In Vancouver!!! Best Chistmas this Year.

Well I finally made it to Vancouver. It took a little effort, but here I am. After my flights were cancelled on Christmas Eve, I was getting a little stressed, but both Donna and I got away cleanly at 7:00am on Christmas Day. So it ended up being nice because Donna and I got to travel together, which was nice for us both (especially her since she got a really big pillow for the airplane) and I enjoyed having her beside me on the plane instead of some fat smelly guy.

There turned out to be a couple of other perks flying home a day later. We ran into Jeff Brown, a guy my brother graduated with. He and his girlfriend were leaving Kingston as well, so it was nice to say hi to him. And then, we got a couple of free bevies on the plane ride. That was a nice treat. Made the flight a lot better. Getting into Vancouver was great. Nice to see my family, even if my brother did arrive with a sign saying: "Welcome home Dumb-Ass." Got home, opened some presents, dozed for a few minutes, ate some food (nice to be home to a well stocked fridge) and then went out for Christmas dinner.

It was very tasty, and I ate too much since I had to make up for a lack of Thanksgiving turkey. I am just glad to be home.

My Legs ARE Like Trees

So Donna and I decided to go camping for the night up at Sharbot Lake. First I would like to say that yes I am a party pooper because I didn't let Donna bring up a friend's canoe. I really didn't want to struggle with getting it up there, which she can do next time. It might be comical to try and watch her put a canoe on the roof of her car by herself. Second, I don't know why the Ontario Provincial parks department insists on charging so much for their camp grounds, but it seems totally unreasonable to me. $30.00 a night, plus $12.00 for the reservation? Plus $10.00 for wood? We should have stayed at the Fairmont.

Anyway despite my grumblings about the expense, which wasn't that big a deal, we had a great time (even without a canoe). There were a lot of campsite to pick from and the online booking procedures, while handy, were a little confusing. Our campsite turned out to be quite nice, and although there were neighbouring campsites pretty much adjacent to ours, only one of them was booked and they were far enough away that it didn't really matter. It was big enough for the two of us, my car, our tent, fire pit, picnic table, chairs and a nice view of the lake.

Donna thinks I look like a turtle or something. I think that I just have that everyday, normal stunned look about me.

We went swimming in the afternoon at the local beach, and then spent the afternoon reading and eating junk food (not the healthiest trip I have ever been on, but that's OK). We made and excellent grilled dinner of chicken, pork, mushrooms, and zucchini (Donna manned-up and did the grilling) while I made some seasoned rice thingy (which turned out not too bad, but its hard to boil rice on a Coleman stove.

Who doesn't enjoy a good mixed grill?

We had a nice big fire in the evening. Not only did we get to burn all the nice expensive wood that we bought, but we also got to burn some wood left behind by the previous campers. All in all it was a nice evening. Donna aka "Spoiled Princess even managed to convince me to make her hot chocolate right before bed. Which turned out to be a mistake because that only makes Donna want to pee at 3:00 am. Oh well, nobody said Princess had to think before making senseless demands.

Donna is having her own private seance. The fire wasn't enough to keep the bugs away, so she surrounded herself in citronella candles too.

We got up none too early the following day, and after a leisurely breakfast of instant noodles, we decided to go on a hike. We walk around the lake and its neighbouring lake, Black Lake, before heading back to camp to clean-up. We re-started the fire, and I took a few minutes to find some nice green saplings to make roasting sticks out of. I mean really, who goes camping and doesn't cook/roast/burn something over the fire? We got some hot dogs out and had a nice little wienie roast before leaving.

Apparently some people actually do pose like morons for pictures.

Us at the lake. I can never take these pictures well, where you hold the camera at arms length. I need lessons.

Me, hard at work making the perfect wienie roasting stick.

Donna and I both agreed that we should definitely do it again soon, but maybe stay a few extra days (the pre and post work isn't worth one night). The insects weren't too bad I guess, but the dozen or so mosquito bites I got were a pain, as well as some other interesting insects.

The stick bug was kinda neat, but I had seem them before. However,

my legs must be like tree trunks because this one climbed up all by himself.

Thanks to Jason and Flora for their BBQ, and to Eric and Alison for their foamies and tarp (which we didn't have to use thankfully).