Living the Dream...: May 7, 2011 (Fort Camping, Brae Island Regional Park, Fort Langley, BC)

We’re back after a very busy 5 weeks on the Island...and it’s good to be home! Filled with dentist and doctor appointments, income tax filing (okay, well...we really didn’t do much—our financial advisor had it all in hand...but we gave him the go-ahead to file) and lots and lots of lunches and dinners out as we got caught up with all our friends and family. We extended our stay a week due to additional dental appointments for me and the sudden death of a good friend’s Mom...a tragic loss for Jim, his family and all who knew Gloria.

It was wonderful to spend time with Rob and Angie and we thank them so very much for their hospitality. I was afraid we were overstaying our welcome but we had such a good visit with them including some great quality time—Angie and I enjoyed a “girl” day (spa and lunch) while Steve and Rob went ATV riding...however, I suspect they are now enjoying having the house back to themselves!

We were up early this morning to finish packing so we could catch the 9:00 a.m. ferry. We ended up being ready to go a lot earlier than we had anticipated so decided we would leave...it was just 7:40 but we thought we would just drink our coffee at the ferry as we waited for the sailing. Well, as luck would have it, we arrived just as they were about to the load the 8:00 a.m. sailing...and I had checked to see if there was an 8:00 a.m. sailing and according to the website, there wasn’t one! Bonus!

We arrived at Surrey Storage just before 10:30 to pick up our 5^th wheel...with the cool, wet spring it was quite a mud hole and of course there was a huge, deep puddle right in front of the trailer...good thing Steve had his rubber boots! Here is our Montana "float-home"...

After getting hitched, I drove the truck as Steve directed me and I pulled the trailer out of its spot, through the small lake to a dry spot where we could finish up. Soon we were on our way back to Fort Langley.

We had originally planned to stay here one week but Steve has another medical appointment in Victoria on May 19^th, so we will be here until after the May long weekend (May 21-23). Luckily, the folks here at the campground were able to re-arrange the bookings to accommodate us through the long weekend....whew! So we will likely just go back as foot passengers on the ferry on May 18^th, stay the night and head back after the appointment on the 19^th.

So I don’t think I will keep a daily blog going until we continue our travels...I don’t anticipate we will be doing much other than taking long walks on the many hiking trails here in the park...or enjoying the small community of Fort Langley. But we’ll see...I do need to get back in the habit of writing our journal. It is something that I am so glad that I started and with Steve editing and jogging my memory on events, we really want to continue with it. Our retirement adventures have truly been amazing during our first 9 months and we both look forward to years of fun and excitement as we carry on our journey. And of course, I know that we will cherish being able to look back and re-live our travels and new friendships through our journal.

To finish off today’s entry, we are posting pictures of various things we did over the past 5 weeks...

A hike in Goldstream Provincial Park....

Mount Finlayson...

Many trees..."BC Style"...

Steve and I went on an ATV ride with members of the Cowichan Valley ATV Club on April 16th...

The group getting ready for the ride...

We ran into a little snow as we rode up into the mountains (we had to turn around)...

A break alongside beautiful Chemainus River...

A gorgeous view (although a little foggy) from Mt. Sicker...

Easter Weekend camping at one of our favourite spots...Heather Campground on Lake Cowichan. Our first time camping in the truck...

Happy Hour around the campfire...Steve, Angie and Rob...

You can see why it is one of favourite spots on Vancouver Island...

Steve and Rob on an ATV ride...

More BC beauty for our American friends to see...

Steve and Rob went fishing every morning...sunny but cold!

Then Steve and I went for a quad ride...

This is Tuck Lake...

More shots of Beautiful BC...

We had a great Easter Weekend...beautiful weather Thursday afternoon, Friday and Saturday...rain Sunday and on pack-up day Monday. Camping out of the truck worked well too...thank-you Rob and Angie for supplying the barbeque, coleman stove and all the cooking and eating utensils!!

The following weekend, Steve and Rob went on an ATV ride with the Club...some of the following pictures were taken by Chris Thompson...great pics, thanks, Chris!