Sunday, July 17, 2011 (New Denver, BC)

The day started off pretty much the same as it had yesterday...heavy low clouds over the mountains and lake...but like yesterday, they burned off and we had a pretty nice day.

When I returned from having a shower, Steve was busy outside loading the bikes.  Getting the bikes secured on the stand is one thing...getting the cover on them is quite another challenge!  But I went out to give him a hand and between the two of us we finally got the zipper done up.

We were sitting in the shade as Wes and Kim finished up their packing...its Monday tomorrow and they have to go back to work.  We chatted for a few minutes and then after exchanging contact information, they coaxed Kiwi out of the shade of our trailer and into the Jeep.   We thoroughly enjoyed meeting Wes and Kim and although our time with them was short, they encouraged us to give them a call when we get to Nelson.  Kim had all sorts of suggestions for places to go and see in Nelson...from shopping to hiking!  So we may just take them up on their offer of sipping homemade plum wine while sitting on their deck!

After they left, I decided to head over to the gazebo with my laptop and see if I could possibly get our blog totally up-to-date.  Steve was going to take the boat out for one final fish.  I was over there for a good 2 ½ hours and managed to get all but the last 3 days posted...I needed to download our recent pictures before going any further.

I returned to the trailer just as Steve was barbequing himself a hot dog for lunch...hmmm...that sounded good, so I got myself out a turkey-dog and made myself some lunch too. Steve said he caught one small Dolly Varden. After we`d finished lunch, it was time to load the boat.  The first thing we have to do is take the boat motor off and put it away in the side storage compartment of the truck...that`s probably the most awkward thing to do.  It`s almost impossible to get it in without scratching it...a very poor design from ITB.

By the time we got the boat loaded and all the gear put away, it was after 4:00 so we sat in our chairs watching all the ‘goings-on‘ at the boat launch.  It was either the wind that had come up on the water or the fact that it was late Sunday afternoon and people had to get home and prepare for work tomorrow; but all the boats were heading in..all at once.  It was a non-stop stream as boats lined up to come in...a very busy little place and of course, we had front row seats. 

At 5:00 we decided to go inside and watch the local (Victoria) news...and then I prepared dinner.  We were finished shortly after 6:00 and after dishes were done, I headed back to the gazebo with the laptop...and my iPod.  I had planned on phoning a couple of my brothers—using my iPod with the Skype app and ear-buds that have a microphone works really well.  Unfortunately, I got sidetracked answering a number of emails and then the blog and never did get to the phone calls.  The wind had really come up...so much so that it was even jiggling the laptop...and I was frantically trying to get pictures downloaded to the blog so I could get the last 2 days posted.  But there were so many pictures to choose from and then the formatting started to do strange things...so I finally gave up and closed it down.  It was after 8:30 and I was cold sitting there in the wind with just my shorts and tank top on.

When I got back, Steve had everything outside put away and was sitting inside watching TV.  Just before 10:00 we started seeing some lightning flashes in the distance.  Shortly after going to bed, the flashes were much closer and very bright, so I got up and went outside to watch.  Steve followed me shortly and as it started to sprinkle out, we went back inside to watch the show through the windows...and what a show it was!