Vidette Lake 2011
So as promised I wanted to write a quick update on what happened at Vidette for those interested because it was way too much to put into a status update...
The drive up the canyon through Cache Creek was fine and we got up to the lake before dinner time. There was a bit of a mix up of my request for a second cabin since we were two people over capacity for the Dock Cabin and it seems they changed the Trapper cabin to sleep one instead of two (plus it still says two on their website). While this discussion was going on between dad and Ray, I was walking to the occupants of the Miner's cabin by the gate when I got BIT by a mosquito ON THE UPPER LIP!! No joke... less than a minute later, my upper lip had swollen and I looked like an idiot. This went along great with the fact that I still didn't have my full voice back so I was in a great place.. haha.
We unpacked all the food and drink, got our rooms figured out and hung out while we waited for Tyler and Christa. I took a dose of Benadryl to try and bring my lip down and once everyone was there we had dinner. Poor Tim thought he had food poisoning and really couldn't eat anything but he suffered through and ran the BBQ for dogs and burgers (at this point in time we know it wasn't food poisoning but aren't quite sure if it was something worse than a stomach flu). Before it got too dark I showed Tim's girlfriend Fran how to cast a line and we fished off the dock for a bit.
The first day we went up to the centre of the universe where it is now padlocked to bar entry for anyone unless escorted by one of the owners. So instead of walking around on our own, we were lead by Ray who gave us quite a new experience by walking barefoot, pausing to hug a spiritual healing tree and walking laps around a rock before explaining a few more spiritual things about the monks that visit. I also saw him pick up a triangle of marble or granite and did what I think was a tribute to the four points of the compass... not sure... it was a very... interesting new experience hah.
After that we headed down the dirt road to Deadman's Falls where we had to do some 4x4'ing to get through some wicked mud puddles - Christa blew through on the ATV with Tyler like a pro lol. Since the water levels are still so high, the river and falls were booming; it's hard to describe the height of that thing and the drop of un-railed cliffs heh.
We decided to head up to the ghost ranch without the pellet guns to have the walk-a-round tour while the weather was so nice so off we went. Dave and I took a spin on Christa and Ty's quad and then watched Fran get on one for the first time... she went EVERYWHERE! lol with a huge smile on her face the entire time, it was hilarious to watch, or hear, her fly around the waist high grass. After some substantial bug bites later, we retreated back to the cabin for a late lunch. On our way down the road to the cabins, we looked down at the lake and saw our freakin canoe was loose and floating by the dock... after we got down to the cabin itself, it had picked up speed thanks to the wind and was tearing off into the distance. Dad and I hopped into a boat that was probably reserved by someone as their fishing rods were in it, and dad rowed us out to try and catch it. Eventually the canoe was blown into some trees on the opposite bank and we caught up to it. Dad hopped in to the canoe and was going to tow me back since the canoe had a motor set up, but the battery was pretty much dead. While he used an oar to steer and hoped that the battery wouldn't die completely, I rowed my ass back in the stolen boat upwind. After a bit we finally made it back to the docks with both boats. Tyler and Christa had gone for a swim, they had initially offered to swim out to the canoe before it had taken off like it was possessed lol and we all split off for a few different activities for the rest of the afternoon, dave and I went for a quick bicycle ride before a late late dinner. At some point that night I was bit on my right middle finger... throughout the night that finger swelled up to a sausage and then spread to my hand... I caved at 3am and got up for another dose of Benadryl - thank god my lip had gone down by this point!
