Thursday, June 21, 2012 (Maple Bay Campground, Cultus Lake Provincial Park, BC)

The forecast for today was for sunshine and highs of 24C/78F...it ended up being very warm but there was a high cloud covering all day so it wasn`t very sunny.

After our usual start to the day, I cooked a “big” breakfast, we had our showers and were ready to head off into Chilliwack.  Steve had looked up the addresses of a couple of motorsports stores...hopefully one of them will have the hand protectors/mirrors that I need for my ATV.  I really don’t care about the hand protectors...what I am really after is a better rear-view mirror so I can see what’s coming up behind me.  We ended up getting an actual mirror.  Steve had shunned away from it because there isn’t much room on the handlebars to mount one but after talking to the Yamaha dealer, he decided to give it a try.  Hopefully, he’ll be able to mount it without too much difficulty.

We fuelled up with diesel at the Flying J station ($1.27/litre) and then headed to a Husky station for propane and gas (for the generator).  After stopping at the liquor store and the bank, our errands were all done...time to head back to Cultus Lake.

We wanted to explore around the community of Cultus Lake but after parking in a huge lot by the lake, we went to pay...we were willing to pay $1/hour but not $20 for our oversized vehicle.  We had a quick look at the beach area, took a few pictures...

...and then went back to the truck and drove around to another part of the community...and the other end of the beach...

I bet it gets pretty noisy around here in the summer with all of the high powered boats and jet skis...

Steve got a shot of the skier wave jumping.
This morning we had noticed a place just on the edge of the town that sold firewood, so we thought we would check it out on our way back.  The fellows who were selling it looked like they were right out of “Deliverance” but were friendly enough and the wood was $6/box full...so we found room for 2 loads in the truck.  We ended up with much more firewood for $12...not to mention that the pieces themselves were larger!

On the way back to our campground (we are at the furthest one of the four in the park), we stopped at the main day-use area at the entrance.  We have come to the conclusion that the whole Cultus Lake area...from the town to the provincial park...must be extremely busy in the summer months given the sizes of all of the parking lots. 
 

There are some people out enjoying the warmth today but on the whole, it’s pretty quiet. 

That’s why I was surprised to see a concession stand open in this day-use area. It was going on 2:30 by this time and we were hungry so we decided to have something to eat.  Steve had a cheese burger while I ordered a chicken wrap (nice that they had some healthier alternatives) and we sat at one of the picnic tables and ate our lunch.

Back home, after unloading the firewood, we sat outside reading until it was time to start a campfire.  We sat out until around 8:00 and then after a walk around the campground, we decided to go inside and watch a movie...“War Horse” was excellent.

Tomorrow, the weather is supposed to revert back to rain...today is the official start of summer...okay, we are waiting!!