CedarHill Homestay

We love having visitors 'from afar' come and be part of our family for a short while or a long while!

Check our websites:

http://cedarhillhomestay.tripod.com/ for more info about where we are and what kind of Homestay we offer.
AND
http://cedarhillconsulting.weebly.com/ - this is the website for my business consulting/virtual office business


Sunday, July 4, 2010

Camping


As Grant said just before we left the campsite last night, at least we got away for two nights camping in the motorhome. But that is getting a bit ahead of myself, so I will go back to the beginning:

  • Thursday (July 1st) Grant got home a bit earlier than usual as he closed up shortly after 4:15. I was mostly ready when he got home, and we were set up in our site at Englishman River Falls Prov Park before 8pm. I was glad I had picked up a (good) frozen 'skillet-type' dinner which was relatively quick to have cooked and on the table while we both read. Early to bed - relaxing with reading first. Last trip to the 'loo' for both of us and we both walked a long ways but to different outhouses.
  • Friday morning it was very nice to wake up without the alarm clock, and being able to go back to sleep til we really felt like getting up. 'lo and behold when I walked out of the site and turned right to look for the nearest outhouse - the night before when I'd walked through most of the campsite I'd thought the nearest outhouse was near Site 86 - I found outhouses across the road, in between our site and the next site! Guess we could have read the map! I made French Toast for breakfast, and after cleaning up we went for a walk on some of the trails. I wasn't able to go across the bridge over the falls, but we walked some other trails.
  • It was about this time when we realized that we weren't getting any water using the water pump, even though the tank was full. We tried everything we could think of, and finally gave up - though half hoping that when we came back later in the afternoon that it might be working - though it never did 'fix itself'. I hadn't brought a bucket or the big kettle, so we had to bring water from the pump in smaller quantities. At least the pump was close by!
  • After tidying up we headed out - on the way out we turned down Ernglishman River Road 'just to explore' and ended up coming back to Errington Road via Dobson Road. We next stopped in at DEMXX because it seemed like a good idea to pick up some 'garbage wood' to use for firewood. Next we stopped for a late lunch at Coombs - and enjoyed looking at the 'antique Chinese furniture' first. From there - with Grant driving and me giving directions - we checked out the Whiskey Creek Campground - which is for sale for $424K, then headed through the village of Qualicum Beach, onto the Old Island highway, and north to the bridge over the Little Qualicum Reiver. Turned there to check out a house which has just been listed on Centre Road Crescent (very odd road name!). I'd been very impressed with the online photos, and we both really liked it 'in person'. It has a river view that does not appear to ever be in danger of being obstructed or cluttered up with a building. And it has a 2br suite. And beautiful sunrooms and decks. It seems like a really great possibility - and I'm looking forward to seeing it! After that we checked out a couple of places in French Creek - one place is vacant so we walked around. Grant is more intereted than me, as I think it would take too much money to get it 'liveable' along with no place for a garage etc without losing too much yard. Several others we looked at and either kept 'on the list' or removed.
  • Back to camp, and Grant got a good fire going so we could put a nice juicy steak on the grill, along with baked potatoes We relaxed reading and talking til the steak/potatoes were ready, then played two games of crib. It was really nice to have the fire and be able to be outside for eating and relaxing. I left the dishes till Saturday morning!
  • Saturday morning we were expecting Amanda and Kasia to come up as the plan was to all going hiking up Mt Arrowsmith. I cleaned up the dishes, while Grant got a morning fire going. I then did the prep work for scrambled eggs & 'turkey bacon' and Grant cooked it on the griddle on the fire along with toast. We were almost finished breakfast (well after 10!) when Amanda phoned saying she was lost. Turns out she took a road several before Errington Road, and dead-ended in some regional park. We finally got her to camp - and needless to say Kasia was extremely excited to see us - actually mostly to see Grant! We relaxed for a bit, then after Grant got the wood stacked in the van and Kasia's kennel in the back, we hit the road heading to Cameron Lake, which is where the 'trailhead' is for Mt Arrowsmith Trail. Kasia barked and whined all the way - too bad we've never gotten her properly trained to be in the kennel in the van! Anyhow, she behaved pretty well once Grant got her out on the leash, and up the trail a bit until it was safe enough to take her off. I knew from what the family has said before that the trail would be hard for me - and it really was. Not too far up I had to hold Grant's hand both for leverage while walking uphill, and also once we got to the steeper sections I needed him for mental support as there was a dropoff on one side. When we got to where we could hear the falls there was a spot where I knew I absolutely could NOT go any further - even thou' they both assured me that it 'got normal' just afterwards. Amanda walked on a bit further, but because Kasia left her and came back to us not long after we separated she turned around and headed back down to us. On the way back I was able to let go of Grant's hand once the trail got less steep. But I know we walked at least 2km (I think!), and the uphil was definitely a workout for me. By the time we got the the trailhead on the way back down - even tho it was easier then - I was really out in a sweat and my legs were shaking.
  • We fully intended on staying the 3rd night, and leaving at checkout this morning, but as we were just this side of Hilliers Grant got a call from work saying someone who was schedule for today was going home sick and would not be in today. Grant knew it would leave the office etc vastly understaffed, along with Monday if the employee is also sick tomorrow. So we stopped at work while he 'checked things out' then headed back to camp. We got Kasia switched from the van to the car, and Amanda headed out. Grant and I both agreed that it was the fastest time we've ever 'pulled camp' Luckily both the site and the motorhome were relatively tidy, so not long after Grant got the firewood tidied, the chairs etc back in the van, I had the motorhome all ready to go. We were back home before 8:30 - correction, I was - Grant stopped at 49th for two boxes of chips, since I'd said we were having hot dogs for supper (the same thing I'd planned on having at camp!

Even though our 'holiday weekend' was shorter than planned, we both enjoyed it and it felt good to get away. Learned a few things tho - if we'd been thinking properly when the attendant came around on Thursday evening we would have said the van wasn't staying and parked it outside the gates like everyone else did - oh well - next time! Could not have helped coming back early last night, since we had no water Gront could not have had a shower in the motorhome!

I took a few photos while Grant and I were on the trails in the park, but no others.


This afternoon I hooked up the hose to the water intake and then turned on both taps - then after running the taps for a bit, I shut the water off and removed the hose. Then put the water pump back on, and we now have good water. Not sure if this has really fixed the problem, but I hope so! Next things we need to do is to change the fuses and get spares also. Then I can plug the radio/cd player in and a couple of other ac items as we did last year until I overdid it and a fuse blew! Really would like to be able to use the coffee maker - maybe I can figure a way to plug it in to the van and have the van running...??