Monday to Sunday, May 18 to 24, 2020 (Peace Arch RV Park, Surrey, BC)

Well what was supposed to be a rainy long weekend turned out to only be a day and a half of rain...as I mentioned in my last blog, the clouds parted Sunday afternoon and the sun continued to shine on the holiday Monday.

We had a pretty relaxing morning, puttering around and working on getting a blog posted. After lunch, Steve went out for a power walk...we are going over to Chris and Angela's this afternoon and I didn't want to get all hot and sweaty before we go...LOL.

We headed out just before 2:00 for the half hour drive to Chris and Angela's place in Coquitlam...where we spent a lovely afternoon out on their deck. Isaac was a little leery of us, playing shy and cranky at first, but he soon warmed up and had a great time playing with Grampa (seems Gramma isn't as much fun, LOL!)...

Chris took this short video...too cute...
Chris grilling steaks and veggies...
Chris and Angela...
 Isaac playing with his cars on the table...
Angela putting the final touches on dinner...
While Isaac cleans the deck LOL!
We had a wonderful and delicious "Happy Early Anniversary" dinner...
Relaxing after dinner...
Grampa, what are you doing back here?
After a great time, we said goodnight...it was time for Isaac to go to bed. Thanks for a wonderful time, Chris and Angela!

Tuesday (May 19) was basically the last nice day before clouds and rain were supposed to roll in. So we decided to drive back to Blackie's Spit and instead of walking the park, we'd walk along Crescent Beach. This was also the first day of phase 2 in BC where we are allowed to expand our bubble a little and many businesses are allowed to open, so with many people going back to work it wasn't very busy on the trail...

Low tide...
 The end of the trail...and time to turn around and walk back...
Bald Eagle...

Very cool bird house!
The beach is pretty empty...but come the weekends it gets busy. We still have to practice physical distancing though...
We walked out to the end of the pier...
Sand Bar...


Some kids netted a crab...their grandma was ensuring they let it go...

We were back home just after 2:00 and after a late lunch, Steve relaxed outside in the sunshine while I watched the daily Covid-19 update on TV. I joined him afterwards...we went for a bike ride...and then resumed positions outside.

Wednesday and Thursday were our "run of the mill" days...cloudy for the most part...out for our usual walks, puttering around, watching TV and reading.

Friday (May 22) started cloudy with the threat of rain...thank goodness it stayed dry out though, it was our errand running day. We started with our usual grocery pick up and after dropping it off at home, we headed back out. I had an order to pick up at Hudson Bay in Langley. We also tried to find a recycling depot but had no luck...one was very busy and there was no way we were going to get our truck into and the other didn't take anything but batteries. Ok then...that will just have to wait!

Late afternoon, our neighbours, Roland and Carol joined us for happy hour...helping us celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary. After that, Steve grilled steaks for our anniversary dinner...unfortunately, they were a let down, quite tough for a NY strip loin!

After dinner, Steve had a great idea...lets watch the Eagles DVD! Good plan, but we had to find a device that would play it. For some reason the DVD player in our home theatre doesn't work anymore, nor did the player in our newer laptop...our final try was on our old laptop, with success!
So we drank red wine and had ourselves a concert...


R.I.P. Glenn Frey. Sadly he passed away in 2016 at the age of 67...his son has replaced him in the band...
We had the volume cranked...figuring we'd be fine, because neighbours on one side of us were away, as were the folks behind us...and we thought Roland and Carol were far enough away. Apparently not, we spoke to them the next morning...laughingly they thought it was some young folks down the road playing their tunes LOL!. Oops...but what a great evening! In years past it has been an annual event having an Eagles concert night with Red and Pam in Quartzsite...missed you guys!

Saturday (May 23) morning was another cloudy start. We had our fingers crossed that it would clear by this afternoon, as per the forecast...Chris, Angela and Isaac are coming out this afternoon for a barbecue.

I also found out this week that my cataract surgery has been rescheduled for June 3, so along with a pre-op, I require an ECG. I was a little concerned with the lack of time I had to get these done, but no problem, I managed to get an appointment for the ECG this morning and a virtual appointment with my doctor next Monday.

Chris, Angela and Isaac arrived at about 2:30 and just as the forecast had said, it did brighten up a lot with patches of blue sky poking through. We had another wonderful visit with them.

Grampa reading Issac a book...
Grilled burgers for dinner...
Isaac is just "go, go, go"! He certainly keeps his mom and dad busy!

His new favourite place to sit ended up being on the road...good thing there was no traffic!
Chris, Isaac and Angela...
Just chilling on the stairs drinking a juice box...
It was going on 8:00 when they gathered all their things and we walked them down to their car. Wonderful seeing them again....so happy we are able to get together with them so often.

Sunday was a pretty quiet day...we woke to clouds and also had some rain. So it was pretty much an inside day. Nothing really exciting to report!


BC COVID-19 update: Confirmed cases 2,530         CANADA: Confirmed cases 85,711
                                      Active                    267                             Active                 34,528
                                      Recovered          2,102                              Recovered          44,638
                                      Deaths                   161                              Deaths                  6,545

And that was another week...stay safe and healthy everyone!

