.beatrice goes to Montana .09.21.16.

While researching things to do in Montana, I came across the Whitefish Mountain Resort

website. They had tons of off season activities going on, including zip lining, alpine slide, downhill mountain biking, and my personal favorite, a suspended "adventure park"!! I had done an adventure park course in Revelstoke the previous summer and was so excited to try one again! 

When we woke up I called the mountain resort to book us a time to go ziplining!! It was K's first time I was so excited for her to experience ripping through the mountains hanging from a wire, there really is nothing like it! 

While K cooked breakfast I took advantage of the fresh water connection and flushed out all of the water tanks in the van. The previous owner had left some water in the tanks and it did not smell very good! Being new to this whole "RV ownership" stuff I searched for about an hour for the grey water dump valve, and the fresh water fill connection. After finally finding the connections I hooked up the water to the van, not totally thinking straight I started filling the hose before unraveling it.

I turned my back for one second and the hose erupted out of the plastic casing. Having no idea what just happened, I dropped to the ground ducking in cover from the imminent danger! As I slowly got out of the fetal position, surveying my surroundings to figure out what had happened; I noticed that my neighbors had been watching the whole time and were now hysterically laughing at my reaction. I smiled and waved at my audience as I stood up, brushing the dirt and gravel off of me. 

Over breakfast I told K about what had happened outside while she was cooking! After we finished breakfast we packed everything up to head up to the mountain. I had noticed earlier that the windows weren't rolling down, but didn't think much of it. When I started the van and began driving, I realized that all of my gauges weren't working!! A quick call to the dad's and we determined that we probably just blew a fuse. The trip just got a little more interesting, the only indication of how fast we were going was my GPS which only displays your speed some of the time. We also had no clue how much fuel we had... Let the adventure again! 

We stopped at the local Safeway to get some Starbucks for the drive and headed up the mountain! The clouds were gathering early in they day while I was messing around with the water tanks, and by time we were heading to go ziplining they began to get really dark... No matter, the adventure must continue! When we got to the ski hill and were pleasantly surprised that our "Zip instructor" was super cute!! We suited up and took a few pictures while waiting to go ziplining! 

Unfortunately it began to rain as soon as we began zipping! Rain drops hurt when you're zipping through the air at 70km/h, they pelt you like pieces of hail! On the first few zip lines We had to shield our faces from the rain drops! Luckily the rain slowed down and we were able to enjoy the beautiful views of the whitefish resort mountain. The rain turned the rocks a beautiful green and burgundy, K and I were fascinated by the rocks and kept " ohhh, ahhh" -ing at the beautiful rocks! 

Check out this ACTION VIDEO, of K and I enjoying the rain at lighting fast speeds!! Featuring our super handsome zip guide guy and our equally as awesome zip guide girl!! 

While we were picking out these fantastic professional pictures, Jeremy; our zip guide guy, came and asked for K's number. I nudged her arm, it's not everyday cute mountain men ask for your number; you have to take advantage of these moments! 

After zipping in the cold for hours we went back to the van and cooked some grilled cheese and creamy tomato soup, cause what else do you eat when you're cold?!? We laughed at our pictures and gabbed about how much fun we just had. The plan was to go back and do the "adventure park" for the rest of the evening. Unfortunately they had closed early for the day due to the rain. So we chose to go look around some more American stores in Kalispell, that would get us out of the rain for a bit! I have really missed target since they chose to abandon us in Canada, so I was more then happy to spend an evening looking around at all the "Pinterest worthy" decor! 

Later on that evening we met up with Jeremy for some dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, there was a few football games on while we were there so we were surrounded by screaming fans. We sat and visited for a while before deciding to go back to Jeremy's place and hangout with him and his brother! We visited for hours before K and I had get going to our campsite, we bid our new mountain men friends adieu and headed down to flat head lake! The drive was gorgeous, there's just something about town lights at night that makes everything look so peaceful. The glow of the street lights on the water was absolutely beautiful, I stared out the window while K drove us to our campsite. 

