We're having a plague of moths this year. They are huge, fuzzy and leave their powder all over me. Yes me -- apparently I am magnetite to moths. They fly into the bathroom when I am getting ready for bed and, instead of sensibly swan-songing all over the light fixture, they fly into me at great speeds, leaving little plumes of moth-dust in the air as they hit and bounce off me. Gah!
I used to think moths were rather wonderful: they were mysterious and beautiful night creatures, always geting the short end of the beauty stick compared to butterflies. That was before I developed a moth-gravity. Before they flew onto my toothbrush, strafed me on the toilet and fluttered on the back of my neck while I was carefully removing a contact lens.
Gah! They ping-pong between my computer screen and me, bang-bang. The pinball wizard has nothing on these moths. I bat frantically at the air with National Geographic, my novel, my keyboard and very occasionally I connect. The *thwack* of moth being hit into the stratosphere is very satisfying... until they return, and seek me for comfort, clinging groggily to my pyjamas and hair, recriminating.
I trapped one under the base of my stand-mirror in the bathroom. It was huge, and particularily persistent, and having screeched and batted and waved and magazined it into submission, I couldn't quite bear to thwack it flat. Or I couldn't get a good angle with the MEC catalogue, I'm not sure. In any case, I covered it up and left it there.
The next night, I called upon my husband, who has no fear of any bugs and mocks me heartily for mine. "Please dispose of a moth" I said. "You've got to be kidding me" he said. "Nope."
I gave him directions and a magazine, and retreated to the other side of the bathroom door. I was pleased to hear some of the same screeching and waving and thwacking and crashing that usually accompanied my moth-attacks. I couldn't resist poking my head in to watch the fray, though I suffered at least one moth-bounce to the face for my curiousity.
Finally, it was done. Over. Finite. Requiem for a moth.
Poor Steve: "it was beautiful. Beautiful. It was beautiful and I killed it."
"Oh well."
*flush*
I love my husband, first for killing the moth, then lamenting it.
But I hate the moths.
Well then.
A letter to Grandma via R&T and the glowing box
July 13, 2007
Hi guys,
Sorry to be tardy in reply, but it's been crazy at work and too hot at home :-(
I'm glad Grandma is doing well and I hope you get her out and about a bit. Actually, 22 degrees sounds a little nicer than the mid-30s which is where we were on Tuesday. It's been a perfectly acceptable 25ish since then, but I sit in the airconditioned office with a sweater on and get out into the heat completely un-accllimatized and just swelter.
We've gotten out a few times for walks, including a short but relatively steep one that leads to Langdale Falls. You can use a rope to get right into the ravine and down into the creek and get quite close to the falls. Next time we'll go right up to the falls -- we would have gone all the way but the underwater rocks are very slippery and we didn't take poles. We still slithered around a bunch and had a great time.
We also went down into the ravine of Roberts Creek behind the Legion. It is much shorter but it has a little pool that you can swim/wade in. Steve went all the way in but he's crazy. As I was easing into it, a bunch of kids came in and stirred up all the mud, so we left before I had to dunk. Whew!
We also went down to the beach in Davis Bay and hung out in the sun a tiny bit, and waded in the surf.
We've enjoyed bombing around in the jeep too -- we took the top off and I promptly got sunburned. Ah well. Steve is just tanned. Fortunately, I don't hold grudges. Too much.
We're lightly considering trading in my computer (selling it) and getting a laptop -- it will be much more practical when we're in a one-bedroom apartment (having two workstations set up will be cramped) and we also want to take one to Turkey. Having a laptop will save on phone cards and memory for Steve's camera. How much is your teacher discount? Could we buy it through you?
I'm glad the album came ok. I had meant to send it Express Post but we only had three people in on the Tuesday so I didn't get the chance to go to the post office -- I didn't even get lunch! Fortunately I was able to send it by courier. Did it arrive on the Thursday? They said it would.
I'm so pleased that we got so many great photos. The last cd that I'm expecting came in from Jody & Julia, so I think that's all the photos we'll be getting. Considering we didn't get a paid photographer we got a shocking number of excellent shots -- Steve says maybe even more than we would have with a 'real' photographer. Yay for our friends!
