I have a friend who owns a recreational property on a lake north of the city. She invited us to bring our trailer up for the weekend and use the available lot next door - full hookups - for a nominal fee. Since it was a long weekend in Alberta, we were thrilled to accept.
What a lovely time! We joined A & R with their daughters J & J (age 9 and 14) and a school friend of the older daughter. After our arrival and setup on Saturday, we headed for the marina where R took us out in his sailboat/yacht (23.5 ft, could sleep six if needed). Not a lot of wind, but it was a beautiful day. Lots of ski boats on the calmer parts of the lake. He enjoys when it's windy because the ski boats leave and he has the lake to himself with all that wind to enjoy in his sails. He wore a t-shirt that said on the front: "Sail fast" and on the back: "Live Slow"! I could get used to that idea.
An evening BBQ with our two families, plus one other couple (good friends of theirs) was followed up by a stroll to the clubhouse to watch fireworks at lakeside. Beautiful.
A brought his guitar because my friend's daughter has the same kind of guitar. Turns out they both have the exact same amp. They took turns playing a bit and her dad (the sailor) played some (very accomplished). The three teenagers headed off elsewhere to listen to music and gab while the adults talked.
Sunday another family joined us for the day with three smaller children. We all had a tour of the resort (clubhouse, convenience store, marina, golf course) then lunch. By 2 p.m. B had to head back to the city to get A to his starting day of camp. Some went sailing and I grabbed the sunscreen and my book and headed for the pool. At 5 p.m. we drove into the nearest town to have dinner and get the teenage girls a ride back to the city. B joined us there on his return from dropping off A and then we headed back for more visiting and an earlier bedtime.
Monday sleeping in would have been nice but the dog needed a walk. I made bacon and eggs for the two of us and then Brent relaxed while my friend and I shopped at a little town and hit a bucket of balls at the driving range. Then we packed up and headed home, cleaned the trailer inside and out and parked it at the storage lot, ran A's belt out to camp so his pants would stay up and headed home to unpack, tidy and do laundry.
Would we invest in a resort property? Likely not at this location. Lakefront lots are going for around $350,000. Pre-owned lots (empty, no lakeview) are $79,000 and up. When retirement approaches, perhaps a spot in a similar warm weather resort could be an option, but for now we have hockey equipment and college to think of.
I guess, the moral of the weekend is: Whether you enjoy the wind on the water depends completely on what kind of boat you have.
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