Unfortunately the gate to where we were going to camp for the night was closed, so we found the nearest church and camped there for the night. Ah the luxury of camper vans. Park anywhere and climb up into bed.

.beatrice goes to Montana .09.20.16.

The bed above the captains chairs in Bea is slightly smaller then the one in Martha was. There's much less head space so if you wake up abruptly you will most likely smack your head off the roof!! Nonetheless it was comfy cozy. I had put a spare memory foam on the mattress and we had lots of blankets to nest in.

The sun streaming through the windows slowly woke us up, I'd opened the blinds overnight because I was too warm in my nest. The air was crisp and a slight fog covered the ground, K and I put on our matching new plaid jackets and set out to roam the campsite. As we strolled along a cute little chihuahua came running up to me, she was slightly bigger then Tia but had the same coloring; her name was Arizona. Her owners stopped to chat with us, I told them about my two girls and we swapped stories about our chihuahua's. They were surprised that Arizona had so quickly warmed up to me, apparently she's usually quite timid! I explained that she probably just smelled the girls on my clothes, but truthfully I am a closet dog whisperer. After chatting for a while about the gorgeous campground and nearby hikes, the couple offered for me and K to borrow their kayaks to explore around the lake!! How extremely kind and generous of them, we graciously accepted their offer.

The lake was a gorgeous turquoise color, the sun was shinning and the only sound was the distance hum of fishing boats out for the morning catch. It was beautiful. We stayed out paddling for almost 2 hours before coming back to visit with our friendly camping neighbors. After an hour of listening to stories about their travels across the states we bid our new friends adieu.


It's so wonderful meeting new people and hearing about their travels. One of my favorite parts of camping is you are surrounded by a lot of like minded, very friendly people who love to sit and visit for a while; one of my favorite pastimes.


Next we headed into Eureka to get some much needed brunch! My friend from work had also recommended a "mom and pop shop" in town that had great breakfast, Cafe Jax !

We got milkshakes with our breakfast, because when you're on vacation; calories don't count!! Cafe jax was filled with history from the small town of Eureka. The walls were covered in signatures and old photographs, it was truly a classic American diner! K and I basked in the small town atmosphere and decided to explore around the town a little more instead of going on a hike like we planned.

We walked up and down main street stopping in every store and admiring the "false front" historic buildings. We loved that all the stores were in these old-fashioned buildings, it gave the small town such character. Antiqued false front buildings, adorable decor shops, the beautiful colors of fall and the crisp mountain air mixed with warm glowing sunshine, I was truly in my happy place. 

 

After hours of strolling around Eureka we decided to head into Kalispell to do some more window shopping. We were pleasantly surprised to find another "Historic" Main Street! Again we strolled up and down the street, stopping in every store and gushing over the treasures each one held. The shops were so diverse; decor, knitting, thrift stores, western wear, antique's and even a Christmas decor shop. At the end of the main street there was even a gorgeous church, the St. Mathews Catholic Parish.

After a few stops at some American stores like Target, TJ Maxx, and the classic Walmart, we headed to our campsite in Columbia Falls. While K was catching up on keeping our parents informed about our daily adventures, I took advantage of some free time to change out the stereo in Bea. K, sneaky as always, took this video of me while I maneuvered the cords around the dash.

Unfortunately the stereo I had was too big for the dash, so I put the old one back in and cleaned up my mess while K made supper. We had delicious home (or Van) made mac and cheese.

It was getting chilly outside so we relaxed on the van, reading and catching up on social media before drifting off to sleep.

.beatrice goes to Montana .09.19.16.

K and I had planned to go on a road trip down to Montana in Martha. I had kept it a secret from K that I had bought Bea and sold Martha, so when I picked her up I had her younger sister take a reaction video of K seeing the new van! 

