Celista, BC July 2011

Wow! Here we are in the Summer of 2011! Time flies along!

In July I went up to Celista in the Shuswap. We lived here for a couple of years almost 30 years ago and still have very good friends that live up there. Lacey and I had a wonderful time.

These are just a few of the pictures.

Miss Sacha

While I was up there we went camping for a couple of days up to Seymour Arm. Beautiful place. The water was still really high so no beach really.

Miss Lacey had a great time. This day she alternated between the nice hot sand and then the lake to cool down her tummy.

Lacey has decided she could easily become a country dog. :)

Camping at Deer Lake, Sasquatch Provincial Park

Lynne, Lacey and I went camping on Monday the 9th of August. We had an excellent time even though it rained the first day. Weeks of sunshine and the day we go the rains fall.......lol Just our luck but it worked out just fine. We got the tent and the tarps up in the rain and it was all fine.

Josh came up on Wednesday for a quick visit and to check the place out for future reference and then Jude arrived shortly after. She came for the night and brought her kyak.

Thursday we took the boats out and paddled across the lake. Lacey wore her life jacket and had a good time. She loves camping.





Stellar Jays got into a bag of peanuts we have brought to entice them down with for pictures. They got the whole bag and 2 unopened bags of potato chips and they ate them all! Then they kept coming back to check to see what else we had. A fellow we met at the beach with his dog said a skunk had paid a visit during the night and the dog had decided to defend the tent and a smelly battle ensued. :)


The rest of the pictures are here

Upcoming Cruise in September, 2010

In September 2010 Mom and I are taking a repositioning cruise. The Norwegian Pearl is on the Alaskan run all summer and in September they reposition it to California. Mom and I get onboard on the 19th of September.

We spend a day in Astoria, Oregon and a day in San Francisco. We have picked the following side trip in San Francsico:

San Francisco, California
Note: For all San Francisco tours, the order of tour stops and scenic drive routes may vary to avoid congestion.
Tour Code: SFO_01
City Tour with Dim Sum Lunch
Approximate Duration: 5 ½ hours Level 1, Meal
Your tour begins with a drive along the Embarcadero by the Ferry Building towards downtown San Francisco. Continue on to Union Square and then head toward the famous Nob Hill for a photo stop and a visit to Grace Cathedral. Continue to the Civic Center and view City Hall. Then it’s on to Chinatown for a Dim Sum lunch at one of Chinatown’s popular restaurants. After lunch, ride through the streets of North Beach, Fisherman’s Wharf, and
Ghirardelli Square and by the Palace of Fine Arts. A photo opportunity is waiting at Vista Point, just across the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge. Then it’s on to Golden Gate Park and Alamo Square (time permitting) before returning to your ship.

When we get to LA we decided to do one of the tours and then go directly to the airport to catch our flight home. This is the tour we have decided on for LA

Tour Code: LAX_03
Los Angeles Overview Ending at the Airport
Approximate Duration: 3 hours Level 1, Debark
Drive past the Los Angeles Coliseum, the University of California, the Museum of Natural History and through the downtown area of Los Angeles. You’ll have time to stroll through the Mexican handicraft shops and cafes along Olivera Street, one of the oldest streets in the city before driving along Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards. At the famous Manns Chinese Theater you’ll see the hand and footprints of famous movie stars. Continue on to the Farmers Market where you’ll have some free time to enjoy lunch on your own or do some shopping before ending at the airport.

We are getting excited!! We did a cruise three summers ago with Lynne and Jude and did the Alaskan run on the Norwegian Sun. I'll post that trip soon along with pictures.

The cruise was a blast! I'm just going to add a few pictures and a link to a slideshow. :)

http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k207/Axazwrath/Camping%20and%20Cruising/Norwegian%20Pearl%20-%20Vancouver%20to%20LA%202010/?albumview=slideshow

Camping at the Coquihalla

Josh, Viz and Dayton went camping on Saturday night up to the Coquihalla Campground on Kawkawa Lake Road in Hope. I went up on Sunday morning and joined them with Lacey. The campground was nice and was right beside the river. We went for a nice walk around the campground and then the 4 of us decided to go to the Othello Tunnels and walked through all the tunnels.

I don't have a tent yet but I ordered one on Saturday. A 4 person tent with a front foyer which will hold a couple of chairs and a table. It has a footprint of 16 x 8 and I can't wait till it gets here. They said 6 weeks (using my Choice Reward points) but it's a 3 season tent and I am hoping to make good use of it in Spring Summer and Fall.

Lacey did pretty good for her first camping trip. She has issues with squirrels and staying in our campground. I kept her leashed for the most part and will find a way to give her a good area to be leashed in where she will be happy until she learns the rules.

All in all a very successful first camping trip. :)

 
Viz and Dayton at the river.