The second full day we actually had a few thunder storms roll through the valley so we were inside - and a lot of us were feeling pretty lazy; most of us read books. Tim wasn't feeling any better, in fact he was worse, and spent most of the day in bed, my right hand was what I now call a "meat paw"... imagine the newest remake of Star Trek, when Kirk is having his allergic reaction and his hands puff up... that's what I felt my right hand looked like lol. Tyler and Christa took off for an ATV adventure and when I stepped outside for some fresh air I lasted two minutes before another damn mosquito bit the SAME FINGER... so I retreated inside. Ellen (my dad's girlfriend) left close to two since she had to work the next day and dad took off on his ATV to find somewhere closer to go for target shooting. Eventually, dad, Dave, Fran, and I trekked down the road (via both ATV's and the truck) to some abandoned property where it seemed others had been shooting and brought out the air guns for some target and can practice - Fran shot an air gun for the first time ever lol.
As soon as we got back Fran went to check on Tim and he was worse than ever - so much so we knew he needed a hospital at least for dehydration. Dave took Fran and Tim in dad's truck to the Kamloops hospital around 5:30 and didn't get back himself until almost 1am. Meanwhile, Tyler and Christa went off for an old mine cave adventure while dad and I BBQ'd chicken for dinner. We did some more casting off the dock and then dad called it a night. Tyler, Christa and I waited up for Dave to get back by drinking, eating, and chatting - after making Dave eat some dinner, we went to bed at 1:30am.
The next morning I fought my body and got up before 8am and dad and I went out on the lake for some fishing - didn't catch a thing lol. Then it was packing up everything and CLEANING.... because lets just say there were many dead mosquito bodies smeared on the walls... Fran was literally a "bible thumper" as the room's bible was the only thing she had in her bedroom to kill them (she discovered a hole in the window screen and they were EVERYWHERE in the room). We then drove to the hoodoos for one last stop and said goodbye to Tyler and Christa, before heading into Kamloops to pick up Tim and Fran - Tim had been re-hydrated but still wasn't too well. I drove the Coquihalla to dads and Dave drove home from Aldergrove.
As of right now my lip is back to normal, my voice is almost 100% (still not completely yet), and my meat paw of a hand is looking much better but I can tell it's still puffy. Needless to say my next doctor's appointment will have me asking what I can do about my apparent new allergy to mosquito bites heh - I'm so happy I brought an extra box of Benadryl or I would have been screwed!
Thanks for reading!
The drive up the canyon through Cache Creek was fine and we got up to the lake before dinner time. There was a bit of a mix up of my request for a second cabin since we were two people over capacity for the Dock Cabin and it seems they changed the Trapper cabin to sleep one instead of two (plus it still says two on their website). While this discussion was going on between dad and Ray, I was walking to the occupants of the Miner's cabin by the gate when I got BIT by a mosquito ON THE UPPER LIP!! No joke... less than a minute later, my upper lip had swollen and I looked like an idiot. This went along great with the fact that I still didn't have my full voice back so I was in a great place.. haha.
We unpacked all the food and drink, got our rooms figured out and hung out while we waited for Tyler and Christa. I took a dose of Benadryl to try and bring my lip down and once everyone was there we had dinner. Poor Tim thought he had food poisoning and really couldn't eat anything but he suffered through and ran the BBQ for dogs and burgers (at this point in time we know it wasn't food poisoning but aren't quite sure if it was something worse than a stomach flu). Before it got too dark I showed Tim's girlfriend Fran how to cast a line and we fished off the dock for a bit.
The first day we went up to the centre of the universe where it is now padlocked to bar entry for anyone unless escorted by one of the owners. So instead of walking around on our own, we were lead by Ray who gave us quite a new experience by walking barefoot, pausing to hug a spiritual healing tree and walking laps around a rock before explaining a few more spiritual things about the monks that visit. I also saw him pick up a triangle of marble or granite and did what I think was a tribute to the four points of the compass... not sure... it was a very... interesting new experience hah.
After that we headed down the dirt road to Deadman's Falls where we had to do some 4x4'ing to get through some wicked mud puddles - Christa blew through on the ATV with Tyler like a pro lol. Since the water levels are still so high, the river and falls were booming; it's hard to describe the height of that thing and the drop of un-railed cliffs heh.
