Hannah and Simon Stockner: From Bullying to Building Dreams

In this episode of A Chat with Heart, host Christina Martin reflects on her recent Home Routes tour, sharing stories from the road and the heartwarming connections made along the way.

Christina is joined by special guests Simon and Hannah Stockner, a vibrant sibling duo behind the revitalization of the Kispeox River Lodge in Hazelton, British Columbia. Together, they dive into a heartfelt conversation about community, resilience, and the courage it takes to follow one’s dreams.

The Stockners share insights from their upbringing and the ambitious journey of breathing new life into a historic lodge nestled in the beauty of Northern B.C. From family memories to renovation challenges, their story is rich with passion, teamwork, and a deep love for the land and people around them.

This episode explores:

• The spirit of the Home Routes tour and the power of intimate performance spaces
• The Stockners’ return to their roots and vision for Kispeox River Lodge
• Lessons in collaboration, creativity, and personal growth
• The welcoming energy and history that make the lodge a special place

Tune in for an uplifting episode that celebrates the magic of meaningful work and the communities that help bring it to life.

Visit Kispiox River Lodge

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
• 1:51 The Home Routes Tour Experience
• 3:15 Meeting the Stockners: A Family Legacy
• 9:01 Reflections on Bullying and Growth
• 14:10 The Kispiox River Lodge: A Hidden Gem
• 21:27 The Allure of Steelhead Fishing
• 25:25 From Dreams to Reality: Reviving the Lodge
• 29:32 Crossroads and New Beginnings
• 30:47 The Lodge Opportunity
• 33:13 Navigating Financial Challenges
• 35:30 Community Support and Family Ventures
• 36:41 Connecting with Home Routes
• 39:24 The Art of Storytelling
• 43:51 Bucket List Dreams and Aspirations
• 45:41 Events and Offerings at the Lodge
• 50:03 Catering and Private Events
• 51:13 The Lodge's Rich History
• 55:41 Spiritual Connections and Energy
• 56:42 Future Aspirations and Creative Projects

Transcript

Christina (00:02)
Hey, you're listening to A Chat with Heart. I'm your host, Christina Martin. I'm a singer-songwriter, curious human. I live on a dirt road in rural Nova Scotia with my partner in crime, Dale, and our Calico cat, Olivia. This podcast is basically just me chatting with people I admire. I like to ask questions that feed my curiosity, and my guests have all taught me something. They either crack me up or they punch me right in the feels.

If you've got questions, comments, or a burning desire to join the conversation, please call my heartbeat hotline, day or night. It's 1902-669-4769. You can also email me at christinamartinmusicatgmail.com. And if you want to throw a little love my way and help keep this thing going, visit my Patreon page. That's how artists like me get paid. Thanks for showing up. Warning, heartfelt content ahead.

you

If we just talk

Hey friends, it's Christina Martin and you are listening to A Chat With Heart. So earlier this year, when I was out on my Home Roots tour, which is a tour where you play in ⁓ rural communities ⁓ across Canada. ⁓ Mine was the Northern Alberta and BC route. And this tour was booked by a company called Home Roots.

And you play house concerts, legions, ⁓ small community venues, and you play, usually you two weeks straight, maybe you have one or two days off. ⁓ So it's pretty, it's a lot of driving and performing and not a lot of breaks. And you see a lot of the country. You see places that, you know, you normally wouldn't really be able to see or travel to as they're off the beaten path.

Yeah, on this Home Roots tour ⁓ of Northern BC and Alberta, I had the absolute pleasure of staying at Kispeox River Lodge, a stunning off the beaten path hideaway nestled in Northern British Columbia. And the lodge sits right on the banks of the Kispeox River, surrounded by ⁓ mountains and wild beauty. It's a haven for outdoor lovers, especially folks who live for

world-class fly fishing, I found out, and it's also become a creative cozy space for travelers, artists, and community gatherings. And that is where I met my guests today on the podcast, Simon and Hannah Stockner, the dynamic sibling duo who co-own and run the lodge. They've taken a local legacy and turned it into something deeply personal and visionary.

So in our chat, we talk about everything from bullying growing up, childhood mischief, to financial hustling, you know, and what it's like taking on a big dream like this incredible lodge and the role that community has played in lifting them up. Because I'm a firm believer that, ⁓ you know, we never really do anything alone.

I mean, we can be the starting force and we put in so much of our time and energy, but it's very rare that you would have achieved anything big or great without the support of someone or something or a whole community over time. And these two, Hannah and Simon, I found them very honest and funny and grounded and absolutely inspiring. And honestly, I left that place feeling totally recharged.

which can be rare on a long music tour. And it was a hard tour for me just playing solo, which I used to do all the time, but I guess it's just not something ⁓ that I really enjoy for the most part. I enjoy playing solo, but when it's on a stage with other songwriters and we take turns doing our songs and there's a collaboration there. So I guess I've...

grown to be someone who just really appreciates the collaboration, the musicality, know, like playing with other people. And so that was a hard tour for me to do everything on my own. But again, I wasn't alone. had the support of the venues and the home routes and then the people that came out. So in any case, I left the Kisbyog's River Lodge feeling recharged.

So before we dive into this chat with Hannah and Simon, a quick update from my world. If you're in Nova Scotia or wanting to visit Nova Scotia, I've got some upcoming shows and events. ⁓ Come say hi and enjoy the shows. All the details are on my website, christinamartin.net on the tour page. But I am playing in September. I have three shows with my trio, which is Dale Murray, Hannah Molonsen and myself. ⁓

and a string ensemble, a string trio. So I'm very much looking forward to those shows at Marigold Cultural Center in Truro on Friday, September 5th, King's Theatre in Annapolis, Annapolis Royal, and the Carlton in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I've never done this type of show, this formation, musical formation.

I'm really looking forward to it and I don't get to play as much as I used to, less is more these days and I think it's going to be really special. So I hope you can make it out or make the trip. And my live at the Green Note album is officially out now on my bandcamp. It's a super intimate performance from a favorite venue of ours in London, the Green Note. It's iconic. And ⁓ when you grab the album on bandcamp,

You'll also get access to the full concert video, which I will personally email to you. I'm really proud of this one. It's just Dale and I, our guitars, Lapsteele, Duesenberg, my Martin guitar. And for the first time ever, we've left in all the banter between the songs. ⁓ Yeah, so check that out. It will launch publicly on streaming sites, ⁓ Bandcamp Friday, ⁓ June 6th, but you can get it now on my Bandcamp.

All right, so let's get into this episode. Here's my heart filled conversation with Simon and Hannah Stockner of Kispy Ox River Lodge in northern BC, Hazelton BC. I've dropped their website in the show notes. Big shout out and thanks to them for hosting.

How do you feel so far? ⁓

Yeah.

Simon (07:32)
Season

four is you're a veteran how long how many years have you been? By the way, we're interviewing you

Christina (07:36)
Doesn't seem like a lot. Only three.

okay, cool. Yeah, yeah. That's whatever. How long have I been doing this? I'm a little nervous, you guys. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm excited. I feel like season four is gonna be ⁓ like even closer to my goal of.

