When I Met you in the Summer

It doesn’t seem right to go back to school  without reflecting first on what a wonderful summer we had. The west coast is genuinely beautiful in the summer, and our travels this year made it apparent that there’s much more we want to see while we’re here. And of course, the visit home, and getting to reconnect with family and friends, is always joyful — not to mention how pleased I am that our three little ones are becoming such resilient and comfortable travelers.
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We spent two weekends in BC in August. One with good friends from our Washington home, and the other with my brother and sister and her family:
The first weekend we set out to go camping north of the border, intentionally not booking a campground or even setting a specific destination. The ladies were less comfortable with this plan-not-to-plan, and I admit that after our first two stops led to full campgrounds and lots in trailer parks, I was starting to get a little nervous myself. We pushed on, though, to Harrison Hot Springs — a destination we’ve frequented in the winters we’ve been here. We found the Provincial Park campground a few KM outside of town, only to discover that it too was full. A French-Canadian RCMP officer, doing driver’s license checks, pointed us to a dirt road, suggesting that there were spots to camp 15, 17 and 21km up it. We were incredulous, but low on options, so we bumped the old minivan down the “road” for nearly an hour before an old wooden sign gave us a glimmer of hope. We’d been climbing steadily the whole time, and down we were fairly sliding back down. A few minutes and a steep hill later, and sure enough, there was an actual (although low-on-facilities) campground, tucked away along the water. The camp steward asked us if we would be OK camping on the beach… The neighbours were noisy, but the view sure was incredible!
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The next weekend we visited my sister’s in-laws lake house (not, a cabin at all, no matter what they tell you) — for a much more comfortable kind of vacationing. Our kids were delighted by their one-year old cousin, the inner tube dragged behind the boat (even if it was rainy) and the lake to jump in. And it was great to hang out with my siblings, and just relax.
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Of course there were lots of other nice weekends closer to home: we saw the Blue Angels, rented a boat for an afternoon, found some beaches nearby, and enjoyed the peaceful little community God has blessed us with. We’re very sorry to see another west coast summer go by, but so grateful we got the chance to enjoy it.
More pictures coming in the sidebar.