We Be Hope-ing!

Thule is loaded into the car (yes - I know it's supposed to be on the roof!)


Yesterday - Wed. May 20 - up early (0530), left home at 0800 and headed south on the Island Highway, to Cassidy, just south of Nanaimo, where our friends Tony and Barb recently purchased a mobile home for their summer residence (winter one in Hawaii). We had a multi-coffee visit, as we toured their renovations.




Barb, Tony and Don at B&T's new project










We managed to catch the 1245 Duke Point ferry, arriving in Vancouver at our friends Bill and Diane's home by 1600. There we enjoyeda very nice catch-up and visit over wine and bubbly, and a wonderful dinner - followed by a very comfortable sleep in a bed loaded with multiple fluffy pillows and a soft duvet. We woke up in time to kiss Diane goodbye as she trotted off to work, and then to enjoy a breakfast with Bill.






Happy Hour with Bill and Diane








Then it was time to put the Thule car-top carrier on the roof of the car (we had put it inside the car for the ferry trip across, to avoid overheight charges). By 1100 we were off, looking to find the "dead" centres of Burnaby. It turns out there were 3 of them - Ocean View, Forest Lawn, and the Masonic Cemeteries, where we managed to locate 7 graves of deceased relatives (yes- we are already started on the genealogy/family history part of the trip!). By 1400 hours we were headed east out of Vancouver. Although we are not in a huge rush, we may have passed by a few friends' places as we drove past Surrey and Langley - don't feel offended if you are one of them.......when we get to the Atlantic, we will turn around and come back......and likely stop and see you then!


So just at the end of the Fraser Valley, as we approached the town of Hope, we decided to have our first go at camping (first, at least, in 28 years!). We have set up our tent in a campground......this one a bit more posh than some we may be using later, but we want to break ourselves in gently.....and this place has showers and wifi, so that the blog can continue, and email can be checked. We have had two very lovely days so far, with not a cloud in the sky today, and very pleasant temperatures. A one-pot dinner of spaghetti, with dessert of melted After-Eight's (thanks, Gary & Wendy - forgot to put them in the cooler) with fresh strawberries.
The fire is laid for our first campfire in a long time. No marshmallows, though......



Linda doing dinner prep.....tent in background