As we watch our host climb back up the steep path to the main house, followed by a menagerie of one dog, three cats and two chickens, Nanette comments – “Maybe she is trying to kill us after all.”  

The statement is out of character, so I need clarification. “Who – Michele?” 

“No – Kirsty!”

Ah, I realise now this is a continuation of our earlier reminiscing as we fought the Highway 1 traffic from Surrey to Hope, BC.  As I recall, the conversation had gone along the lines of:

“Do you remember the time Kirsty sent us on that balloon trip?”  

“How could I forget,” says I, “they had to postpone it twice because of severe thunderstorms!”  

“It was only light rain,” responds Nanette, “and you know you loved it.”

Undefeated, I continue, “- then there was the whale watching cruise, which turned out to be sitting in an inflatable boat surrounded by killer whales.” 

Nanette concedes this was true, “but, it was a big inflatable, and the orcas tended to dive just before they hit us.”

So, here we are, courtesy of Kirsty and Drew, on our latest adventure, a two-night eco-getaway in the beautiful Dogwood Valley.  Our host, Michele, has just finished the tour of our rustic cabin perched high on the bank above what she calls “the mighty Fraser River”.

“The river’s still in flood from that dam break,” she drawls, “but it’s nowhere as high as they predicted.  It’ll hold up the salmon run for at least a week, so there won’t be as many bears about as usual.  Anyhow, best to keep your door shut at night just in case. Oh, and that should stop the cougars, lynx, racoons and other critters from annoying you.”

When Michele and her furry and feathered family disappear from view, Nanette and I look at each other.  “This is going to be great!”, we say in unison.  Sure, there’s the little matter of negotiating nighttime visits to the eco “facilities” behind the cabin, but we’ve watched enough survival shows to know you just have to call out “hey bear” in a confident voice to have any inquisitive grizzlies racing for their lives.  Hmm, I wonder if “hey cougar” works the same way?