March has given us some lovely weather here in Powell River, BC and along with this lovely weather Miss Perception has finally received her Canadian Citizenship papers. In the middle of March I received the new RIV (registrar of imported vehicles) sticker for Miss P. I cleaned off a little spot on her shiny surface and added the sticker, now she's weighed in kilograms as opposed to pounds, welcome to the metric system Miss P ! We were able to head over to ICBC to get a new license plate from BC and get her registered and some Canadian insurance. Perfect timing as both my US registration and insurance would run out at the end of March. That all went very well and I got to share Miss P with some new people too - fun.
Now she's finished her immigration process, I'm happy that she's here legally and completely. I'm happily focused on the future with all the wonderful trips that we'll be doing together.
The Easter weekend afforded me an extra day off (Good Friday) and a good Friday it was indeed. The weather was fantastic and I was looking forward to a weekend of "glamping" (Glamour Camping with full hook-ups).
My Thursday workday ended at 5pm and I grabbed some preliminary supplies to throw in the car. Quick hook-up, nice chat with the neighbours and then off to
Willingdon Beach Campground - which is about 5 minutes from home - not a long haul. During check-in I got to experience the 1 degree of separation that runs rampant here in Powell River. Cheryl, one of the managers knows my mom (they're
Red Hatters together) and recognized my name. When she heard I was staying alone she extended me the seniors rate, saving me about $17 on my 4 day stay - how nice. I was up top, in spot #58 and had a lovely view of the forest and the ocean as well. What an idyllic spot. I had a quick setup and then was off to a 6pm meeting. It's a huge treat to be so close to everything at Willingdon.
The great thing about camping in Powell River is that in reality I'm never alone, I had a whole slew of visitors during my weekend.
Friday: Andy came by with his daughter Sophie and son Zack while they were out on a bike ride. Later that day I had a crochet date with Lily. We did a bit of crochet but there was a lot of other fun distractions in the trailer, like figuring out every small little storage compartment that Lily could fit into (or couldn't but tried). We played ukulele, played cards and were just generally silly. Lily made some Easter cards that I was able to sell at the Winter Market the next day and she also brought me these two lovely daffodils - thanks Lily ! I ran some errands in the afternoon and picked up some smokies, all beef dogs and artisan bread at
The Chopping Block where I caught up with Marnie who I went to school with. It's always interesting to see people after not seeing them for 20+ years. It is nice to be in such a small town where familiarity waits around every corner (as long as you don't have anything to hide).
Saturday: I didn't get to sleep in too much but with the close proximity I went home and had breakfast and a shower and then headed off to the
Winter Market to sell my crochet hats and bags. Successful day selling, so many people came out, the weather was sunny and warm, it was awesome. I got to spend the whole day with my mom, she met me at the market and then we went out for lunch at Iguana's which a taco party theme as that ended up being what we both ordered. My mom joined me for a day at the campsite, we went for a little walk, had a little campfire and then we played cards in the trailer for a while, chatted and enjoyed a cup of tea together. I eventually brought her home at 6:30pm and it was a perfect Saturday together. When I got back to my campsite I started up a campfire and was quickly joined by Lilia, Grace and Ben. Ben was so wonderful, he broke down the last pallet I had and readied it for the campfire - thank you so much Ben, it was unexpected and so helpful. Carina came later that night with her guitar and we played songs by the campfire, one of my favourite things has become playing under the stars by a campfire. I played alone for a while on Friday night but it was awesome to share the campfire, stars and songs with Carina on Saturday night. We enjoyed a few
Townsite beers, I had primed my pump with the Perfect Storm (oatmeal stout) and then Carina brought some Zunga (blonde ale) which went down just as easy.
The weekend felt complete already with two days off work, but the glorious third day off was still to come.
Sunday: Barb and Dave came by in the morning with their adorable little dog Pali. I was having a lazy morning. We had tea/coffee together and a nice visit before they headed off for a walk with their dog. A few short hours later Lily appeared in my campsite again followed closely by the rest of her family; Jen, Neil, Jack and Lily came for a little "drop in" visit and it was a great chance to show Neil my trailer because he hadn't seen it before. Before they left, Mariah came by for a nice visit and by the time she was leaving it was time for me to start packing up and get ready for my return home.
I did get a lot of time in between visitors to enjoy myself and the things that make me happy. Some relaxing hours overlooking the water playing ukulele, and also enjoying my book while listening to the rolling waves reach all the way up the hill where I was perched. The sunsets were gorgeous and the stars delightful as they peeked in on me between the towering cedar and fir trees that surrounded my campsite. I had such a relaxing, rejuvenating time.
Every trip I learn something new about Miss P, this time I felt like I had the hot water figured out, it's only a 3 gallon tank so you have to keep your expectations in line with that. My mom gave me an electric space heater that was perfect so I don't have to burn through gas while I've got electric hook-ups and I brought along my electric kettle as well saving on gas. I did bring more food than I needed but that's always hit and miss. A longer sewer hose was needed as the hook up for electric was kitty corner to the sewer and if I made one reach then the other wouldn't. Extending the sewer was cheaper (and lighter on the overall load) so that's what I did. I also bought some leveling blocks, an axe and a longer water hose (the water hookup was right beside the sewer and I also didn't have enough to make that reach). The back storage compartment of Miss P is getting organized and sorted out, figuring out what I need and what needs to be up front and easily accessible. When the longer trips start (next year) I'll be all sorted out.
I'm not sure where our next adventure will be, but I've been wanting to spend a weekend at
Dinner Rock or maybe try and get a weekend of camping in at
Inland Lake with Barb and Dave before they leave on their cross Canada adventure in May.