Steve and I have had a lovely time planning our trip to Turkey -- we've made adjustments to our itinerary and are going to spend four nights at a beautiful hotel called the 'Canada Hotel' in a little tiny town called 'Cirali' (pronouned Chir-ali) that is right on the mediteranean near Antalya. It is near Olympos but is bordered on both sides by protected areas (sea turtles lay eggs there) so is small and quiet. From there we can hike the Lycean way and go look at the Chimera (gas vents in the mountain) at night. The owners are a man who grew up in the town and his wife, who is from Calgary. They have been very helpful already in giving directions etc.
We're also going to spend a day hiking the Ihlara Valley where they have about a million churches -- ok, 40. Still, it will be a great day. Apparently it takes 6 hours to walk two kilometres. I guess that's because you have to take a look into 40 churches.
We've put all our savings and all the money we got as gifts into a GIC that will mature the week before our trip. We think we might have enough for a carpet, if it's not too big and we're not too picky. Well, so long as we're careful with other things.
We got the china cabinet in the house along with the china, but we haven't had a chance to put all the stuff in it yet. Our house looks like a bomb went off -- we're doing a big post-matrimony purge of all our doubled stuff plus books and clothes and, well -- all kinds of crap. We're planning a garage sale in two weeks, so in two weeks everything will be lovely. Until then -- not so much. As soon as we get everything set up, we'll take a photo and send it off to Grandma. In the meantime, the cabinet still looks lovely and we're very pleased to have it.
I'm at Di's right now listening to amazing music -- Di had her solo harp concert this afternoon down at the pier and it was magical. The air was calm and warm but not hot and the music floated over the water. I'm drinking Corona with lime and feeling very summery. The only fly in the ointment is that I'm all itchy: something feasted on my feet last night and I'm not quite sure what. Ordinarily mosquitos aren't interested and I'm pretty sure we don't have fleas (and fleas don't like me either) and I have no idea what it was. I even made a paste out of the baking soda we had in the work fridge and smeared that on but it didn't help much (and the white powder all around my desk might look a little suspicious). Perhaps it is the mosquito in the ointment?
We've been eating strawberries with bananas and honey and yoghurt for weeks now. Months ago, I watered and fertilized that little strawberry patch under the cedar tree in the front yard and it paid off big! There's nothing like a fresh strawberry warm from the sun.
Soon it will be blackberry season and judging from the flowers, it will be a bumper crop. As I was driving to work this morning, the road was wet from a rainshower, and the smell coming through the windows was intese: a deep musty moldery smell that was familiar and not unpleasant. I racked my brain and finally realized: it was the smell of a blackberry thicket. I hope there is not a bumper crop of thorns.
Anyway, this has been a very long quick note.
Do pass our love on to Grandma and yourselves and Andrew and the other Browns and John & his wife etc. etc.
Take good care,
Lorien & Steve.
Hi guys,
Sorry to be tardy in reply, but it's been crazy at work and too hot at home :-(
I'm glad Grandma is doing well and I hope you get her out and about a bit. Actually, 22 degrees sounds a little nicer than the mid-30s which is where we were on Tuesday. It's been a perfectly acceptable 25ish since then, but I sit in the airconditioned office with a sweater on and get out into the heat completely un-accllimatized and just swelter.
We've gotten out a few times for walks, including a short but relatively steep one that leads to Langdale Falls. You can use a rope to get right into the ravine and down into the creek and get quite close to the falls. Next time we'll go right up to the falls -- we would have gone all the way but the underwater rocks are very slippery and we didn't take poles. We still slithered around a bunch and had a great time.
We also went down into the ravine of Roberts Creek behind the Legion. It is much shorter but it has a little pool that you can swim/wade in. Steve went all the way in but he's crazy. As I was easing into it, a bunch of kids came in and stirred up all the mud, so we left before I had to dunk. Whew!
We also went down to the beach in Davis Bay and hung out in the sun a tiny bit, and waded in the surf.
We've enjoyed bombing around in the jeep too -- we took the top off and I promptly got sunburned. Ah well. Steve is just tanned. Fortunately, I don't hold grudges. Too much.
We're lightly considering trading in my computer (selling it) and getting a laptop -- it will be much more practical when we're in a one-bedroom apartment (having two workstations set up will be cramped) and we also want to take one to Turkey. Having a laptop will save on phone cards and memory for Steve's camera. How much is your teacher discount? Could we buy it through you?
I'm glad the album came ok. I had meant to send it Express Post but we only had three people in on the Tuesday so I didn't get the chance to go to the post office -- I didn't even get lunch! Fortunately I was able to send it by courier. Did it arrive on the Thursday? They said it would.
