Kamloops

Monday morning we got up early and headed to Kamloops. Lisa has some relatives that live out there that she had been in contact with and was hoping to get some family history from. Because we live far away and we don't know when we'll have the time again, she wanted to make this side trip so she didn't lose an opportunity. Lisa also didn't know how old these relatives were either so time was of the essence. I loaded up our scanner with the hopes that we would be able to copy their photo albums. While we were there we learned that her one relative is only 10 years older than her and the other relative is about the age of her Dad.

I have always loved the drive to BC. It is beautiful and it smells beautiful. There is nothing like the smell of a pine forest.

Due to a complication that I won't get into here, we ended up stopping in Banff and met up with Kira and Sarah. In spite of messing up their entire day it was great to see them, and the added bonus was that we got to share some "Beaver Tails" with them. A Beaver Tail as it turns out, is nothing more than fried bread, (in the shape of a beavers tail), just like my Mom used to make with various kinds of toppings. Toppings like Nutella, Peanut Butter, Maple syrup etc. They were well worth the delay.

We spent Monday evening with Bernice and Alan. Almost immediately after we walked in the door Alan asks me if I play crib. Well I happen to love crib. Lisa and Bernice spent the evening talking genealogy while  Alan and I played crib. While I've always been an OK crib player, Lisa's grandma used to beat me all the time. Since she died I haven't been able to play it often, but about a year ago I downloaded a cribbage app and so I've been honing up my skills ever since. I was anxious to try out my newly acquired skills on an actual human being and not the computer.

As it turns out I've become pretty good. Alan was no amateur. He could count the points in a hand at a glance. I actually have to go through the cards and count them. We played crib all night. After two games we were tied, after four games we were tied, after six games we were tied, after eight games we were tied and then after ten games we were tied. To make it even more even I skunked him once and he skunked me once. And then to top it off, in the final game I beat him by one point. I think the point is that neither one of us were making any mistakes and who won and who lost just came down to how the cards were dealt.

While we were deep into our crib games, Lisa and Bernice were deep into genealogy. I haven't much to say about what they were doing but I have to share my favorite picture with you. This is a picture of Lisa's great grandmothers brother on his wedding day. Him and his new bride were given a pig as a wedding present and they took a picture with the pig. I love it.

They fed us a wonderful dinner and we went to bed. The next morning Lisa and I got up a little bit early and went for a run. We ran through some beautiful hills. They then took us out for breakfast where I ate way too much. It was the Amsterdam Restaurant and their menu and decor had things that reminded me of my mission. It was a treat!  After breakfast we said our goodbyes and then headed for cousin #2.
Esther and Hap were very gracious hosts and we had a wonderful visit, but unfortunately they have recently moved and all of her photo albums are still in storage. Lisa was still able to write down a number of cool stories and Esther says that she has been inspired and she is going to get out her albums and scan them so Lisa can get some copies.

We had a nice lunch with Esther and Hap and then headed off to meet Bev Edwards, Lisa's high school friend. Bev lives in Vernon, but to save us some time she met up with us in Salmon Arm. We had dinner with Bev and after another wonderful visit we said our farewells and hit the road for Calgary. All in all it was a fun little side trip.