roadquill1

Dear family and friends,

We are looking forward to arriving back on the lower mainland (Fort Langley) on Wednesday afternoon. Although we had no expectations of seeing anything new on the way home, we were surprised a bit just before we arrived at Mezziadin Lake Campground. On two separate occasions, we saw black bears near the edge of the road. At Mezziadin, we lucked into a waterfront site, in no rain conditions! We hauled out our anti-gravity chairs, and began to enjoy the quiet bliss of the water view. However, before long the dropping temperatures drove us inside.

As Sandy prepared supper, I read, and when she placed a plate in front of me, I made the first mistake of asking, “What is that?” (I actually meant it as a reasonable question, as I recognized it as a quinoa salad with cut tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce, but it didn’t look as if there were any meat in the supper preparation, so, “What is that?” was meant as a short form of “Is there more?”) My second mistake was in repeating the “What is that?”, and probably putting more emphasis on “THAT”, than I should have. The icy glare that resulted chilled the salad even more, and I should have taken the hint, but I pushed my luck by asking, “What about meat?” The cold leftover meatloaf wrapped in tinfoil landed on my plate with a thud. After pleading my case, and commenting on how delicious the meal was, things returned to chummy, and we were able to move on.

After supper we opted for a stroll around the campground, and near the entrance way to the campground, I suddenly heard a fair bit of rustling in the dense bushes about 3 to 4 meters from me. We both stopped and watched for a few minutes, but the rustling got very active, and suspecting a black bear, we moved to the far side of the road. A couple of grunts later, we were assured that it was indeed a bear, and we moseyed (at pace!) a bit further down the road towards our campsite. I wanted to linger to see it, but I didn’t have my camera, so we headed back to Truck House, where I grabbed my camera and Sandy donned running shoes. (She thinks she can outrun me!)

Back up the hill, the rustling had stopped, but we crowded the edge of the road overlooking a ravine, and watched in awe as an almost adult grizzly slowly ambled away from us, pausing every few feet to test the air, and flick his ears. WOW! And I had originally planned on seeing if I could get closer. Some days, you really should take your anti-stupidity pills!

Grizzly suspects we are watching

Grizzly turns to check on our presence.

Oh, and just to continue the theme that has been running through most of my recent blogs…Yes, we had rain yesterday, during the night, and again today.  We also hear from a CBC forecast this afternoon that was discussing the weather conditions in the south. The announcer said, “Yes, we are going to see a change in the weather by the weekend.” We both expected her to follow up with, “…for, you see, Sandy and Tony Dobson are expected mid-week and bringing the cooler, wet air with them.”

New day: Tuesday, August 25… This morning, as we pack up to leave River Side RV Campground in Vanderhoof, I can report once more that our theme holds, and rain fell often during the night and the prediction is for more showers today!

Love and best wishes as always to all of you!

Sandy, the Quilter, and Tony, the Quill

p.s. As penance for my Mezziadin stupidities, I have agreed to another quilt shop visit in Prince George today.