Monday, June 30 - "Civilization" Calls

I’m back with tales of our successful camping/fishing trip into BC… and our annual reunion with old friends. We rendezvoused with Sherry and Sharon Barnette (they lived many years on Maui, now in Arizona) and Rick and Daphne Hammond (old friends from Kimberley) at a small lake near Cranbrook. Barnettes drove their lovely large motorhome up from the States and Hammonds have a gorgeous new Winnebago trailer – while we camped in our old, reliable and basic Class C RV. The lake Rick chose this year is much smaller than previous ones we had camped at, with only 11 campsites and we had three of them. Absolutely quiet except for some howling wolves, screeching bald eagles and the plop of rainbow trout jumping in the evening.

            Jim and I tried out our new inflatable kayak and loved it, especially the mobility aspect. Rick rowed Sharon and me across the lake the first day and left us on the far shore to fish the hours away while Jim explored the shoreline and a small island from his kayak. Sharon and I had two hits but no fish that day, using worms for bait. The next day Jim marooned me at the same spot and I spent a full six hours fishing and loving the peace and quiet – and I caught a heckuva rainbow trout, releasing him to swim another day.

Jim enjoying our new inflatable Sea Eagle

 We had one excellent day of sunny, warm weather; the other four days were cloudy and rainy. Jim managed to get in some painting while Sharon, Daphne and I Scrabbled. And we shared the evening meals, each couple preparing the evening meal for everyone on successive nights. The mosquitoes enjoyed the buffet too.

            And on the last evening, we fished! Rick rowed us out to the fishing hotspot where he set us up with fly-fishing gear and away we went. Sharon hooked the first one and kept it. Then I pulled in a lovely 14-incher, then another and another and two more after that. Sharon caught a second one but released it. We kept Sharon’s and two of mine, releasing another four back to the water. Rick was kind enough to clean and fillet them and they’re now in our freezer to be served for breakfast one of these days.

Joy, Rick and Sharon after a successful fly-fishing excursion            

We left the lake on Friday and took our time coming back to the ranch, stopping in Kimberley and Cranbrook, then at a roadside park for a quick lunch, and finally in Blairmore to pick up some fantastic Indian food for supper. Recommendation: the Highwood Indian Restaurant in Blairmore – their food is authentic Indian and their buffet is only $12.95 (Canadian!) per person. We were home around 7; the roads have dried up and the bridge is passable, although Barnettes won’t be driving their 40,000-pound motorhome over it anytime soon. The creek is running muddy so I’ll have to wait a while to fish but if we don’t get any rain for a few days it will clear up quickly.

The view southwest from Hwy 22 just south of the ranch 

Cousins Shane and Peter drove out for a visit on Saturday; the first time we’ve seen Shane since she returned from a trip to England to see her mom. We had lunch and supper, worked on a jigsaw puzzle and took a drive west on Saddle Mountain Road just before sunset to view wildlife – lots of deer, no other critters.

            And now for the sad news: We have decided to sell our RV. We spent the last two days emptying it of all our gear and scrubbing it inside and out. This afternoon we’ll drive it into Claresholm to put it on consignment at a car dealer’s. If it sells we’ll use the Jeep for the rest of the summer; if it doesn’t sell… well, we won’t mind that either. This is our 10^th year in our little RV and we have loved every moment of every trip. So why are we selling? Well, with gas at $1.44/liter in BC (about $5.08/gallon in US funds), and the RV getting 8 miles per gallon…. we’ve done the math and know that driving the Jeep, staying in motels and eating in restaurants is no more costly than traveling in the RV. In fact, in many places such as Montana and Idaho, it’s cheaper. So, the upshot is we hope it sells but won’t mind if it doesn’t.

            We’re going into town today to see Mom, do our laundry and use the internet at the library so I can get this posted, pay a few bills, and catch up on the news. It’s really wonderful living here at the ranch without television, radio, wifi, and neighbors (other than my brother and sis-in-law, of course) – but sometimes one just has to get back to civilization, if just for a day, right?