I'm so pleased that we got so many great photos. The last cd that I'm expecting came in from Jody & Julia, so I think that's all the photos we'll be getting. Considering we didn't get a paid photographer we got a shocking number of excellent shots -- Steve says maybe even more than we would have with a 'real' photographer. Yay for our friends!
Steve and I have had a lovely time planning our trip to Turkey -- we've made adjustments to our itinerary and are going to spend four nights at a beautiful hotel called the 'Canada Hotel' in a little tiny town called 'Cirali' (pronouned Chir-ali) that is right on the mediteranean near Antalya. It is near Olympos but is bordered on both sides by protected areas (sea turtles lay eggs there) so is small and quiet. From there we can hike the Lycean way and go look at the Chimera (gas vents in the mountain) at night. The owners are a man who grew up in the town and his wife, who is from Calgary. They have been very helpful already in giving directions etc.
We're also going to spend a day hiking the Ihlara Valley where they have about a million churches -- ok, 40. Still, it will be a great day. Apparently it takes 6 hours to walk two kilometres. I guess that's because you have to take a look into 40 churches.
We've put all our savings and all the money we got as gifts into a GIC that will mature the week before our trip. We think we might have enough for a carpet, if it's not too big and we're not too picky. Well, so long as we're careful with other things.
We got the china cabinet in the house along with the china, but we haven't had a chance to put all the stuff in it yet. Our house looks like a bomb went off -- we're doing a big post-matrimony purge of all our doubled stuff plus books and clothes and, well -- all kinds of crap. We're planning a garage sale in two weeks, so in two weeks everything will be lovely. Until then -- not so much. As soon as we get everything set up, we'll take a photo and send it off to Grandma. In the meantime, the cabinet still looks lovely and we're very pleased to have it.
I'm at Di's right now listening to amazing music -- Di had her solo harp concert this afternoon down at the pier and it was magical. The air was calm and warm but not hot and the music floated over the water. I'm drinking Corona with lime and feeling very summery. The only fly in the ointment is that I'm all itchy: something feasted on my feet last night and I'm not quite sure what. Ordinarily mosquitos aren't interested and I'm pretty sure we don't have fleas (and fleas don't like me either) and I have no idea what it was. I even made a paste out of the baking soda we had in the work fridge and smeared that on but it didn't help much (and the white powder all around my desk might look a little suspicious). Perhaps it is the mosquito in the ointment?
We've been eating strawberries with bananas and honey and yoghurt for weeks now. Months ago, I watered and fertilized that little strawberry patch under the cedar tree in the front yard and it paid off big! There's nothing like a fresh strawberry warm from the sun.
Soon it will be blackberry season and judging from the flowers, it will be a bumper crop. As I was driving to work this morning, the road was wet from a rainshower, and the smell coming through the windows was intese: a deep musty moldery smell that was familiar and not unpleasant. I racked my brain and finally realized: it was the smell of a blackberry thicket. I hope there is not a bumper crop of thorns.
Anyway, this has been a very long quick note.
Do pass our love on to Grandma and yourselves and Andrew and the other Browns and John & his wife etc. etc.
Take good care,
Lorien & Steve.
Photos of Langdale Falls with commentary. Yes, commentary. I'm sorry.
LANGDALE FALLS PHOTOS:
The Falls:
Yes, water is falling in Langdale. Not a very imaginative name, I'm afraid.
Ahah! I got the camera:
He doesn't look very impressed right there, does he?
Slithering around on the rocks:
Don't laugh, but I broke my pedicure on those rocks :-(
I got the camera again and Steve obligingly looked all handsome in front of the falls. He didn't wreck HIS pedicure (ok, I couldn't convince him to come with for one).
This walk took the prize as the New Best Walk Ever for Angel, though she doesn't actually look that enthused in this photo:
She wasn't quite as into standing around on rocks, though.
She looks like a circus dog! Only unhappier.
I took the camera to take a photo of Steve using the rope assist. I love rope assists!
All in all, it was a very nice walk. And wade. And slither. And pedicure-demise!
The Falls:
Yes, water is falling in Langdale. Not a very imaginative name, I'm afraid.
Ahah! I got the camera:
He doesn't look very impressed right there, does he?
Slithering around on the rocks:
Don't laugh, but I broke my pedicure on those rocks :-(
I got the camera again and Steve obligingly looked all handsome in front of the falls. He didn't wreck HIS pedicure (ok, I couldn't convince him to come with for one).
