Saturday, January 31 to Sunday, February 15, 2026 (Puntledge RV Park, Courtenay, BC)

I posted our last blog early Friday (Jan. 30) before we had had a chance to see the results of a night of heavy rain so when we headed out to Costco to gas the truck up in prep for our drive down island the next day, we were amazed to find the amount of flooding! The Comox Valley Regional Emergency Operations Centre issued a state of local emergency later in the morning. Some rural residences with livestock had to be rescued.

The ditch as we leave our site has flooded across the road...

A 42 second video of the flooding in the lower part of the campground...it is closed this time of year...

Lewis Park is completely flooded!

Lewis Park is a 17.39 acre municipally-owned park located immediately to the east of the Courtenay River bridge, across from Simms Millennium Park on the Old Island Highway. The park is naturally bounded by the Courtenay, Puntledge and Tsolum Rivers and features several mature trees, open play fields, trails, tennis courts, skateboard park and four notable buildings.

The heavy rain we had Thursday night and Friday continued Saturday (Jan. 31) as we drove down island on our way to Rob and Angie's. By the time we arrived at Cowichan Bay to meet our  good friends, Jim and Nan, for lunch at the pub, the rain had finally subsided considerably.

We enjoyed lunch while catching up with them...

We arrived at Rob and Angie's around 2:30 and spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with them. Of course, they prepared a delicious dinner for us! 

After dinner, the dishes were cleared and we had fun playing Hedbanz...a fast-paced, "yes" or "no" question-based, "What am I?" party game where 2-6 players wear headbands holding cards (animals, foods, or objects) that they cannot see. Players race against a timer to guess the card on their head, aiming to be the first to collect three scoring badges.

Only Bryce, Angie and Rob (and us) playing as Conner was at a friends place for a sleep-over...

What a fun evening! 

Sunday  morning (Feb. 1) we met more good friends, Rob and Nancy, for breakfast. Always good catching up with them!

Afterwards, we ran a few errands and then met Steve's sister and her husband, Nadine and Mike, along with Mike's nephew and his wife, Glen and Tina, for coffee at Fresh Cup Roastery in Saanichton. It is Nadine's birthday tomorrow, so we wanted to take the opportunity of being down here to personally wish her a happy birthday. 

As usual, the reason we are down here is for an appointment and Monday morning (Feb. 2) at 10:00 we were at our dentist's office. I waited in the truck for what we assumed would be a quick appointment  as Steve was just having impressions taken for a crown...the final phase of his implant. Well, it took somewhat longer than expected but we were finally on the road heading back up island to Courtenay.

Tuesday morning (Feb. 3) we were on our usual walk at the airpark/riverway when Steve noticed the first signs of Spring...Snowdrops blooming!

We had a foggy start to the day on Thursday (Feb. 5) but it did eventually clear and we had some sun. Our walk today was at Nymph Falls Nature Park where Steve snapped this picture. The Heron had been standing on the rock not moving, almost like it was posing, but as Steve took the picture it flew off...ended up being a great picture...

When the sun came out in the afternoon, Steve decided to get started on washing the trailer...roof and awning today. The roof and shaded side of the trailer gets quite green with algae during the rainy winter months... 

Friday morning (Feb. 6) Steve got right back outside to finish washing the trailer. I did a little shopping at Costco and then went to Kingfisher Pacific Resort and Spa for a wonderful 90 minute massage. Both Rob and Chris's families had given me a gift certificate for my birthday last December and I finally decided on a treatment. It was absolutely a wonderful experience! 

Saturday morning (Feb. 7) we woke to rain, so instead of getting out for a walk, we decided to go for a drive instead. It was a very blustery day!

A 24 second video as we approach the waterfront at Point Holmes...

And a 1:47 minute video of Kite Surfing at Goose Spit...VERY COOL!

In our last blog, I mentioned a barge being towed in with a crane on it that will remove pieces of the 400 metre long metal retaining wall. Well, on our morning walk at the airpark Wednesday (Feb. 11) we were able to watch the crane in action as it pulled out one of the 60 foot sheet pilings. The yellow apparatus dangling from the crane grabs and vibrates as it slowly lifts the metal sheets... 

Saturday morning (Feb. 14) as something different to do, we decided to drive up to Campbell River and continue along the waterfront Seawalk path that we had done a few weeks ago. Steve even relinquished the driving of our new truck over to me! LOL

It was a beautiful day...a slight breeze, though, making it a little chilly, especially when we turned around and went back to the truck...

