June 29, 2019
We had expected to stay in the campsite for another night, but somehow when we made the on-line reservations we had entered the wrong date of departure. We now had to leave this site and take our chances in finding an opening later today or move to the overflow. Debbie had a coffee date with Maryanne and Tracey so while she was away, I packed up the trailer, hooked up and went to the camp office. I explained our situation to the park attendant and told her how frustrated I was with the reservation system. She explained it to me a little more in depth however, it looked as if we would have to go to the overflow. I was just about to leave the office when she stopped me and told me that a vacancy just popped up as we were talking. I took the site, paid for it and happily moved the rig into the opened site. Lady luck was on my side.
The park reservation system has been a frustrating experience for us. It is quite similar to booking tickets to a concert. People have literally booked their campsites months in advance to secure them. The problem is, that if they don’t show up, the site is unavailable to anyone else. Parks don’t mind because the site has been paid for. If people don’t cancel the Parks cannot fill that open site. If you cancel your reservation before 48 hours your get a partial refund however. after 48 hours there is no refund. There is a first come first served opportunity if there is room, however on a long weekend there would be a slim chance in getting a opened site. I was simply lucky. We have booked all of our sites to Winnipeg up to mid July. This reservation process takes the spontaneity out of our trip.
Debbie returned after her coffee with her kindred quilters. She had a lot to tell me. Tracey took Debbie to Maryanne’s cabin/house on the lake. It is a beautiful house, with the yard right to the water’s edge. Maryanne and Tracey showed her the quilts that they had made. Tracey only had a couple that she had brought with her in her trailer but Maryanne had quite a few that she keeps at the house. She had just completed a beautiful bird quilt top and had it long armed, she still had to put the binding on. They talked for a couple of hours over coffee and learned about each other’s lives. Tracey is married and has three boys and a daughter. Maryanne is married, has three girls and a son. They have been friends for years and only live about 10 km’s apart. Debbie says it is great to meet quilters as they have so much in common. She thanked Tracey and Maryanne for making her feel so welcome in Sask. They are going to keep in touch and the ladies might come to the retreat in April.
The afternoon was spent under the awning as it started to rain, again. I worked on the blog, and then hand ground some coffee beans.
The rain finally stopped in the late afternoon and I was able to barbeque and we experimented with making a cherry pie in the coals of the fire with our cast iron pie press. We burned the first one but the second attempt was slightly less burnt and tasted delicious.
Earlier in the afternoon, I lifted a wood tick off of the back of my calf and then found another on my arm. We decided that our new routine was to do a “tick check” on each other before going to bed. It’s a new form of foreplay!! “Find the Tick!” It was time for bed.
Quilting in a Kayak 