This walk took the prize as the New Best Walk Ever for Angel, though she doesn't actually look that enthused in this photo:
She wasn't quite as into standing around on rocks, though.
She looks like a circus dog! Only unhappier.
I took the camera to take a photo of Steve using the rope assist. I love rope assists!
All in all, it was a very nice walk. And wade. And slither. And pedicure-demise!
Slightly out of order, but ok...
Having not quite gotten around to doing the post on the post-wedding brunch and particular and Sunday in general, I'm now about to do a small post on the 'mini-moon' we took in Powell River. So I'm jumping around -- it's my blog!
So.
In a fit of brillliance that could only have been dreamed up by the non-sick, we decided to go camping. Now camping in May isn't necessarily a stupid idea, but camping in May on the Wet Coast while sick as little sick dogs was maybe not the all time brightest move.
That said, it was fine.
The first night was great, even -- Steve's mum and dad got him the birthday present of a night in the Rockwater's 'Tent Suites' which was Monday night. He groused a little back in March, but when we arrived Monday night he was all "ok, this is an AWESOME birthday present!" And it was... I'm not sure why I don't have any photos at my disposal, but I'll find some 'cause it has to be seen to be believed. There was this great walkway through the forest (like the West Coast Trail except more civilized) that led to the tents, each of which was off on its own for privacy. The 'tent' (and I use the word loosely) had its own balcony that looked out on the ocean, complete with loungers. There was a huge bed with a down duvet, a slate tiled shower, heated slate tile floors, and a jaccuzzi tub with jets, bath salts and COLOURS. Yes, the tub was pretty cool. It was a very nice way to wind down our 'wedding weekend'.
Tuesday morning we took our time getting ready. We packed slowly, taking our time looking for my Grandma's earring that I'd been wearing since the wedding. Steve, my hero, found it somewhere that I couldn't see it.
We drove from Halfmoon Bay back to Gibsons to pack the jeep and pick up the dog. We also took a gift certificate we had gotten for Canadian Tire and invested, wisely, in an air mattress with a built-in foot pump. Ahhhhh, bliss! Neither of us had ever camped with an air mattress before and man! was it ever nice.
We booked it to the ferry in Earl's Cove where we discovered that ferries run even less often than they do between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale. We waited and waited, and I found out that I burn in convertables :-(
The dog enjoyed the sun while we were waiting for the ferry, but not so much the wind when we were actually driving.
We found our campsite at Willingdon Beach which is the city campground right in the middle of 'new' Powell River. It is a great campground and we were, as we requested, Right On The Beach. I can only assume that it was because we told them we were honeymooning that they put us right at the edge next to the trees. It was lovely and private except for the stream of people coming right past our tent to walk the Willingdon Beach Trail first thing in the morning.
We rolled in just as the sun was going down and set up camp... with only a little snapping. We borrowed Mike & Laura's massive Tent of Doom (the Funhouse 6, I believe). It had windows and doors and was almost the size of our bedroom. It was quite the eddifice compared to our little nylon backpacking tube. We briefly considered digging it a moat.
Once the tent was up, Steve wandered the whole 10 feet to the beach and took pictures of the sunset.
We found dinner at the local Safeway deli. It was... adequate. Very adequate.
This cedar tree was right beside our campsite. It was very unusual and beautiful -- like a 'weeping cedar'.
And that was the end of Tuesday.
The next morning, Steve went and walked the Willingdon Beach Trail. When in Rome, I guess.
The Willingdon Beach Trail is set up as an outdoor forestry museum and has all sorts of bits of machinery along the side of the trail. Including a boat.
You know, I never even managed to walk this trail, though I'd love to. Someday. When I'm not sick.
The only complaint I have about the WB campground is that the website says free showers... and they aren't. I had to go back for a loonie, and the four minutes purchased by that loonie was simply inadequate. I rinsed in the sink. But I'd go back.
We got underway on Wednesday morning and found the tourist information booth. We left the dog in the jeep in the parking lot.
Angel was eager to get underway, so we left for Lund, which we'd heard was absolutely lovely, and an hour up the road where Highway 101 runs out.
