Sunday, September 22, 2024

SUMMER MEMORIES


Just weeks after our wonderful Grand European River Cruise we started our summer camping season in the Okanagan Valley, revisiting our favourite Provincial Parks.

It takes lots of meal planning and getting the trailer ready, and I moan and groan a little but it always comes together. When we get in the truck, say a prayer for God's safety, put on sun glasses, and we are off for the adventures. Early June we spent 5 days at Herald Provincial Park on Shuswap Lake where we did not need sunglasses, but used umbrellas and shivered in the very cool weather. Camping with friends was fun as we spent evenings playing card games in the shelter of our travel units.



Our favourite campsite where we have made many memories over the years. We watch and hear the trains across Shuswap lake and always enjoy hiking more than once to Margaret Falls.








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Kettle River Provincial Park has been another favourite place for many years. It was cold and rainy most of Father's Day weekend but we had a good time around the campfire with Ray, Melody, Kyla, Azuki, Joline, Mark, and two dogs, Tucker and Arlo.  Wally took Ray and the 3 girls kayaking up the mountain to Conkle Lake.
 
Sunset over Shuswap River from the KVR trestle.


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Celebrating a Milestone


RSS Prom Walk




End of June was high School graduation for our grandson Ian. Proud of his achievement and wish him well with future plans.

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We traded in our Scarlet Ember Rogue for a new 2024 Scarlet Ember Rogue.

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Mid July we drove east to Revelstoke and then south to Blanket Creek Provincial Park for five wonderful days camping alongside Upper Arrow Lake which is part of the Columbia river system.


The scenery was magnificent with calm, glassy, painterly water reflecting the mountains.




We kayaked a three hour return trip across the lake to a hidden water fall which plunges and cascades 480 feet into an alcove of the lake. We could only see the lower part of the falls and hear the thundering water and feel the current and the mist. We have paddled here once several years back, but for me this was a very special occasion as I concluded my paddling day s after 53 years. 


Akolkolex Falls, a hidden Gem as seen from Upper Arrow Lake


Paddling away from the waterfall we rested in this mirror where we had our own moments alone with God in this stunning setting of His creation.




As the sun was setting we loaded the kayaks onto the truck, and the next day Wally also said he was ready to hang up his paddle.  Within 2 weeks they were sold to a lovely couple who will have their own adventures.




Driving home on a blazing hot day we stopped at Dutchman Dairy in Sicamous where the lineups are always long, for a  delicious, creamy treat.

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Our last camping of this summer was at Shuswap Provincial Park and Mabel Lake Provincial Park.
Shuswap was a favourite when our family was young. Many great memories. The weather was warm over our 3 days, and the lake a perfect temperature for floating and gazing at the expansive sky.
Mabel lake was good sharing time with some of our family and their friends. The circle around the evening propane fire was filled with laughter and storytelling. This park was different from the rest as it was filled with a mossy carpet under the canopy of coniferous trees.





A special treat was the visit from Wally's sister Maggie from Victoria together with her daughter and granddaughter.  A beach day together with Shelley and her girls was a fun time with a feast of lunch nibbles. We enjoyed supper outside in our backyard adding more family to meet the guests. 

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We took a lovely drive over the Coquihalla to the coast at the end of August. We have driven past Mt Zopkios over the years and stopped there in a rest area, but this was the first time I saw a golden heart in it.  Stopping in the Fraser Valley overnight gave us an opportunity to visit friends and family.
Then a 2 hour cruise across the Salish Sea to spend two nights in Chemanius with sisters Elvera and Catherine with their husbands John and Dan.  Lots of time to visit with storytelling, sharing a picnic in Catherine's hotel room, and much laughter.
Enjoyed a  lovely walk parallel to an old railroad tracks and were surprised with wild blackberries to pick and savour.
Chemanius is known for it's live theatre and we took in the show 'Nine to Five' which did not disappoint.


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I just couldn't leave this post without memories of summer's flowers which always draw me in close to be absorbed in the details. God's creativity is overwhelming and splendiferous. Beauty abounds all about us.







Insects are so difficult to capture on a camera.


Wild Carrot

We visited the Summerland Ornamental gardens at the end of summer with views of the KVR trestle and Okanagan lake beyond flower beds.  A very old sundial caught my attention, and it was right on time.


