Wednesday, March 25 to Wednesday, April 1, 2026 (North Saanich, BC and Puntledge RV Park, Courtenay, BC)

We had the car all packed up and were on our way by 10:00 a.m. Wednesday (Mar. 25). We actually didn't get very far because I suddenly remembered that I forgot to pack the stuff from the fridge that I planned on taking. Thank goodness we weren't very far...the turn-around and return to the trailer only took 15 minutes.

We had a fairly rainy drive as we headed down island to Rob and Angie's for a few days. We stopped for lunch in Duncan and then arrived at Nadine and Mike's (Steve's sister and BIL) just before 2:00 for a quick visit. Of course, our main conversation was about the Panama Canal cruise we have booked...they are a great resource as they have been on so many! 

After about an hour, we continued on to Rob and Angie's. Chris, Angela and Isaac had arrived yesterday, Angie and the boys are on Spring Break...so Rob is the only one having to work. He has been working 12-hour shifts this past week...4:00 am to 4:00 pm, which means he has been getting up at 2:30 am! Needless to say, he is so tired! Thankfully he only has a couple of more days, and then there's a weekend and he returns to his normal hours next week.

Our grandsons on their computers playing games...well, Isaac is watching Bryce...

The adults enjoyed a delicious dinner together...the boys ate their dinner earlier...

Thursday morning (Mar. 26) Steve left for his dental appointment at 10:00. I went with Chris, Angela and Isaac into Sidney. Poor Chris has a nasty cold and wanted to pick up some cold meds, so he and Isaac went to the pharmacy while Angela and I checked out a couple of clothing stores. 

We are waiting for Steve to join us for a walk along the Sidney waterfront, so we parked at the waterfront and took Isaac to the playground. It was super windy and cold, so no walking today!

Steve was finally getting the crown on his implant...finishing off a long drawn out process. The actual process was quick but unfortunately, they were behind and made him wait over a half hour! Since it was too cold and windy for a walk, we told him to meet us for lunch at Mary's Bleue Moon Cafe. 

Mary's is a very cool place situated next to the airport, sporting all sorts of pictures, models, and memorabilia of airplanes and crews dating back to WWII. Back then the airport was a military base and the airmen would eat here. Well Isaac was quite enthralled with the pictures and model planes and after Grampa told him that the BC Aviation Museum was across the street, he wanted to go!

I'll pass it over to Steve now...

Isaac checking out the flight simulator...

Onto his next flight...

They have lots of stuff here for the kids to check out...

The main attraction at the museum is the Martin Mars water bomber donated by Coulson Aviation. They had also donated it's sister the Philippine Mars to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, AZ. These aircraft were built for troop and transport during WWII and converted to waterbombers...

Our tour guide was explaining that these aircraft weren't built with landing gear, but are added while still afloat when the plane is to be brought ashore...

Our guide explained the operation of the water and foam retardant tanks...

The interior is two stories so after our tour of the upper floor it was time to head back down...

I was so looking forward to a tour of the flight deck as the plane wasn't fully open on my previous visit because it was still being made safe for tours. Since then it had opened but they were forced to close it due to theft. What is wrong with people?! They now offer limited 45 minute flight deck tours on Saturdays from 11:00 -1:00.

With a 200' wingspan this plane is huge, but still smaller than Howard Hughes Spruce Goose!

Back inside...this F-104 Starfighter has been polished up since my previous visit... 

Isaac was still enjoying his tour...

Checking out a couple of apes...

Because I'm lazy, and didn't want to duplicate and again edit photos I've posted of the museum aircraft on a previous blog you can check them out here on my album if you are interested...

Dianne here:

I hadn't been all that interested in going to the BC Aviation Museum but I'm glad I did...it was actually very interesting. Chris, Angela and Isaac departed and headed into Victoria where they are spending a few nights at the Inn at Laurel Point on the Inner Harbour. 

Friday morning (Mar. 27), Steve and I went into Sidney to run a few errands and go for a walk along the waterfront...it was a much warmer day without the wind!

Spring is definitely here...

Lots of people at glass beach...

After lunch we went into Victoria and met Chris, Angela and Isaac at their hotel and went for a walk along the harbour waterfront...

Inn at Laurel Point...

And another view of the opposite side of the hotel as we walked along the David Foster Way path...

