How Christina Lake Became my Permanent Home

I'm originally a city girl, born I Los Angeles, grew up in Victoria, worked in Vancouver. A gal I worked with and who has been a friend for over 50 years now, allowed me and my family to stay in her rustic cabin back in 1968. My husband fell in love with th Akers and suggested we acquire a piece of property. Ever the practical one, I reminded him that we didn't even own a home so how on earth did he suggest we buy recreational property! Details aside, four years later we learned of a lot on the lake going for $5,000 and decided to get a loan to buy it. Friends thought we were out of our minds because we still didn't own a home. Every summer for the next five years we worked on the bare lot learning, erecting free-standing rock walls with the rawmaterialsat hand, until eventually we had saved enough money to hire a local builder to start construction. By this time we had also managed to finally own a home, so life was good. Our builder was a wonderful man who allowed us to build our "cabin" piecemeal, as we accumulated savings for him to add more to the structure (2 1/2 storeys eventually). Following both our retirements, in 1992 we were ready to sel our home at the coast and turn our summer retreat into our permanent home. My husband was gung-ho to leave the big city behind, but I have to admit to some trepidation. I immediately joined two community organizations, became involved, met people, and as they say, the rest is history. Wild horses wouldn't get me back to the big city now unless I'm forced into it by circumstances beyond my control!