Arrived in Quesnel – The Goldpan City

We arrived here today and will overnight in the Wal-Mart parking lot where we saw the most beautiful sunset.
Quesnel is at the confluence of the Fraser and Quesnel Rivers and is a city of bridges, flowers and logging trucks. Agriculture, mining, forestry and tourism are important drivers of a diverse economy. The main industry is Forestry with 2 pulp mills, plywood plant, lumber mills and many secondary manufacturers.
Forestry employs over 2200 families and this town has the largest concentration of wood product enterprises in all of North America.
Quesnel is named The Goldpan City because it was here that all the fortune seekers turned east to Barkerville when gold was discovered in the 1800’s.

On the Road Again to Walhachin

We left PBRVPark this morning with Kathy and Bill who are on their way across Canada. We fueled at the Chilliwack Shell Flying J Truck Stop and with all the big rigs, there was a Smart Car, looking completely out of place. He only put in $21.00 while ours was $165.09.

We lunched outside Hope beside blue lupines and orange honeysuckle. The muddy Fraser was living up to its name with spring run off through the Canyon.

At Cache Creek we went East for 21 kms and stayed overnight at a Provincial Park campsite just up the road from Walhachin.

This historic town was started in 1908 by two British gentlemen who invited “suitable emigrants” to buy shares and enjoy a leisurely lifestyle suitable to members of Britain’s upper class. A 20 mile flume provided water for irrigation and onions, potatoes, and tomatoes which flourished between the trees in the orchards. This colonial town boasted shops, skating rink, cricket club, football field and stage and ballroom with floating spruce floor in the community hall. Nearly all the men of the town went off to WW1 and when the flume system was damaged in a flash flood, the dream was over.

My Friend Gayle

Gayle and I have been celebrating our birthdays together each year for about 5 years. Traveling is now disrupting our plans so today we caught up and a great visit together at the Washington Ave. Grill down on the beach in White Rock.

White Rock Waterworks

When I was stayed in town last weekend, I enjoyed walking around. Joanne and I went to the Farmer's Market Sunday, although there were few farmers. There were breads, jams, wild salmon, and Vendors with woodworking, ceramics, jewelry and many other thing. There was a live band adding fun in the sunshine. I saw old clients, and friends. We were really impressed with Barb and Tony's incredible collection of White Rock and area photographs set in frames, calendars or post cards with a book coming up. Truly the best pictures from different angles, very well done.
Here's the new paint decorated water tower with an old hand pump and the older very tall concrete one smack in the middle of the city which provide some of the best water you'll ever drink.

Teddy Bear’s Tea Party

After the service yesterday, I brought Lillibeth and the kids back to Penny’s. Their dog doesn’t particularly like children but it did get used to the girls. Before bed, we decided that we should have a tea party so the table was set with cups and saucers, finger sandwiches, chocolate for dessert and all the teddy bears attended. Naturally, a good time was had by all.

A Celebration of Life

Today we went to a mass at Star of the Sea Catholic Church in White Rock for Len. It was very well attended and sad to say, it was nice to see so many old friends and family members, who respected him.
After, a reception followed down at Camp Alexander in Crescent Beach where we started out and the kids were raised. A video of pictures of Len played continuously and we all had to laugh in remembrance of the fun times. The kids did a great job arranging everything.
This picture shows the early gang at one of our famous parties.

Overnight at Donna's

Ron left by car Tuesday for at 3 day job in Kitimat, leaving me home with the motorhome. As usual I did the cupboard cleaning, washing and sewing until I called it quits and went over to Donna's, a friend who lives in our condo building. She, Joanne and I had pizza delivered Friday night. Saturday we came down here to the campground for a swim and hot tub and then bought plants for her garden on the way back to the condo. I replanted the baskets, tossed out all the old stuff when Joanne came back to help and then it was Chinese food, in the garden where we visited until 11 p.m. with all Donna's pretty candles. Very pleasant and fun being together.