Sunday, September 1/2013

We were up early and after a quick stop at MacDonalds for coffee we were down the road.
Our first stop of the day was a rather obscure little creek which actually sounded like a raging river as it passed under the traffic bridge.  We walked through a small campground to access the creek and took several pics.
We made it to Revelstoke where we took a tour of Revelstoke Dam on the Columbia River then, were finally joined by the rest of the wayward travellers.  Karen had survived the trip without her nerve pills and even surprised herself about that!!
We found a restaurant called "The Village Idiot" (how appropriate) and our gong show descended upon this unsuspecting establishment.
The food was great, the beer better and thanks to our very efficient waitress, we were in and out in good time.
With all of us together, we stopped at one more roadside attraction called "Crazy Creek".  Again, appropriately named for this crazy, motley crew!!  The attraction boasted at having one of the finest suspension bridges hovering across the creek below with spectacular views of the falls.  It really was pretty and Karen once again surprised herself at being able to cross the bridge and enjoy the view.
Eventually, we made our way to Sicamous, BC and the Twin Anchors Marina.  With two days of travel behind us, all jammed into three over stuffed trucks, needless to say, there were some frayed nerves,  frustrations, catty remarks and a few tropical moments as we spilled out into the parking lot!!
As we waited our turn to board the houseboat, Bernie and Don went in and took their "Captain's Course".  A few lawnchairs were brought out and we sat in the parking lot, sipping on cool beer and waiting patiently......well, maybe not so patiently!!
We took on ice, got our fishing licenses and were given the go ahead to board the boat.  They had shuttles there that loaded our belongings to transport to the boat.  I think one shuttle was full of just beer!!
Finally, we were all on board and given the go ahead to leave port.   Woo Hoo.......our houseboat adventure begins........
We were on the water.....the beverages were open and flowing and before too long some of us were "happier" than others.  I got into the twisted tea (funny, I can't remember telling John to buy any of that) and before too long I was happy, drunk Marie!!
As we were sailing to our night's destination, we were greeted by Naked Boat Man.  This was a fellow who was driving around the lake, in his boat, as naked as could be.  He gave us a nice friendly wave

Traffic tunnels - built to allow wildlife access to the other
side of the highway

Inside the tunnel

Jace and Kimmy by the creek

Revelstoke Dam

View from the top of the dam

Map of Shuswap Lake

Bernie with his "Gilligan" hat

Our Boat

Our first sunset  -   one of many spectacular views

and with a slap of his ass was gone.   Shit, Oh Dear,  this trip is starting out pretty darn good!!
Once we were docked for the night on a rather rocky beach, Bernie and Kim started a fire on the beach and we all eventually joined them.  I couldn't find my shoes so borrowed a pair of runners (turned out they were Jace's) and waded through the water to the beach.  Kelsey was feeling a bit tipsy herself and her and Riley ended up wandering over to another campsite where she participated in something called a Keg Stand so when she returned, she was more than ready for bed.  By this time, so was I and when I went to get back onto the boat, apparently walked through the fire with Jace's shoes, then through the water to the gangplank where I managed to stumble my way to bed.  Thank You Riley for saving me from that vicious gangplank!!! Drunk Marie has made her one and only appearance!!