Simon (07:42)
Yes.

Hannah (07:45)
Okay.

Simon (07:45)
How do you feel? ⁓

Christina (08:01)
being chill and being yourself. Like, cause as you get older you stop caring about... stuff. I mean, I don't mean like you care about what matters.

Simon (08:08)
She says that all the time.

Hannah (08:12)
You just don't give a crap about anything. Yeah, you give a crap about anymore exactly great

Christina (08:17)
Yeah,

we're praised, here we go, with the religious jargon, as a secular being, which we learned yesterday, secular, I can confirm that secular is a respectful way to say that you're not religious.

I'm a secular being. But it sounds religious. I'm a secular being.

Hannah (08:39)
 this like a different way of saying like I'm an atheist?

Christina (08:43)
or like

Simon (08:44)
I

think an atheist is like you don't believe in any kind of a secular is like I get all good. It's out there. I'm cool with it. I'm just not back with it.

Christina (08:54)
Yeah, I'm not like hard, like, your God does not exist.

Hannah (08:58)
Right. Yeah. Gotcha. Cool. All right.

Christina (09:01)
Well, we got that out of the way. Have you guys ever been bullied?

Simon (09:08)
Yeah? school, for sure. Like, swirly, like headlock into the toilet, it didn't get wet.

Christina (09:17)
Do you know why? Just like assholes.

Simon (09:19)
Yeah, that's good one.

Hannah (09:21)
He

was a nice, he was a nice quiet little kid. So easy pickings I guess.

Simon (09:26)
Yeah, like they knew I wouldn't like telling anyone. ⁓

Hannah (09:30)
didn't even know if I knew it was that bad.

Christina (09:34)
I'm so sorry, like I wanna cry. ⁓ Even my SSRI is allowing me to wanna cry right now.

Simon (09:39)
No, but you know, it's like everyone says this kind of thing. like you should be thankful for everything that happened. You know, it's like, mean, but it just, I think it made me a humble person and made me aware of bullying and it made me like, yeah, kind of going out.

Christina (09:55)
So you've never done anything mean to anybody? That's okay. I support that. Have you done anything, either of you? Like, I've done things that were not nice. I was bullied, but also a bit of a bully-ish at times. Just reacting to things. Like I gas, what is it called? Gas pedal? Gaslighting? Gaslighting? No, I've never done gaslighting. I've been gaslighted, but.

Simon (09:57)
I punched him in face after- no, I'm just kidding.

no, sorry, mean I've never...

Yes

Christina (10:24)
like when you just stomp? Yeah, and on a guy, like I had, like there's this guy on the playground and he tormented us and chased us, like the girls. And so one day had my girlfriends hold him down and I just like step, I just stepped on his genitals. Like, I don't know what else to say. And I got a lecture. Oddly enough, he was never lectured for tormenting us, but like, ⁓

Yeah, and then I never did it again. I mean I wasn't a wasn't a reoccurring thing I don't do it today like I don't wouldn't do that I Could see I could see your concern

Simon (11:04)
I'm picturing it, was like, that's a scene in the schoolyard for sure.

Christina (11:09)
It was. the time it felt good because I felt like it was someone who was... Well, he was bothering us. He was bullying us.

Simon (11:16)
Like, deserve dinner?

Hannah (11:21)
And of course that's how it goes. It's someone that bothers you and then you react and then you get in trouble. And it's like, but why are we doing this in the first place? Because this guy. Yeah.

Christina (11:32)
Have you

guys ever done anything like that or that you felt was mean? Maybe in hindsight it wasn't.

Hannah (11:39)
just like petty like girls in high like girls are so vicious and I remember like personally never initiating anything but I do remember one time in high school it was like my friend

all of sudden we weren't cool with this other girl and she told me, I remember she's like, you should comment on, this was back in like, know, 2008 or something when Facebook was very new and like, this is how we, I don't know, it was all new and all fresh and like the comment on people's things and like, this is how we did things. And it was like, she was like, go comment on her photo and like say something mean. And I remember being like, okay. And like not even thinking through, like there's no thought through. And then after being like, why that? Like I didn't,

Like I didn't have to do that and then I remember messaging the girl later being like I'm sorry I didn't that's good. I didn't that wasn't coming from me. I don't know why I did that but it's like yeah, you look back and you're just like oh Like there is literally like our brains are not fully developed until we're like freaking 25 So like we're literally idiots until then it's like thinking back. It's like yeah, I don't like I didn't think about

Simon (12:46)
And

when you're hiding behind a keyboard, it's just nothing, right? You're just typing, you're just buttons. But then the other person is reading those words and they hear they hurt so much.

Hannah (12:57)
But I didn't like I did not like that like after they bothered me and I remember reaching out to her just being like I'm so sorry Yeah, maybe do it kind of thing but being like that was my choice, but I don't know

Christina (13:07)
Good for you though for getting back to her. I mean, that's how we... How would you know how bad it felt if you hadn't have done that and then probably never did it again? Yeah.

Hannah (13:18)
And it was like

the dumbest... No. I don't think so. No. I'm scared. Yeah, it's so weird though.

Christina (13:26)
I mean, I've done prank calls, but they were funny.

Hannah (13:29)
Oh yeah.

Totally. My friend and I used to like hide in her room with her when we'd call random numbers and be like, Hey, is Stella there? Yeah. No. Oh, sorry. And they were like, well, that's bad asses.

Simon (13:39)
BEEH!

Christina (13:43)
Wow, you could have learned from me. ⁓ Do you remember the, I don't know if you guys ever did this one, but ring ring, your refrigerator's running.

Simon (13:53)
Better go.

Christina (13:55)
Yeah, or we just order pizzas for people and deliver them to their house. was sick. Well, it's so bad for the business now that I think of it as a self-employed.

Hannah (13:59)
It's like.

yeah. People are showing up.

Simon (14:04)
I guess you'd hope that they're

all paid for these pizzas. Interesting. ⁓

Christina (14:10)
segue to being self-employed. That's this is here I am at am I pronouncing this right? I was scared to say it last night on stage. Kiss me up? ⁓ I do say that.

Hannah (14:19)
Kiss, be

Simon (14:21)
Exactly.

Christina (14:23)
Kisspehawks, River Lodge. And you two are the proud owners, brother and sister. I will have done an introduction, so don't think this is the whole intro. Who the fuck are these people? Where I go little in depth and say where I am and what not. But like, actually, I'd like to hear it from you because I don't, I know around about where I am. I think I'm wrong if I say I'm in the center of British Columbia. Where at?

Simon (14:48)
You're like you're like three four hours north of the center of like north no banner ⁓

Hannah (14:54)
PG is ⁓

Christina (14:57)
That's

what he told me the other day.

Simon (14:59)
Yeah, so we're only like four or so hours away.

Christina (15:03)
And Vanuhoof is also the home of the inspiration of the song Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams. What? These are fun facts you learned. No not. Wait go back. What? Yes, the guy who...

Simon (15:11)
What?

