Loons and Lesbians at Horsefly

After departing 100 Mile House, and before meeting our good friends ‘The Lesbians’ at Horsefly, we resupplied and had a look around Williams Lake.  It was rainy weather and seeing the muddy Stampede campground in town, we entertained the thought of an overnight stay at Walmart.  It was getting late in the day and we would be leaving early so off we went to check it out.  The relatively new Walmart Superstore in Williams Lake is conveniently located away from the main highway and up on a hill with a good view of the town and lake.  We checked in with Customer Service and they said, ’No problem, just park in the back area of the lot, away from the entrance.’  Seemed easy.  So we found a good spot (for a parking lot) near the Garden Centre with a pretty good view.  Our night was restful and without any unexpected surprises.  It was actually quite pleasant.  So the question is: now that we’ve sheltered at one of Sam Walton’s retail retreats, does this RVing rite of passage make us more seasoned and experienced RVers?  Not really.  It’s just sleeping in a stupid parking lot.  But this was a pretty good one…

The next day we arrived at Horsefly, about 75 km northeast of Williams Lake and site of the first gold discovery in 1859. This was the start of the Cariboo gold rush and a defining moment in BC’s history. Fortunately, the Provincial Park on Horsefly Lake (35 miles long) didn’t live up to its name and there weren’t many annoying bugs.  Within a couple of hours of setting up, the Lesbians arrived, horns honking (note: it’s typically not good campground etiquette to blare your horn when approaching your site but these Lesbians were giddy to see us).  Just after dinner, which featured a Lesbian-worthy dessert consisting of fresh meringue, farmer’s market raspberries and Haagen Daz ice cream, the skies opened and a wild storm came through complete with hail and sideways rain so it was nice to retreat to MaBel for several rounds of euchre.

The next day, the weather improved dramatically so we taste-tested a few varieties of cider that we had picked up from BX Press Cidery in Vernon (all delicious) while listening to the loons drift back and forth across the lake.

After the gals departed, we decided to stay a third night.  We consulted with ‘Gerri’ (the park operator), then moved two sites over (site 8) and away from the occasionally noisy boat launch at site 12.  Gerri has been in charge of Horsefly PP for 39 years and would be about 70 years old.  You get the impression that she runs a pretty tight ship and could handily deal with any unruly camper or boater, but with us, was unbelievably friendly and helpful.  So anyone wanting to see an important area in BC’s history and enjoy some beautiful scenery should make Horsefly (albeit not the most enticing-sounding destination) a place to visit.