Well Happy Winter Camping to all! Our season officially began December 13th at Valens! That was the first weekend we could make it to the park to camp. The winter program changed to allow for a longer season. Winter Camping now officially begins December 1st and ends as usual the end of April. I LOVE being able to decorate the fiver for the holidays and spend the extra time there. It only adds up to two extra weekends, but hey, better than nothing!
That first weekend, we found evidence of a mouse visit in the fiver. It meant a lot of extra work, as they spent a lot of time on our bed including leaving presents of bird seed from outside, torn up tissue and well, other unmentionable presents! Yuck!!! Thank goodness I keep lots of spare bedding in the fiver. As for the main area, just a little evidence on the counter and a bit on the bottom floor of the pantry. Still, after that, a total clean up is in order! That first weekend turned out to be a lot of work and the weather wasn’t great at all – 25 – 30mm of rain, so we ended up coming home earlier than planned.
Our next weekend up was December 27th. After leaving out mousetraps last time, we found no mice inside. One was caught in a trap in the front pass thru. It was a nicer weekend away with plenty of bird life, long hikes and campfires. Our water system is working flawlessly so far, but it really hasn’t been terribly cold. I’m keeping the front pass thru temps at well above freezing and we’re just using the bypass to fill the hot water tank and draw fresh water from our large blue water jugs. It’s a great system which doesn’t require water to be stored in the fresh water tank. We took the time while it was warmer to drain both the grey and black tanks in case the temps drop. We learned that lesson last year! Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today!



Both of us had to be back home for Monday December 30th but we made a quick trip back up for New Years Eve. Dave had to work so he didn’t arrive at camp until later. The trip from work to Valens for him is usually one hour and fifteen minutes. Sometimes better, sometimes worse. We were fortunate to be joined for New Years Eve by our oldest daughter! I’m proud to say only Dave and I (the seniors) made it to midnight! Lol. For me, it almost didn’t happen. I was in bed napping at 10:00pm with an upset stomach. I woke up around 11:45pm to find Dave sitting at the campfire. I joined him in my pjs. Who cares right? No fashion show camping and I had to make that midnight hour of the New Year with him! That trip was short but beautiful! I arrived at the park ahead of Dave to snow covered trees and snow gently falling. It was so pretty. Our New Years Eve fire was in the snow. 🙂
Our next trip is scheduled for January 10th. We can only make it out twice a month as I work every other weekend. I’m grateful for that and the ability to use our fiver twelve months of the year. Our Calista is a wonderful fiver!
So, without further adieu, thanks for reading and hopefully I’ll have some new updates real time in the future. I’m using my new HP Chromebook which I’ll be taking with me to Valens each time not only for Netflix content on the TV but to update my site while we’re there!