finally....

Here we go...heading off in the vw. Yes, that is a vase of real flowers. Luxury and beauty at all costs. The Summer Dog loves his travel bed. It was hot, lordy, 44 and dry as a bone through the Frasier Canyon. It felt like we were breathing in an oven. We bypassed every ghost town, sorry. We were miserable in the heat and the big black dog was worse, so every stop we made was along the river...we'd stop, everybody out of the van, plunge into the water fully clothed(and furred) and then climb back in the van. We'd be hot and dry within ten minutes. I lost count of how many times we stopped to cool off. It was longest trip to Kamloops we ever took. We're going back for Thanksgiving and hopefully October weather will be better ghost-town-touring-weather.
In Kamloops, it was just as hot and dry. His folks have air-conditioning, though. Whew. Across the valley from their house, we saw this fire flare up in seconds. Luckily it burned so hot, so fast that it burned itself right out. There were other fires doing serious damage elsewhere... everywhere. We stayed one night in Kamloops and headed to Sugar Lake...met up with everyone who could make it. One of our dear friends lost her mother to cancer just the day before so, of course, their family did not make it. Our hearts and prayers, love and support, pour out of each of us, HS. We missed you. Crack of dawn and the fisher boys are out already. It's all they ever want to do...fishfishfishfishfish. Even I tried my hand at it. Sadly, all those poles in the water for days and only one fish between all of us. I guess they really are there but apparently we were not fishing "deep" enough. Hmmm.
There is a "Fire Camp" next to where we stayed. This helicopter kept flying in and there were groups of "young people" learning canoe skills like how to flip one over that's upside down and how to get back in one if you fall out. I don't know what kind of fire they will be putting out, but apparently, it will be IN A LAKE.
I spent a lot of time looking at this view. We had the use of a little boat so we were daily, the whole lot of us, out of the resort camp and off on our own little beach somewhere. Quiet(except for the kids that came with us and the two dogs) and private. All in all, it was pretty ideal. It was hotter than h-e-double toothpicks, though, and even with the lake to get in and out of, by the last day, I was really getting grouchy. So was the dog.
Well, that is the extent of the photos I can load tonight...and I have written a lot today, in general(I also made 8 loaves of zuchinni bread with my neighbour, took two dog walks, and planted all this indigenous moss in the rock path out back today). Tomorrow, I will post some more photos, Blogger willing, and tell you some of the cool specifics of camping at Sugar Lake. G'nite all.