okay okay....

Back on the road.... Our last camp was supposed to be somewhere else, but we didn't find signs or an exit off the hellacious highway we were on. Not hellaciously high traffic, but straight up, straight down and boring as hell...boring......boring... boring.

But we found a sign for a Provincial campground in an unexpected place. It said it was 8 k off the road...I think some practical joker removed the 2 from in front of that 8...we thought there was no way there was a park way down this rangeland road, winding (seemingly)endlessly through scrub brush and cattle...and we drove long past 8k, nearly turned back once, changed our minds, got grouchy, felt cheated....and then?

Kentucky Lake. Our last camp was there, tucked down among three lakes, beyond the scrub brush and the cattle, and was drop-dead gorgeous. This camp was also much lower in elevation than the camp we were originally looking for and, as I found out later, that was a very good thing.

We were still quite high up, and as night fell, without a cloud in the sky, we saw the stars like no other night we'd been out. We could have held the milky way in our hands. The stars felt close enough that we could have been the ones to hang them. We could have folded the dark blanket down behind them. You forget sometimes what it's like out there. That night we spent alone on Trout Lake was cloudy and it rained so we didn't get that awestruck, jaw-dropping reminder of how tiny we are in the universe until this last night out...

That night was also the first frost of the season. Thankfully we were at Kentucky Lake instead of higher up the mountain where we had originally planned. I generally run cold anyway. I dash down the freezer aisle in the grocery store. I wear wool socks all year. That night, I had four shirts, a hoodie, two pairs of pajama pants(one fleece), socks, blankets...I was so cold it was painful and I thought my feet would fall off. I emptied my backpack over my feet, tried to get the dog to sleep on them(she refused sleeping on those blocks of ice), folded our towels around them...and was awake nearly all night. But at least we weren't higher up. I wouldn't have made it without crying if it had been any colder. I came to camping late in life. It is not always easy for me to give up hot showers, cable tv and internet for long underwear and greasy hair... but I have learned to love it in large parts.

But that was a very looooong night.

In the morning, after an extra strong, extra large, HOT coffee and a warm up session in the sun, we walked the lake. Stunning. Really.

It was as if Maxfield Parrish had come and chosen the colour palette... and I love Maxfield Parrish.

We didn't see any more bears, although there had been sightings. It was a bit of a disappointment, but not entirely. The walk itself was so gorgeous that throwing a bear into the midst of it might have been overkill.

Probably not, but I'll just keep telling myself that.

So, yeah, we've been home a while now. The work on the master bedroom continues, one wall left to finish. One floor left to refinish.... a new pellet stove comes tomorrow, cast iron and red enamel. Sexy.

Dog walking again, the neighbourhood shit continues....but that's for another post...

We've had a dinner party, had a wine tour, had a visit with Emily. I turned quietly and uneventfully 39 without unwrapping anything. Still holding our breath and sending what strength we can to a new, little man.

And that is that.

Is it time to hit the road again?