There are many waterfront condos...

The 49th parallel runs along the Canada US border...

Since that walk was only about 2.5 kms and it was early, we decided to drive to the Elk Falls Suspension Bridge...

 

The hike to the falls and back (I only went to the top of the long stairway down this time) was another 2.5 kms...now it was time for lunch!

We finished our trip to Campbell River at the Fifty Parallel Tap and Grill where we enjoyed a wonderful Valentines lunch. It was a new to us spot that we had been wanting to try...we weren't disappointed!

We ended Valentine's Day at a very busy Gladstone Brewery where they had a big Valentine's Day celebration happening. Thank goodness the sun was shining because we had to sit outside! Luckily as the sun went behind a cloud, we were finishing our beer...and heading home.

Sunday morning (Feb. 15) we enjoyed a beautiful sunny walk...4 kms along the Riverway and Airpark walkway. I have started using 2 walking/hiking poles which have made a huge difference walking distances. It seems I may not have Spinal Stenosis but definitely advanced osteoarthritis in the last few discs of my spine...degenerative disc disease, ugh! I'm glad that I don't have long to wait for an MRI...it is scheduled for February 27.

Friday, January 1 to Friday, January 30, 2026 (Puntledge RV Park, Courtenay, BC)

A new year begins and the first month has gone by and for the most part, we haven't been doing much of anything other than the usual daily "stuff"...you know, just routine everyday living stuff. We have had mainly cloudy, dreary days...some with rain, some without...with a few sunny days thrown in just to let us know what it looks like. We have also had a considerable amount of fog.

When it's not raining, we get out for our morning walks...at either the Airpark/Riverway, Millard Trail, Nymph Falls Nature Park or Seal Bay Regional Park. We take pictures occasionally but we have many pictures from previous walks, so here are just a few... 

Friday (Jan. 2)...Seal Bay Regional Park...

Steve is looking at the waterfall from the foot bridge. The photo doesn't convey how far down the creek is below the waterfall...

We took the Seal Loop but instead of taking the Eagle Trail that goes down to the ocean, we thought we'd finish the loop and then take the Coupland Trail to the Don Apps Trail that zig-zags down. Unfortunately when we got there we found the trail closed. We have since been back and the trail remains closed, so I guess they won't work on it until the Spring.

That's part of the trail below...

My hair just loves the humidity of the BC coast in the winter...it's impossible to keep the curls smoothed out, so I have basically given up! Oh how I miss the Arizona weather in the winter!

We had a stretch of cold mornings with temperatures around 0C/32F, with a couple of mornings slightly colder. After frosty starts, we would actually see some blue sky.

Monday morning (Jan. 5th), this fir tree along the Airpark path is where the Great Blue Herons hang out. We usually see at least a few...I think the most we've seen is 6...

Tuesday (Jan. 6th) Lots of moss on the trees at Nymph Falls...

You can't see the falls on the left from our usual viewing spot further ahead at Nymph Falls...

After our stretch of cooler days, we were back into warmer temps and rain, rain and more rain! With so much rain, we weren't getting out for our usual morning walks, but we at least try to get out for a drive.

On Monday (Jan. 12), we went for a drive out to Cumberland, and Comox Lake. When we got back, Steve noticed the kitchen faucet was dripping and leaking internally, and when we opened the cupboard doors beneath, we found everything in there soaking wet, including a small area of carpet behind Steve's recliner. All I can say is thank goodness we always turn off our water from the pedestal outside every time we go out. We had replaced our kitchen and bathroom RV faucets with residential ones years ago.

So guess what Steve had to deal with for the rest of the day? After taking the faucet apart he went to Home Depot for a replacement cartridge. After reinstalling the faucet and water lines it was still leaking...Geez!!! Long story short...he ended up back at Home Depot, got a credit for the cartridge and bought a new faucet.

While he was doing that, I was mopping up all of the water that had flowed towards the carpet. At least we caught it when we did...before it saturated more of the carpet.

Tuesday (Jan.13th), on another walk at the Airpark/Riverway, we noticed a barge being towed into the inlet. The barge is being moved in as part of the old Courtenay Field Sawmill site reclamation. It operated from 1949-2004. The site is now known as the Kus-kus-sum estuary, a K'omox First Nations name of their former village which was actually located where the Courtenay Airpark is just a little further down the river where we walk often. The crane is removing pieces of the 400 metre long metal retaining wall that separated the river and the old mill property. Apparently it has a vibrating clamp on it, so it basically vibrates out each sheet pile which are 60 feet long. Logs, and a variety of trees and plants will eventually restore the area to it's natural state.

