Camping and GCVWS with the parents

It was the parents' last weekend in town before heading back to the states, and it also the weekend of the GCVWS (Great Canadian VW show) so we thouht we would head out of town and get some camping in with the folks. Weren't sure how much luck we would have with campsites (since jen and i typically just go offroad until we find some crown land with a decent flat spot and a good view) so we sent the parents out around noon to look for a first come/first serve spot at golden ears and surrounding parks. They struck out at three different parks and finally decided to pull over and wait on us to catch up. We caught up after work and headed offroad by stave falls thinking it must be a pretty slow area. Wrong. We only went about 15 minutes up the road, but apparently further up is a whole lotta something. Cars, trucks and SUVS came flying past us every few minutes almost all night, most full of young kids in the know about something up ahead that we most certainly wont be coming back to find out. The only thing i can imagine that might have been worth fighting all the traffic further ahead was a screened-in porch to fight back the mosquitoes at this place. Looks like its probably a great area for hiking or backpacking, but for sleeping in our vehicle this one didn't quite meet our needs. We decided to stay elsewhere night 2. We did get in a great meal of corn on the cob, campfire baked potatoes and pulled pork tacos, so the evening was anything but a waste. We finally decided to call it a night, the parents fired up their generator and we retired to our respective vehicles/sleeping quarters. once inside the bus, Karma proved once again that she's the smartest member of the family when she climbed on top of the back drawers and called it home. We've actually talked every morning for the last few trips about installing a child's cot for her over the front seats to gain back some nighttime real estate. For us, the bed is quite comfortable but in reality it's a bit smaller than a standard twin, and bit tight for the three of us). Regardless, thanks to karma we all had a very comfortable night of sleep... well, other than the combined noise of traffic, mosquitoes and generator. In the morning Jen tried out the newly installed cooktop for the first time as she made coffee and macha lattes at twice the normal speed. All the comforts of home. We headed off for the GCVWS pancake breakfast and shine, but stopped for a snack just outside the park and before getting back to maple ridge. This wouldn't have necessarily been blogworthy except I ran into a guy who's tattoo I loved and we talked a bit about his artist. Maple ridge's own Alex Rousey. We stopped to see a bit of Alex's painting/graffiti work on the way through town and i'm excited to head back in the coming weeks and see if i might have finally found an artist to handle my sleeve! The pancakes as it turns out were free, and when is that not welcome news? Not alot of busses here which was a bit disappointing, but we had some fun talking with the hippytrip guys, who simply couldn't get enough of the bus. We were also really pleased to see a guest appearance from the captain! No not that captain, Cap'n Doug, who taught Jen and I to sail last summer and whom we truly love. After our sailing journey (and possibly because of a ride home in our still early-on bus project) Doug decided to buy a westy and was out at the show with his new ride and looking for ideas and connections. We had to take a rain check on his offer to have dinner with he and Bonnie...but I'm sure our paths will cross again soon. They always do. We headed home instead of looking for another campsite, and mom and dad hit the road heading for jasper and banff on the way back south. We settled back in at home, celebrated jens half-birthday and prepped for another week of work.