We thought we were going to leave Angel in the jeep while we had a quick lunch at Nancy's, the locally famous bakery. Note the word 'thought' -- while we were walking around the top of the building, we heard a suspicious jingle, much like the one that comes from Angel's dog tags. We called for her, and walked around looking for her, but no little white dog... until we asked a couple coming up the stairs from the restuarant. We asked them if they'd seen her, and they said yes -- the little white dog had rushed into the restaurant and was still there, as far as they knew.
We rushed downstairs into the restaurant and there she was, looking from table to table for us while simultaneously licking every inch of floor. Mmm... floor.
We called her out and tied her up outside. Bad dog! Bad! Actually she was really cute, and we brought out our (justifyable famous) lunch and ate with her.
Then we walked around Lund. It didn't take long. Lund is small and pretty, and perhaps if we'd been more energetic we'd have rented kayaks or taken the Water Taxi over to Savary Island or some other adventure. As it was, we just looked at the waterfront and a very nice art shop under the Lund Hotel.
Then we went home. I mean, back to Powell River. We went and had rather good and cheap chicken wings at a little pub that was right on the edge of Powell Lake. We tied Angel up.
After dinner, we scooted back to the historic part of Powell River in order to join a walking tour that we had been told would leave at 7pm. The guide never showed up, so we self-guided ourselves around according to the brochure. It was quite like old times (I used to be a tour guide).
The old houses were lovely -- old Powell River was a town built, and planned, by the Pulp Mill for its employees. Somewhat surprisingly, they did a fantastic job and the little old town is really quite wonderful. Except, perhaps, for its view of... the pulp mill.
We cruised around deciding which house(s) we'd like to buy... property in Powell River is relatively inexpensive, and Powell River itself is a very nice town, but it really does feel much more isolated than Gibsons.
But look at the houses!
We settled on this as the house to buy:
Or this one:
They were built for management -- typical, huh?
There were three churches in a block, but two were no longer churches. We then decided that it would be amazing to live in a church.
We got back to the campsite and Steve went down to the beach to photograph the sunset. There was also this crane -- I mean HERON -- which we had seen briefly the night before. He really liked the little bit of beach beside the tent and every so often I'd look up to see Steve stalking the crane. I mean heron.
Sometimes he was more sucessful than others.
And it was the end of Wednesday.
Thursday Steve tried to get me to walk the trail with him. It didn't work.
By this time we were feeling significantly better, so we decided to try a little hike. And by little, we mean very small. Tiny. We hiked up 'Mount Valentine' which is such an easy hike that they even give you stairs. We reached the top pretty easily and enjoyed lunch and views that were amazing.
There was a big bug and some very ambitious ants, so we left and wandered around the top of the hill, which was exquisite. The area was developed for Mill employees to have a picnic and recreation spot, so there were lovely steps and stone benches, as well as some newer picnic tables. Did I mention there were stairs to the top? Nice.
This is new Powell River. It is wonderfully far from old Powell River.
We went down and looked at 'The Hulks', which is a man-made breakwater for the Mill's logs.
They are beautiful and shockingly ugly at the same time.
We went to the Cranberry Pottery and bought souveniers, since apparently this is The Place To Buy Souveniers. Actually, their stuff is lovely. I really liked some neat... well, I thought they were ginger jars, but apparently they were urns for ashes. And they came made to order! Ew.
Then it was off to try out the new jeep: I found some logging roads in the hopes of getting it into fourwheel drive. Steve napped. The worst potholes I'd just about ever seen, and Steve... slept. Like a baby.
We -- ok, I -- found a beautiful lake, which I woke Steve up for.
There was also a quarry which was used for stone for the logging roads.
By this time Steve was mostly awake, so I celebrated by driving through a big puddle.
We went back home and had icecream from Dairy Queen. Ahhh, Dairy Queen.
Steve took more sunset pictures and stalked the crane some more. Um... heron. We shared our (fitfully burning) fire with a very nice couple from Edmonton who were tenting, like us. You know, there were tons of people there in campers and the only really friendly ones showed up in a tent. Coincidence? I think not.
And that was Thursday.
Friday we went home to Gibsons, and ate yummy breakfast while waiting, again, for the ferry. This guy ran the snack shack and was friendly.
He offered that we could go pet his horse and miniature mules (yes, miniature mules). They were all very friendly and cute and dirty, and we pet them and fed them grass, which they appreciated for just long enough for someone else to come by and bring them grass.
The shack-guy also said that to stop wasps from coming into the house, hang up a bag full of water just outside the door. He swore by it, though I have yet to try it out. While we were there, tons of locals came by and chatted about all kinds of stuff. It felt very comfortably rural.