The gardens had a diversity of trees but  these two were full of imagination.
Looking high up a mossy trunk of a Weeping Willow and intrigued by this warty tree trunk that took my mind to the stories by Tolkien and C S Lewis.



Autumn is in the air and the vistas will change, but I will always be full of awe
by the ever circling seasons which bring me JOY.




Tuesday, May 28, 2024

SPLENDOURS OF EUROPE - Part 1

 Join me on these my longest blog posts along approximately 1400 km along the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers, stopping at historical cities in The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary.  

This journey filled our senses every day from a delicious buffet breakfast, cruising alongside beautiful vistas, and guided tours in the cities with incredible history lessons. Church bells rang in steeples. We looked upwards whilst glancing down to watch our footsteps over cobblestone streets. So many churches, castles, fortresses, statues and people. So much to process and share with fellow travellers as we chatted over goblets of wine and scrumptious dinners. Special guests came on board in the evenings to entertain us with cultural music and dance. Bedtime was so welcomed as our weary bodies rejuvenated in preparation for a new city to explore in the morning.


The Emerald Sky ship became our home away from home.
We were 170 guests on board with a crew of 50 + who treated us royally with their kind service and provided us with sumptuous meals and enjoyable evening entertainment. 


This canal lock in Zaandam where we embarked, is an icon representing the 68 locks we would pass through.


A quaint cottage in Zaandam with the parade of wooden clogs made me pinch myself 
that I indeed was in Holland.


We explored the Dutch Golden Age on a canal boat cruise through Amsterdam. Being that it was a national holiday the city streets were overcrowded so we did not walk through Amsterdam.









Houseboats line the canals with expensive apartments as a backdrop


The Zuiderkerk is a 17th Century Protestant church in Nieumarkt area of Amsterdam. Important in the life of Rembrandt and a subject in a Monet painting.


Leaving Amsterdam we sailed past lush Dutch countryside. Trees flanked the canal for long stretches on our way to the Rhine River.




St Stevenskerk, Nijmegan Netherlands

 
A quiet, relaxing view from our stateroom. The panorama window came down to a wooden rail with the press of a button.

The first of the 68 locks we passed through


Wally exercising on the rooftop walking track while I stand poised to  catch a glimpse of the Cologne Cathedral with its twin towers


Founded in 50 AD by the Romans, the city of Cologne is one of the oldest cities in Germany and has become one of the oldest pilgrimage sites in Northern Europe. 


Hohenzollernbrucke, crossing the Rhine river in Cologne, Germany
taken from the sundeck of our ship.




The Cologne Cathedral was begun in 1248 and took almost 600 years to complete in 1880 with the completion of the twin spires standing 510 feet tall.




The majestic Gothic interior of Cologne Cathedral








The Cologne bridge walking lanes are crammed with love locks, where couples demonstrate the indestructibility of their love by throwing the key into the Rhine River below. Having just celebrated our 53rd wedding anniversary we were standing firm without a lovelock.



Day 4 began the highlight of the cruise as the ship wove its's way back and forth along the fairytale-like surroundings of the UNESCO World Heritage Rhine Gorge, where there are 40 hilltop castles and fortresses built over a period of 1000 years. These are just a few which captured my attention. 






Stolenfels castle Rhineland 1259 AD and rebuilt in 1823


Martinsburg castle with its tall medieval keep, (the strong fortress where the Lord and his family and Knights lived) in the town of Oberlahnstein


Marksburg castle 1117 AD


Katz Castle built around 1371, bombarded in 1809 by Napoleon, and rebuilt in 1896


Stahleck castle is a 12th century fortified castle


Reichenstein castle built around 1100 AD is now a youth hostel


Rheinstein Castle 1316 AD




Burg Lahneck built on 1226 AD


Pfalzgrafenstein Castle on Falenau island in the middle of the Rhine River built in 1327 and functioned 
as a toll collecting station where a chain stopped all ships.

Not to be overlooked is the infamous Lorelei, a steep slate rock 433 ft high on the bank of the Rhine which has inspired a legend of a mythological, beautiful creature that lured sailors with her calls, resulting in many shipwrecks. The statue passed by so quickly that I could not zoom in for a photo.




Cultural landscapes along the Rhine gorge. Note the steep vineyards


Church of St Severus with a tiny image above of historic Boppard,
once a Roman settlement.
   


The journey will continue.

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