Photo from Chek News...

Thursday (Jan.15th), after many days of rain and or grey skies the sun finally came out one afternoon, and our new ride gets it's first bath...a much quicker wash for Steve than Buster was.

Friday (Jan.16th), finally...a beautiful, sunny...but chilly OC/32F morning we walked the Airpark/Riverway. Comox Glacier...

Sea fog in the distance...

On Saturday (Jan. 17), we packed the car up and headed down to the Duke Point Ferry Terminal. We have appointments on Monday and Tuesday, so will stay at Chris and Angela's. It was an absolutely beautiful drive down island to Nanaimo, but as soon as we exited the highway towards the ferry terminal, we hit fog...and we were in fog the entire ferry ride over to the mainland. 

Chris's living room has a nice view down to the Fraser River...Sunday morning (Jan. 18), the fog was hanging over the river. (For about a week you had to get away from, or above the ocean and rivers to see the sunshine)

At 11:30, we met our good friend, Glenna, for lunch at Browns Social House. You will recall, Glenna and I spent a wonderful couple of nights together in Parksville last October. We got a kick out of the picture the server took of us...the lights are hiding part of the sign in the background...it's says 'Moby Dick'...😂

After lunch, we went home, changed shoes and met Glenna for a walk at Colony Farm Regional Park. It was sunny and very chilly, especially with the wind and the temperature around 2C/35.6!

We were hoping there would be some geocaches along the trail to keep Isaac interested but unfortunately there weren't. We were going to try and walk the loop but we didn't know how long it was, so we turned around...the walk was long enough for Isaac! It was nice to get back to the car and warm up. Great seeing Glenna again!

Monday morning (Jan. 19) Steve had an appointment with his dermatologist to have a spot on his chest removed. Last month he had the spot shaved off and sent for a biopsy...turns out it was Basal Cell Carcinoma, so it had to be cut out leaving a 2" incision. He was amazed that once the freezing was gone he had no pain...ever!

Tuesday morning (Jan. 20) I had an appointment with our family doctor. I have been having lower back issues that radiates to my hips and have been seeing a physiotherapist. Well the pain is not improving. I am still managing to do our daily walks but they are slower and I have to stop often to rest for a moment. Long story short...my doctor is quite certain it is Spinal Stenosis but an x-ray is required to confirm. I will get the x-ray when we are back home tomorrow.

Right after my appointment, we headed for the ferry. This time we are taking the sailing from the Horseshoe Bay Terminal in North Vancouver to the Departure Bay Terminal in Nanaimo. I had made reservations for the 1:25 sailing and we were there in plenty of time. 

No fog to start but once we got further out we were in fog again...

Saturday (Jan. 24) was a beautiful day so we thought we'd drive up to Campbell River for a walk along the Seawalk path...it goes for just over 6 km/3.7 miles but we will only walk part of it. It was a lovely walk but chilly at only 1C/33.8F...

The Big Rock...

Campbell River has lots of driftwood sculptures...

These are just a few...

Octopus...

I love the play on words in the name of of this funky little coffeehouse. People are gathered around the firepit...

Quadra Island in the distance...

The waterfront is lined with lots of really nice condos with fabulous views...

We almost missed noticing this Alligator...

After our walk there, we went to Tyee Spit for a walk. Beautiful view of the snowcapped mountains on the mainland behind Quadra Island...

 

Painters Lodge in the distance... 

A closeup of Painter's Lodge across the inlet...we're going to go there for a beverage...

Chadwick the Cougar...very cool!

Our final stop...Painter's Lodge ...

A great day...and so nice to get out and do something different!

Another walk at Seal Bay...right behind Steve is a deep gully. The park is heavily treed and very mossy!

The rest of the week was pretty wet...but by Wednesday (Jan. 28) it had warmed up to a more seasonable 9C/48F and the forecast is for lots of rain over the next week. 😞☔

As a follow-up to my doctor's appointment, I had an x-ray of my lower back and on Thursday (Jan. 29), I had a phone appointment with my doctor. The x-ray confirmed spinal stenosis in the base of my spine with considerable calcium build up (arthritis). He is ordering an MRI to check if the spurs are pressing on any nerves, etc. I also have osteoporosis in a disc (T2) mid back. Seems my skeleton is starting to give me some grief...oh, don't you just love getting older?! But it's still better than the alternative!