Rolling on the river

Later this week we will move to Chilliwack. We're really looking forward to the new adventure, discovering how the Thousand Trails and Holiday Trails camp systems work, meeting new people and discovering new terrain. If anything makes us regret leaving here it will be the Shuswap River. We have so much fun on the river it is hard to imagine that we won't miss it terribly. The only thing that is making it at all easier is the fact that the water level is very low this summer. Typically the river level will drop at least 10 feet between mid June and late August. Right now we can travel from Mara Lake all the way to the Grindrod bar but by early August it will be dangerous to go even half that distance. Last year we left the first week in August but even by then we were clipping the prop on rocks on the river bottom. I spent a couple of hours this spring straightening the prop and it should be tuned and balanced professionally.

This morning we hit the water again with Marlan and Janine Rushton. Marlan only got to ride last summer during the time he spent with us so he was making the most of his time today in case it doesn't happen again this summer. Janine turned into a fairly regular rider while Marlan was out this year. She's does really well - we've had her out with us before. We always make sure to get her mother out as well. Running a campground is all consuming for the Rushtons. This year Bernie is commuting between here and his regular job in Drayton Valley so the load on Sharon is even greater when he is "out". We figure that makes it all the more important for us to get Sharon away for a break and she seems to enjoy it too.

From Summer 2009

This afternoon Marlan left to return to Medicine Hat but he is taking the long way round. When the kids were little we used to spend time in the Kootenay Valley. Marlan will be taking a trip down memory lane as he wanders through the interior of BC from Vernon to Nakusp, south to New Denver, over the highway of ghosts to Kaslo, across Kootenay Lake from Balfour to Riondel on the ferry, down the lake to Creston and then out through the Crowsnest Pass.

From Summer 2009

The videos aren't very good quality but they do show a bit of our wonderful river.