Monday to Sunday, May 11 to May 17, 2020 (Peace Arch RV Park, Surrey, BC)

We decided to take advantage of the last day of beautiful weather and go explore another park Monday morning. We have been to the parking lot at Blackie Spit Park but have never walked the trails there...instead choosing to walk along the Crescent Beach waterfront.

Blackie Spit Park is a stunning City park located in the Crescent Beach neighbourhood of South Surrey. The park is named after the dramatic spit that extends into Mud Bay at the mouth of the Nicomekl River. Blackie Spit has amazing views of Mud Bay and the North Shore Mountains.

Blackie Spit offers some of the best bird watching areas in Canada, with almost 200 species of birds recorded in a calendar year. The sandy spit, surrounded by tidal marsh and eelgrass beds, is an important stop for migrating and wintering waterfowl and shorebirds, as they make their way up and down the coastline of North and South America. Fall migrants start arriving in late August and September. Spring migrants start arriving in mid-March, and are generally gone by the end of May.
We walked out to the end of the spit...


As far as we can go...
Looking back...
Crescent Beach in the distance where most of the crowds are...
Kayaker and paddle boarder...

We back tracked to explore the rest of the trail system. I'm taking a break on the park bench while Steve hikes up the hill...

This part of the trail circles back on a small peninsula...
Crescent Beach Marina in the distance...






A couple of Mallards taking a nap...
The part of the trail has a canal on both sides of the trail...

Buttercup flowers...
Pretty fancy pump house with all the rock work...
Looking across the mud flats from the pump house back towards the trail we did earlier...
In front of the pump house...

We continued down the trail thinking it would loop back to itself but discovered this section linked up with a residential area so we turned around...
Great Blue Heron...

Once we got back to the pump house we discovered the path that linked back up with the main path but it appeared very narrow and overgrown making it impossible to keep social distancing so we returned the way we came...
Beautiful!


Steve tried to get a picture of a bee that was on this flower but it took off and this spider took over...
About an hour and a half  and 5 kms/3 miles later we were back at the truck...another great walk in a beautiful park!

We had a late lunch when we got home and we finished the day off by reading and watching TV...oh, I also worked on a blog update.

The rest of the week was pretty much back to the same...staying home. The usual...everyday chores, out for walks around the campground when it wasn't raining, laundry Wednesday, reading, watching TV, etc.

Tuesday (May 12) was our grandson, Bryce's birthday...wow 5 years old! We had a video call just in time for birthday cake....great job on decorating the Spider Man cake, dad!
 Bryce with Conner behind him...
Picture taken on our walks around the campground...beautiful gardens...
The wisteria is spectacular...





Friday (May 15) was a busy "outing" day. It was a gorgeous day for a change...one blip before we're back into major rain over the long weekend.

We started by picking up our grocery order then stopping by the Bike Zone for a new tube for my back tire. It was flat the other day when we were about to go for a bike ride. Steve pumped it up but the next day it was flat again.

Once back home, I put the groceries away...and we were off again for the rest of our errands. Our first stop was at the New Balance store in Langley. I desperately needed new runners (after 2 years!) so after talking with them, I ordered an updated version of my old ones...all paid for over the phone so I just had to pick them up.

After a quick stop at Safeway, the post office, the liquor store and Walmart we were back home just after 1:30.

Steve got busy swapping out the inner tube on my tire noting that the sidewall of the tire wasn't in the best shape. Not knowing how to get an inflated tire past the brake assembly he decided not to do that until after everything was assembled. I helped hold my bike while Steve put the wheel back on then the chain back on the sprocket.

With my "job" over, I went inside to take care of bunch of odds and ends. Then I heard a big "pop"...I knew Steve was pumping up the tire, so that didn't sound good. Yes, the tube had popped. He added air then checked the pressure, it was only at 20 psi but noticed part of the tire had come off the rim so he put it back on. He started to add more air then there was a loud POW and a puff of smoke!! Why are some of the simplest things so difficult sometimes! So he headed off with the whole wheel, back to the bike shop. On his way there the radio in the truck stopped working...geez...what next?!

The bike shop was real busy so he wasn't back home until around 4:00...new tire and tube on the wheel and ready to be put back on my bike. They were kind enough to comp a replacement inner tube and said it was most likely the condition of the tire that caused the tube to pop. With that done, I took a spin on it to ensure all was okay...perfect!

We decided to take advantage of the last beautiful day and sat outside for Friday night happy hour!

Saturday (May 16) we woke to clouds...after a rainy night. The rain wasn't supposed to start again until late morning, so we had planned to get out for a walk. Unfortunately, it started much earlier and as forecast, it was a very rainy day. So, it was pretty much an inside day...but we did managed to get out for a walk late afternoon when there was a lull in the rain.

It poured all night...continuing into Sunday (May 17) morning. But by early afternoon the clouds had parted and sun had come out. We got out for our walk, then Steve washed the bikes while I vacuumed inside. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon sitting outside reading. A bike ride...and then it was happy hour time! Roland, Cody and Carol joined us for a lovely couple of hours chatting. Cody is the cutest little guy! Until just a few weeks ago, they had another dog, Maggie, who was a few years older than Cody. Unfortunately, Maggie passed away leaving Cody very lonely...but according to mom, he's starting to perk up again.
And that was another week that has slipped by....