August | 2019 | Busy, Busy, Busy

Fran signed up for another summer Pottery Workshop but this time it was in Nelson which is only about an hour from Trail. I decided early on that I would use that week to go camping at Kokanee Creek Provincial Park.

Karen loves camping so we mentioned it to her and she was able to book her holidays so she could join me to be my camping, kayaking, and campfire buddy.

Once Fran was dropped off at her AirBnB in Nelson, we set up camp and enjoyed 5 days of great weather, fabulous kayaking, and many sights to see in and around the park. The campground is located next to a spawning channel for the Kokanee salmon — freshwater Sockeye salmon who live in some of the freshwater lakes in the Kootenay.

Paddling on the ‘West Arm’ of Kootenay Lake was a first for both of us and we were greeted each morning with warm temperatures, calm waters, and an abundance of wildlife to watch. Many Osprey and Bald Eagles were sighted as we paddled with many nests on the dock pilings and we were able to view them feeding while drifting nearby in the kayaks.

We took a couple of afternoon excursions, one to Kaslo to tour the SS Movie, one to Harrop / Proctor jut to ride the ferry, and one to Nelson for supplies. Unfortunately, we didn’t make the Kootenay Lake Ferry sailing we had planned on taking which meant no trip to Kootenay Bay this time.

A short movie of our holiday.

Did I mention that is has been hot? Good ol’ August weather arrived and of course it was too hot — the older we get the more we get like the farmers… too hot, too cold, too dry, too much rain, it’s never just right at the right time.
The good news about the hot temperatures is all about the veg garden finally starting to produce ripe tomatoes. I has been a relatively poor year in our garden this year as the pepper plants don’t seem to like the garden beds. They do seem to love the garden pots and grow bags however, very strange.

Fran did not open her studio for the Art Tour this year and instead we toured a few of the other artists’ studios. Fran picked a couple of studios in the hamlet of Glade as well as a couple in the Winlaw area of the Slocan Valley. The trip to Glade includes a short ferry ride across the Kootenay River and this was the first time we had gone there.
Glade is a quaint, rural setting of acreage homes and hobby farms which is a minor side trip from the highway between Castlegar and Nelson. The first studio was a watercolor painter with an unusual additional hobby — competitive dog trials. They have an acreage that is set up to host sheep herding trials and own just enough sheep for their dogs to practice with.

Curt and Eric were traveling to the Abbotsford Air Show, so they planned their trip with a visit in each direction to break up the long drive. Evening walks with Fran and Jen for Curt, golf with Grandpa for Eric, and Collander spaghetti of course. The girls wore Curt out with their uphill trek in West Trail — not exactly like his daily walks in Medicine Hat.

Just a couple of days after Curt & Eric left, it was our granddaughter’s turn. Meg and Jordan came for a return visit before heading back to Medicine Hat. They were on a short holiday and stayed in an AirBnB just outside of Nelson for a couple of nights.
They both seem to really enjoy the tranquility of the mountains and the river, not to mention Fran’s gluten free cooking and baking.
Before they left, we took Jordan to view the shooting locale of an urban skiing video that he remembered being shot in Trail — jeez, it didn’t look that steep in the video. Here is the link to it.. https://youtu.be/meYQUB-RLLc?t=121