On the Road to Paska Lake

Thursday, August 24th

I was up at 5 am to do any last minute chores and then we were on our way to catch the 7:45 sailing from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo. Kristi and Jason moved into their new house last weekend and we were anxious to see it before we left for the winter. I'd loaded our car with a shelving system and an outdoor canvas shed for Jason we no longer needed at Dad's. While waiting in the line-up we noticed these "race trucks", pretty cool. No need for a reservation at this time of the morning.

Once on the island we also needed to get some last minute things out of our storage and drop off stuff as well. Ray gave his brother Ryan some information to be able to deal with their mother's estate (original will) while we were gone, as the boys are joint executors, and we picked up the last of our mail. Very important as Ray's new driver's license was in this batch! Kristi was operating today so we arranged to meet her at our favorite sushi restaurant, Nori's, with Jason for dinner. Yumm.

Notice I got "my ears lowered" for my winter travelling haircut ... no access to get it cut again until we are in Utah!

Friday, August 25th

Ray and I walked around the Nanimo Harbour waiting for our doctor appointments for prescription renewal at 11:30 am. 

After finishing at noon, what to do for the next 2 hours! I'd reserved the 3:15 ferry back. We drove around a few neighbourhoods, like Mount Benson, as we had never gone up there before and then back to the ferry. Good thing as when we arrived 1 1/2 hours before sailing there was already a one sailing wait. We mostly sat in the car and read until loading time. Once back on the Vancouver side, it was a mad dash to London Drugs to drop off our prescriptions, pick up Ray's guitar from repairs, buy last minute items .... bread, pick up KFC (enough for tonight and tomorrow night) and head to Dad's. We finally sat down to eat at 7 pm with a very rambuncious dog so happy to see us. We were exhausted and she wanted to play! Tried to have a visit with Dad but he was in the shower and then when I went back at 8:15 he had already gone to bed. 3 last loads of laundry done and in bed by 10. Had a very unsettled night thinking of all the things I had to do before leaving so I was up before 6 am and started putting the motorhome in travel mode. Excited much?

Saturday, August 26th

Finally started our "winter adventures" after spending the spring and summer in South Surrey. Jacks up and on the road by 10 am after picking up our prescriptions, and doing the "dumpit to crumpit". Left Dad in the capable hands of his full-time caregiver, Larny, and his friend and nurse Bev. Without them and the great care they give Dad, I would not feel comfortable leaving him until our visit at Christmas. Unfortunately, traffic from Surrey through Abbotsford was terrible but after that smooth sailing to Paska Lake for a week's downtime fishing. Here is a picture of the bumper to bumper traffic highlighting Mount Baker.

After stopping to fuel up in Merritt, (The Husky Travel Station is now closed so we ended up at Extra Foods and paid $1.06/gal for diesel) we arrived at Paska about 2:15. Our friends, Paul and Giselle and their son Chris were there to greet us. We managed to squeeze in a campsite 2 down from them for a few days. We will take their site on Tuesday when they leave as it is the one at the end, which we were in 2 years ago, with more space. (Same one you guys took from us Steve and Dianne!) Quite hot afternoon at about 26 C. The coach was really warm from the engine heat. Freya thoroughly enjoyed swimming again and was in and out of the water for a couple of hours.

We had a little afternoon get together with Paul and Giselle and their neighbours for a couple of hours and then went inside. Had the air on for an hour or so for dinner. Both Ray and I were in bed by 8 pm although just reading as we were both very tired. Had all the windows open and fans running to try and cool the inside down. My usual ice pack for my face worked. Paul played his guitar and sang for 2 hours and we enjoyed listening just laying in bed. At midnight I got up and closed all the windows and it had cooled down subsantially. When we got up at 6 am it was only 5 C outside so I fired up the furnace for a short while to take the chill off. It has been so long since we "dry camped" it took me a bit to figure out everything! The Big Buddy Heater was taken out of storage and will be deployed tomorrow!

Note: Since we changed our cell phone plans from Telus to Rogers, we now get excellent cell coverage here at Paska including no problem with internet. Yeah!