel, what with pee-breaks, lunch stops, construction delays and time changes) we rolled into the camp. What a perfect spot! If you click twice on the photo you can see how lovely it is.

The camping area, where we parked our trailers is to the left, and the buildings to the right are a HUGE kitchen, with stoves, fridges, freezers, sinks, microwaves, all the dishes, pots and pans etc are also supplied. There is a equally large room ajoining, that has TVs, couches, and lots of space for gathering, perfect for inclement weather. The larger building is dorms, there must be about 12 or 14 rooms, each with 4 beds and downstairs are bathrooms and showers. Perfect for reunion the size of this one.

Four Places in Four Days

It's amazing how small the States are. We left BC and only drove a few hours each day, yet we spent time in Idaho, Washington and Montana. Three states plus one province. We are so lucky to live in such a phenomenal country.

This is the back of the restaurant that I described in the following post. Beautiful!

On our way home from camping, we decided to take this back road. It branches off the highway with nary a sign in sight, but we had been told by a friend that there is an amazing restaurant "down the road a-ways." We drove a few miles and came across this astoundingly beautiful little restaurant and pub, smack in the middle of nowhere. The building overlooked this small pond, stocked with fish, which you could feed from your hand (I hope they weren't the same ones that were on the menu!)

There were 5 or 6 tables inside, as well as a few out on the patio as well. Out back you could sit beside a small waterfall that cascaded merrily down the hill, ending in a tiny pool by the tables. We had a great meal, and as we ate, the owner came out to chat with us. He does no advertising at all, none, not a bit. He strictly survives by word of mouth. He says that that way he only gets customers who are willing to make the trip because of something a friend has told them, as opposed to people who just want to stop in because it's "the thing to do"

We were very impressed, and if you are ever heading down to Montana somewhere, let me know and I'll tell you how to get there.

Sumertime, Summertime.

We did quite a bit of camping this year, mostly down in the States. It always amazes me how you can travel such a short distance and find such diverse landscape.

Above is where we camped in the southern part of Idaho, near St. Joe's national park, very prairie-like and windblown. We drove a few hours north, towards Grand Coulee, and camped at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, on the Columbia River, (there is not an actual lake there, so I don't get that part of the name) however, the river is the highest navigable river in the world. Who knew?

Damn Deer

This is the first year that I have grown such amazing petunias. I was very proud of them, since my thumb usually looks like this:My Thumb. This morning I came out to find the tops of the flowers gently removed by a deer mouth.

Above: Before. Below: After.

Little Miss Sleepy Dog

Little Miss Gyps...sleeps the days away now.

Scaredy Dog

And here he is, trying to hide form the thunder.

Mopey

Could he possibly look any more depressed?

Varadero town

We hopped on the bus that takes you to town one day, we wanted to check out the town of Varadero. Luckily, it was May Day, the first of May, which is a national holiday, similar to our Labour day. The whole town was dressed in red and ready to party! These pictures were taken before lunch time, and you can see the empty beer cans scattered everywhere already.

There were BBQ's and musical bands, outdoor beer gardens and all manner of festivities. It was a lot of fun to wander around and join in. School was out, and most businesses were closed, other than restaurants, cigar stores and souvenir places. We found a small sandwich place in the shade, had a bite to eat and a beer and did a bit of people watching.

The coconut Story

I still haven't finished the Cuba blog. I need to tell the coconut story.
The grounds of the resort were covered with gorgeous palm trees, Royal Palms (the tall ones) and "regular" palms (the smaller ones) The regular ones were loaded with coconuts, and one night there was quite a rainstorm, lots of wind and blowing of things. The next AM we arose early and went for a walk before it got too hot. There were a lot of fronds on the ground, as well as coconuts everywhere.

Did you know that more people are killed by falling coconuts each year than die in shark attacks? Approximately 150 die from coconuts falling on their heads and approx 15 die from sharks. Go figure...you are more likely to die while sitting on the beach waiting for your buddy to return from a shark hunt than he is. Coconuts are much more dangerous than I had ever realized.

But to continue, we were walking the grounds and a maintenance man asked us if we wanted a coconut.

I was thinking that it's a pretty cumbersome souvenir, and said "No thanks". He mimed cutting it open and letting us have a drink, well, I thought, in that case, sure, I'll drink from a freshly harvested coconut.

He proceeded to hack it open with a rusty machete, and we carefully took it and headed off to our room.

Fact: Steven was wearing sandals.

Fact: There is a tiny ledge at the opening to our room, perhaps a 1/4 inch high.

Fact: Steven was looking at the coconut, trying to not spill the juice as we walked into the room.

Scenario: As he walks into the room, he does not lift his foot over the ledge, he instead stubs his toe. Hard. The ledge is tile and slices his toe.

Disclaimer: Harsh Language is used. Reader advisory is in effect.

Steven falls forward and realizes his toe is cut and painful. As he starts to trip, he flings his hands out to stop himself from falling. The coconut flies out of his hands and into the room. Too much is happening at once. Blood is flowing from his foot, the coconut is swirling into the room, in what seems to be slow motion, coconut water spurting out like coconut blood...like a decapitated head. I watch in horror as it flies towards...the maid! She is standing there, eyes wide open, mouth like an "O" as this juggernaut proceeds towards her. My hands fly to my mouth, I'm not sure what to do, while in the background I hear Steven's voice: "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuucckkkkkkkkkk!"

The maid dodged to the side, and the coconut bounced on the floor and rolled to the wall where is lay on it's side, slowly leaking the last of it's innards onto the floor. Steven was leaping around, leaving a trail of blood behind him. I grabbed a towel from the maid (white of course) and proceeded to frantically mop up blood.

The maid looked behind us, at the door, trying to plan her escape and held up 5 fingers. "I come back? In 5 minutes?" I nodded yes, and she took off like a shot and we never saw her again.

Luckily the toe wasn't too bad, and once we looked at it and decided it didn't need stitches, I started, once again, to laugh. Steven didn't join in right away, it wasn't as funny to him as the Sundeck Leap.