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After running a few last minute errands around town we were on our way to Montana!! Our first trip to the states without our parents, we had truly reached adulthood! The 4 hour road trip down to Montana was filled with lively conversations. Mostly my new favorite past time of asking/answering lots of deep, personal, and hopefully soul searching-ly motivating questions! We talked about our goals and things that we aspire to be some day. We talked about how grateful we are to be single and independent. Sometimes it is a little lonely, but it is also incredibly empowering to be completely happy on your own. We also discussed the things we'd like to learn to do! K wants to learn new knitting patterns and to learn how to make new things, like mittens and slippers for her best friend! I'd like to learn to make beautiful patchwork quilts, and also to play the ukulele which has been comfortably living in my closet! 

I love going on road trips late at night with friends! There's no social distractions so you get to spend multiple hours with your friends just talking! Something that our busy lives can sometimes take away from us. I love the opportunity to just sit down and visit, taking the time to learn more about your friends through asking questions which lead to deeper conversations. 

Finally at 2 am we crossed the border!! The border patrolman was very direct and cold, my mom had warned me about this behavior so I was prepared. I answered all of their questions plainly and didn't try to make small talk. After shinning a flashlight around in the back of the van the gentlemen handed me our passports and said "that's all". We did it!! We officially made it across a border and we're off on our new adventure!! 

A friend from work had told me about this great camping spot that was free and absolutely beautiful on lake Koocanusa. It was pitch black out when we arrived so we picked a spot close-ish to the water and climbed up into bed! Slowly falling asleep while chatting about how excited we were to be out on our own, seeing the world one road trip at a time. 

I couldn't wait to see what our campsite looked like during the day!

Beatrice

Introducing Beatrice or Bea for short! 

The day I picked up Bea was a very memorable day, for good and bad reasons. The morning started with a deep clean of Martha, I ripped out the terrible stick on carpet the previous owner had put on. Which left this wonderful stuck on mess!! Luckily I was able to scrape off the adhesive for the carpet with a small chunk of 2X4 wrapped in a cloth. The linoleum floor underneath was actually much nicer then the junky carpet which made sweeping/mopping much easier! Dad helped me tidy out all the junk we had accumulated after our trip to BC and I began to deep clean. 

4 hours later, she was done! Martha sparkled inside and out and was packed up and ready to go! I picked up M from school and we headed straight to get Bea

We had a fleet!! Since Martha was much tippier to drive, I let M drive Bea back to my house. It was pouring rain and rush hour, so I watched her closely in the rear view mirror. On the first right hand turn the exterior storage drawer slid open!! People were honking and waving their arms frantically to tell us that the drawer had slid open. We pulled over and pushed it back in, the keys to latch it in place were unfortunately buried somewhere in the van so we chose to carry on. 3 more stops on the side of the road to push the drawer back in and we were finally to the house!

We dropped off Bea and took off to run some errands and go to the movies! Since I was trying to sell Martha that weekend we didn't have any other vehicle to drive that weekend, just camper vans. Unfortunately WEM doesn't have "uncovered" parking close to the theater doors, so M and I parked about a thousand miles away and walked through the rain to get to movies. 

When we got home from the movies, something terrifying happened. We walked in the door and everything seemed normal, the dogs were overly excited to see us and we're jumping around. M and I began to get ready for bed when all of a sudden Mia started running upstairs and barking at me then running back down the stairs. Usually when she's excited that we're home she will run around like that so I didn't think anything of it, the only difference is she usually won't bark, and Tia is usually right along side her running back and forth. It took about 3 cycles of Mia barking at me for me to go downstairs to see what was going on! 

Tia was on the ground wheezing and wouldn't stand up. She was staying low to the ground and anytime you tried to get her to stand up she would panic and start screaming. I panicked. My precious angel was in pain and I didn't know what was wrong. I screamed up the stairs for M, I needed help I had no clue what to do!

