GOOD TIMES AT K-A

K-A as in Kentucky Alleyne Provincial Park where we are stationed this summer.

All is going well however we sure could use a warm up of the weather - still cool days and even cooler nights - near freezing - up there at 3,400 ft.

I will have to be quick to get this post together - I have just wasted more than 30 minutes here at the library waiting for my MacBook Pro to repair our iPhoto library. Seems it crashed between the park and here. Grrrrr…… not so much fun not having wifi at the park when that happens. We only want to come to Merritt once a week - a. because we like being in the forest and b. because of the $1.439/litre of gas price ($#@@#$%^$!!!). However, we usually have such a long list of things to do that we have trouble getting through it all before we have to head back.

Anyway, two great events to tell you about today!

But first! Here is a picture of our new Marmot friend lovingly now named Marmento!

And of course it was Cassia's 5th Birthday on May 28. As we always do - Derek and I set everything up the night before. Since it has just been the three of us celebrating her day for the last few years we start the day with her celebration rather than waiting until later in the day.

The problem this year was that Cassia is on to this now and so was up early - really early. Who knew that it was light already at 5:00am! 

Here she is opening her present from her Uncle Dane and Aunty Kieu!

And from her Gram Gram - Derek's mom. Cassia has been pining for a Dr. Set Up, as she calls it, for a while now.

After the presents were open and breakfast was eaten Derek and I had a bit of a nap while Cassia played.

We saved her Birthday Cake until after lunch. 

Mum and her Birthday girl!

And Dad….

`

Or is it a crow and a unicorn?! Who knew you could have so much fun with party hats!

Even Rufus got in on the action although he wasn't terribly excited about it.

As you could imagine we have a lot of camp fires. Cassia has been asking for marshmallows so with her birthday we finally picked some up. Roasting time.

Cassia getting some soccer practice in with her new ball and shin guards.

Oh! And here's us with our work truck. 

Our youngest crew member!

We were able to get the picture of the three of us because these two came to visit! We were beyond excited when our friends Chris and Juan from Mexico - you can find them at Living and Boondocking in Mexico -  arrived last Thursday! 

We sure enjoyed their two day visit - Chris gave a detailed description of their stay so head over there for the full scope. I just have time to show you the pics with a quick note. Here's Cassia of course during our 4km hike around Kentucky Lake on Friday.

Nice that the wild flowers are finally blooming - this is an Indian Paintbrush.

Ha! Funny picture - caption anyone?

Beautiful orchids!

Group photo time at the end of our walk.

We finished just in time - look at those clouds. In the end they passed us by without a drop of rain.

So - did you notice the fancy interior pictures of Cassia's BD? Sure didn't look like our van - right?! Nope - the Wood Clan is living in style these days thanks to our good friends Rob and Lynn! Just so you know that there are very generous people in this world here is proof. Rob has been a follower of our blog for a few years now. He and Lynn came to see us at Skihist a few summers ago. When he read our post about our roughing it for the season, Rob offered us the use of their 5th wheel - if we pay the insurance. $340 is well worth living at the Ritz! And …….. more great news! Campers that we met when we worked K-A back in 2006 came and have given us their generator to use until September. 

Our living area is really coming together - we just need a carpet and some plants. 

Cassia working on her photography skills from the truck as mom and dad get the cleaning done.

So - all for now. Sorry I can't ramble on but it is time for us to move on to grocery shopping. 

Not sure if I can post next week or not - we'll see. 

I'll collect some more pictures of the park for you and such. 

The park is pretty busy these days with fisherman and due to the fact that seniors get 1/2 priced camping until June 15th - $8 per night to camp - not bad for here in Canada!

Teresa

THE ROAD TO THE PARK

Here we are!!!

Yikes!

Well, with all the getting to the Park and getting things going we've been only a bit busy.

With the park open and the first long weekend behind us we feel like we can now settle into a regular schedule. 

But I still have to show you our trip up from Chilliwack to Kentucky Alleyne Provincial Park a few weeks ago. Sorry I don't have time to show you on a map - but rather than going the quick - but steep - route straight to the park we took the longer but more scenic route through Lytton and Spences Bridge and then over to Merritt.

We got a late start on Monday - probably wasn't until about 3:00 pm when we began our trek east. Probably a good thing - it was a quiet ride. Here's our turn to go north.

Lots of tunnels on the way up. 

And a coyote! Nice of him to look back and pose for us! 

We swung down into Lytton recalling all of our weekly trips here while we worked at Skihist and Goldpan Provincial Parks for two summers. We also needed gas - there is one at the highway but we know that the cheaper price is at the Native gas station on the other side of town. Worth the detour.

We pulled off a Skihist for old time sake - it was before May 1 so the park wasn't open yet. 

It was also about 5:00 pm so the four of us just took a short walk.

We continued along the #1 - a beautiful drive along the Thompson River. 

Always fun driving under the train - too bad Cassia had fallen a sleep by this point.

At Spences Bridge we head east. It is one of our favourite spots - too bad the town is too small to live in. 

One of our favourite points along the drive from Spences Bridge to Merritt. 

Since we knew we couldn't make it up to our Park - plus go shopping - we pulled off for the night at a recreation site just west of Merritt. 

Nice little campground by the river.

The next day after stopping in Merritt for groceries we continued to the park. Much different terrain now - right?!

We are going UP! There is a huge elevation gain in the half hour drive from Merritt to the Park - about a 1,500 ft. 

Which is why we can still see snow! Yikes!

Now a right off the highway….

The little community of Aspen Grove.

A few minutes later we turn onto the road leading to the park. We are 6 ams in which is nice for keeping the park quiet.

It is spring isn't it?! More like late winter up here at 3,400 ft.

Because we didn't have a key for our compound we chose a site to camp at until our boss came.

We arrived on Tuesday and had great - read HOT - temps until Friday. We spent a lot of time at the lake. 

And hiking the 4km trail around Kentucky Lake.

Cassia and Derek had fun getting themselves stuck. This isn't sand - it's ground up marine life - more like quick sand. 

And then this happened. Yup - spring in Canada! We got into the compound on Friday and woke to this on Sunday morning. Ouch!

It didn't stop us from getting out however, and it was melted by the afternoon.

Instead of a cake for the three of us we settled on strawberry cupcakes for my 44th Birthday on May 10th. A big weekend for me with my birthday on Saturday and Mother's Day on Sunday.

Prior to the park opening - while we were busy getting it cleaned up - we had a few visitors.

This guy set himself up right by our compound - the more Rufus barked the closer he came. 

A bit nerve racking since Derek was off in the park cleaning. He eventually moved on though.

I'll put more photos up over the summer - this was just a quick run through our first few weeks of May. The park opened last week and started off with a bang with the long weekend. By Friday afternoon all 58 sites were full.

Among the campers was this couple - Sue and Doug - and their dog Tucker. New great friends. You can find them over at BIGDAWG AND FREEWAY. Sue and Doug have been camping at K-A for years - we were happy that they joined us for the weekend - we had a great time visiting with them! Thanks again you two for the water and more than delicious pumpkin loaf Sue!

We'll that's it for me for now!

Although it's nice to have wifi and electricity at the library it is hard to get a post up with all the other errands we have to do in town with only coming in once a week. 

Next time I'll post some more pictures of the park and surrounding area….

And Cassia's Birthday which is just around the corner now. She turns five (five??????!!!!!!) on May 28th. 

Teresa