Over the last several years, Dea and Jack have used their time-shares to affordably travel to different parts of the continent. This year is was time to explore a part of Canada, specifically the southeastern portion of British Columbia. Jack had noticed that there were houseboat resorts located on Shuswap Lake. So a request was submitted to the exchange service. Availability is severely limited during peak season, but we were able to book for late October. | |
| After a bit of debate we decided to drive with a stop in Seattle on the way. Kris' 21st birthday was October 19, so we treated her to a late birthday dinner which included strawberry daiquiris for Dea and Kris, the best Dea had ever had. (If you're ever in Seattle and want to have a very special dinner, try the Metropolitan Grill. Food, drink, and service are absolutely wonderful.) The next morning (Saturday), she and her friend Mandy caravaned with us into Canada. The trip was a bit longer than we'd anticipated, but the fall scenery was beautiful and the destination well worth the wait. | |
| Mandy and Kris were only able to stay the weekend, so our Sunday trip did not take us too far from the dock. Yet, it was far enough to find total peace and quiet. We had a hot tub on the upper deck of the houseboat, a CD player and a VCR. (Yeah, really roughing it! Lots of beds too! We figured we could sleep 12 or more comfortably.) The ladies spent a lot of the day in and out of the hot tub, while Jack drove. Then when Jack found a tranquil spot to sit for a bit, we dared Kris to slide into the lake. (There was a slide at the back of the houseboat.) She took the dare and, though the lake was very cold, repeated the slide. She told us it was great fun, though we weren't sure we could believe her. Kris and Mandy seemed to enjoy their break from campus life and were a bit reluctant to head back to school and were surprised when Jack and Dea encouraged them to take an extra day on the lake. (Should parents really encourage cutting?) Nevertheless, they really did need to get back and so left late Sunday afternoon. | |
| On Monday Jack and Dea headed out in the other direction and ended up beaching the houseboat about 25 miles from base. The shores held beautiful foliage and a creek with rapidly running, very cold water. Since it was the end of the season, there were very few boats out and we enjoyed the serenity the solitude provided. We had one rough night when we lost our mooring. Redoing mooring ropes in the middle of the night in a very cold lake is not much fun and being battered a bit by the wind was a little scary (at least for Dea). However, once we knew what to do, the fear was gone and, even before we were secured again, we found the humor in the situation. Since we did radio in that night, some fellow vacationers came to check on us the next day. Except for that brief visit, we saw no one until we returned to base at the end of the week. We enjoyed "California Style" hot tubbing, listening to music, watching some funny movies, reading, and cloud watching. It was truly a relaxing vacation and one we'd recommend to all of you. |