While M consoled Tia I quickly googled any Vet clinic I could find. All of them were closed. Finally I found a 24 hour emergency vet hospital, I called them immediately and they told me to bring her in as soon as possible! M and I bolted out the door and got to the hospital as fast as we could. I was bawling my eyes out the whole time, I was so scared that I was going to lose my baby girl. 

A few weeks prior she'd had to see the vet to have her anal sac drained, it had become plugged and was backed up so much that it could have burst. The vet had told me that if that happened she could have required surgery. All these things were racing through my mind as I weaved through traffic, tears streaming down my face. M tried her best to console me but my mind was too scattered to hear her soothing words. We burst through the doors of the vet clinic and I tried to explain to the lady what was happening. I'm sure I was a complete blubbering mess and she couldn't understand what I was saying, but luckily they immediately took us to an exam room and a vet assistant came to check Tia. She said she would get the vet right away and that M and I could go wait in the waiting room. 

We made it, we got to the vet in time and now Tia was in the care of professionals. My pounding heart began to calm down and the tears slowly stopped. M passed out on the couch beside me while Mia was cuddled up on my lap ready to pounce and lick my face if I started crying again. The tears came in waves and every time Mia was right there wagging her little tail and attacking my face with kisses! She's a very caring dog and whenever she senses someone is upset she attacks them with as much love as she can give. I hugged her tight and prayed that Tia would be okay. 

3 hours later they finally called us in to see the vet. By the time he had got to see Tia she had calmed down and was no longer displaying the behavior I had called in about. He told me it was simply a meet panic attack. I was furious, for 3 hours they kept me waiting with no updates whatsoever. For 3 hours I sat on that couch panicking that my little girl was surely dying in the room across from me. The vet told me I should have brought her in sooner so they could have diagnosed what was happening yet she sat in the exam area with a vet tech for 3 hours before the vet bothered to come and diagnose what was wrong. I held my sweet angel tight and drove home, she didn't leave my side for the entire weekend.

What was a very happy day had quickly turned into a scary night where I thought I was about to lose a very important part of my life

.i can do hard things

Social media has a habit of being a self proclaimed highlight reel. I am guilty of this. I show the happy parts of my life and keep the sob stories and pain to myself. I want this blog to be an inspiration to people just like me. People who are hard on themselves for no reason. People with so much potential but too much sob stories and pain holding them back from truely being themselves. In order for this blog to inspire people like me, I need to be honest about who "me" really is. This is me, and this is how I feel on a daily basis.


I find that too often we only remember good memories and we push the sad, hurtful memories into a tiny suitcase in the back of our mind. Concealing them and trying to forget they happened. Sometimes something happens, and all of that pain and hidden insecurities come crashing out of the tiny suitcase that has been overloaded. I am guilty of this bad habit, I bury my pain and frustration. I bottle my emotions and put on a smile for those who hurt me. After all weren't we all taught not to react to teasing, "don't show them it affects you, they'll stop". But what if they don't stop? What can you do to fix it?


My mom always told me that "you teach people how to treat you", well I have taught people that it's okay to disrespect me.


I'm not a very strong person. It may look like I am from the outside, but I am not. I cry on a daily basis these past few weeks/months. My mind refuses to stop torturing me, it makes me feel like I'm not good enough, like I'm crappy person who no one likes. These self destructing thought's come directly from people in my life who I am obligated to spend a lot of time with. I am constantly criticized and mocked by people who don't even take the time to try to know me. They tell me things about myself I need to change and reasons why "nobody" likes me. Criticism and judgements are a part of my daily conversations, everyone seems to have an opinion about everything I do. It's extremely discouraging and depressing.

I know what you're going to say "don't worry about what other people think of you".... I try. I really do. I don't want other people's opinions of me to dictate what I think of myself so much. But words echo over and over in my mind and echos eventually start to sink in.

