Lee and Chuck on the quilt shop trail for Lez.

Rotary RV Park, Fort St. John BC (2 stars)

It was decided we 'had' to stay in Fort St. John until today so Lez could visit the two quilt shops. As I have learned, quilt shops have what I like to call 'little old lady' opening hours. Don't try them on Sundays and even most of Saturdays. And their opening hours are usually short on the days they do decide to open.

It doesn't matter. Lee keeps busy as Lez browses. Today he did two things. At the first shop, he added oil to Chuck's engine. At the second, he watched as a downtown road reconstruction project required two workers to fill a hole and a couple dozen traffic control workers to make sure no one drove into the hole. Safety gone wild, he thinks.

Ahh yes, the grin is wide as I wander into two quilt shops in Fort St. John, BC. My Two Hands Creations was the first shop that beckoned me to the row of fabrics that I had a tough decision choosing one and it ended with me picking up a half meter of a rich brown mottled fabric.

The second quilt shop, Sew It Yourself Quilt Shop, equally enticing, has a bin of "trade in" fabrics which I could not resist, and another meter tripped me up before I left the shop.

Both great shops with "sew" much more than just fabric - lots of notions, patterns, all the tools needed to create what ever comes to mind.

Don't ask what the fabrics will be used in, that's not why I bought them. But one is a very festive Christmas print that already has my mind designing.

When we settled back at the campground with the Schooner (he doesn't like to maneuvre those narrow streets where the quilt shops hide), we settled into our lawn chairs in the warmth of the outdoors, and enjoyed the views outside the Schooner, and enjoyed the shore and views of Charlie Lake.

Spoiled again as Lee cooked up a meatball and spaghetti dinner - with the red wine accompaniment - we enjoyed a leisurely feast.