Finishing Off in Barkerville

About two hours from Prince George was the historic town of Barkerville, where people can learn about the beginnings of British Columbia--which include the gold rush. 

Since Janae had just studied this piece of history at school, she was very excited about the experience.

Barkerville was definitely authentic--it had buildings that were almost as old as Canada, including this church which will celebrate its 150th birthday next year.

There were people dressed up in period costumes who told stories and stayed in character throughout our visit.

We got to travel by horse and buggy,

attend school lessons on etiquette and hygiene,

and learn how to play Chinese chess (Ben liked it so much he bought a set of his own to take home).

We also ate at a restaurant that actually existed during the gold rush,

dressed up as cowboys (and girls),

and saw amazing wildlife--including a mama bear and two cubs, only a few feet away from us. We also saw a mother and baby moose running along the side of the road, several deer and elk, a rabbit, and ground squirrels everywhere.

We stayed at a restored gold rush hotel (with no TV or cell phone service!),

and shopped at a store with a 100-year-old cash register.

(Janae and Alaina each bought a "school pen" with a little bottle of ink, in case you're wondering!)

On the second day we walked the half hour up to the court house to experience a murder trial that actually took place during the period,

and also half an hour in the other direction to see the cemetery (average age at time of death: 35).

We definitely got our 15000 steps in that day, which is good, because the next morning we were back in the car for the 9-hour ride back home.

                                       

I think we all learned a lot and enjoyed stepping back to visit an earlier time.

Holiday in . . . Prince George?

Several months ago, Jason's friend Dan asked Jason to be the best man at his wedding. Not wanting to pass up this opportunity to be called "the best man," or to get a new suit, or to take his family on a 9-hour car ride, or--I suppose--to do something nice for Dan, Jason said YES.

We then started planning for our trip. There didn't seem to be much to do in Prince George, or many places to stay, but we found a 3-bedroom "cozy cabin" about 40 minutes away from where the wedding would be held. 

This cabin was definitely a highlight of our trip. It was decorated with a sort of cowboy theme, and the kids found lots of things to do, like playing with the antique binoculars,

exploring the cellar,

and catching the many wasps that found their way inside. The cabin actually came equipped with a special bug-catcher, which allowed us to release the wasps, spiders, flies, and mosquitoes back into the wild (so that they could re-enter moments later).

After I got stung by one of the wasps, though, Janae took to squashing them with the contraption. This made us all feel a little better.

One of the beds even had a mosquito net around it . . . everyone else had to fend for themselves at night.

Seriously, though, this cabin was quite comfortable and a lot of fun. It was pretty isolated, hidden away on a beautiful 1100-acre farm that had livestock and berries, fields, a section of the Fraser River, and even a railway crossing that we got stuck behind one time on the way in.

We walked down to see the river and got lots of pictures of our kids in the fields (not to mention lots of mosquito bites).

                                             

                                   

But, of course, the real reason we were there was the wedding. Jason fulfilled his role as best man by attending the rehearsal Sunday night and standing beside Dan at the ceremony Monday afternoon. But, as we all know, behind every best man is a woman (perhaps we should call her the "best woman"?). In this case, a woman who luckily had some mint gum in her purse to save the groom at the marriage ceremony.

The wedding was pretty informal, so Jason got to spend lots of time with us, too, at the reception.

We were all anticipating the multi-layered teal-iced wedding cake, but Alaina especially couldn't wait to get a piece . . . she did wait, though, through the red velvet top layer to get a big piece of vanilla cake from underneath. Of course, the best man had to finish it off for her.

The wedding was held at the University of Northern B.C., which had a nice campus where the wedding party had their professional photos after the reception.

We snuck in a few as well while we were waiting for Jason.

Then, first thing the next morning, we packed up and headed off for the second part of our vacation: Barkerville.