My go to defense mechanism is humor. Chandler taught me that you can hide a multitude of deep personal issues with humour. I have twisted the cruel comments said to me into a comical skit for my friends and family. Joking about it seems to help me not take things too seriously. Other days I'm not as chandler like, and I transform into a sensitive little butterfly who's wings have been shredded.

"You teach people how to treat you" the echo continues. How can I change it? The problem is, once people have learned that it is okay to disrespect you they will take advantage of it over and over again. So how do I change it? How can I overcome this hole I have dug myself into.

I wish this was a post where I had an empowering message to share with you about how I have overcome this treatment, but alas I am still struggling to figure that out. I have tried removing myself from the situation and keeping to myself, then I was "stuck up" and apparently acting like I was better then everyone. I tried to fight back and stand up for myself, but then I was b****. I tried to change my own attitude and treat people with the level of respect that I expect, and then I got walked all over and still treated like crap.

I'm at a loss. I don't know what I can do to change these people's opinions of me. Then I remembered something else my mom and her friend had talked about.

My mom's bestfriend is from chile, she told me about a term they have in Spanish "Sandre pesada" meaning heavy blood. Her description how you feel about someone who "has heavy blood" was this --- You feel like you instantly don't like the person even if you don't even know them. You want to punch them for no reason, just they annoy you to look at them--- I know a few people who have heavy blood, and I will admit that I treat them differently without meaning to, or noticing that I do.

The other night when I was getting a fresh load of criticism about the tone of my voice, I began to think about the term heavy blood. I've know for a while now that I have a "Resting witch tone of voice" meaning if I don't pay attention to how I'm speaking, I sound angry and demanding. Though, this problem isn't the only thing causing people to treat me the way that they do. I've struggled for years now with people treating me badly for no reason. Maybe I have heavy blood. Maybe I irritate people for no particular reason other than I just do. Or it could very well have nothing to do with me. It could be an insecurity that the other person is dealing with, and just so happens to be taking their frustrations out on me. I don't really know what it is, but I've learned that all I can do is take a lesson from my own feelings.

I know how it feels when you walk in a room and feel like no one wants you there. I know what it's like when you walk around a corner and people go quiet because they were talking about you. It's heartbreaking. I might not be able to change how people treat me, but I can change how I treat other people. I can change how I influence other people's thoughts. I can choose to build people up instead of tearing them down. 

I can do hard things, and I can be strong when I don't feel strong. I can rise.

.martha trip part 7 .08.23.16.

Sadly our last day in Vernon has come. We woke up slowly to the sound of the ducks HONKING outside. Tia and Mia quickly started barking to alert us to the nearby danger🙄 (Too bad they couldn't alert us to the danger of our potentially murderous neighbour!)

Since it was our last day we decided to start a tradition and go back to cosens bay! See .excation part 7

Thinking we were smarter then last time, we followed the road to the last point where it crosses the path to the beach. M hopped out and took the beach stuff. I would bring the dogs with me on the 2km walk to the beach from the parking lot; that way they would be tired and sleep on the floaties. 

This trip to cosens bay was slightly different than the last, in that we weren't in my little car anymore. Martha was too big to turn around on the narrow dirt road. Luckily enough there was another parking lot farther up the road. As I drove up to the parking lot it was clear that it would be a much farther walk then if I had parked at the other parking lot. As I was walking down to the beach, I looked through the tree's for some trails that lead down to the lake. After all I could see it through the trees.

I picked what looked like a small bike trail and made my way down the (very steep) hill. The path quickly ended and I was left with a bunch of fallen down trees and a steep hill. The dead grass was very slippery, and the only thing to grab on to for balance was some rose bushes and pine branches. Ouch!! 

Oh did I forget to mention I was wearing a dress and slip on sandals? Not my best choice of attire when scaling a steep hill. Tia and Mia quickly became tired of maneuvering around the fallen trees and tall grass. I quickly figured out that the only way to get down the hill as quickly as possible was to carry the dogs. Luckily I can hold both Tia and Mia in one arm, I used my free hand to grab onto whatever I could to stop myself from falling down.