In short, we enjoyed Powell River very much. It never actually rained on us (though we put the top on the jeep for precautionary purposes), we did in fact get better rather than sicker, we read books and lounged and napped on our air mattress and generally had exactly the downtime we needed after the civilized chaos of the wedding.
So.
In a fit of brillliance that could only have been dreamed up by the non-sick, we decided to go camping. Now camping in May isn't necessarily a stupid idea, but camping in May on the Wet Coast while sick as little sick dogs was maybe not the all time brightest move.
That said, it was fine.
The first night was great, even -- Steve's mum and dad got him the birthday present of a night in the Rockwater's 'Tent Suites' which was Monday night. He groused a little back in March, but when we arrived Monday night he was all "ok, this is an AWESOME birthday present!" And it was... I'm not sure why I don't have any photos at my disposal, but I'll find some 'cause it has to be seen to be believed. There was this great walkway through the forest (like the West Coast Trail except more civilized) that led to the tents, each of which was off on its own for privacy. The 'tent' (and I use the word loosely) had its own balcony that looked out on the ocean, complete with loungers. There was a huge bed with a down duvet, a slate tiled shower, heated slate tile floors, and a jaccuzzi tub with jets, bath salts and COLOURS. Yes, the tub was pretty cool. It was a very nice way to wind down our 'wedding weekend'.
Tuesday morning we took our time getting ready. We packed slowly, taking our time looking for my Grandma's earring that I'd been wearing since the wedding. Steve, my hero, found it somewhere that I couldn't see it.
We drove from Halfmoon Bay back to Gibsons to pack the jeep and pick up the dog. We also took a gift certificate we had gotten for Canadian Tire and invested, wisely, in an air mattress with a built-in foot pump. Ahhhhh, bliss! Neither of us had ever camped with an air mattress before and man! was it ever nice.
We booked it to the ferry in Earl's Cove where we discovered that ferries run even less often than they do between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale. We waited and waited, and I found out that I burn in convertables :-(
The dog enjoyed the sun while we were waiting for the ferry, but not so much the wind when we were actually driving.
We found our campsite at Willingdon Beach which is the city campground right in the middle of 'new' Powell River. It is a great campground and we were, as we requested, Right On The Beach. I can only assume that it was because we told them we were honeymooning that they put us right at the edge next to the trees. It was lovely and private except for the stream of people coming right past our tent to walk the Willingdon Beach Trail first thing in the morning.
We rolled in just as the sun was going down and set up camp... with only a little snapping. We borrowed Mike & Laura's massive Tent of Doom (the Funhouse 6, I believe). It had windows and doors and was almost the size of our bedroom. It was quite the eddifice compared to our little nylon backpacking tube. We briefly considered digging it a moat.
Once the tent was up, Steve wandered the whole 10 feet to the beach and took pictures of the sunset.
We found dinner at the local Safeway deli. It was... adequate. Very adequate.
This cedar tree was right beside our campsite. It was very unusual and beautiful -- like a 'weeping cedar'.
And that was the end of Tuesday.
The next morning, Steve went and walked the Willingdon Beach Trail. When in Rome, I guess.
The Willingdon Beach Trail is set up as an outdoor forestry museum and has all sorts of bits of machinery along the side of the trail. Including a boat.
You know, I never even managed to walk this trail, though I'd love to. Someday. When I'm not sick.
The only complaint I have about the WB campground is that the website says free showers... and they aren't. I had to go back for a loonie, and the four minutes purchased by that loonie was simply inadequate. I rinsed in the sink. But I'd go back.
We got underway on Wednesday morning and found the tourist information booth. We left the dog in the jeep in the parking lot.
Angel was eager to get underway, so we left for Lund, which we'd heard was absolutely lovely, and an hour up the road where Highway 101 runs out.
We thought we were going to leave Angel in the jeep while we had a quick lunch at Nancy's, the locally famous bakery. Note the word 'thought' -- while we were walking around the top of the building, we heard a suspicious jingle, much like the one that comes from Angel's dog tags. We called for her, and walked around looking for her, but no little white dog... until we asked a couple coming up the stairs from the restuarant. We asked them if they'd seen her, and they said yes -- the little white dog had rushed into the restaurant and was still there, as far as they knew.
We rushed downstairs into the restaurant and there she was, looking from table to table for us while simultaneously licking every inch of floor. Mmm... floor.