Androids influence the summer

Hannah (15:16)
Like

Christina (15:19)
Yes, I got my first real six-room butter at the five and dime which is in Vanderhoof and like the guy who Wrote it with Bryan Adams is from there and told Jimmy

Simon (15:29)
I have some friends in Bannerhoof that I need to speak to. Yeah, you should confirm it. Are there mus- what you know about this? Yeah, yeah, like you would know.

Christina (15:37)
I'm bringing this information to you. There was some other fun fact about Vanderhoof other than it being the center of ⁓ BC, but I can't remember what it is right now. That was a big one.

Simon (15:49)
I

know it. know the fun fact. Super fun fact. You guys ready? Yeah. It has the most churches per county.

Christina (15:54)
Yes,

that was it! That was it!

Simon (15:57)
It is though, has the most churches in any other small town or whatever.

Christina (16:03)
Yeah.

Okay, so now we're in Kispioks. What are the- Least- Okay, yeah, let's go through the fun facts of this place. Because, I mean, people- I have little heartbeat listeners from all over Germany who like to travel. Obviously, Nova Scotia, big audience there. So what are some of the fun facts about this place? Yeah, what makes it special?

Simon (16:29)
Kiss the ox. Yeah, maybe do we want to kiss kiss be ox is the village. Okay, see ox Valley It's kind of like above the village where we are now or there's the hazel tins It's a town that we live in but it's we're out of town. What do you? Do you want to specifically about

Christina (16:44)
We're out of town.

That's a good question. You're telling me about like, so somebody comes to this region, like you were talking about fishing, which is, I know some fly fishers and, ⁓ and you two grew up just down the road. I do want to talk about that. ⁓

Hannah (17:02)
Yeah, about five minutes at the.

Christina (17:06)
But so actually tell me about growing up here and then some of the fun things that are sort of within a radius of, I don't know, like whatever 50 K. What's what's local?

Simon (17:16)
Cool.

I have an idea. Let's back up a bit even and we'll start from when mom and dad moved here. Yeah, let's talk about your Touches on the river and the fish too because my dad, he's like a super outdoorsy guy. He's always loved fishing and he grew up as kind of a fishing guide and he's been doing that for a long time. Todd. you heard of Todd Stocker. Nice guy.

Christina (17:35)
I took a shower in the bathroom, me upgraded.

I'm glad I clarified that I just took a shower. Sorry, Cathy.

Simon (17:45)
Yeah

Yeah, they heard of this place. He was working in the Babine and they heard they made some friends and he came over here and they fell in love with it. Vancouver, totally.

Christina (18:04)
We know Vancouver. Everyone knows Vancouver.

Simon (18:06)
There were city kids moving up to the Kispeaks Valley and it's funny, I just asked Ruth Brady, one of the old timers around here, what was it like when mom and dad moved here? And I was like, oh, we love them. They're just clueless city kids who just live in life and just high on life and had a three year old, know what Hannah here? And I was born here. But yeah, Hannah came with them. I was born a few years later or whatever. And the river, the fish in the river is what brought them here because my dad is...

He wanted to do his own guiding business and the steelhead run is one of the most amazing runs here on the Kispy Ox. It's a kind of trout. It's the trophy fish around here.

Christina (18:42)
Steelhead, that's a fish. That's a fish.

Is it

hard? Like still? Is that why it's called a skewer?

Simon (18:52)
The

colors are

Hannah (18:53)
Very metallic-y, silvery.

Simon (18:55)
They're very silvery when they come out of the ocean. So they live their life like a salmon, where they lay their eggs in the river and then they go and live their life in the ocean. Unlike salmon, because salmon die when they spawn, which is a beautiful thing honestly, because their nutrients feeds our animals and rip forests here to hold their topic. But steelhead go back to the ocean. They keep coming back and forth and they get really big and smart.

Hannah (19:20)
very powerful. yeah, it's like the thrill of the fight of the hook one and it's battle and that's the thing people chase.

Simon (19:29)
Dad,

there was a name that would say the, like a big fish, a big steelhead is like, yeah, like 30 pounds, but even like 40 pounds or more is like a big fish, right? And dad would call that the, what was it? Frederick? Frederick.

Hannah (19:47)
I don't know how many people around her know if that's just like a family thing or if that's like a thing around the valley but like when I was a kid this whole thing whole Frederick thing started where dad would call like the mythical giant steelhead that everyone's after yeah Frederick and when I was like eight or ten or however old it you little I wanted to get my ears pierced yes and the thing my parents said was okay fine you can get your ears pierced when I catch Frederick okay

Christina (20:11)
That

was so wisdom.

Hannah (20:13)
You

know, like, okay, this will shut her up for a couple months or a year or whatever. And so I remember like at the time, like we only had one vehicle, so mom would be picking us up from school and then going to grab dad from the river. And I'd be down on the river, did you catch Frederick? Just obsessively. And he never caught Frederick.

Christina (20:27)
Just...

Is this became a thing where you wanted a car when you got older and you well, you can get a car

Hannah (20:38)
No, I think I threw a tantrum one day when my best friend got her ears pierced before me and That was enough of that. So okay. My mom was just like we're gonna shut this girl up right now get in the car. Yeah Anyways, but totally Frederick is ⁓

Christina (20:49)
we go.

Simon (20:55)
And you would see them like every now and then on a float you just this dark movement you think it's like a beaver or something but saying no, I was a fish

Hannah (21:02)
Or

people actually hook them and it's like the biggest fight and they lose it and they come home just distraught like I had it I had the one oh you know so it's like yeah it's fun because it keeps you know people chasing

Christina (21:14)
And they catch and eat or catch and release? and It's like a law? Yeah. So here at the lodge, you wouldn't be serving Steelhead? Yeah.

Simon (21:17)
Yeah.

Hannah (21:27)
Steelhead, I don't think I've

ever had, I mean, people do eat it somewhere, but it's not like the tastiest. It's not like a sockeye, like sockeye salmon is delicious. I think steelhead is, it's not like favorable for culinary cuisine.

Simon (21:41)
local Gitxsan Nation can keep fish if they want.

Christina (21:44)
Okay, cool. okay, so the foot, that's how you ended up here.

Simon (21:49)
That's

all that to say. Yeah, that's kind of how we ended up here. And when we grew up just five minutes down the road from where we're sitting.

Christina (21:55)
And you went to this place where we're sitting now. ⁓ And you say you were familiar with it, obviously.

Simon (22:01)
When

we were kids, it was open and there were like, I was here, all those things at the lodge and mom and would go.

Hannah (22:09)
have like one super vague memory of being here when we were like kids sitting like right here. It used to be all different booths and stuff and in the lounge that was like a no kid zone so the parents would go over there to drink and I have a very vague memory of being here for dinner one time and like mom and dad went to the lounge, just went over there to the bar and we were sitting here like what the heck or whatever.

Christina (22:28)
There's like a strip club over there.

Simon (22:31)
This awkwardly says milkshake.

Christina (22:34)
Mom and dad have their little time together.

Hannah (22:36)
No,

but very, very vague memories. was...