Victoria Harbour Ferries have a fleet of boats that run to various stops in the harbour...

Victoria International Marina...for the rich and famous!

Looking back toward their hotel, the white building...

A view of the houseboats at Fisherman's Wharf (where we're headed)...

A busy harbour with a floatplane leaving and sailing ships arriving....

Whale tour boat heading out...

Another sailing ship arriving...

Fisherman's Wharf...

We were surprised at how busy it was...we weren't even sure if anything would be open yet, but it was bustling!

We walked down into the marina...they have recently opened it up to the public to wander through. Lots of fishing boats...

Time to turn around...

Back to the main area...

And heading for ice cream!

Yum!

As we got back to their hotel, the MV Coho was arriving at Victoria's Inner Harbour. The Black Ball Ferry operates the MV Coho passenger and vehicle ferry linking Victoria with Port Angeles in Washington State...

We had a quick stop in their room before heading back to our car. A great view!

Today is Rob and Angie's 16th wedding anniversary, so when Rob got home from work, we gave them a card and lottery ticket (hoping it would be the lucky one...not!)...

Happy Anniversary Angie and Rob!

Angie is cooking up a storm! And she has Bryce helping her...

Mussels for the appetizer...yum!

Followed by delicious seafood pasta...so good!

Saturday  morning (Mar. 28) I left Steve at home relaxing while I went into Sidney to meet Glenna for a walk and lunch. We had a fabulous visit...and over 10,000 steps! A great day!

Sunday (Mar. 29) we met Rob and Nancy, along with Dan and Barb, for breakfast at the Spitfire Grill. We had a great visit and after a good hour and a half, we all parted ways. Left to right...Steve, Dan, Barb, Rob, Nancy and me...

On our way back up island we stopped off for a quick visit with Jim and Nan in Cowichan Bay. It's always great catching up with them. A couple of hours later, we were back in Courtenay, and after a stop for "Sunday Services" at the Gladstone Brewery, we were home and unpacking. Always great to get home!

Monday (Mar. 30) and Tuesday (Mar. 31) were pretty uneventful as we took care of errands and routine chores. The weather was pretty good, so we also managed our morning walks.

Today, Wednesday (April 1) ended up being an inside day...so much wind and rain! Oh well, it gave us time to get this blog put together, along with reading and knitting for me.

Wednesday, March 11 to Tuesday, March 24, 2027 (Puntledge RV Park, Courtenay, BC)

The chilly, cool, rainy weather continued over the next couple of weeks for the most part, but at least there is usually a day here and there when the sun makes an appearance.

Speaking of sunshine, it finally showed up on Friday (Mar. 13)...nicer to get out for our morning walk with some blue sky. 

We are having a 'date night' tonight, going to a concert at the Sid Williams Theatre. A Creedence Clearwater Revival cover-band, called Completely Creedence Band, is performing. Before the concert, we stopped at the Gladstone Brewery for a brew. It's right across the street from the theatre, so it's very handy for getting an early parking spot too! 

The concert was excellent!

The lead guitarist (left) has played with The Odds, the drummer (hidden) with David Go Go, and the bass player (right) played with Bachman-Turner Overdrive They are all local boys from Vancouver Island. The projected background pictures were from 1968-1972, the years Creedence Clearwater were together showing cars, bands/concerts, protests, Vietnam, shows, movies, movie stars etc...

Steve put together a 4:24 minute video...a snippet of four songs...

A great concert! The lead singer was really good, very funny, with lots of interaction with his audience.

Saturday (Mar. 14) afternoon Dave and Leslie, our friends from Leduc, Alberta, arrived. They have spent the last week at Dave's niece's place in Victoria lending a hand with their property. 

We relaxed with a beverage and then decided to get out for a hike since an 'atmospheric river' is forecast to arrive tomorrow. We took them to Seal Bay Regional Nature Park, a new park for them. We walked down to the  oceanfront...

Back at our place, they left to check into the hotel and about 40 minutes later, we met them for dinner at the Flying Canoe Pub...which happened to be located in the hotel they are staying at. Unfortunately, not the best  picture...

Sunday (Mar. 15) morning we picked Dave and Leslie up at 10:00 and since the 'atmospheric river' hadn't arrived yet, we thought we'd try to get a walk in at Nymph Falls Nature Park...

