time to do it AND enjoy the scenery along the way. And that we surely did do. Canada is such a beautiful country and one day I would like to make it ALL the way across...like to PEI and even New Foundland. That would be the vacation/road trip of a lifetime...coast to coast baby! One day. For now I will just revel in what we did and the things we stopped to see and enjoy. Even the stops we took solely for Maggie May needing pee breaks and just a "get me outta this backseat, I need to stretch my aging legs" stop. She was such a good girl the whole drive...a trooper!Driving half way across the country to my family made me super excited. I couldn't wait to see everyone and their kids...there are a ton of kids...26 to be exact! ;o) But as you are driving the highways you can not help but notice the mass amount of roadkill. I mean like TONS of dead sweet animals on the side of the road...sometimes you have to swerve to avoid flattening them even more. Makes me feel incredibly sad. Just past Hope, BC this cute little rodenty guy came cruising out of the bushes and right under our tire while poor Clint was driving. We felt really sad after that. He has family that now is going to miss him. :o( Next morning, just west of Osoyoos there was a momma quail and her little baby running frantically back and forth on the Hwy...Clint tried to swerve...but we think the baby was smooshed. wah! There was a HUGE moment of silence in the car after that. He said when he looked in his side mirror the momma was just standing there. Heartbreak. Everyone has a family! But then when we stopped a half an hour later, in the absolute hotter than the gates of hell heat in Osoyoos, and had a little picnic on the lake...we watched a family of ducks swim by. Family...together and happy. Losses happen. That is the circle of life...as crappy as it can seem...it has it's wondrous moments too. :o) So...RIP to all of the roadkill we saw...and best wishes to the families that lost you, oh sweet Raccoons, Porcupines, Prairie Dogs, Deer, Foxes, Groundhogs, Sea Gulls, Crows, Cats, Badgers and all of the other animals that we could not decipher...love all around. :o)
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| These are the 26 kiddies! |
Now back to MY family! What an amazing feeling it is to walk into a building knowing that your entire extended family (the ones who are still with us..on my dad's side) are staying there for the weekend with you...and you know that it is going to be nothing but a fun and excellent time. And that is exactly what it was. My Oma and Opa are no longer with us...but they sure created a lovely and loving family together. My mom and dad, his three sisters and his brother and wife...the oldest generation. Clint and I and my brother and sister and spouses, plus my 9 cousins and their spouses...middle generation. And then there are all of the children...what would be Oma and Opa's Great Grandchildren...there were 26 of them! What a family! And what a blast it was for everyone to be together...young kids meeting each other and bonding quickly. We all stayed in Pinawa, MB at the Wilderness Edge Retreat Centre right across the street from the Winnipeg River...great swimming! It is a lodging building built in the 1960's for scientists and staff working at the Nuclear Power Plant outside of Pinawa. So...needless to say the rooms are a bit like a dorm...but it ain't about the rooms anyways. (the rooms are air conditioned and have bar fridges and a big old full wall dresser/desk and lots of room. TV too if you like.)It's about the location and the things to see and do there. They have bikes and canoes for use for guests staying there...and these you will
for sure use. Clint and I rode the Trans Canada Trail that goes through Pinawa. It goes along the river and over the Canadian Shield. It is so pretty to ride through it all. The topography of that area is quite breathtaking...imagine that...the prairies are spectacular! ;o) They sure are. We had Kevin from Wilderness Edge take us to the Old Pinawa Dam for body surfing and tubing down the rapids. Oh man...that was fun. I lost my beautiful Lindsay Godfrey Star ring in the rapids...that was a major downer. Wah! I almost felt like crying...I ALWAYS wear it! But it is a treasure for someone some day. They will be floating in the river or surfing the rapids and come across a glitter in the water...and there it will be. Shining bright like a star! I like that. ;o)  |
| This is my jump over the waterfall. |
floating dock. I enjoyed lying on the dock and soaking up the sun. The weather was fantastic...and NO mosquitoes!! I am pretty stoked for the heat wave we got to enjoy while in Manitoba. I love the heat...bring it on! And there is nothing like jumping into fresh water to cool off. Later that day we had a delicious courtyard BBQ at the Edge...sausages and beef tenderloin...lettuce and bean salad, coleslaw, garlic potatoes, cheesecake and cherries...yummy!!! After dinner a whole bunch of us (sans Clint...he was heat stroked from the day before. :o( ) drove back down to the river to a gentle current, some of us got in a big old raft that we attached 17 tubes for the rest of us to float in while going down the river to the suspension bridge. It took 1 1/2 hours from point a to point b. There were a ton of laughs all the way down...peeps being dumped out of their tubes...hitting rocks...losing half of the tubes when the rope broke...but we pulled ourselves back together. Family...we keep it real! :o)I will have those fun memories in my head for the rest of my life. I love my family and I feel so incredibly fortunate to have such an awesome and loving one...big one! I spent a lot of my "head" time on the 4 day drive back to BC reminiscing about the whole August Long weekend in Pinawa...already wishing for the next reunion to happen. ha ha ha! But I can say wholehearted...I am super stoked to be back home...with my island family. My community. And those that I am close with and thought of often too. You were all missed...I am happy to back home with my other family. Peace and love. xox
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| Last known photo of me...my glasses and star ring together! At least I have the memories. lol |
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