Simon (22:40)
So that's like early 2000s. Yeah. So we're kids.

Hannah (22:43)
late 90s early 2000s. But then yeah, but then I mean, I don't really know what happened because we were just kids doing our own thing. But this place just kind of went, I don't know who even owned it at that point. But anyways, it just went into it just closed. just whoever had it just closed. I don't really know what happened. But it just for the most of our upbringing, like our whole kind of adolescent teenage years, this was just an empty building, really, like no one really had it. There was maybe a couple years here and there where I was

Simon (22:46)
Well, yeah, I was like.

Hannah (23:12)
some weird owners that had it there was funny business happening here no one really knew what happened my buddy and I in like high school I think we're like let's I think someone owns it let's go see what happened we came here and like no one was here there was some weird guy behind it and we're like can we get food and they were like ⁓ okay it was

Christina (23:30)
They put out a can of SpaghettiOs.

Hannah (23:32)
Yeah,

it was just like, don't know. It was, I think there was like some weird mischievousness going on here.

Simon (23:34)
Kind of a front sort of vibe, you know, they just...

some grow-ups in the basement or something.

Christina (23:42)
Yeah.

Yeah. I remember grow-ups. Totally. I mean like now it's like...

Hannah (23:43)
Yeah, like...

Simon (23:49)
There it is. Summer.

Christina (23:51)
I don't know who would be motivated to have a girl. But I guess you can, well it's all legal now, so. Speaking of legal, I'll go back to it. I'm gonna come back around to this, but I just, somebody told me, can you clarify this for me? That they've legalized illicit drug use in British Columbia. Is that, do you know any? I don't know if you guys are drug users, but. Illicit drug users, but like that it's not illegal.

to use illicit drugs. It probably to sell them, like to decriminalize it so that people aren't punished for, you know, living with the disease. well, this is the whole focus of this chat with her podcast interview. ⁓ I thought you guys were specialized and working on the opioid crisis. So no, no, no, no. Okay.

Hannah (24:27)
I don't know too much about that.

Simon (24:44)
Yeah,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

Hannah (24:46)
I remember someone bringing that up or seeing an article or something, but I don't.

Christina (24:51)
Just so know, if you wanted to start a habit.

Hannah (24:54)
great to know.

Simon (24:55)
Yeah, it's up there. It's legal.

Christina (24:57)
It's legalized. And you know, if you want to report something, someone's having a hard time, you won't go to jail if you're using with them. I think that's across Canada, I hope. But anyway, I digress. Let's go back to this place was a dump. And you, you came here one time and were not inspired. How did you end up getting it to this gorgeous place that it is now?

Hannah (25:25)
boy. Well, I mean, okay, so that from that point of maybe coming here one time and it was weird to now. Yeah. Many, many, a year has have passed. I don't like.

Simon (25:38)
.

Christina (25:39)
You

had other jobs and stuff?

Hannah (25:40)
Probably, all our high school, post high school, we were just off doing things. We had no idea what this place was doing.

Simon (25:48)
Yeah, no thoughts of it really. But

we did have thoughts of her and I doing something together.

Hannah (25:55)
throughout the years, we've always just fantasized.

Christina (25:57)
You

guys got along always? you were always?

Simon (26:00)
No,

Hannah (26:01)
So go back

Christina (26:03)
No,

this is the heart of the matter. Let's to the bully.

Hannah (26:05)
I'm so glad he didn't wrap me out. ⁓

Christina (26:09)
This happens yeah, yeah, cuz it's amazing that you you guys work together and obviously you got to get along

Hannah (26:11)
There's a

I think we got all of our shit out when we were kids and now we're just cool

Simon (26:21)
Yeah. We

started watching Friends, the TV show, and Smokin' Wee together.

Christina (26:25)
you guys. That is it. Yes that is it. We just watched it again. My husband and I watched it. Really? ⁓ yeah.

Hannah (26:27)
Ding.

Simon (26:29)
Totally. We're big fans actually.

Hannah (26:34)
⁓

We like communicate in friends quotes. Like we'll just go off and we'll just start And then we'll like, ⁓ and then we'll start quoting and will be like just leave them

Simon (26:39)
Like someone mentioned something.

Christina (26:44)
That's really cute. That's really cute. Do you have a favorite character from Friends that you like to play the part of when you do like your...

Hannah (26:51)
I

don't even know how to answer that, honestly.

Simon (26:53)
Yeah

Christina (26:54)
They all, they each had their so many magic moments.

Simon (26:58)
So many. Yeah, yeah, that show is so well written.

Christina (27:01)
So

you must have been very sad with the news of Matthew? Yeah, I know. Okay, I keep dipping and getting into intense- All roads lead to drug-inducing speech. Yeah.

Simon (27:04)
No

I think what we were getting at was...

So

Hannah (27:18)
throughout our lives.

Simon (27:19)
Love,

hate, love, hate. There's a few stages in there. And then when we were like young adults, we ended up realizing...

Hannah (27:23)
Mostly in our lives.

Simon (27:30)
Hannah was thinking like yeah, you want to do stuff with food thinking of like a cafe like that sort of and I was I'm playing music and I was touring and I was kind of in this like music world of like like Music venue like I would love that would be a thing I would want to do

Hannah (27:45)
just

to interject here we both went to school I went to school for culinary arts he went to school for music so that's like our thing it was like how do we combine forces

Simon (27:52)
music

yeah and and and it was like wait a minute like i want to have like a venue thing like a cafe thing and then we started it was like really fun we just were like had like ideas and notes and like on our phones like oh yeah what about you and we would just kind of keep like i know that wasn't like serious yeah it wasn't together you know

Christina (28:00)
You're gonna do it.

Hannah (28:01)
And then it was just like it started being fu-

every time we got to like,

⁓ man, what about this? And like, dude, we gotta have this. like, you know, but, but kind of being like, no, we just like-

Simon (28:19)
Like

kind of thinking like, like eventually this probably will happen, you know? But we weren't like when actually let's do it. Let's figure it out.

Christina (28:28)
It's process of dreaming and scheming and then

Simon (28:30)
Yeah,

and then three years ago. How? As of like this winter, yeah. Yeah. I guess like last fall. But yeah.

Hannah (28:33)
Kinda like how

but life has a way of working it out. And like we were both opting very separate things at the time. Like I was living in terrorists with my ex partner at the time and our child and ⁓ all is well now. But at that moment it was ⁓ things were a little chaotic in my life and I was needing to take a break and.

go on a different path and kind of like, I don't know how we kind of like ended up here on, least on my end on a whim. I was living in terrace, not happy with my life and being like, okay, I need to make it back out Valley and do something for myself. Come live with mom and dad for a bit. I worked sometimes up at another lodge that's further out Valley. And so like that fall on a whim, I messaged them, they needed one more person. I like, I ended up being out Valley that fall, that fall you were supposed to be off doing rafting adventures.

stuff for that day.

Christina (29:31)
yes, because you do that too.

