Thursday, October 21, 2010

Birthdays and Beaches

The main purpose of our holiday was to surprise our friend, David, on his 60th birthday, then spend the weekend visiting with him and his family. We hadn't seen David since the banquet in Banff almost a year ago, when he was inducted into the Canadian Ski Instructor's Alliance Hall of Fame. His wife, Jane, had been in touch with us for a couple of months, making plans for our surprise arrival.
Above are the remains of the fabulous food dishes brought by all the guests. I packed my own "famous" potato salad all the way in a cooler. The name tags on our backs were not only our way of introducing us to others, but a way of saying how we know David. Apparently, the fellow in the Hawaiian shirt is David's lover...

The two Grandma's. Jane's mom, Catherine, and David's mom, Ruth. Such sweet ladies - they were the life of the party!

Eugene toward the end of the evening, with a glass of deliciously decadent Grand Marnier for dessert.

Walking it off the next morning in the rain forest. From left to right is David's sister, Linda, Larry, David, Eugene and Heather. I don't know where Jane went...
And Mocha! I mustn't forget Mocha!

The boom of the sea, such as I have never heard before, and the wash of the waves against the shore were all so foreign to me, the land-locked mountain dweller. As well as the gagging aroma of the kelp lining the rocky beach...
That is Jane, appearing again out of the blue, in blue.

8 comments:

  1. Dale, what wonderful times! Looks like a fun Birthday. I love how the grandma's were the life of the party, I think you get to a certain age, and you just let loose! B) they are wearing big smiles.
    Loved the photos. Not a fan of the smell of kelp, huh?! LOL. Summer loves chewing on it, egh!
    Mocha sure is a cutie.

    xo

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  2. It really was fun, Grace!
    And no, not a fan of eau de kelp - not in the least. Eewww...
    At one point we had to leap through about thirty feet of kelp to get back to the high water line. It was similar to leaping on a slippery trampoline.
    Mocha is a Golden-Doodle lol and is a real sweetie, to be sure!

    xo

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  3. ah, a Golden-Doodle, all these hybrids of dogs these days.
    The kelp is nasty. I remember learning to Scuba Dive and had to deal with kelp in the water, it's not fun in the water either!

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  4. Sounds like lots of fun. The road-trip, the party and travelling with friends and family! Wow - the last time I was at the Canadian west coast was with you decades ago!

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  5. What a lovely description! Ah I love the sea and smells of kelp! Grand Mariner not bad either!

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  6. reminds me of mid somar in Sweden ... wonderful food, friends, pets.


    I'm so glad you made it!

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  7. Very much enjoyed this post Dale and ditto what Grace said about the two Grandma's.
    It is amazing how acute one's hearing can be on the morning following a party, especially after a glass of Grand Marinier? :)

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  8. That table with the bottles and all alone shows that wonderful time was had by all! Then so do all the other photos.

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