Ernie's Travels: Maple Ridge, Mission and Yarrow, B.C.

At the end of June, 2005 - my college friend (Terry Shaw) retired from his teaching career so his family and friends planned a surprise party in his honor. I and Ric were invited to the event and, also, to stay with another long time friend, Art Pearson, and his partner Bruce Jones in their lovely home in Maple Ridge, B.C. As we usually did, each of us flew independently to Vancouver timing our respective flights so that we both arrived at about the same time.

The flights were timed so that we could spend a few days with Art and Bruce. These gentlemen have fantastic 'green thumbs' and their property of a few acres is really beautiful. Also their home is unusual in that it is a 'pan abode' which means that it arrived from the manufacturer in parts and had to be reassembled on the property.

A beautiful fuchsia

The following is a tour of their acreage.

Ric and Art relaxing on the patio

That yard and garden is a little bit of Eden

Begonias

One of the pathways

Lilies

Pool and fountain

Formal Garden

A food fight! The bird is a Stellar jay and that is a grey squirrel in the background. They are vying with each other for a morsel of food.

During a winter since our visit there was a major snowfall and Art sent me a photo of the blanketed yard.

On the day before we attended Terry's surprise party Art took us for a drive, The area where Art and Bruce live is known as Webster's Corners and it lies northeast of the town of Haney near the midway point between there and Mission. Art drove a big circle route through that area during which I saw a couple of places where my family lived, the school which I attended for Grade 1, the Ruskin Dam and the overgrown driveway which would have led to where my grandparents home once stood. My favorite route when I drove through that area was via Steelhead on the back road to Mission and that was the route that Art took. Upon arriving in Mission we went to the Abbey (see "Monasteries").

The Abbey Church of Christ the King

This is the view from the brow of the hill where the Abbey is located. I wanted Ric to be able to see inside the church but it was being renovated. Again - as in the 'Monasteries' post - I invite you to click on this photo in order to enlarge it. That accomplished, you will see above the blue ridge (to the right of the peak) the 'ice cream cone' that is the volcanic peak - Mt. Baker. It is dormant but NOT dead.

A closeup photo of Mt. Baker - courtesy of Michael W. of Vancouver.

On the third day Art drove us across the Fraser River and east towards Chilliwack and then south to Yarrow. Chilliwack - although now dwarfed by the city of Abbotsford - is a major agricultural hub and has been so since the days of early settlement. Near the beginning of the 20th Century, a tram line was built out from Vancouver and New Westminster to service the south side of the Fraser Valley. Every so many miles along the route stations were established and given names. When a station southwest of Chilliwack was decided upon the builders had to choose a name and somebody picked 'Yarrow' - the name of a weed that is indigenous to that area. Now that community is prosperous as an agricultural center as well as an outer suburb of Vancouver.

That is where one of Terry's sisters (Jody) lives with her husband and she hosted the party. The gathering was a complete surprise to Terry - and especially when he saw that Ric and I were present.