CreativeStable

Last night I returned from my family reunion out in Slocan, BC (my home town).

We planned to leave at 9am on July 30th. We were planning to carpool with my friend Naomi and drive there in my mustang convertible. Unfortunately, Naomi had stayed up really late the night before and slept in... She also left her phone off so we didnt actually depart from Victoria until around 11. She felt really bad.

We caught the 12 o'clock ferry and then departed to Slocan. We stopped in Tsawwassen for gas and sandwiches... and then stopped again somewhere near langely for coffee and snacks. We went through Chilliwack and started the monotonous journey up the Hope/Princeton pass.

This is where crap starts flying. The car starts puffing out bluish/greyish smoke... so we quickly pull off to the side of the road to examine it. Fortunately Mike is really good at cars so we werent completely out to lunch... but we did decide to head back into Hope so that we could atleast use our cellphones. Naomi called her dad and I called around trying to find a rental place. No luck. Mike took a good look at the car and decided that our only hope was to just try and go. So, again we start up the mountain.

POOF... more smoke. more cursing and swearing. Back to Hope.

After several calls to Directory Assistance (who were completely hopeless by the way!) we chatted with Road Side assistance (very helpful people) who helped us find a rental company. By this time, it is getting quite late... and the only rental place open was at the Abbotsford Airport... which was like an hour and a bit BACKWARDS. ughhhhh. So we drive all the way back to Abbotsford airport... and FORTUNATELY there was car rental places open.. and FORTUNATELY they had a car for us to rent. A lovely silver Hyndai Sonata.

Finally, we are on the road again... it's around midnight and we have barely made ANY progress. One good thing was that the Sonata was quite a nice improvement over the mustang. Far more roomy, powerful, gas efficient... and lets not forget the satellite radio and HEATED CAR SEATS. I was actually quite impressed... the Sonata only took less than one tank of gas there and one back.

After like 8 hours we arrive in the kootenays. The sun is coming up... and my dad was actually awake watching the news when we rolled in. Mike and I were exhausted so we had a quick shower and crashed until about 1pm.

Over the next few days, we had our family reunion... which was quite exhausting. About 70+ people showed up from all over BC and Alberta. We had massive family meals and did a variety of activities... like golfing and a paper bag auction. It was probably the most fun Ive had at a family reunion before. One night, me and mike and my cousin ben were hanging out and being obnoxious together... and at one point Mike and I snuck out and put some condoms in Ben's bed. Good times.

Once the family festivities cooled off, I went to Bannock Point with my sisters and Mike. Bannock Point is absolutely stunning. It is pictured to the right. I got kind of burnt, but it was worth it!

That evening, Mike and I drove into Nelson to hang out with some old friends of ours. We went out to Finley's Irish Pub and were greeted by an entirely empty bar! People did start trickling in (even a pair of newly weds showed up, and the bride threw her bouquet for all the girls at the bar!). I was a little dissapointed that the kitchen was not open though because I was really hungry! We left at 2am when the pub closed down.

The next day me and my mom and Mike took to boat way up past castlegar. The original plan was to boat up to Renata... but the boat didnt want to start and one of my relatives who also drove up did not want to boat accross anyways (the lake was really big haha), so we just had a picnic at DeerPark and went swimming and fishing there which was fun.

The next day, mom took Mike and I up to Mud Landing... one of my other favorite places on the Slocan Lake. Mike spent most of the time fishing and I just went swimming and lounged around on the beach. It was SMOKIN hot there. Mud landing is pictured to the left.

Mom and dad picked us up the next day and took us home. We were exhausted and REAKED of campfire... infact, I have washed my clothes and they still smell like campfire!!!

The next day we packed up all our belongings and headed out from mom's. I was pretty sad to leave... but I was also excited to get back to Victoria to see my cat and Bree! We drove all day and returned the rental car and picked up the mustang. Fortunately the mustang is still driveable on the flat so we were able to just drive it home and park it on the street. The trip ended up being quite expensive in the long run... probably would have been cheaper and a LOT faster to just fly... but oh well, makes for an interesting story I guess.