Student Blog
My Great Canadian Experience: Thanksgiving in Nelson
by Adina and Sally
On Saturday morning we packed all our camping stuff in the car and then we began our trip to Nelson. The weather was nice, the sun was shining, and it was a perfect start in the day. It was a long drive, but with good music, interesting talks, and beautiful nature it didn’t feel that long. First, we stopped in Creston, where we visited a squash market. A really North American experience and we were both impressed about how many different kinds of squashes exist. We bought tons of squashes and vegetables. With a bit of thinking we managed to put all of them in the car and continue towards Nelson. The car was very crowded, but the good thing was that we did not have so much left until our second destination.
An hour later, we arrived in Nelson, we did a small shopping tour and ate our lunch on a nice bench in the sun. Later we drove towards our campground. On the way there, we stopped at an old-growth forest. We walked around there for an hour. It was so magical with all the trees, the river, and the small waterfalls. After this amazing day we drove to our campground. Our campground was right next to the lake. We started a campfire and ate hot dogs. We had an amazing evening with such a beautiful view with the sunset over the lake. When it got darker, we made smores and grilled marshmallows over our fire and we really enjoyed the night sky, full of stars. When it was time to go to bed, we dressed warm with a lot of clothes. We fell asleep pretty quickly.
We started the next day, with a hot chocolate and cereals. Again, it was a bit of a maneuver to bring all the stuff in the car, but we did it and this time we had more space. Afterwards we drove to the ferry station Balfour, we played Rumikub to spend the waiting time. On the ferry we bought French Vanilla (our new favorite drink) and adored the view. Sadly, it was a bit smoky, but still very beautiful with the mountains and the lake. Because it was such a warm day, we drove to two beaches and enjoyed the sun. For us it was a bit too cold for a swim, but our host family went for it.
After that we drove to a restaurant in Ricky’s there was the big moment, our first thanksgiving meal. As a starter we ate a small Caesar salad and as the main meal we ate a traditional turkey dinner with smashed potatoes, gravy and vegetables. As a dessert we ate pumpkin pie with whipped cream. The meal was fantastic, but we were all really full after the supper. Afterwards we drove home with a sunset and our brain full of incredible memories.
Photo and blog post submitted by Adina and Sally, grade 11 students at Selkirk Secondary School. Adina is from Sweden and Sally is from Switzerland, and they are host sisters in Kimberley.