Simon (29:32)
Yeah,

I do that. And I was also at kind of a broad crossroads where I was finished with my band life. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do because that was like my mission for a long time. Me and my two buddies were on this pretty serious band and then it was like I was just kind of bartending in the winter and rafting the summer. like, what do I like want to do? Anyway.

Hannah (29:33)
During that time you were off doing a whole bunch of stuff

But then there was like this one day where it was like I was out at mom and dad's because I had followed my gut and made my way up valley and was there all good and You were supposed to that day you were supposed to be off on a rafting trip and like got canceled because of weather So whatever we're both just at home for dinner with mom and dad. Yeah, and we got to chatting about Stuff and then dad my dad had brought up like oh did you guys did you guys know that Lee and Dave were selling the Lodge? At that point we kind of knew some valley locals

Christina (30:26)
Thank

Hannah (30:27)
had this place and we were kinda re bringing it back to life, kinda opening it back up, but we didn't, like whatever, they're just doing their thing. But dad was like, no, they're selling, they're trying to sell the lodge. Like you guys should think about that. And it was literally one of those moments where we were like.

Christina (30:47)
This is what we've

Simon (30:49)
Yeah,

yeah, I was like, wait. And then like that?

Christina (30:53)
down the road from my parents.

Hannah (30:54)
Like

we couldn't do this and they're like you should just call them just call them right now parents. It's 9 p.m. Call them, know, whatever. We're like, okay, so we found someone we found their number They had their number for this place and we called them and we know them not super closely at that time But we knew them we called them up and it's like Haley this head and Simon here just

Just wondering if we could come by and we heard that you had the lodge up first. We're just super curious. Um, can we come see it? Just thinking that'd like, okay, like next tomorrow or whatever. They're like, yeah, sure. Why not? Come on by. So like Simon, I came down that evening. was like, and we had no idea what they had done with this place in my head. was still just the old Lodgy dusty. And we walked in and was just like, Holy. Okay.

Christina (31:30)
you've made.

Simon (31:41)
Shit!

Christina (31:42)
Like this place. That's okay.

Simon (31:44)
So

they have had it for five years and basically flipped the place you could say. Yeah, when they got it. They like renovated the floor, they like put like these fixtures in and like bathrooms, this that here. It was like falling apart when they got it. That's what they did with it. That their contribution to this building. And they did some things, but they weren't

Hannah (32:04)
COVID hit right? They

were opening up to like open the lodge again and COVID hit and they were like fuck like what does this look like and you know they're bit older and was just like we don't have the energy to put in for all of this you know and fair enough and so it was so anyways yeah so that was another reason and so when we showed up it

Simon (32:22)
Yeah,

we came, was it that night or the night before or the night later? I think that we just came over here and just

Hannah (32:28)
They

walked us around because it was amazing. ⁓

Simon (32:30)
It

was like mind blowing. I feel like I just saw where we are now. were like, whoa, images of the events we can do and the possibility of having the property and there's just a future here.

Hannah (32:46)
within five minutes of coming here, it was like, okay, we have to do this. Yeah. There's no way we can't do this.

Simon (32:51)
like

we both wanted to like be close to home still and it just made sense. It really made Basically from then we were just like okay, how can we, because if we don't have the funding we wouldn't have, you know what I mean? We just were like okay, let's go. And we started to look at grants, yeah. Alone essentially.

Christina (33:04)
How do we do this?

Like new business.

Hannah (33:14)
⁓ We were gonna go to the bank. Put

together like a whole business plan, like legit business plan.

Simon (33:21)
I

was doing spreadsheets. were just, we were looking at like, estimations and stuff. And they were very impressed. Like they were all good to go. But then there was a brick wall hit where, because we were, that was just to get a down payment. And they're still owed David Lee. By the way, like the deal that they were giving us was actually a pretty good one with them. They're kind of like our bank and everything. I won't go into that, but there was a, was a brick wall hit where, both the bank and them couldn't be.

Hannah (33:51)
We just couldn't go with the bang. Yeah, like there was just weird discrepancies with how it was being. I don't know. We just like, we can't.

Simon (33:57)
If something went wrong, who gets paid off first? And the was like, well, we can't be, obviously they would get paid off first and then we would still be stuck with it. It's hard. Yeah. Anyway. so then we rewrote it and we went internally into our family and was like asking mom and if like, if there was any inheritance we could grab from grandpa.

Hannah (34:16)
Yeah,

basically long story short, family helped us out tremendously.

Christina (34:20)
You murdered your grandfather for money? That's a really smart way to go. Yeah, that's great that you could... Why not? What source they could say? It's not like you're gonna stop loving them if they say, that's a great idea, but we can't do that.

Hannah (34:39)
No, it's all good. And honestly, mean like Lee and Dave who we got the lodge from they like it worked out so well because of course they had like they had a couple other people interested. Yeah, it was like who knows who knows who like big wig rich people from who knows where who just wants to buy a lodge and do whatever so it was like Local people who want it. Yes, we will help you like we'll do whatever so like we really it was so nice like we we really worked together and like

Because it's not like, ⁓ yeah, we're just not ready right now. We'll just wait for the next lodge in the valley to come up. It's like, no, this is our shot. Like we have to somehow make this happen. This is perfect. And so we just, we did the family really, it was, yeah.

Simon (35:16)
That's our

short we owe our family a lot. Yeah. But it's so great because just all it's just within the family like we're not working with a bank right now. We will eventually but like it's just it's just ⁓ our whole family venture.

Christina (35:30)
And what's the interest rate that the family... No, I'm kidding.

I'm surprised that there isn't a like a credit union that's called like family first and that that's just like, you know, that's their kind of vibe is that we were like family and Super low interest rates and it probably wouldn't last but anyway, I digress Well, it's really remarkable. So I came here yesterday as part of the home routes tour, which how you guys have been Tell me about how you connected with home routes

So we did a show here and a bunch of locals showed up. It was super, super great, cozy, lovely people. And the sound was great. You do have a great setup here. I'm only traveling with a little amp and it's, this was nice to come in and be like, thank God they have a proper sound system. The food was incredible. I slept here. Like I experienced it all. had a shower. Your dad's hot shower. Again, I need to rephrase that. ⁓

And ⁓ I'm in, like I love this place, super cozy. Yeah, so how did you get connected with Home Roots?

Simon (36:41)
For sure. was our good friend, Andy down the road. She's local, another local here. and, uh, well, I mean, I've also heard of home routes before it's just, it's been a thing. Kind of caught on to it. Yeah. She caught onto it and she held a show. think you went to that show. went to that. All our community hall, which is basically just across the road from us. Nice. But not a home routes vibe, you know, you're sitting in hall.

Christina (36:49)
musician.

Hannah (36:55)
This one was at the hall.

Yeah, a couple of minutes walk up the

It was just so big and there was just like a few chairs around.

Simon (37:09)
Yeah. And she was like, okay, screw that. Called us like, can we just, can we partner up here and I'll be the kind of home roots rep and then you guys can just do your thing and I'll send you music. And yeah, we worked well together. Like I make the posters and she puts them up and then, and then we do our thing and she comes and kind of helps every now and then and she can make it.

