Christmas in Centreville

Christmas in Centreville.

An old-fashioned Christmas dinner at the historic Royal Hotel

in downtown Chilliwack...
on Sunday night.

A few of us came early...

to add a touch of  'Christmas' to the room.

 

We recruited a little help from the guys.

Who knew they could fold napkins?

Soon the Rendezvous guests arrived.

We enjoyed a fabulous old-fashioned turkey dinner...

compliments of Devika and her fine staff.

We had some door prizes to be given away.

Who better to give gifts than Santa?

 For most of us...

...it had been  long time since we posed for a photo with Old St. Nick.

We had us a jolly good time.

 Lenora and I were gifted with floral bouquets...

as a thank-you for the ten-plus years that we organized Rendezvous events.

This was our last function...

though we certainly hope there will be many more Rendezvous events in the future...

under new leadership.

Thank-you to the staff of the Royal Cafe for a superb dinner.

Thank-you, Santa Eric...

for making our evening a little merrier and brighter:)

I'm thinking he loved every moment of it!

If you would like a copy of any of the photos...

contact Lenora Esau at lwesau@shaw.ca

Though it was an evening of fun and games...

I know many are going through difficult times right now.

We would like to wish you all a most blessed Christmas season...

and a wonderful New Year.

 

The Othello Tunnels near Hope, BC

We couldn't have picked a better day to visit Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park...just past Hope. 

We walked along a trail that was once part of the Kettle Valley Railroad... and is now part of the Trans Canada Trail system, and also a provincial park.  It meanders along the Coquihalla River and leads to the famous tunnels...that bring many tourists to the Hope area every summer.

The Kettle Valley Railroad...was constructed as a necessary rail link between the Kootenay Region of British Columbia and the coast. The railway was built over three mountain ranges.   The Coquihalla Gorge, where the river cuts a 300 foot deep channel of solid granite, proved to be a major challenge. In 1914 five tunnels were were built through this area to complete the track...at a cost of $300,000.  This is still considered the costliest mile of railway track in the world.  When the trains stopped running in 1965, the residents of Hope removed the railroad ties and created a recreational trail.

Yesterday we checked out the trail...

...and the tunnels (where it was mighty dark!).

Since we have had next-to-no rain on the west coast for the past two months, the river was at it's lowest level.

The salmon were lined up in the pools...waiting for the water to rise so they could carry on upstream. 
 

It was the perfect place to spend the last Sunday afternoon in September!  We enjoyed a picnic supper in the park...before leaving for home.

No need to build an inukshuk before we left...since someone else had already thought of that.

We drove by Kawkawa Lake as we left the park...looking quite  lovely bathed in the late afternoon sun!

Thanks for joining us on the Rendezvous adventure to the Othello Tunnels!

 

The Richmond Summer Night Market

We picked a warm summer evening to load up the bus and travel to Richmond for...

...the Richmond Summer Night Market.

We weren't the only ones there!

Though there are some 300 vendors offering all kinds items for sale...

and an amazing food fair.

Mostly I 'looked but did not touch'!

Though we may never visit China...

we can experience Asian cuisine right here in our back yard.

Richmond has the largest Chinese population of any city in North America.

The prices were right.

We could sample a bit of each...

if we felt so inclined.

And some of us did!

I tried sheesh kabobs...

...and hurricane potato fries.

Add a little Korean spice to the potato...

and call it Korean food!

It was a good time...

all around.

Cheam Wetlands Park

Though we have had to cancel many planned spring outdoor events due to rain... 

Sunday turned out to be the perfect day for a walk about the Cheam Wetlands Park.

We met in the parking lot...

 ...and set out down the trails at our own pace.

 
Cheam Wetlands has been a park since 1990...

at which time it was restored to it's origins as a lake.

 For more than half a century it was a marl lime pit.

The lake had been drained...

and it wasn't all that pretty.

But now...

it is a most lovely spot beneath Mt. Cheam!

 If one happens to glance up...

there's a good chance of seeing the paragliders sailing down from the mountain peak.

 And if one happens to look down...

there's a good chance of seeing a turtle...

or two or three.

And maybe a Canadian goose looking back at you!

I wasn't the only one with a camera!

Who wouldn't want pictures of this location?

Cheam Wetlands Park is almost on our back doorstep.

I think we'll all be visiting again before too long!

When we were done at the park...

we moved down the road to the home of Dave of Janet...

who graciously opened their back yard to us for the evening.

 We roasted wieners.

Hefty ones!

Pastor Garry roasted more than he was planning on!

We chatted with friends...
old and new.

It was a wonderful time...

on a sunny Sunday...

in the shadow of Mt. Cheam!

Rendezvous ~ fun and games

Good sports, they were!

They came...

they played...

they had fun.

Many of these volleyball players had not played volleyball in this millenium.

But it all came back...

and they played just like they used to!

It seems the scoring system has changed over the years...

and so we had to learn a new method of adding up the points.

I think we/they should play again sometime...
soon.

Those who preferred not to risk leg and limb on the volleyball court...

played 'apples to apples'.

And when all the playing was done...

we enjoyed a buffet of appetizers and sweets.

Before we went our separate ways...

Walt and Lenora Esau shared some of the highlights of their trip to Antarctica with us.

Until we meet again!