A 23 second video of the falls. In preparation for the atmospheric river and snowmelt they've opened the dam. We've never seen the river this high at this location!

After our hike, Steve took us on a little tour of Comox on our way to meet Earl and Allison for lunch at The Griffin Pub. By the time we got there it was pouring out!

After a great lunch and visit, we thought we'd take a drive to Cumberland and Comox Lake, show Dave and Leslie the area and stop for a beverage at the Cumberland Brewery. Unfortunately they weren't open...there was work being done on the powerlines so we assume no power meant they were closed.

So, back to Courtenay and the Gladstone Brewery for our usual "Sunday Services"...nice having company to join us today!

We played Rummikub before dinner...and then Marbles (aka Aggravation) afterwards....

We had a great evening with the wine flowing freely...they took a taxi back to their hotel shortly before 11:00 p.m. Such a great, albeit, short visit with them...they head back down island tomorrow, and fly home Wednesday. So glad you made time to come up for a visit!

Monday (Mar. 16) was another rainy day...and a little "slow". Hmmm...could it be a dash too much wine last night? Nah! LOL

Steve got a shot out our back window of our occasional visitors behind our trailer...

Tuesday (Mar. 17) we were surprised to see the sun...it wasn't forecast to be a sunny day but we'll take it after all of the rain! After our walk at the airpark/riverway path, we went to check on our little trailer...all good there!

Construction on the drainage ditch near the entrance of the park started today...the whole area floods when we have heavy rain. You may recall reading our blog from the end of January about the flooding both here in the park and other nearby areas. New drainage pipes are being put in, especially in the lower campground. Apparently bones were discovered there so work was stopped. As this is First Nations land archeologists were called in. Hopefully they get an answer soon as the lower campground is suppose to open next month. Apparently they also found bones in the upper campground just down the road from us too.

Thursday morning (Mar. 19) and we're back into rain. Don and Rhonda (my brother and SIL) are bringing  their vehicle in for a service at the local Ford dealer, so we picked them up just after 10:30 and went to Tim Horton's for coffee. Unfortunately with the rain, we couldn't go for a hike...but we spent a good hour visiting and then dropped them back off at the dealer.

Friday (Mar. 20) we were back into some sun so it was nice to get out for our walk along the river. A group of kayakers were preparing to head out from the marina...

My bucket list trip is a Panama Canal Cruise and this week I have been doing a lot of research. I contacted Nadine and Mike (Steve's sister and BIL) and they were able to give me some great information and advice...after 48 cruises, we figured they were "the experts"! I contacted their travel agent and told her what I was after and she got back to me today. We now have a 23 day cruise booked! We will be taking back-to-back cruises on the Island Princess, from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles (16 days), then LA to Vancouver (7 days). I'm so excited...but it's not until April 2027. I have a whole year to wait! But I'm super stoked!!

Saturday (Mar. 21) Earl had asked Steve to give him a hand picking up an oak roll top desk they just purchased so was picked up at 10 and back by 11:30. 

After lunch it was time for Steve to take care of some RV maintenance...actually he has managed to cross-off a number of things off his to-do list. While dumping the tanks he noticed the 50 amp male plug on our power cord was cracked and looked a little burnt...yikes! When he tried to pull the plugs apart the yellow one just fell apart and had some moisture in it, and the red wire post was badly corroded. This is the third time in 16 years he's had to replace this plug.

With such a beautiful day and the chores done it was time for our walk along the riverway/airpark. The tide was a long way out...

That evening we enjoyed dinner and rummikub with Earl and Allison at their place...

Always great getting together with them!

After a few nice days, we woke up to the sound of rain on the roof Tuesday (Mar. 24)...and it rained and rained all day. A wind has also been issued with winds gusting to 90 km/h (that's 56 miles/hr). I got out for some shopping in the morning and it was darned nasty out there!

Tomorrow we are heading back down island to Rob and Angie's for a few days. Chris, Angela and Isaac arrive there this afternoon for a couple of days before going to stay downtown...it's their little Spring Break getaway! So we have one night together tomorrow...it will be great to be there and have our whole family together. Steve has a dental appointment Thursday to finalize his implant and we have lots of visits planned with family and friends!