Christina (37:28)
I

know she was sick last night and Met her family met the kids. They're awesome. The twins they're gonna think about it But I've invited them to come on the podcast and talk about being twins And one of them was a little nervous, but I said well think about it You don't have to we listen to the podcast if you you know, maybe they'll listen to this and then be like oh we can do that You know, I imagine it would be scary as a child to be asked to

do kind of like an interview or you know, I'm speaking what like it's I mean, it took me 45 years to really be super comfortable in almost any situation.

Hannah (38:00)
Totally.

funny

last night when I was sitting at this table with the kids and you were finishing up but you were speaking she said wow she's really good at speaking in front of people I don't know if I could do that well you know she practices a lot she's like I can dance in front of people and I was like wow that's you that you practice it a lot I can't you know yeah she does it a lot yeah that's comfortable now enough you get comfortable with it she's like ⁓

Christina (38:32)
Charlene.

Simon (38:35)
I wanted to mention that was one of my favorite parts of your show. Storytelling? you could have played Lassimer!

Christina (38:39)
Thanks, I'm thinking of expanding. Like, just get rid of the music.

I have been asked before, could you just...

Simon (38:50)
I would say that that was one of the most... ⁓

Christina (38:56)
Rambling

Simon (38:58)
la

⁓

Christina (39:04)
and

Bye!

Simon (39:24)
part of what you're doing. That's what I was like. ⁓

Christina (39:27)
saying that.

Trial and error, I don't always get it right, that's for sure. But I, yeah, I definitely have some misses. But when I started in Austin, Texas, I went out to see, before I even wrote a song, I was introduced to singer songwriters and they, it was just them and their guitar. And I really admired the between song banter. And I felt like I didn't know how to do that.

But I thought, I want to get good at that. And when it's just you on stage... I mean, unless your music is just... I don't know. I'm sure there are artists that don't need to, but I just feel like for what I do, it's important. Music for me, songwriting is about ⁓ learning how to communicate. And so it just kind of fits in with that whole...

intention I suppose.

Simon (40:27)
Do you feel like ⁓ banter in the connect with the crowd and talk to a crowd and the banter and stuff is that would you say that is it helps to be calm like just depends on who you are or is it something you can really just work on no matter who you are and you get good at it you can a little bit about maybe like it helps to ⁓

Christina (40:47)
You can work on it. I've worked on it. think, you know, I even just on this trip, I signed up with Masterclass again to get, you know, just be inspired by these like world-class leaders in different areas in the arts and business. And I was listening to Lamar Burton from Reading Rainbow. Do you guys, was that, am I too old for, do you guys remember reading?

Reading Rainbow? It's okay, check it out. It's not too late. This could be your next binge. I wonder if it's available online, like in series, but Lamar's a storyteller and an actor and a producer director, but he was on the show ⁓ Reading Rainbow where the focus was reading to children and storytelling and talking about difficult things and through storytelling, know, helping kids through life. ⁓

Simon (41:41)
Yeah, he interjects just because I'm I'm I've written two chapters of a kid's book That's the whole thing about me I love fantasy yeah that kind of thing and I've always wanted to write a book and recently my girlfriend made me realize that I could just yeah

Christina (41:42)
Yeah, please.

Did?

Do what everyone wants.

Simon (42:00)
I'm

thinking, epic Game of Thrones, like crazy, but I'm like, what if I just write a kid's book? I don't need to be a good writer to write. I was reading a book to her daughter, she has a five-year-old. And we're reading this book, it's like, man, this book is awesome. It's one of those kid dragons, it's so simple. it's like, the writing is just like, it's nothing crazy, but it's there's a story here. it's about story building as opposed to like,

Christina (42:12)
⁓

Simon (42:29)
writing you know what mean yeah anyway so good and I and just talk about like working yeah telling stories to kids

Christina (42:35)
don't need to talk more. This is good. You were...

Hannah (42:38)
Just on that note, I just have to interject with this because you said like... Yes! Yes! But also exactly, they do not have to be complex at all. our favorite, like, mean Liam and my son Liam, he's five too. We have lots of stories that we read. One of our favorites is still just like a board book. It's a baby book, but it's freaking hilarious. The only dialogue in the whole book is just moo. It's a whole story about a cow, like a cow steals a car.

Simon (42:41)
You

Christina (42:42)
You want to illustrate his book?

Hannah (43:08)
and crashes it but literally every page is just moo in a different way and it's absolutely hilarious. Simplest thing but we are like busting a gut laughing it takes 30 seconds to read but it's hilarious. yeah you just need to be like super clever and super simple.

Christina (43:14)
That's awesome.

Yeah.

Simon (43:24)
And that

storytelling is not always game or throne, I love that. But it could just be telling a story in whatever way. Totally. She is a-

Christina (43:32)
So you could illustrate it? Okay, this is, and you can sell it here, you guys.

Hannah (43:33)
I do

Christina (43:39)
You can sell it here and on your website and like, this is amazing.

Hannah (43:43)
I also dabble in the arts. Well, yeah. Most of the culinary arts lately. I used to draw and create things and stuff. Draw some squiggly lines.

Christina (43:48)
Darks

I'm excited you guys. Because

Simon (43:53)
Yes.

Christina (43:54)
I was going to ask you about bucket list items. Like, I mean, you've got this place and it's only three years in. mean, you know, you've got to I mean, as long as you guys want to do this, this is pretty awesome. All the different things you can do here. Tell me. OK, tell me. We'll talk about bucket list items. But I do want people to know, like, what are the things you offer here? Like, what kind of things happen here on a regular basis? And yeah.

I wanna be your sibling. ⁓

Hannah (44:25)
Would love that.

Christina (44:27)
Yeah, we'd love that for you too.

in this podcast.

Simon (44:36)
as of this time of year, we kind of call it our anniversary because we did take it over officially in March 1st of 2022. with three years under our belt, we do feel pretty confident with what we're doing and a few things that stand out to us and what we've done so far are what we did last night for sure. We always want to do music nights because honestly, that's like, and I realized this recently, that's like literally living a dream that I've had to have a venue and then there's you with... That is like the...

Christina (45:04)
I wanna

do this now.

Simon (45:06)
At the same time, we've also realized that we can't do that forever. We can't be like a restaurant. That's not a consistent thing that's sustainable that we can...

Hannah (45:15)
Yeah, and also that's just not where we are.

Like restaurants do not make that much money and stuff. just operating that way is not...

Christina (45:22)
Yeah, I didn't pay for my food.

So I get it.

Simon (45:27)
No, but so what we have realized though, and it's still amazing and still a good feel thing that we do here is having a group come and stay here for like a whole weekend or a week, whether it's like a family gathering.

Hannah (45:37)
I mean group bookings.

Simon (45:41)
Weekend thing wedding even we have a hand fasting, you know hand fasting

Christina (45:47)
Does it involve me not eating your food? Because I'm not interested in

Simon (45:51)
It's

not in your hands, No. It's like a Gaelic or Celtic...

Hannah (45:55)
It's

like a pig, pagan... ⁓

Simon (45:58)
wedding but not like no

Christina (46:00)
You do that here?