About an hour later I finally made it out of the woods. Once I emerged from the tree line I immediately found a real path to take me to the beach. 

***If I had only walked a little bit farther down the road from the parking lot I would have found the beginning of this trail. It went along the tree line into a valley which lead to the beach.***

Patience is a virtue everyone, and I learn that lesson over and over and over again. 

It wasn't till I was walking on flat ground that began to feel the stinging on my knee intensify. I had thought that it was just another scrape from climbing over the fallen trees, but it was beginning to turn blotchy and was even starting to swell. I began to worry that I may have brushed against some poison ivy. When I finally made it to the beach, M was already packing everything up! She was getting ready to come searching for me, with both of our cellphones and no idea what was taking me so long she was beginning to worry! 

We took some pictures of my battle scars and sent them to mom in hopes that she may be able to help us diagnose what was happening!

 

(Ignore my super sweaty, greasy hair. We were showering in the lake that day)

Mom sent me some helpful information, but it turns out it was just a case of stinging nettle. 

Tia was completely exhausted from being carried for so long so she quickly passed out in the beach stuff while M and I tended to my wounds. 

Unfortunately we only had the beach to ourselves for about an hour. People slowly started to trickle in, some just passing through on their morning hikes and others coming down for a morning swim. 

One particular beach visitor effectively ruined our afternoon. He had an adorable pit-bull puppy, but it was unleashed and it was making lots of people uncomfortable. I don't discriminate against different types of dogs, I believe that all dogs have the potential to be kind and loving creatures. The people around us did not share this opinion. All we heard for the next hour or two was people scoffing at the young "gentlemen" and his dog. The guy and his puppy were fooling around and the puppy was getting a little rowdy, jumping up on people, running around chasing the ducks and genuinely just disrupting the peace. Tia and Mia get a little worked up around other dogs so we took them out on the floaties to try to salvage a little bit of relaxation. 

Later in the afternoon my hands were beginning to wrinkling so much it was beginning to hurt. I paddled in to the beach to get some drying time in the sun, I let Tia and Mia jump off the floatie to walk up the beach to our stuff. Just then the playful puppy saw the girls and bolted towards them. 

*** As previously stated, I loathe people who don't leash their pets, or more specifically people who don't have control of their pets when they choose to unleash them. This did not help my temperament with what followed. *** 

I calmly swiped the girls up at the last possible second before the playful puppy came crashing in. Just wanting to play the puppy started jumping up my leg trying to get to the girls. My chatty beach neighbors exploded. The began to scream at the young guy that they were going to report him and blah, blah, blah. 

I walked back in the water, calmly bouncing the girls in my arms. My hands were shaking. Not because I was angry, but because it had scared me. That puppy was significantly bigger then my girls and if I hadn't of swiped them up they could have been seriously hurt. 

Finally the yelling petered out and only a few mumbles were uttered from my defending beach neighbor before he apologized for the outburst. I politely told him that I can speak for myself. M came out in to the water to ask if I was alright, we stood in the water rocking Tia and Mia in our arms planning what we wanted to do for the rest of the day. 

All of a sudden the young guy started to get worked up again. He was uttering how he was going to fight the guy who had engaged in the yelling battle with him. I was fed up at this point and I had heard enough. Less politely I told him that it's over, to stop whining about it and move on. After all I was the one who's dogs almost got hurt and I hadn't said a word up until this point. He immediately began to focus his angry energy on me, saying I was discriminating against him because he had a pit-bull. ------Now, I'm not overly proud of what followed. But I work in the oilfield and I've learned the best phrases to cut men down. I watch the guys do it all day everyday. 

