Freedom Days II
I've been keeping a crazy busy schedule and saying yes to any adventure that comes my way. This means loads of film shots to share and another jam packed week of Freedom Days from earlier this month.
Tuesday: Whitney contacted me Monday afternoon with the idea of watching the sunrise over Jones Lake. I'm not a morning person, but I love a good challenge with the promise of great reward so I sent out word to some friends and wrangled up a small crew for our adventure. As I was coming from the furthest away, my alarm went off at 3am so that I could pick the others up along the way from Langley, Abbotsford, and Chilliwack respectively.
There ended up being too much low cloud cover to allow for the colours of sunrise to shine through, but that didn't discourage us. It was so strange to be in such a beautiful, deserted place on a week day morning that we were in a splendid mood. We built a fire, climbed all over the stump graveyard, and generally goofed off for hours until we got hungry and decided to go home for lunch. This is the irreational stuff true Freedom Days are made of!
Wednesday: This spring, Lisa has been completely entrenched in her final semester of university. She wanted to celebrate the end of school and spend some quality time catching up, so we set out on a mini road trip to Keyhole Hot Springs.
Our destination was almost two hours past Pemberton. It was a long trek that took us down a beautiful valley road past the most beautiful hobby farms and ranches, then along the river bank down a windy logging road.
The last time I was at Keyhole, it was a dark winter's evening and virtually impossible to photograph. This time we were lucky enough to make it to the hot springs just before a couple of other groups so that we had the place to ourselves for a good half hour. The photos turned out very faded from the cloud of steam that engulfed the whole area. It was spectacular, but almost too warm for a nice spring day.
Friday - Sunday: I had planned some time back to go out to Kelowna to visit Madalen and Casey. As the weekend approached, all my potential travel companions bailed on me and I ended up going out there alone. The concept of a solo road trip sounded romantic, but it turns out it's really not my cup of tea. I despised making the drive alone. Happiness is only real when shared, right?
On the bright side, Madalen is both an excellent host and eager adventure buddy. We spent some time exploring the hills near her home and plotting potential summer adventures.
The trails and logging roads we followed were completely deserted and lined with spring flowers. It was incredibly beautiful and a nice change of scenery from the lower mainland.
Monday Afternoon: When the weather app says the temperature is going to go above 30 degrees and you're not chained to a desk, the only logical thing to do is head to a beach. Shelby didn't have to work this day either, so we went out to Chilliwack Lake to enjoy the crystal clear water, sandy beach, and amazing mountain view.
Monday Night: After a quick outfit change, I met up with Lisa, Colleen, and Julie for a fire by the river and some good girl talk. I'm making a great effort to be as self sufficient as possible and this was our first test to see if we were able to chop wood and keep a fire going all on our own. It was a great success and so much fun. I can't wait to have more nights like this with the girls!
