2 Raccoons Down
What a night and morning
Around 10:30PM I heard the snap of our cage in the back yard. We’ve already caught 2 squirrels which we quickly let go but up until now, no raccoon. We caught ourselves a little raccoon. Very noisy little thing. His little arms and hands sticking out trying to get out. We both felt bad but they gotta relocate.

I wrapped the cage in a tarp and drove down a deserted road 5 km into the forest and put it next to the forest. The thing is, whenever I tried to open the door to let him go, he would charge at me. I was a bit freaked. I had big gloves on and pepper spray in the other hand. I opened the door and then ran into the van. The little critter didn’t leave so I shone the headlights on the cage and then he bolted into the forest.

6AM we heard more noise coming from the backyard. We got another one. Seems like my burgers are tasty to raccoons but not my family as we left overs. This time I drove him into Port Moody up on the hill in a forest.

Only 6 more to go.- sigh

Camping At Johns
The whole dang family went camping this weekend for a change. We packed up the van and drove down to Johns campground. This time the drive was a piece of cake unlike 2 weeks ago. We did however spend an hour going to liquor stores and grocery stores and gas stations looking for coolers for Linda. It seems that it is very difficult to find coolers like Bacardi breezers or California coolers or growers cider in Washington state. We ended up just buying some Bacardi rum for her rum and cokes.

Carter and I were in the tent and Linda and Haley slept in the van. Worked out great and the kids slept well. Saturday morning was overcast but that turned out to be a good thing since when the sun did come out, it was a scorcher. John makes the best breakfasts – poached eggs this time around and then we played in the lake for a bit. Carter loved the water and played around on rafts. He still needs a life jacket though and Haley won’t really go in the water at all past her tummy.

John arranged for us to go tubing on the back of his buddy’s speed boat. Oh my god, that was so much fun. We first let Carter out on the tube with his buddies daughters and he grinned the whole time. He didn’t fall off or anything too wild so it was all fun for him. I got on and knew John wanted to hurt me but I laughed the whole time. We went faster and faster and I just held on couldn’t stop howling in laughter. I had a perma grin on the whole time. Then they turned the boat hard and I rocketed off the speed increased dramatically. Then I hit a wave and the tube started to launch and I couldn’t hold on any more and let go. I hit the water with my back skimming against the water and my shorts falling off to my knees. It was such a rush. I couldn’t wait to do it again. This time the boat hit some bigger waves and I was off quite quickly. It’s tough holding on. Very tiring.

I lost again to John playing Bocci ball. What’s wrong ?? I never lose to John. Oh well, was fun nonetheless despite his gloating. Jon made an awesome dinner of Ribs, Salmon and Corn. Great cook !! More beers and then played some poker with a bunch of other campers. I came in 2nd on 2 games but couldn’t win. I was a bit cocky and thought my luck would just give me the win – not tonight. The night was warm and the sky was unbelievable with the stars in their full brightness.

We got up and packed up in 30 minutes and raced to Target for 9AM. We had to get some shopping in (Linda did – I take the kids to the toy dept. and wait) then duty free for rum and beers. Border was quick and simple and we headed to Chuck E Cheese for 11AM birthday party for our friends 7 year old. The kids loved Chuck E Cheese. It was so hot when we got home, we just hung outside in our blowup pool.

Bob Turns 50
Lindas brother turned 50 and we headed up to Kelowna to celebrate with him. The drive was great and the weather was hot and sunny. We stopped in at Merritt for a slurpee and saw all the country yahoos getting ready to party at the Merritt Mountain Music festival. It was full of cowboys and cowgirls in their lifted pickup trucks in party mode. Looked like there were going to have a really good time. Damn, I wished I liked country music but I just can’t do it. Travis Tritt and Alan Jackson just don’t work for me.

We just hung out at Bobs house in the backyard in the sun and the kids played in the pool for hours on end. The food was excellent and the beers flowed. Carter had a ton of fun playing with his cousin Ellie. When we were packing up to leave Carter cried and was so sad to leave. It was heartbreaking. He was so ticked at me for making him go home. At the Coquihalla toll booth there was a massive road block in place with the cops checking every car. This was 5PM and they had pulled over a ton of cars and pickups and campers. They were busting all the Merritt Country Music Lovers for liking bad music and still be drunk from the night before. It seems that you can’t drink til 7AM and then still drive that day even if you do have a nap.

Camping flop
I decided take Haley camping at Johns trailer park in Washington after work Friday for one night. I haven’t camped with just her before so wanted to see how she would make out. It wasn’t a success. It took us an hour due to traffic to just get over the Port Mann bridge which usually takes 15 minutes from home and then we got stuck in a long border cross lineup. I couldn’t handle waiting so I drove from the truck crossing to Aldergrove along 0 avenue just to find a similar slow lineup. What took an hour and half to get home took 3 hours and 45 minutes to get there. Haley was tired and basically fell asleep right away. We slept in the van.
















