Manning Park/Dia del Amigo...

PEDEGOest I will go...and this time we made it to Manning Park! No, no, not on my bike, but with the trailer.

But, first of all, I will wish you all a happy "Dia del Amigo" (Friend's Day--Spanish). I would not have known about this, except, my brother, Juan, skyped this afternoon and clued me in.
This is what I found in Wikipedia:
In Argentina, Friend's Day is often a good excuse for a friendly gathering and greeting both current and old friends. Since it is not an Argentine public holiday, people tend to gather during the evening.
Friend's Day has in recent years turned into a very popular mass phenomenon. In 2005, the amount of well-wishing friends led to a temporary breakdown of the mobile phone network in the cities of Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Córdoba and Rosario, comparable to the one experienced in 2004 on Christmas and New Year's Day. Seats in most restaurants, bars, and other establishments are often completely booked a week before the celebration. 

And so I will say to my family in Argentina and Brazil: "Feliz Dia del Amigo!"

And to my childhood friend, Betty, in Buenos Aires: "Feliz Dia del Amigo!"

         Betty loves to travel with her friends...
Here she is at the St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.

...and Peter and I love to camp, read and watch our son, Michael, do the dishes! We've got it made!!!

We camped at the Coldspring campground.

        He doesn't just read the Mennonite!         "Oba Schmocke Bein!" Ha! (But lovely legs--Low Ger.)
You may wonder how we made it to Manning? Well, look...in the distance, there's my Chevy Silverado truck! I tell you, it's got power! Now we can pull the trailer up any hill.
Strange, how at the beginning you feel guilty after having bought something, and with time--sad to say--that feeling goes away...

                       She looks pretty pleased...! Seeing the Similkameen River brought back childhood memories of living in Wembley, Alberta. I would spend many happy hours--all by myself--looking for the right rocks, or watching the Suckers swimming around. "No, you can't eat them, they taste like mud!" I was told. And maybe I wasn't all by myself...One day, on our way home from school, my sister, Erica, and I spotted a cougar close to the road. He had actually spotted us first. We stopped dead in our tracks, and waited very quietly and very scared, until the cougar turned around and walked away. With jelly-like legs we quickly walked across the bridge and home.
Every time I asked if I had to be afraid of anything in the woods, the answer was: "The only thing you have to be afraid of are the mosquitos."Peter and Michael went for hikes while I kept reading... ...or taking photographs.....or looking for Peter through the trees......jumping from one rock to the next...Thanks, Lydia, for lending Michael the tent. 
Michael: "Make sure there's no food left outside, I don't want any bears hanging around at night!"Michael, the avid reader and writer...He will be teaching grades five and six English in Istanbul come September. And...just in case you didn't quite see what Peter was reading...It's one of the text books that Michael will be teaching from.Yes, Judy, you've got him hooked!

What a lovely surprise awaited us when we drove in. These sunflowers were left at our front door. Crystal vase and all! You will have to let me know if they are from you...Perhaps we shall meet at Minter Gardens tomorrow afternoon at the car show...or, perhaps you can drop in tomorrow for coffee...E-mail or give me a call...the table is almost set. No worries, I will return the vase...
Somebody must have known that it was "Dia del Amigo" today, and any day is okay too... 

Hilda

P.S. Monday-Wednesday is chemo week again. It's every 28 days until the end of October.