I didn't manage to update the blog in September but I correct that now with probably one of the most momentous things I'll ever post.
The cast and crew of our little Canadian Adventure will be increasing by one member in May next year. Jaime my fantastic wife is 11 weeks pregnant with our first baby! We are extremely happy to say the very least and I have been busting to share the news for several weeks, but we didn't break it to our families until Canadian Thanks Giving Weekend. Thanks to everyone who has sent congratulations.
Life for us in Canada has started taking a more settled turn for the time being. Jaime and I have both been working hard at our respective jobs and have enjoyed the end of a very warm summer here in the Fraser Valley.
This past weekend, we joined Jaime's dad Peter for a little off roading to enjoy some of the fall colours. Like all good Canadian adventures Saturday started early with a 5am trip to Tim Hortons.
We saw some spectacular scenery as we drove up the Coquihalla Highway towards Merritt before swinging off to some off road driving. The fall colours from likes of the Aspen trees contrast very boldly against those of the evergreen pine trees.
Stopping from time to time on our drive we hiked around a little. Odd Aspen trees from place to place show evidence that as big as bears might look they can climb trees. The claw marks in this photo are likely to be from a black bear cub.
On one our walks we discovered that Loki and Duffy have a new talent for flushing grouse, which provided us a fortunate opportunity to harvest a Ruffed grouse and a further chance for Loki to demonstrate hidden talents as a gun dog.
After spending some time in the bush, we took a slow drive back home, stopping at a small town called Brookmere. Brookmere used to be a bustling little railway town, its population being as high as 500. The last train ran through in the 1980s and the tracks have all long since been pulled up. The population of Brookmere is today only 29. Peter knew someone living in the town and we stopped to ask for directions, as he walked around the corner of a house and out of sight, Jaime and I could both hear the dueling banjo's from "Deliverance" playing. Jaime made the comment "We're in real trouble if dad passed a big pile of used shoes on the way in". Fortunatly we did not become anyones lunch or fall fowl of any strange behavior, instead we had a pleasant rest stop before heading on. The level track bed is now used as a route the next town, which we used when leaving, passing the old water tower still there from providing water to steam trains.
