Festival, Friends and River Adventures

One of my favourite events of the year is the Kispiox Music Festival. Remember last year? This year we chose to camp on site instead of driving back and forth each day from our property. We drove up to the cabin early so we wouldn’t feel rushed the next day with a four hour drive from home and camp set up. Cam, Keith, Hayden and the deegs stayed the weekend at the cabin to fish and float the river. Erin, Lucy, Lily, Leif and I enjoyed the festival.

The weather has been cold and fairly miserable up here on the north coast so we were well prepared with woolens, rain gear and tarps (although our tarp set up was nothing compared to the tent city set up by the other Rupertites in attendance.) We got a great spot by the river in the quiet section and were soon joined by many friends.

The face painting was one of the weekend highlights for the kids. Leif was so eager; the first thing he said the morning after waking in the tent was “I’m getting my face painted now!” We had to convince him that the artist was likely still sleeping and would soon be making breakfast before getting to work. The artist worked with the colours the kids were already wearing. Lily chose a fairy design and Leif was adamant that he’d like to look like a tiger!

I didn’t take nearly enough photos while at the festival! I was so busy enjoying the music, dancing, watching the kids run and play, browsing the marketplace, soaking up the unexpected HOT sun and chatting with friends.

Some of my favourite music this weekend was: Shred Kelly, Jess Hill, Nikole Texidor and Kate Hutchins, Jaron Freeman Fox and The Opposite of Everything, the Bluegrass open mic performance, Donné Roberts Trio, Dorjee Tsering and GoGo Bonkers.

I regret that being a single parent this weekend meant that I missed out on the late night performances! The kids were asleep within seconds of climbing under the down duvet but I was worried about leaving Leify with only friends in nearby tents. It might have been very frightening to wake up without me there. Next year will likely be easier and I’ll follow Christa’s lead and leave the kids with a walkie talkie.

After the festival, we packed up and headed back to the cabin with friends in tow where we spent two more nights. While there, I had my first float in our new raft which has been tentatively named Wave Bomber by Ari on this float. How cool is that? The raft is big enough that we were comfortable with four adults, four children, two dogs and gear including cooler, dry bags and waterproof camera boxes. The kids were really excited about some of the “big waves” and got splashed a time or two.

We saw a merganser duck with fourteen (!) juveniles.

We stopped on a gravel bar at the hairpin for lunch. Cam and Lily lit a fire and Perry and I laid out our lunch, buffet style. I’ve been meaning to blog about the rowing frame and oars Cam made for the raft… soon.

This was Kep’s first visit to the cabin and he seemed well pleased with the whole affair. Wait until fall when there are dead fish to eat and roll in!

There was rock skipping and snuggling with friends, oh and plenty of picture taking before we hopped back in the raft for the last stretch back to the cabins. Can you see the cabins up there on the hill?

Despite the annoying bugs, we walked and picked wild strawberries. We looked at flowers, lichen and mushrooms. Dori instigated a game of hide and seek and found the best places to hide!

I love being at the cabin but never more so than when good friends join us. Feel free to click on any of the photos to see them bigger or more of them.