Simon (46:02)
no sorry this is just we have a a quote-unquote wedding coming up oh with a really cool couple they're doing a hat we're just we're saying hand-passing because that's what they got to cool put your hand on it anyway well I'm just trying to sacrifices that's what we want to do

Christina (46:15)
And then there they go. ⁓

Listen, whatever brings in the money is... You know, you're not judgemental.

Hannah (46:27)
We're very niche here.

Simon (46:31)
you

feel like it's not like a clean 30 seconds of this whole conversation. I'm just like breaking out. So private events is one thing for sure. And I want to go little further actually, because with that, we could also offer things, and this is what my brain is turning, but we could offer like rafting. Like I, you know, want to get some raft gear and we could actually offer rafting on the river and have like a lunch on the river. We could have like a farm tour set.

up for people to go and do, you know, we could we could have a height like directions to a hike or something like or take them on a hike or whatever. We want to be a bit of a resort, a destination that that whether it's just travelers like a couple coming and wanting to do stuff in the valley or a whole group booking us for a weekend and we want to have things to do, you know, we have. Yeah. ⁓ And yeah, so one.

Hannah (47:23)
So those are

overall kind of like that's what we will hopefully one day will like that all of those

Christina (47:29)
Horseback riding? I horseback ride? Okay, we need to work on this.

Hannah (47:31)
We

can't write today, offer these things. Big picture for sure.

Simon (47:37)
Exactly

Yeah,

there's our things. Just put an email. Drafting is potential. Farm tours are potential. just can like queue it up with our friends.

Christina (47:44)
Yeah, you guys will figure it out.

Your

dad fishing? he doos? Yeah,

classes a sourdough courses Okay, that's fine. I didn't mean to I was Your sourdough is really hot like here it all went out last night like you had set up by the merch table and you sold more sourdough bread than I did CDs Yeah, cuz it's that everybody wants food and sourdough like good bread is like like I sometimes think I should just have

Hannah (48:13)
Really?

Christina (48:22)
focused on like one thing, maybe just making a good loaf of bread and then you can actually make a living from that, I think, in certain cities.

Simon (48:31)
I would have definitely bought music over bread only last night

Christina (48:34)
Really?

No, not her bread. Not Hannah's bread. It's gone. No, it's great. I think it's been in for like a while. it's like. This is me. Breaking news.

Hannah (48:39)
Yeah. Brett is in right now. Yeah.

Simon (48:47)
This is

Hannah (48:51)
Take care,

Christina (48:54)
It's been feeding starving people for years like as a yeah, but Yeah, stable of life if you don't have anything else I guess you can survive on bread. Yeah So that's cool. ⁓ We're so we now I forgot ⁓

Simon (49:00)
The end of my life

So cultured. ⁓

Christina (49:20)
You guys should co-host this podcast ⁓ when I get back home. We'll just all be on Zoom because you're good at this. When I fail, my brain fails. You just pick right back up. Okay, but where were we?

Hannah (49:33)
We

also do catering. So, trying to get into catering side of things because food, everyone wants food. I love doing food. Doing the restaurant style is not the best way for us to make a living off of doing food here. We like to do it before the music nights here and there, but like catering. So yeah, having those private groups come, we cater them. I do lots of external catering, like dropping off lunches and stuff in town. So that's cool. I have to kind of like focus more on that a bit too.

Christina (50:03)
That's great. Like all that, that's a lot.

Simon (50:06)
Yeah, in in in again, this is kind of tying into like the the private group umbrella of what we just do things we can offer but um Christmas banquets Christmas time local groups are booking nice big dinner. Yeah, we have like put on a good like 30 to 50 people in here

Hannah (50:25)
Yeah, so that's like fun. That's like, it's so fun for us when we have those. Yeah, like kind of a big private group. There's just a vibe in here. Everyone is like, everyone knows each other, you know, they're doing their thing and we just get to like host and feed them and it's so fun. And then they leave having an awesome night here and yeah, that's.

Simon (50:41)
That's where we're looking to make our bread and butter. But then let's not forget that we just kind of time back to beginning. But in the fall, so from September to October, those were the two main months is yeah, Steelhead are in the river. So we have people coming from all over the world really.

Hannah (50:58)
We don't guide out of the lodge yet. Out of one day, of course we'd love to. So yeah, don't have guides here. We take people out, but we have just fishing people come and stay with us. And we feed them and house them and all the things. But it's just a, yeah, it's such a fun.

Simon (51:13)
It's

a scene here, yeah. And also, the history of this building, again, is so tied to that. For so long, it was the fishing hub. It actually used to be called the Sportsman's Lodge before, Kispy-Ox River Lodge.

Hannah (51:26)
Yeah,

we didn't really mention before that this lodge here, yeah, like has been a like the sportsman's lodge. Yeah, since like 70s, 80s, like super early on. So like people have been coming here for 30 plus years. get some people going, oh my God, I haven't been here in 30 years. it's like, tell me everything. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Like there is such a deep history before us here. And so that's super cool to hear stories from people who know this place like better than we do from a long time ago. And it's so fun. like this

This place used to also be, like, back in the 70s and stuff, I think. Like, before there were phone lines and stuff. Like, before everyone had a phone in their house. Now we've got all these lines everywhere.

Christina (52:07)
and

What's that story with the pump again right outside the window?

Hannah (52:12)
Yeah,

it used to be like a gas, like a functional gas pump here. when, I mean, there's still lots of logging out here, but back in the day there used to be, it just like, this was a hub out here. There was logging, fishing, like it was like such an active thing. I think there was actual, you could actually fuel up here and everything. But yeah, no, this was like one of my favorite parts of this place was way back in the day. People didn't really have phones in the area, but this lodge had a phone. So this was kind of like the place you go to make phone calls and send messages and get messages. And so.

There was one central phone here and like log books and we have some of those old log books. So it's so cool So it's like people leaving. Okay, you know Sue you got a message from your sister call, know, blah blah blah Yeah, it's like hey music night tonight at our place bring your instruments and it's just like that's Facebook before like analog Facebook is like people showing up. Hey, that's comments for me. I'm gonna write back I'm gonna call the back or whatever. It's so cool to see that like you see people's like writing change

Simon (53:12)
Yeah, and to see like, that's like, Alf Brady. my god. Like, Joe Sullivan or like, this old timer. Yeah.

Hannah (53:15)
that's me now.

So just the

history of this place and it's just so rich.

Christina (53:22)
What about murder? Any murders here?

Simon (53:24)
Yeah, Reggie,

Christina (53:28)
Like are there any ghost stories or anything? Probably don't want it that attached to your business, but any like

Hannah (53:36)
Any first hand that I've heard necessarily or that's like lore around here I do remember talking to Lee when early like Lee and Dave the people we bought it from early on we were talking business stuff and just this place. Bored? What's that?

Simon (53:49)
You

Christina (53:53)
this huge yawn. It's so normal, but...

Simon (53:56)
You're

the only person ⁓

Christina (53:59)
This is getting pretty dope.