We decided to head up to the ghost ranch without the pellet guns to have the walk-a-round tour while the weather was so nice so off we went. Dave and I took a spin on Christa and Ty's quad and then watched Fran get on one for the first time... she went EVERYWHERE! lol with a huge smile on her face the entire time, it was hilarious to watch, or hear, her fly around the waist high grass. After some substantial bug bites later, we retreated back to the cabin for a late lunch. On our way down the road to the cabins, we looked down at the lake and saw our freakin canoe was loose and floating by the dock... after we got down to the cabin itself, it had picked up speed thanks to the wind and was tearing off into the distance. Dad and I hopped into a boat that was probably reserved by someone as their fishing rods were in it, and dad rowed us out to try and catch it. Eventually the canoe was blown into some trees on the opposite bank and we caught up to it. Dad hopped in to the canoe and was going to tow me back since the canoe had a motor set up, but the battery was pretty much dead. While he used an oar to steer and hoped that the battery wouldn't die completely, I rowed my ass back in the stolen boat upwind. After a bit we finally made it back to the docks with both boats. Tyler and Christa had gone for a swim, they had initially offered to swim out to the canoe before it had taken off like it was possessed lol and we all split off for a few different activities for the rest of the afternoon, dave and I went for a quick bicycle ride before a late late dinner. At some point that night I was bit on my right middle finger... throughout the night that finger swelled up to a sausage and then spread to my hand... I caved at 3am and got up for another dose of Benadryl - thank god my lip had gone down by this point!
The second full day we actually had a few thunder storms roll through the valley so we were inside - and a lot of us were feeling pretty lazy; most of us read books. Tim wasn't feeling any better, in fact he was worse, and spent most of the day in bed, my right hand was what I now call a "meat paw"... imagine the newest remake of Star Trek, when Kirk is having his allergic reaction and his hands puff up... that's what I felt my right hand looked like lol. Tyler and Christa took off for an ATV adventure and when I stepped outside for some fresh air I lasted two minutes before another damn mosquito bit the SAME FINGER... so I retreated inside. Ellen (my dad's girlfriend) left close to two since she had to work the next day and dad took off on his ATV to find somewhere closer to go for target shooting. Eventually, dad, Dave, Fran, and I trekked down the road (via both ATV's and the truck) to some abandoned property where it seemed others had been shooting and brought out the air guns for some target and can practice - Fran shot an air gun for the first time ever lol.
As soon as we got back Fran went to check on Tim and he was worse than ever - so much so we knew he needed a hospital at least for dehydration. Dave took Fran and Tim in dad's truck to the Kamloops hospital around 5:30 and didn't get back himself until almost 1am. Meanwhile, Tyler and Christa went off for an old mine cave adventure while dad and I BBQ'd chicken for dinner. We did some more casting off the dock and then dad called it a night. Tyler, Christa and I waited up for Dave to get back by drinking, eating, and chatting - after making Dave eat some dinner, we went to bed at 1:30am.
The next morning I fought my body and got up before 8am and dad and I went out on the lake for some fishing - didn't catch a thing lol. Then it was packing up everything and CLEANING.... because lets just say there were many dead mosquito bodies smeared on the walls... Fran was literally a "bible thumper" as the room's bible was the only thing she had in her bedroom to kill them (she discovered a hole in the window screen and they were EVERYWHERE in the room). We then drove to the hoodoos for one last stop and said goodbye to Tyler and Christa, before heading into Kamloops to pick up Tim and Fran - Tim had been re-hydrated but still wasn't too well. I drove the Coquihalla to dads and Dave drove home from Aldergrove.
As of right now my lip is back to normal, my voice is almost 100% (still not completely yet), and my meat paw of a hand is looking much better but I can tell it's still puffy. Needless to say my next doctor's appointment will have me asking what I can do about my apparent new allergy to mosquito bites heh - I'm so happy I brought an extra box of Benadryl or I would have been screwed!
Thanks for reading!