Monday, July 5, 2010

Queen Awesome's Adventures in Cancerland: World 15

T minus 1 week until surgery! Wow, the time sure has passed quickly!

I'm back from a successful weekend of camping and 4x4'ing. This entry isn't so much cancer related, but I talked about this trip in my previous entries, so I thought I'd share how it went! It was so nice to get away for a few days. The weather was all over the place; sun, rain, crazy wind, cold, warm, and snow. Yes, we hit it all! We had a few problems with the truck during the trial outings, but hey, that's what test runs are for!

The first test was a trip up to the Big White Area. My sister, Kari, wanted to go check out some basalt columns that are in the area, so off we went.


We found the collumns in no time, so we decided to explore the area some more. We found some beautiful creeks and waterfalls, some gorgeous views and after A LOT of time and effort, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Boy that place was tough to find!


After Uncle Tom's Cabin, we ran into a water crossing and decided to play a bit. Of course we got stuck. And the truck got wet! My poor sister! Her first taste of 4x4'ing was certainly an exciting one! Between making our way down some crazy angled hills and then having water pour into the truck, yes you could say there was some excitement!


In the creek, we were really stuck! We couldn't go forward or backwards. We hooked up the tow rope, and a few tries later, our friend Craig pulled us out. None of us realized right away, but the truck had gotten a few pounds lighter. The next day, Kerrie and I realized the skid plate was missing!! You were a good skid plate, but now you sleep with the fishes. It did it's job though and took one for the team! Much better that the skid plate get ripped off than the front axle!! I think that a log must have gotten jammed in there and that's why we couldn't move forward or backwards. When Craig pulled us out, the log must have ripped the skid plate right off. Ah, good times and great stories = ) Pulling the carpet out at 12 am when we got home, those memories are priceless! LOL

The next day, we got the still kind of wet carpet back in the truck, put the seats back in and headed towards Enderby for Day 2 of the test run. This day packed it's own excitement as well. During day 1, we noticed the brand new temperature gauge was reading a high temp. Day 2, it was reading worse. We now know that my shiny new temp gauge is faulty, but at that time, we didn't. It meant for a lot of stopping and throwing water on the engine. In hind sight we now know we didn't need to. But better safe than sorry! The big excitement on Day 2 was snapping the alternator bracket. Yes, thank goodness for test runs!! Craig was with us again and had some bailing wire, and the boys managed to mickey mouse the bracket back together enough to last the day. They did a fine job too! That wire concoction held perfectly until Craig was able to manufacture a new bracket for me. Day 2 ended up being a beautiful day with some sun and some snow!!

The snow marked the end of our quest to the top of Mara Mountain, but it was fun to play in it for a bit! And my poor little Toyota with the broken alternator bracket was Queen (King) of the Hill. We made it farther through the snow than Craig in his Tracker or Mike in his FJ! Kerrie was pretty happy.

After Day 2, it was time to regroup and repair in preparation for the big multi-day outing. A new alternator bracket and a bunch of new fluids and parts later, we were ready for the next adventure! Our plan was tweaked a bit when we decided another day trip/test run might be in order. So, we spent Canada Day putting the truck and the new parts to the test!

Mike joined us in his FJ and we headed out into the hills behind Winfield. The plan was to make our way through the hills to Vernon and cross over to Falkland to see a basalt column. That was so cool!! Definitely worth the trek!



This was such an incredible sight to see. I'm not sure the pictures really do it justice. After we marveled in the wonder of Mother Nature, we decided to head off and check out Pinaus Lake, in the hills behind Westwold. I've wanted to go there for years and finally got the chance. And let me say, Pinaus did not disappoint! What a beautiful area! I'd love to go back and camp there some day.

Day light was fading so after checking out the recreation site at Pinaus Lake, we navigated our way through the hills and out onto Westside Road. We made it to Vernon just in time to see their Canada Day fireworks. It was a great day. No better way to celebrate this great country of ours than to go and explore and enjoy all it has to offer!


2 comments:

  1. I'm SOOO glad you had a great time! And even more...I LOVE how you had fun in the snow! Mwahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!
    XOXO Crystal

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  2. lol, I thought you'd like that ;)

    ReplyDelete