You're also tapping your foot, I can hear it, because I'm like, this guy needs to go for a run. but I'm like, I can't sit for too long either. Like I get real, not only hip problems, but like just antsy and tired. Like, and I start yawning. No, I don't mean to pick on you, but I obviously am. ⁓

I hope I'm not bullying you. We go back to... And I interrupted your sister. Your sweet, sweet sister. ⁓ Okay, so sorry. You were telling us about somebody who was murdered in the river.

Hannah (54:42)
Yes, that I helped with. No, no, I just, I have a vague recollection of Lee telling me when we were chatting about a of stuff that like at some point when they had it, I don't remember what the situation was, but like someone came to the lodge and was like, no bad spirits here, bad vibes, no. And she was like, whoa, whoa, okay, what's this about? And I don't remember, I wish I remember more details, but I think long story short, like

she actually got a woman from Kispiaks, the village, to come and kind cleanse the place, do a little smudge and like, sess out the energies and that worked apparently. Like, those experiencing that, it was like after something happened, it was like, okay, we're good now. And so I like, I I'm like, I don't know, I'm on a spiritual journey figuring that out, whatever that means for myself. And so I like to like be in tune with that kind of stuff here. And since taking over the place, I have never felt...

Bad like energy and I am I try to I think that I'm kind of in tune to that. Yeah for me at least

Christina (55:46)
I don't

feel any bad. The hall's kind of creepy. Totally.

Hannah (55:49)
It's like I'm at home alone, it's like just me in this place, I won't necessarily walk down the dark hall alone. it's like, it's not because I think they're, you

Simon (55:58)
They're so small, right?

Christina (56:00)
There's no light in it, so that's all I'm scared. I know I'm afraid of the dark, but that's the whole other episode.

Hannah (56:07)
No,

get, honestly, we get so many compliments here of like the energy and the vibe here being so good and positive. so I think that overrules anything else that may be f***ing.

Christina (56:17)
to our.

Well, let's let's wrap up. Get Simon's board. Back to the bucket list. So we you said you're the children's book. And now we'll both of you could get in on this. The children's book might be a thing. There any other things that you're like, I think I want to do that. And yeah, like I'm just.

Hannah (56:42)
like in general, like, in lodge specifically.

Christina (56:46)
⁓ nah, we talked about the lodge. That's done. It's done and dead. What? It's over. Move on, you guys. Yeah, how much?

Simon (56:57)
No, it is kind of it is more or less for the lodge, I want to type up an idea I've had for a long time before even the lodge we've had. OK. A rafting. I've been rafting for a bunch of years now and stuff. I have and talk about the theme around like converging things and like and there's I have an idea for a cool rafting camping music program called Music on the River. more as an acronym. Yeah. And it's taking guests out on a float.

and floating to a campground where Hannah would already be cooking on a fire. Yes. There's like a vibe and there's like some music, like live music being played. And it's just like a good scene and then kind of night falls and there's food and there's lights and stuff. And it's just like a really cool campground.

Christina (57:35)
I'm there. Yeah.

Simon (57:45)
that we floated our guests to. With live music. With a live show. From a consumer point of view or whatever, it's like you kind of buy a ticket or as a group probably you buy the ticket to go and then you float and it's like going to a music show at the cafe but you're actually getting into a raft and floating with a beautiful float to a campground and that's the show and the tents are set up for you.

Christina (58:12)
This is incredible.

Simon (58:13)
I

had to meat float out the next day and it's like a yeah

Hannah (58:16)
Like luxury

camping, but rustic.

Simon (58:19)
yeah,

luxury. I'm sold.

Christina (58:21)
I mean, I'm not gonna pay for it because it's gonna be expensive and I can't afford anything, but... No, no, no, but like honestly, this sounds amazing. I can picture it. I'd love to be the artist and slash comedian slash banter. Yes. And I have people I could recommend. I'm sure you know lots because of your connections in the music world. But you can even do comedy nights. Yeah.

Simon (58:28)
You would be the artist.

We've done some comedies here. yeah? But yeah, you're right though, like anything goes.

Hannah (58:50)
But other

do, like bring someone along, like type of like friend, story. Yes. the area who can like really talk some cool.

Simon (58:53)
I was thinking of

Like

Jitsan stories, like local like like history and stuff and just yeah, that would be super cool ⁓

Christina (59:03)
⁓

I love that idea for you and I think it's already a success even though it's not happening yet. Thank you. Do you have any other? I know you're busy. You've got a child. You've got a dog and two cats. ⁓ And you also dabble in the arts. there's... Do you have any... I mean your hands are full but like what do you dream of?

Hannah (59:29)
man, ⁓ I have so many. ⁓ I'm just like, I have ADHD up the ass too. So I just like, can, I have so many different interests, I don't know, dream, if I could just snap my fingers, I would have like a create studio and I would just be in there with all kinds of crafts and supplies. ⁓ know. Money to start that.

Christina (59:49)
Well, you could build that here.

Simon (59:51)
Yeah, yeah, that's. ⁓

Christina (59:54)
Welcome.

Hannah (59:54)
But no, I have, ⁓ I bless his heart for dealing with all my stuff, but I just have like totes and bins of stuff and supplies. I'm an avid thrifter. Yeah. I just like collect stuff because I have aspirations to create with these said items one day. But that moment is not right now because I'm busy doing something else.

Christina (1:00:11)
If

you're something else, no, get it. I can see, I can see a one of your or a new one, even a cottage here on the property that's dedicated to art, ⁓ even groups that want to come and do art that you facilitate that and can do maybe some funding to help develop that.

Hannah (1:00:29)
Totally. would, yeah, like do, yeah, we could totally have like classes or whatever. Like I don't teach the paint, but I would partake in everything. But yeah, stuff like that would be so cool. I'm really into like embroidery and just like a little crafting here and there. Like interior design is such a passion for me, like thrifting, flipping and designing. so like, yeah, I.

Christina (1:00:32)
Artist residency.

Simon (1:00:49)
Like you think I put this art in the wall?

Christina (1:00:51)
No, I didn't think he did.

Simon (1:00:53)
⁓

I thought you meant my fart boogaloo. ⁓

Hannah (1:00:58)
Yeah, I don't want to hear anything that is... No.

Christina (1:01:01)
You've all got your strengths. You both got your strengths. Well, I love hearing that. And this place allows you to work towards all those things.

Hannah (1:01:09)
Yeah,

so like what Simon touched on earlier, like this place really does bring together everything that we love to do. It's like I get to cook, I get to design the place, I get to decorate, I get to do all the things I like to do here. And me and my staff like makes everything, it's really cool.

Simon (1:01:21)
I get to bartend, music.

Our official business name is H &S, Hannah and Simon. Confluence. Because it's a confluence of what we do. Guys, do know what that means? ⁓ It's a river term. It's rivers. A confluence of two rivers is where they meet.

Christina (1:01:35)
I've never heard that word. The coming together.

That's really sweet you guys. can't, like I, this is adorable. ⁓ I seriously want talk to Cathy and Todd about adopting me.

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