Huybers Retirement Adventure: Change of Plans!

On Saturday awoke to another beautiful day here on PEI. The sun was shining and it was going to be a warm day of about 26 degrees. The night before, we had decided that today we would take our old coffee table and sand it down and then stain it again. It had been a project that I had wanted to do for several years but, with working, I just never got around to doing it. So today we would be doing that or painting the shed. Either way, today was going to be a “fun work” day.

Then in an instant, our plans changed. Ron opened up his morning emails to find an invitation from a couple we had met while camping last year. They were camping at our old campground, Crystal Beach, and it was Ray’s 60^th birthday. They asked us if we would like to come to the campground around 7:00 p.m. and join them for a piece of cake. We thought that would be a great idea. We had kept in contact with them over the past year and had tried to meet up at the campground a couple of times but it just didn’t work out. It would be nice to see them again.

Then we thought … why not go camping over night there! We called the campground to see if there were any vacancies and they remembered us from the year before. We told them who we were meeting and they gave us a spot right next to them on the water. It was like old times. We quickly got the moho ready for departure and we were off by noon. So much for redoing the coffee table! J

When we arrived at the campground, I went in to register. The owner was standing outside of the office talking to a couple. He asked them where they were from and they answered BC. I turned to them and said, “You’re from BC? Where about in BC?” The woman answered, “Just outside of Vancouver, about an hour away.” I replied with a smile, “Chilliwack?” The woman was shocked that I knew Chilliwack even existed and said “Yes!!” I laughed then gave her the thumbs up. I told her that’s where we just moved from. It just goes to show you, you just never know who you will run into here on the island.

We arrived at our site to find Theresa and Ray already there and set up. We pulled in and Theresa came out to greet us with a big hug. While Ron was setting up our moho, I was getting caught up on things with Theresa. It was good to see them again.

The campground organizes special events like Christmas, Halloween etc, that they don’t get to celebrate because they are closed for the season. Well it turned out that night was the Halloween event. Children in the campground got dressed up in costumes and at 6:00 p.m. they went on a parade around the campground. This year there were a lot of children dressed up and on parade. It was very cute to see. The campground owners and the regular/seasonal campers give out Halloween candy to the children. I was amazed that the children were packing quite a hefty bag of goodies as they walked around the park.

At 7:00 p.m. we went next door for Ray’s birthday celebration. Their daughter had come from Ottawa, which was a surprise for Ray. A couple of Theresa’s brothers and their wives were there as well as a couple of really cute grandchildren. I only wished we had taken a couple of photos while there to show you how cute these kids were. They were adorable! The little boy was only 13 months old and he loved to whistle! Yes … this little tot whistles! We have never seen anyone so young whistle before. It was so cute!! Theresa brought out some beverages and a couple of cakes and we all burst into the Happy Birthday song. We had a great time meeting and visiting with everyone.

The next day we packed up, said our good-byes and drove home. On the way home we talked about what we were “going to do” the day before but how things can change in an instant. We love it when we do things spontaneously. Somehow they end up being the most fun. This camping trip was no different. It was great seeing Ray and Theresa again and we made it a point to make sure a whole year doesn’t go by before seeing them again.

You just never know what the day will bring. I hope yours brings you lots of fun surprises, just like ours does. As we always say … Life is good … Retirement is better! J