Time for Quilts

We woke to pouring rain today so Myrna and I went shopping. We spent about an hour in Wineberrys and more in the Great Notions, 2 lovely quilt stores. I picked up 2 pieces of Halloween fabric that I'll sew with my granddaughters.
This woman at Wineberrys was sewing a huge quilt together. SouthRidge, a local school, had each of their 196 students make a square and these formed the basis for the quilt which will hang in their school, celebrating it obtaining their I.B. status. (International Baccalaureate)

Down to the Beach

Well, a trip to White Rock wouldn't be complete without fish and chips at the beach. We went down to Moby Dick's and the food was very good. Had a nice walk along to the pier and back.

Dinner with the In-laws

We had my sister Marg, her husband and his parents, Mel and Audrey here today. We've been RVing with M and A since 1993. We had lots of fun catching up on all the various travels we've all be doing.

Off to the PNE

This year is the 100th birthday of the PNE. R and M are here so off we went. We were a little shocked at the $25 fee for parking but had a fun day. We were there when it opened so it wasn't too crowded. We ran into Sh and A, friends of the kids and headed to see the PNE Prize house. It was nice with all the newest technology. There were several plant sculptures around and we got our picture taken in front of the 100 sign.
The barns were fun as usual. There was a llama celebrating her birthday complete with party hat. Some of the cows and horses were mammoth, some as tall as Myrna.
There was a section on 'can-struction' and this Elvis one was great.

Condo Gals

We had the girls from our condo down for happy hour and Jambalaya for dinner. Sure had fun.

Our Annual Ladies Lunch

We had a great time at Elisabeth's today for our annual luncheon. It was just a lovely day and a joy to be with such wonderful friends.

Fabulous Family Fun

We had a family reunion at Dave and Beths and had a wonderful time. We have the best family in the whole world and always have the best time. Now the kids have grown up and we have a new wave of babies who are gorgeous.

Company in Camp

When we were in Hope the other day we saw this woman purchasing at the drive through. Worked just fine.
We had 2 more couples join us for appys and had a great time.

Harrison Hot Springs

Today's adventure was checking out Harrrison. The last time I was here was back in the 80's with our Realty World office for a 3 day seminar. The original hotel has a lot of upgrades, certainly looking like a 5 star place these days. The original outdoor pool is there but another has been added with an adult only one also. The carved doors to the spa were lovely. This large lake is very pretty, unfortunately the lagoon didn't have any sand castles this year.
We stopped at the Cheam Wetlands Park on the way back. Only saw one bird which stunned me, but we could see right across to Bridal Falls coming down the mountain behind our campground.

Othello Tunnels

Our last stop was the world class attraction, Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park - home to the historic Othello-Quintette Tunnels. Designed by Andrew McCullock, they were built from 1911 to 1916 to complete the Kettle Valley Railroad. The river had cut a 300 deep ft channel in a wall of solid granite through the Coquihalla gorge. The men had to extend hand built ladders down the cliffs where the surveying was done. Next, the 'powder monkeys' went down, hacked holes into the cliffs and scampered up very quickly before the dynamite blew. The uniquely named tunnels and bridges, Lear, Portia Juliet etc, pay homage to the engineer's love for the works of William Shakespeare. We walked through 4 tunnels and over 2 bridges - an exciting impressive place where (Rambo) First Blood and other movies have been filmed. From the first tunnel, you can see right through to the second.

Christ Church Anglican

We visited this charming church. Consecrated in 1861, it is the oldest and still operating church on the B.C. Mainland. It is the legacy of reverend A.D. Pringle, who arrived in Hope in late fall of 1859 with the Cariboo Gold Rush in full swing. He established the Hope Reading Room for the thousands of single men gathered in mining camps and then lobbied for this church. Capt. J. M. Grant of the Royal Engineers, the architect, built this stunning example of an Anglican parish church in the Gothic Revival style. It's leaded glass windows were brought by steamship from England around the southern tip of South America. Stepping into the Church is like stepping back in time. It's dark wood interior has seen James Doulglas, B.C.'s first Governor attend and Edgar Dewdney married in 1864 after building his famous gold rush trail. The alter area was originally covered with carpet woven by nuns in England and shipped out to the Colony. Today 2 prayer kneelers are left after 100 years of use and an example is framed for view.

Sightseeing in Hope

We went out to explore Hope today. In 1848, the Hudson's Bay Company built Fort Hope as a key transfer point along a new trail that would link the Fraser River to Kamloops. It represented the HBC's best hope of replacing fur trading routes lost to the Americans after the 49th Parallel was established in 1846, dividing the 2 countries. We started at the Info Center which had a very nice Museum attached, all the early history, Hudson Bay Company, Sto:lo Natives and railways.
This is a serious 'chain saw carving ' area and there is an Art Walk of 62 statues around town. We got got a kick out of this one with 2 little mice living in his beard. The town is situated right on the Fraser River heading to the entrance to the beautiful Fraser Valley. This carving show a fisherman with a Sturgeon which are found here. Next stop was the original Pioneer Cemetery which showed how many infants down very young.
We finished the day with seeing the oldest church on the Mainland and going through the Othello tunnels.

Camperland at Rosedale

We joined Chuck and Barb Tuesday out here for 3 days camping. We're way out in a new section just built this spring - now 282 spots, tons of room. We invited friends to come out for dinner, so Ron and I did steak and the works. Very delicious.

Party and Jean and Dans

We drove out to Maple Ridge today to celebrate their new house, great remodeling and new landscaping. It's all great - they've done a wonderful job. Best bonus - their new granddaughter.

Just Plain Fun

We had friends from the campground here Monday to catch up on their news, then Johnsons dropped in Tuesday and I continue to enjoy walking at the beach. There are 2 Indian totems erected there with a lot of history behind them.
We were driving along on day and beside us was a Telus truck with the 2 monkeys painted on the side. It just cracked us up because someone was always putting up 2 fingers behind a head for every family photo.
When I was grocery shopping at BuyLow the other day, this 'shell' car was parked in the lot. It was ingenious - about a ton of glue and the same with the shells and some blue marbles stuck in them.