Last day! Let’s get outta here.
OK, this rad. First time ever a kid on the trip has caught a fish. Cleaned, gutted, cooked, and eaten. I hear it was a bit salty…
The traditional collapsing of the tent in the morning.
All in good fun, boys. All in good fun.
Alright, training camp is complete. Now the REAL season begins.
Also known as the easy day. At this pointof the trip, everyone usually figures out that 20km is basicallynothing on a bike, and we can sleep in.
Although I do like to see the occasional wet foot out there…
Somewhat epic views again today. The lack of wind meant that it felt pretty hot out, though.
Not really all that hot, but early May sure makes 30C feel like a furnace.
I think he’d rather be doing calculus.
Finally! They went in the water. Not all the way mind you, but it’s better than usual on this trip. The south end of the lake was flooded, so this is actually a grassy part of a park. The sandy beach is a bit past the boys there.
After a swim, we went down to Coalmont and had our usual race. Ummm…the other guys beat us pretty easily. There may or may not have been some cheating. That’s all I’m gonna say.
How’s that KD working out for ya, Ben?
Please do not eat the ducks (or goslings).
More spam based meals from the boys.
This being Coalmont, we had to do a night walk to the old ghost town of Granite City. Pretty spooky. I like how most of the boys that braved the nighttime visit to the graveyard weren’t born in Canada. That’s the spirit!
A red hot fire shot.
Fun with clear skies and long exposures.
And a new invention. The Dessert Burger. Melt a piece of dark chocolate INSIDE a marshmallow, then broil it between two chocolate chip cookies.
The second full day here is probably the best on this itinerary. A leisurely start is immediately followed by a long tunnel…
…then a bridge…
..and then all sorts of geologic and historic wonderment.
This is Donovan. He’s a real nice guy, but fast ain’t in it. Full credit for showing up prepared though. If you can’t be fast, you may as well be well equipped.
It was a bit of a struggle at times to get these guys to lighten up. When I got to White Sands, they were all hanging out in some rocks on the wrong side of the river. In full view of this wonderful spot. They eventually figured it out, but JJ and I were still the only ones swimming today.
OK, these Harlequin ducks were braving the river too.
Anyone else? Anyone? Ah well….maybe next year we’ll get some braver ones.
I was trying to get these guys to pretend to be Indiana Jones and Shortround. "INDYYYY!"
Hey, Ethan got involved! Some windfall got returned to the shoe tree. If that urban legend about shoes hanging from wires was true, then there is a very high percentage of the population of Tulameen dealing drugs these days. Hmmmmm….that’s probably not that far fetched, actually.
Candy break…
JJ and I had a fine meal this evening, with a crisp oriental salad followed by a lovely linguini with Bolognese. Superb.
We kept the fire a bit lower tonight, and the boys have figured out how to make a good one finally. Good times once again.
