Manning Park
Today was an awesome day! I know that I haven't updated a lot in the past few months but now that the school year is FINALLY finished, I know that I will have more time to have fun and also more time to write about it on here!
Anyway, today was the day before my birthday and since it was so beautiful, Daryl took me up to Manning Park for a picnic. I actually started my day at 8am when I went picking strawberries with Mum. You have to get there early if you have any hope of getting good berries. By the time we left at 9:30 (with 4 buckets), the people were streaming in. I couldn't believe the number of families that came (we're talking Mum, Dad, a toddler and a baby in a backpack thingy)- how on earth is that fun for anyone?? I guess it's the new thing to do - the berry picking experience!
When I got home, Daryl told me to bring running shoes and sunscreen and then to head over to his house. As soon as I got there, we headed off down Highway #1. I honestly had NO idea where we were going - I thought perhaps the Othello Tunnels or something like that but when we turned onto the Crowsnest Highway, I had a feeling. Unfortunately, Daryl's car started to overheat so just at the entrance (West Gate) of Manning Park, we pulled over at a burnt out gas station. While Daryl looked at his car, I went exploring. It was really quite eerie- the piece of metal that were loose on the roof were swaying and squeaking in the wind. There was a ceiling fan hanging precariously and glass and charred bits of wood everywhere. I would have actually poked around inside but the hanging metal deterred me. I needed my Mum there - nothing ever scares her away from exploring decrepit old buildings!
After this, we went on our way (somehow I got gum stuck to my shoe at the old gas station so I took a few minutes trying to pick that off) and I fell asleep for the rest of the trip. (What? The excitement wore me out!) We arrived at Lightning Lake at about 12:45 and Daryl had quite a time trying to pay for parking (it's stupid but now you have to pay to park at all provincial parks). The machine was broken that took Visa and we didn't have enough change to pay for the whole day so we could only buy one hour. After we sorted that out, we headed down to the Lake for a picnic! Daryl had totally made sandwiches and gotten cold salads and stuff. It was awesome! The prairie dogs/gophers amazed me! I couldn't believe how close they would come to you and also the funny little chirping sound they make. At first, I thought the sound was coming from birds! Here's a picture:
A gopher picture taken with digital zoom.
After our picnic, I sunbathed for a bit but it was REALLY hot and Daryl wanted to start our hike. So we took all of our picnic stuff back to the car, slapped on some more sunscreen, updated the parking (the Visa machine was now working) and headed off. It took us two hours to hike around Lightening Lake but it was fantastic! It was nice and cool in the shady forest and there weren't that many people around. I guess it's cause gas is so expensive and it's not worth it for people to drive all that way just for the day. It was good for us though because, as most of you know, I dislike large crowds of people ( I would NOT do well in Japan). The last 20 minutes were the worst because you can see the parking lot but you have to go around this huge lagoon to get there! It was tons of fun though.
Daryl on our hike around Lightning Lake
The lagoon (the narrow part at the end is where Daryl thinks they should build a bridge - the parkinglot/park is on the left and the trail that has to go all the way around is on the right)
We got back to the car around 4:00 and decided to start our 2 hour drive back home. On the way back, we stopped at Rhododendrum Flats but unfortunately, we missed the blooms by a week. There were a couple of late ones those so I got some pictures:
Daryl was going to take me to Cultus Lake Golf and Country Club for dinner but I was quite exhausted and hot from our hike (and our drive in a non-air conditioned car) so I opted just for BBQ chicken at his house! It was so tasty! We finished the day off by watching Hoodwinked (it's ok) and then falling asleep during Cool Runnings. All in all, it was an AWESOME day! Thanks Daryl!