I got in to a fight. A word fight. Luckily I won the battle and the skinny little loser leashed his dog and left. The gentleman who had fought with the boy earlier had a very surprised look on his face. He later told M that he should have just let me tell the boy off in the first place, and that I really could speak for myself! 

Sadly we had to leave the beach in order to get to our campsite in time! We were staying somewhere in between Kamloops and Jasper so it was a bit of a drive away! We stopped for an actual meal at "Mr. Mikes Steakhouse" before heading to the mountains!

^^^ M my very happy (not tired at all) co-pilot!! 

We didn't get to the campsite till late so it was pitch black by time we got there! The stars were absolutely beautiful and the crisp mountain air was exactly what I needed to cleanse myself of that crappy encounter at the beach. We had some leftover wood from the previous night's fire. After many failed attempts at lighting the fire, we decided to call it a night. I crawled into bed and began pinteresting/googling how to light a fire, because clearly my years of Young Women's Camps didn't teach me!! 

Sadly our trip was over, the next day was spent driving home and getting ready to return to my bleak reality. Working.

.martha trip part 6 .08.22.16.

This morning we woke up to quite the mess. The storm from the previous night had ripped a ton of branches off the trees!! I'm so glad we were safe and warm inside the van. 😅 

The weather was quite glum and chilly. The clouds scattered the sky and the wild had a nice cool bite to it! So we layered up and headed to Pegasus Stables

One of my goals for the summer was to go on a horse back ride, either through the mountains or through the Forrest! Needless to say I was super excited when a co-worker mentioned these stables to me! The price was fair and the ride was so much fun! We had a great guide, she was super friendly and even let us "Trot" down some paths a few times!! It was so fun, and the views of Kelowna we're really pretty! We stopped to take a few pictures before heading back to the stables. 

The weather was still pretty crappy and cold so the beach was out of the question for the day. We had planned on visiting a friend of mine who recently moved to Vernon, and what better day to do this then a rainy crappy day. 

Visiting with friends is one of my favorite pastimes. Don't get me wrong, I really like doing adventurous stuff and exploring new places; but sometimes it's just nice to sit down with friends and visit! Plus it doesn't hurt when your friends happen to have adorable children!



By supper time the weather had cleared up significantly! So we headed to our new campground to enjoy the sunset relaxing by swan lake.

The last trip we went on we didn't have any fires! Not one!! So tonight we decided it was the best way to spend the evening. We scampered around town rounding up supplies for smores and then spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to get the fire lit! 

The gentleman camping next to us came out to visit. He had seen Tia and Mia playing around in the grass and came out to ask me the same round of typical questions strangers ask about the girls. Turned out he was from the same city I live in. He chatted with me for a bit till he noticed the difficult time I was having with getting the fire lit! He suggested using rubbing alcohol to light the fire. I hadn't even considered using rubbing alcohol, but from my movie watching experiences I determined that this could turn south very quickly. I swiped up Tia and Mia and put them in the van for safe keeping, when I turned back the fire was lit!! We thanked the kind (slightly creepy) gentleman and sat down to enjoy our roaring fire. 

It was at this point that I realized that our "kind" neighbor could very well be a murderer for all I knew. After all, it was strange that he mentioned he was from the same city before I had told him where I was from.. even more strange that he had BC plates.. 

Then my mind began to wander. He had immediately warmed up to the dogs. A cleaver tactic if you didn't want them to bark at you while you hid in the camper van waiting to strike. 

Being the calm collected older sister I am, I slowly slumped away to the van to retrieve the dogs. It was getting dark so I was moving a little faster then intended. I locked the doors and took my guard dogs back to the fire. Just then our friendly neighbor/murderer emerged from his RV. My heart began to pound in my chest, this was the end. He shot us a wave and jumped on his scooter riding away into the night. 

After barely escaping with our lives we tidied up the campfire snacks and crawled up into bed. With guard dogs ready to defend; M and I drifted off to sleep. 

Moral of the story: I watch too many horror movies.