Picture of Haley by lake

I stayed up til 2AM with John having a few MGDs and finally crashed watching Rockstar Supernova. At 3AM I hear these 2 native Indian women screaming at each other “Who’s your Daddy ?? !!” “Who’s your Daddy ?? !!” Then they started smacking each other around and screaming and yelling. They had some kids with them too so that was a little disturbing. I didn’t leave my van and just listened to them as it was quite a good listen and didn’t want to get involved since I had Haley with me. I heard John and another camper yell at them though and then they shut up. One of them got in a car and drove off through a packed campground – I’m sure she was just hammered.

Pic of "Who's your daddy?" girls before they got into their cat fight

Then at 6AM some kid across the way was wailing and crying her lungs off. The dad finally got up and sat in his car while the kids settled down. Haley slept OK and the morning we did some stuff and played a bit but she had an upset stomach so was quite unhappy most of the time. I played a few gambling sports games with john and he beat me for $6. First time I have lost at anything down there. Then I raced home as we were having a get together that night with some friends. Kind of a bust night to say the least.

Man and Animal cannot co-exist
We have a raccoon problem and it’s driving us crazy. There is a family of 6 of them and every day they come to our yard and destroy it. They dig up the grass, the flowers and puncture, scratch whatever they can. I used to think they were very cute animals with cute faces and neat little hands. Now they are rodents with razor sharp claws which pose a hazard to us. They are way too smart for us and we are at our wits end. The last 2 years we have probably spent close to $500 in 2 new lawns, sod, seed, flowers and a bunch of anti raccoon paraphernalia. No one can help us either since this is just a man vs. animal situation and we are to just accept it. Arggh..

We bought a cage/trap to catch tem and relocate them but they are too smart and flip the cage around and get the food without actually going in it. Arggh.

Canada Day
Happy Birthday Canada and Happy Anniversary to Linda and I (12 years married !!). We spent the morning with my folks in North Van and watched the parade on Lonsdale. The kids loved it – especially the part where people threw candies at them. We thought the parade was on the lame side as they didn’t have their little mini cars doing stunts nor did they have the RCMP Motorcycle troupe doing their show. This is usually my highlight. To get into this parade you need to tape a flag to your window and have a balloon blowing in the wind.

Kids slept at mom and dads and Linda and I headed for Whistler for the day/night. The weather was perfect and the drive was very scenic with lots of traffic but few delays. We got a cheap room off of expedia, Coast Hotel in the main village. Basic room with fridge and 2 double beds. I would recommend it. Covered pool and hot tub which we didn’t use looked good.

We headed straight for the Longhorn Saloon and sat in the sun and enjoyed a few drinks while we watched a mountain bike competition take place. I have never seen so many people in the area. All enjoying the shows these riders put on. They would fly through the air off jumps doing 360’s and complete flips and landing !!!

We walked around and explored the shops and stopped by a few more places for drinks. We went up to Merlins in the upper village and watched a couple of guys sing some tunes, that was good. I ticked the waitress off though by buying my drinks from the bar. She wasn’t happy she lost a sale. When I go for drinks, I want service or someone to walk by within 5-10 minutes or I’m serving myself, no biggie. Went to another restaurant later and after sitting for 10-15 minutes, I got my own drinks again. Waitress didn’t come by to say she was busy so I got my own from the bar and that really ticked her off. La Bosca ? right in the heart of the village. We enjoyed our overpriced French onion soup though, just not the service.


We didn’t know where to go next – Buffalo Bills wanted $14 cover charge but we found a 2 for 1 for Tommy Africas for $5 each so we went there. We had fun there and enjoyed the music. It was retro night so they played the same tunes Linda and I were listening to years ago. The young folk were dancing up a storm to it all. Way better than all the hip hop or techno they play in bars today. Just fun tunes like “I’m too sexy” and “Billie Jean”.

Linda pooped out and at 12:30 dropped her off at the room while I went back out to check out the nightlife some more. The crowds died down and were pretty mellow at night. No Canada Day fireworks due to the extreme fire hazard they have right now.

Loved Whistler, a little pricey for stuff (add 25% to whatever you normally pay for something) but the whole area and vibe and stuff to do make it a great place to spend a weekend. On Sunday we went to the upper village and checked out their Sunday market. Interesting array of crafts and local stuff and produce. I was surprised to see the Adventure area for kids. They had a whole area of luge, bungee, mini golf and other stuff for the family and kids.

Went home and got the kids and went to Ambleside beach in West Van. Just ejoyed kicking back there and watching the kids play in the sand. Oh what a boring life they lead.

Monday I took Haley to White Pine beach but it was full at 11:00am and I couldn’t get in. We went to another beach instead and then just went home to play in our backyard with the tunes playing. Our small pool was so relaxing to hang out in. I came up with an ingenious MacGyver moment and rigged up our kitchen tap to hang out the window where the hot water would go through a hose into the pool. Brilliant.

Took Carter later to the dirt track – he likes it but gets frustrated when he falls.