Celebrating 10 years of surviving and thriving at Crooked Lake Resort
- Kim and Al Bouwmeester
- Jul 15
- 5 min read
As I sit on my swing at the top of our Crooked hill today there’s a gathering of crows going crazy in the forest, screaming as if there’s a murder or something 😊This past weekend there was a birthday gathering that felt to me like a mini festival! I was in my hippie glory as the music echoed over the lake and through the mountains and forest. 10 years ago as we sat alone, with our nearest inhabited neighbour some 30km away I couldn’t explain the sense of alone that I felt and feared. Then there was this thumping noise like an old truck trying to start. We aren’t alone???? Now every spring I look forward to hearing the drumming of the grouse mating call. If nothing else you learn a lot living experience out here. An off the grid life isn’t for everyone, but as we’ve jumbled and been humbled through the past 10 years…we think it is the best place somewhere over the rainbow. 10 years ago as we passed the Likely cut off the last text I was to get from our daughter until we came back into cell service said something like ‘Mom don’t move to the mountains. Nobody goes there.’ I paraphrase, as my children tell me…or embellish as I love to do 😊 Well 10 years later I couldn’t have imagined all of the wonderful people we’ve met, whether in the mountains or in the remarkable communities surrounding us. Our address is Horsefly. Our mailbox is 63 km away and our bank 128 km. Yet, we feel almost as close to our community as we did when we lived in our amazing small town Cannington, Ontario for a couple of decades, relishing our so many incredible friendships. See ya later Peace Street~~
With a few differences. Instead of being a volunteer on the fire department and championing our Social Enterprise construction endeavour, Just Cause, Al is the King of our Castle, chief of the Crooked fire brigade, Crooked construction jack of all trades and the Crooked building inspector 😊 That said we have some pretty wonderful support from our local Horsefly Fire department and the Cariboo Search and Rescue who have made a few very much appreciated appearances and save the days. And instead of helping out with mental health, community engagement and food security, I am the Crooked Queen and Director of Happy Campers and Head Muppet Chef of Crooked Cooking here in our little Crooked Community.
10 years have flown by and boy have they been jam packed with Diversity, Adventure and Yikes! Plenty of moments of awe, laughter, joy, comradery, appreciation, tears and gratitude. Through fires, to Covid, to more fires, rain. snow and more snow we’ve come face to face with so many different birds, moose, bears, (only one type of fish though) Rainbow Trout who love to eat the leaches and fresh water shrimp, as do the skunks, porcupines, flying squirrels, bats, and mice and more mice. M & M Mice and mosquitos are like fires and snow…Love em or hate em, they’re here so Whatcha gonna do when they come for you! We still have faith tho we've lost a few~~~
A couple of times we thought about selling. For one reason or another it just wasn’t meant to be. Crooked isn’t done with us yet. So we cherish every moment and every person, animal, and event that crosses our Crooked Path.
On this July 15th, our 10th anniversary of making Crooked Lake Resort the place we love, live, work and play, Al and I are so thankful and happy that the Universe has us in the exact place we are supposed to be right now. We think of and are still in touch with most of the previous owners. While Clifford Eagle began this little dream at the end of the road less travelled, the Boyes family (Crooked Bob) (yep, we’re allowed to call him that) 😊 Cathy, Neil, Barb Sukert and kids, Wayne and Linda, and Lana and Jeannette built up a following of happy Crooked campers, hunters, loggers, miners, firefighters and winter enthusiasts to name a few. Regulars still tell us to say hi to them. There are folks who have been coming here for generations and many come back to this day. There are so many more friends who have covered our buts. Either by staying here so we could fly, or bringing us stuff, offers and gifts came in all shapes and sizes. I’ll ask them for permission to tell those stories and put them on our blog. I think it’s ok to tell some of the Crooked stories now without scaring people off 😊 Not all of our stories are rainbows and flying squirrels~~but at the end of the day we're here and feel heaps of gratitude.
Of course we want to thank Dave for jumping in when selling didn't seem to be in the cards. When Dave heard we had the resort up for sale ( I just missed my kids and grandbabies way too much and found it a burden to ask others to come stay so we could leave the resort to visit, cuz something’s always just about to challenge the status quo 😊)
Dave said how about I retire up there with you guys, help you out and cover for you when you need to blow this pop stand. Talk about our cake and eat it too! I’ve seen my grandbabies almost as many times as I’ve been to the bank 😊 And we couldn’t do it without all of your support whether it be through friendship, show ups, or the joy of staying with us. We have also been thankful to be able to pay it forward in our humble and small capacity. We have donated just under $20,000.00 worth of cabin rental gift certificates and cash from various events, bottle returns and little extra’s that we had along the way to put a little Crooked love into local events and charities that are run by incredible and oh so valuable volunteers.
While each passing year has introduced us to new trials and tribulations, we are continuously elated and humbled. A mountainous Crooked Roller Coaster Thank you! Time to catch our breath and brace ourselves for the next 10 years! Wahooooooooooooooooooooooo What a Ride ~~~~~~~~~ Our new theme song~~
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Here are a few links to some cool perspectives of others of our fabulous Crooked Lake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?https://www.youtube.com/watch?
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