At The Lake....with a paddle...but without Internet.

Jeanette and I were invited to join Trevor, Ginette, Easton and Brie at Trevor's family cabin at Barriere Lake, north and east from Kamloops, in the north Okanagan.  We spent four really good days there.

A view from the cabin deck - looking west.

Jeanette and I had planned to motorcycle the 5 hour route to the cabin.  A good check of the weather WEB sites had us quickly change our minds. The foreecast was frought with storm cells along our route.  We chose to drive our Nissan truck.  Good thing too!  There were rain storms along the way up, during our stay and on our return drive.

Jeanette checks out the dock before our kids arrived with the boat in tow.

We took both kayaks out of storage and went for a long paddle. 

Our kids followed about four hours after our arrival.  We had opened up the cabin, unlocked the storage sheds, opened the water system and got the hot water tank fired up too.  Everything was ready by the time they arrived.

The family arrived shortly after dinner time.

Jeanette and I hid behind some trees and did we surprise Easton and Brie?  You bet!  They were quite excited to see  us.

Early morning breakfast.  Nana was preparing a nice batch of pancakes

Easton is always at the ready to help out.

It was not long before the grand kids were on the waterfront playing.  Although it clouded over, the temperatures warmed up by mid-morning on the first full day at the cabin.

Easton's toys.

It was a relaxed time with our grand kids and their folks.  We kept busy with all types of activities including; water sports, short hikes, horsehoes and card games, and more....especially the downtimes spent simply enjoying the views.  

Every kid has to spend time throwing rocks.  And they did a fair bit of that!

Having fun.

Just enjoying the outdoors, following breakfast.

Trevor had trailered their boat back from being serviced.  It had been taken out of the water by his cousin's husband when they were at the cabin earlier.  

Readying to launch the boat.

There is a private boat ramp on their property.  It's where the boat was launched and secured to the dock.

Following a check ride, to make sure all systems were working properly, we returned to the dock

Trevor pumped up a large 3 person tube.  It was not long after that Ginette and Easton were enjoying the fast run on the calm lake.  This was Easton's very first tubing ride.  Did he enjoy that?  You bet!  In spades too!  He wanted more and more rides. 

All smiles.

Good fun.

Trevor was at the controls while towing the tube.

Brie came along on the boat ride but she was not overly keen about that.  Although not crying, she kept her eyes closed.

Back on the beach, Trevor and Easton played in the water.

Easton is enjoying some swim time with daddy.

A western view from the cabin's private beach.

An early morning, 2nd day of fun plying the waters.

Trevor took Easton on a canoe ride to the other side of the lake and I went along in a kayak.  Trevor was looking for a nice spot on a point opposite their cabin for a possible overnight campout with Easton.  We found a nice place alright.  The weather was not favourable for an overnight camping trip....but I am betting it will happen before the cabin season ends.

Brie chooses to help daddy stack some firewood.

Awake from a nap, Easton chose to help daddy out too.

It was fun to take a couple of fishing rods to the dock and show Easton how to fish.  He enjoyed that.   It tooks some work to understand how to cast.  It will be learned over the years, I'm sure.

The kids always had something to amuse themselves with.

Pointing to the numerous boats pulling skiers and borders.

Brie learned how to say 'boat'.  She kept repeating and repeating the word everytime she saw one.

A lovely view.  I never tired of looking out at that view.

Water toys.

Trevor spent a fair bit of time playing with Easton on the beach.  They built a nice water canal and then enjoyed filling it with water as they watched a little boat works its way to the shoreline.  Below is a short video showing the fun they were having. 

Our little Edmonton grandchild, Owen is seen checking out a river cruise boat on the North Saskatchewan River off the Edmonton downtown core.

Our son, Deni sent the photo above after their bicycle ride in downtown Edmonton.  Owen is getting close to the point where he may well want his very own bicycle.  Then look out!

A lovely waterfall about one hour from our home.

A day or two prior to leaving for the cabin, Jeanette and I were on a motorcycle ride that led us across the Fraser River and into the north shore mountains.  We were quite surprised to come to a dead end road and to discover the beautiful falls in the photo above.  Cascades Falls Regional Park was a complete surprise.  Although we have lived in this area for all of 35 + years, we had never heard of this place.  What a gem!

Dropping better than 150 below, the pool is very shallow.

The mountain fresh waters are a draw for local families and teenagers.  It is a place that offers many fresh mountain fed water pools to cool off in.  Ant eh place was busy.  

The park ranger told us about how it is nearly impossible to track everyone who wishes to thread with extreme danger above the falls.  Every year someone is seriously injured or killed doing what you will see in this very brief video I took.  Talk about flirting with danger! 

Jeanette's nephew from Calgary.

Jonathon, Jeanette's sister and husband from Calgary, Alberta, was visiting Vancouver with a group of friends.  We met him just off the downtown Vancouver area for lunch.  It was nice to see him again.  The group was enjoying its holiday while touring the Vancouver area.

Jonathon was chatting me up while waiting for his friends to come and retrieve him.

While at the cabin in the woods and mountains, we had no internet or cellular service.  The only contact with the oustide world was by land line.  And that was actually a well received treat.  It really is nice to be off the grid.  And the four days we enjoyed there were just great.

Now back at home, we are making plans to roll into the neighbouring Province of Alberta.  It is there that we will spend some quality time with grand child Owen and his folks.  We will also look after Owen while his folks take a break to attend an out of town wedding in the south western part of the Alberta Rockies foolhills.

A golf round is planned for this week along with a chance to meet up with a California based RV couple we met several years back.  We are planning a get together with them this Wednesday.

And that covers things from here, for now.  Thanks for dropping in.