 
Walking along the path to the tunnels it looked like a little cave that Dayton had to check out. :)

 
Josh in the tunnel

 

Rest of the pictures:

Hope BC, April 2010

Jude & Lily, Lynnie and Lacey and I to the cabin in Hope.

Victoria, November 2009

The girls and I had a fabulous weekend in Victoria. We took Friday afternoon off work and caught the 3PM ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay. When we arrived at the Ferry Terminal with our reservation in hand there was a massive traffic pile up and nothing was moving. People were starting to freak out and leave their cars and walk up to see what was happening. Finally over the loud speaker they said computer breakdown, reservations are being honored and please stay in your car. So all was good, we all got loaded and we headed upstairs and got in the food lineup for White Spot burgers and fries. Yummy after working and no lunch.

We got into Victoria in the dark and rain and promptly got turned around and found ourselves heading up the Trans Canada Highway heading for Nanaimo! So we got turned around and headed back the way we were supposed to be heading and got there and checked in and relaxed...................for all of about half an hour and then we headed for a tour of the hotel to show the girls around. We went and looked at all the shops in the hotel and then into the convention centre that is attached to the Empress and then checked out the pool! The halls and main areas have pictures on all the walls of times gone by at the Empress. All the visiting dignitaries and famous people from the 30's onward. Of course the Queen has been here several times. We had found ourselves a corner grocery and had pop and goodies so we went back to the room and got into our jammies and ate crap and layed around and laughed and read our books and went to sleep fairly early.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early drinking coffee and chatting and laughing. We had thrown the windows open and a seagull arrived looking for handouts. He stood on the window sill and ate potato chips and chocolates out of our hands. He stayed with us all weekend. If we went out he flew off and as soon as we arrived back in the room he was back and tapping on the window to let us know he was there and hungry!

October 30th was Lynnie's 60th birthday and my 59th was the 10th of November so this was a birthday weekend. We opened presents and gave each other cards. It was so nice and it's so nice to have a group of friends like we do. We've been friends for almost 30 years. We are sisters of the heart and we love each other and love to spend time with each other. We get together one night a week for girls night where we do crafts or go to a movie or just have dinner and chat. We've been on several girls weekend get aways too. We did the Alaskan cruise with my Mom in the summer of 08. We have a special little place in Hope we go to with individual cabins. We always stay in the two bedroom cabin with fireplace and full kitchen. They even let us bring our little dogs. Heavenly!

We went for a swim on Saturday before we headed out. The day cleared up and the sun shone. We wandered along the waterfront and headed for China Town. We found a nice little restaurant called Fan Tan Cafe and had a delicious lunch. We shopped and the rain came and went along with the sunshine. By the time we got back to the hotel it was getting dark. We went and had a bit of a rest and then made dinner reservations at the Keg that was just a couple of blocks away. We stepped outside intending to walk the couple of blocks and the skies opened and the rain came down in buckets so we hailed a cab and off we went. We had a lovely dinner. The Keg is in an old historical building and we sat near a window and watched the world go by. NO RAIN. We finished up and headed out to walk back to the hotel, got outside and the skies opened again and another downpour. So another cab ride back to the hotel!



Sunday we got up and pretty much had a repeat of Saturday morning - coffee, chocolate, laughter and talking, hungry seagull pal who brought a buddy, a last swim and back to get our stuff together and checkout at 11. We were looking for fish and chips for lunch so we headed over to Fisherman's Warf. Unfortuneatly Barb's Fish and Chips was closed for the season but we decided to wander along anyway. We were so glad we did. A pair of harbour seals were sitting in the water outside the fish store and they were so sweet. They were watching the store and the comings and goings and trying to figure out which of the many passerby's was going to buy them a fish. The one guy would lift himself out of the water and move back so he could keep an eye on that doorway. If it looked promising he would move right up to the dock and wait. He had a buddy/wife/girlfriend with him that was quite content to just float and wait to see what happened.



We got the vehicle and just started meandering our way towards the ferry terminal. We were keeping an eye out for someplace to have fish and chips for lunch. We found the best restaurant along the way right on the beach. We sat in the window and watched the waves roll in. Totally the best. The girls had eggs benny but they had fish and chips with salmon and it was soooo good. http://www.mcmorrans.com/

Brunch at Charters. Try it if you are out that way. Mmmm good.



We wandered along after lunch until we came to Sidney. We watched some people kite boarding but it was cold! Very cold. We didn't last long there. We got to the ferry in good time and went in and sat and read for awhile in the terminal till the ferry came in and we boarded. Another wonderful weeked. :)


http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k207/Axazwrath/Victoria%20November%202009/?albumview=slideshow

Victoria, September 2009

Mom and I to the Empress Hotel in Victoria