The Dunster drive.

Irvins RV Park, Valemount BC (2 stars)

Lee has planned a touring day today. The sun is shining and Lez's feet feel fine after the grueling 6K marathon yesterday (LOL).

First up, hike through Jackman Flats Provincial Park. The underlying soil is all sand making it difficult for the Lodgepole Pine to endure. But the caribou lichen which covers a lot of the ground loves it there. Quite a unique ecosystem.

Next up, we drove to Dunster which is about 30K up the Yellowhead Highway from Tete Jaune Cache. What a neat little town, er, village, er, hamlet, er, row of buildings. There is an original Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Station there as well as a somewhat famous 100 plus year-old General Store, still going strong. We talk to the owner and she points out the mugs and dishes made by a local artist. We have found the replacements for our evening coffee mugs. And, we avoid having to go into Valemount for a few necessities because the Dunster General Store actually carries a lot of stock, given that the building seems to be no larger than a double garage. Nice to see.

Another fabulous explore day - sunshine all the way! Jackman Flats offered a large number of various lichen and fungi and tiny flowers. We will do our best to identify - but we have another lot of photos to cull through, only 93 this time. I just could not get over the tiny tiny flowers in the harsh sandy soil, the old olde trees, quite dead but now supporting the fungi life. Mother Nature never ceases to amaze.

Pulling into Dunster proved to be another adventure. Across the road from the General Store are three sets of percussion tubes and mallets to "play" the instruments. I could not resist. With a few renditions of Do-Ra-Me I felt accomplished LOL and let the birds and wildlife back to enjoying the forest sounds.

The General Store was a wonderful surprise - we should have taken more photos. The current owner noted that it had been a very busy day, and we had come in after a rush of people. I can't imagine! The store is not big enough for more than about 6 adults! It is well stocked though - if you need it she has it! She also runs the gas station there, cheaper that anywhere else around!

We headed back to Valemount with smiles of a good outing, and came home to make tea and eat the flavoured chocolates we purchased. I spent some time at the picnic table "playing" with fabric - leftover fabric blocks from previous projects are now ready to be put into new blocks for a quilt. No, there is no plan for a finished product yet. And fortunately - no deadline!

But wait! Night approached and a neighbour took out his water stand pipe by hitting it with his truck. We are currently not connected to the water lines. Fortunately we do have our own tank. Coffee time!