Otter Lake Family Weekend

This past weekend was the third annual weekend getaway trip for the Knopp brothers and their cousin. Thankfully, they let the wives and children come along as well!

You may remember from my posts for each of the previous trips that these trips are not your normal "camping" trips. The first year we stayed at Roche Lake Resort and enjoyed the fun of lodging, and last year is when we discovered Otter Lake. Otter Lake has become our location of choice to say the least!

This was Anna's first trip to Otter Lake, and I think we may have confused her about the type of place that we were staying in. The 3.5 hour drive to Otter Lake is spent mainly along long winding roads in the middle of nowhere with no signs of modern civilization anywhere in sight. However, we did see plenty of wildlife along the way...
Even once you enter into the town of Tulameen, BC where the Cabins of Otter Lake are located, you can't help but feeling like you have slipped back a few decades in time. There is no grocery store... only the general trading post. There are no stop lights. The only place that you can even buy fresh bait is from an old man who sells it out of his trailer home, and that is only during the peak summer months of July and August.

It wasn't until we pulled up at our cabin that I heard Anna let out a sigh of relief, and she finally stopped humming the banjo song from "Deliverance"!

Otter Lake may be located in the middle of nowhere, but we had all the modern conveniences that we could ever need inside our cabin. Accommodations for 11 people, 3 washrooms, a full sized state of the art kitchen, satellite TV, Wi Fi and digital telephones. All of that located just a few steps away from the lake makes for a very beautiful and peaceful spot to go "camping" for the weekend!
We arrived late Thursday night, and Reagan was up shortly after sunrise on Friday morning. She was ready to explore and play! It was a bit chilly and overcast on Friday, but it didn't stop Ryan and Reagan from heading out onto the paddle boat for a trip across the lake.
Thankfully, by Saturday morning when every one was there, the weather had decided to cooperate and we spent most of the day playing outside on the water. I took a turn with Reagan on the paddle boat, and after only about 5 minutes of paddling she decided that she would rather lay back and work on her tan while Mommy did all of the work. Thanks Reagan!
The kids fished off of the dock, and they actually caught a few fish this year! Reagan was quite proud of her little fish... look closely just above Anna's right foot in the 3rd picture below to see the catch of the day!
I think all of the kids' most favorite part of the afternoon was when Cousin Gordie took them all out on his boat, the "S.S. Surefish", for a spin around the lake. Trust me when I tell you that the lake water was VERY VERY VERY cold, but it didn't seem to bother the kids. They were leaning over the edge of the boat sticking their entire arms into the lake, thus sending a stream of water shooting back up their arms into the boat to soak them completely. Thank goodness the Daddy's were holding on tight to all of that precious cargo!
The weekend passed by too quickly as always, and we all said our goodbyes on Sunday morning.

BUT, before sunset on Saturday, I had already spoken with the owner of the property and the caretaker of the cabin, and I had booked our weekend getaway for next summer! I even managed to get us the great deal of 4 nights for the price of 2, so next year the fun can last even longer!!! Look out Otter Lake... we'll be back again next year!