We called her out and tied her up outside. Bad dog! Bad! Actually she was really cute, and we brought out our (justifyable famous) lunch and ate with her.
Then we walked around Lund. It didn't take long. Lund is small and pretty, and perhaps if we'd been more energetic we'd have rented kayaks or taken the Water Taxi over to Savary Island or some other adventure. As it was, we just looked at the waterfront and a very nice art shop under the Lund Hotel.
Then we went home. I mean, back to Powell River. We went and had rather good and cheap chicken wings at a little pub that was right on the edge of Powell Lake. We tied Angel up.
After dinner, we scooted back to the historic part of Powell River in order to join a walking tour that we had been told would leave at 7pm. The guide never showed up, so we self-guided ourselves around according to the brochure. It was quite like old times (I used to be a tour guide).
The old houses were lovely -- old Powell River was a town built, and planned, by the Pulp Mill for its employees. Somewhat surprisingly, they did a fantastic job and the little old town is really quite wonderful. Except, perhaps, for its view of... the pulp mill.
We cruised around deciding which house(s) we'd like to buy... property in Powell River is relatively inexpensive, and Powell River itself is a very nice town, but it really does feel much more isolated than Gibsons.
But look at the houses!
We settled on this as the house to buy:
Or this one:
They were built for management -- typical, huh?
There were three churches in a block, but two were no longer churches. We then decided that it would be amazing to live in a church.
We got back to the campsite and Steve went down to the beach to photograph the sunset. There was also this crane -- I mean HERON -- which we had seen briefly the night before. He really liked the little bit of beach beside the tent and every so often I'd look up to see Steve stalking the crane. I mean heron.
Sometimes he was more sucessful than others.
And it was the end of Wednesday.
Thursday Steve tried to get me to walk the trail with him. It didn't work.
By this time we were feeling significantly better, so we decided to try a little hike. And by little, we mean very small. Tiny. We hiked up 'Mount Valentine' which is such an easy hike that they even give you stairs. We reached the top pretty easily and enjoyed lunch and views that were amazing.
There was a big bug and some very ambitious ants, so we left and wandered around the top of the hill, which was exquisite. The area was developed for Mill employees to have a picnic and recreation spot, so there were lovely steps and stone benches, as well as some newer picnic tables. Did I mention there were stairs to the top? Nice.
This is new Powell River. It is wonderfully far from old Powell River.
We went down and looked at 'The Hulks', which is a man-made breakwater for the Mill's logs.
They are beautiful and shockingly ugly at the same time.
We went to the Cranberry Pottery and bought souveniers, since apparently this is The Place To Buy Souveniers. Actually, their stuff is lovely. I really liked some neat... well, I thought they were ginger jars, but apparently they were urns for ashes. And they came made to order! Ew.
Then it was off to try out the new jeep: I found some logging roads in the hopes of getting it into fourwheel drive. Steve napped. The worst potholes I'd just about ever seen, and Steve... slept. Like a baby.
We -- ok, I -- found a beautiful lake, which I woke Steve up for.
There was also a quarry which was used for stone for the logging roads.
By this time Steve was mostly awake, so I celebrated by driving through a big puddle.
We went back home and had icecream from Dairy Queen. Ahhh, Dairy Queen.
Steve took more sunset pictures and stalked the crane some more. Um... heron. We shared our (fitfully burning) fire with a very nice couple from Edmonton who were tenting, like us. You know, there were tons of people there in campers and the only really friendly ones showed up in a tent. Coincidence? I think not.
And that was Thursday.
Friday we went home to Gibsons, and ate yummy breakfast while waiting, again, for the ferry. This guy ran the snack shack and was friendly.
He offered that we could go pet his horse and miniature mules (yes, miniature mules). They were all very friendly and cute and dirty, and we pet them and fed them grass, which they appreciated for just long enough for someone else to come by and bring them grass.
The shack-guy also said that to stop wasps from coming into the house, hang up a bag full of water just outside the door. He swore by it, though I have yet to try it out. While we were there, tons of locals came by and chatted about all kinds of stuff. It felt very comfortably rural.
In short, we enjoyed Powell River very much. It never actually rained on us (though we put the top on the jeep for precautionary purposes), we did in fact get better rather than sicker, we read books and lounged and napped on our air mattress and generally had exactly the downtime we needed after the civilized chaos of the wedding.
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