July 17 - Finally found the lake in the forest, and it was worth the wait. Like all good things usually are.

 Cooler today. Sunny but windy  so when you were in the sun it felt too hot, but in the shade the wind made it a bit too cool. Not that I’m one to complain. Ha. 

I had to read between the lines to find out we were going to have a picnic.  As in, ‘Aren’t you going to make sandwiches? It’s almost 10:30.’ When I saw the map on his iPad I knew we were going to go looking for the evasive lake at Green Timbers Forest. 

Because it looked like it was near the RCMP station parking lot where we turned around the other day, that’s where he drove today. Let me tell you, driving around a police parking lot isn’t, and never was, on my bucket list. Especially when he drove where he shouldn’t have. 

However, a friendly landscaper wondered what the hell we were up to, and waved us over, which was better than who I expected. She then told us how to get to where we wanted to go, and even though he didn’t think she knew what she was talking about, I told him to drive to the light, turn right, another light, turn right, and yet another right to the parking lot. She knew what she was talking about.

A map at the entrance gave me hope. See the blue part? The lake. And not too far from the You Are Here spot.

These pretties were spreading in front of the washrooms - Purple Coneflowers. Thought I stumped my favourite horticulturist when he said it was echinacea.

Turns out he was right. 

He was more patient waiting for me going in than going out. You will see.

Beautiful park, but a lot of trails. The map showed going straight was the right way, even when the path curved a bit. 

These looked like little raspberries, but according to my Leaf app, they are thimbleberries.

And here are signs of beavers. Dam. 

So peaceful.

Nope not a holly with blue berries. I wondered if Steve would know it - he hardly glanced at the pic and said Oregon Grape. And according to my app, he was right. 

This pup had a combination swim/drink. 

And there were little ducklings! They still had some yellow feathers - I thought this year’s babies would have been hatched earlier in the year. 

And these? I swore they weren’t ducks, but I was only partly wrong. They weren’t mallard ducks. They were Pacific Pintail Ducks. How would I manage without the World Wide Web.

I lagged behind on the way back to the car, and Howard just kept on going. I figured if I kept on the path I’d find my way out. 

And there he is, near the parking lot. Can you see him?

All in all, a lovely morning, which was good as nothing else exciting happened today. Did some housework, made some meatballs, and that’s about it.