After nearly two weeks down south, it was time to head to the Bulkley Valley after a five-year absence. Lily had taken this particular month to decide she no longer depended on her soother. This was not a welcome development, but we soon discovered the band-aid solution: biscuits! They're effective only for as long as it takes to eat them, and they make a huge mess, but that's better than nothing!
We left on a Friday, allowing Saturday for travel as well, in case munchkin decided not to cooperate. We took the borrowed car as far as Kamloops (a little ways off the main route), where we picked up a rental. Oddly, rental cars don't come with winter tires unless you specific request them... and pay for them of course. Our full-size car was a super cheap deal (thanks, random discount code on the Internet) so paying the $75 for winters wasn't the end of the world.
As it turned out, Lily did very well indeed and we decided to finish the trip in a day; this is made all the more remarkable by the fact that she got her first tooth that day! (She has two now: the bottom front ones.) The weather did turn brutal toward the end, and our snazzy tires paid off right there. Total time: 14 hours, including detour through Kamloops.
The last time we visited Smithers was in 2008. We stayed with my sister Martine in Telkwa that time, so this time we stayed with Karin in Smithers, as her much-expanded house can now accommodate us easily.
Cousins did plenty of bonding.
Carrie wanted to do some local stuff, so the sisters took her cross-country skiing.
Other than a few visits to see friends, the only other major outing was to fulfill one last wish of Carrie's: go snowmobiling! So some all-important pallets were acquired and we three families headed to the "farm" (thanks Jeremy!) for an afternoon of bonfire and sledding. Oh, and thanks to Hofsinks for use of the numerous trails in their back forty. Quite the network... signs with trail names and everything!
The staples: some mountains (if only for the backdrop), some Suburbans, some trucks, some sleds, some snow, some family. Some fun. Only one Suburban got stuck during the shindig, but that's why you need a second one to pull the first one out.
Lily's first snowmobile ride! I'm sure she'll remember it for a long time.
Cool dudette.
Winter picnic. Somewhere atop one of the trees in the background hangs a model rocket that we fired 1200 feet into the air; too bad it descended only 1150 feet.
"What, not warm enough?" <Tosses on a few more pallets>
The outing was a great way to end our very short stay.
We did pop into Houston one afternoon to say hi to a few friends and visit Carrie's uncle and aunt. Normally we spend a fair bit of time there, but not this time around.
We drove back to Vernon in a day, with a quick rendezvous with another uncle of Carrie's; we caught him at the end of his 15-hour shift hauling logs. Oh, and I got only one speeding ticket! It's been many years since I had one of those. I haven't had many, but one of them was actually acquired about a dozen years ago, while visiting the Bulkley Valley and driving a rental car! Talk about déjà vu...
