The past few weeks have been busy. I’ve attempted to salvage what’s left of the summer and spend as much time outdoors as possible. The weather hasn’t exactly cooperated, with cool temperatures and drizzle being the norm lately.

When the sun did come out, I tried to take full advantage. The two evenings lounging on the beach, drinking wine and eating cheese were awesome. We had a crazy BBQ on the roof at work, with bartenders, copious amounts of alcohol, volleyball, and limbo contents – the party was eventually shut down by the police around 10 (earlier BBQs this summer fizzled out around 6 when the booze was gone). It was also sunny for this month’s Critical Mass, and Emily attended for the first time. I think she was put off by the crowds of bikes and the slow pace, which led to more than one rear-fending. Luckily nothing crazy like in Minneapolis happened.

The weather wasn’t as nice for the two camping trips we went on. Three weekends ago, Emily and I went up to Strathcona Provincial Park in the middle of Vancouver Island. It rained on us all weekend, but between our rain gear, tent, and tarps we managed to stay reasonably dry. We did some hiking and canoeing, saw 2 bears on the road, and almost hit a deer.

For the Labour Day long weekend, we had planned on heading down to Olympic National Park in Washington, but the 3 hour border wait scared us off. Instead we took a quick ferry over to the Sunshine Coast and camped at Robert’s Creek which doesn’t take reservations and had a few nice spots open when we arrived. Again, it was drizzly (Sunshine Coast my ass), but we made the most of our weekend, doing some nice hikes at Smuggler’s Cove and the Skookumchuk Narrows. We also had roaring camp fires every night, which made the trip worth it. The first night we made a salad from local vegetables we had bought at the farmer’s market and the local grocery store, and roasted veggie dogs on the camp fire. Best camping meal ever! We also got to spend some time with Nim and Lucy who were on the coast too.

In between the camping trips, we spent a day at the Pacific National Exhibition. We had a blast. The wooden roller coaster here is the best I’ve ever been on; We loaded up on deep fried goodness (including perogies from Winnipeg’s own Hunky Bill); Looked at all the farm animals in the barns; And Emily won a big frog playing Whack-A-Mole. The frog has been named Fanny and has become fast friends with CJ, the gender-confused teddy bear I won last year at the PNE. Next year I’m going to memorize all these carnival game tips and come home with a giant gorilla.