Sunday, April 19 to Saturday, May 2, 2020 (Peace Arch RV Park, Surrey, BC)

Just as I predicted, these two weeks were for the most part, pretty much the same as the previous two weeks. Basically, daily walks and bike rides around the campground, clean up and chores inside and out and reading (Steve has finished 2 books!)...with our main outings being trips to pick up on-line grocery orders and the liquor store. Steve did start a new project though. We have close to 5000 songs on our laptop, most being from Ray (and Deb) given to us a number of years ago...Steve has been wanting to go through them all and keep only the ones we like. So he has been plugging away at that too.

There were a few changes/highlights though...

Sunday (April 19) afternoon Chris, Angela and Isaac came out for a visit...it was tough keeping our physical distance, but we managed! We stayed outside...unfortunately the weather wasn't the greatest but at least it didn't rain. So good to see them in person!

Chris with Isaac...love this picture!

Angela, Chris and Isaac...

Our neighbours have a couple of motorcycles, so they are trying to get their dog used to riding. This is Paul with Jack in a custom-made seat, riding slowly around the campground. It looks like Jack is trying to escape...

Monday (April 20) was pretty much the same as yesterday...the occasional peak of sunshine through a mostly cloudy sky. The highlight of the day was walking up to the office to pay for another month...along with the electrical bill from last month. We've been here a month now! Our electrical bill from last month was just over $118...well, we have had cool nights leaving the heater on. All in all, the cost of staying here is pretty reasonable...$600/month plus electricity. Mind you that monthly amount will go up in June, to $750 but is still a bargain compared to other spots. Fort Camping in Fort Langley where we were originally going to go in May was going to be $1215 for the month.

Here are some pictures taken on our daily walks. They have a beautiful garden area around the main building that houses the office, owner's quarters, library, laundromat, etc...trees are in full bloom...

 Office...

They just finished draining the pool and power washing it...

Thursday (April 30) morning instead of picking up an on-line order of groceries, I decided to go into Safeway and pick up some things. Meat and some veggies are getting harder to get when doing on-line shopping...or at least harder to get what you want.

We had been waiting for a nice day to drive to Mud Bay Park for a walk...Mud Bay Park offers a scenic walk and a chance to see shorebirds and waterfowl in Canada's most valued Important Bird Area: Boundary Bay.

Although the parking lot was quite full, everyone was very respectful of the 2 metre distancing rules. This is very popular bike riding path as well...we'll try that another time.

The park's most spectacular feature is its view of Boundary Bay, which transforms drastically at different times of day. At high tide, seals and loons can be seen in the waves. At low tide, the table is set for a shorebird's favourite feast when mudflats and eelgrass meadows are exposed to the air. Each year, hundreds of thousands of birds flock here for the great food and great company - some of them may even be heading to or from South America!

We walked to the park boundary and turned around, taking the additional nature loop trail. Many of the trees here are wind blown growing on an angle...

 On the loop trail back to the parking lot...

 Train trestle...

By the time we got back to the truck, we had walked 5 kms/3 miles...a fabulous walk and so wonderful to get out for a walk other than around the campground!

As I mentioned before, the trail is also very popular with cyclists, so we plan on loading the bikes onto the truck and taking them to the park and going for a ride. Beyond the park boundary, the Dyke Trail continues for 20 kms/13 miles, following the shoreline all of the way to Boundary Bay Regional Park in Delta. Not sure if we will make it all of the way there, but the community of Tsawwassen would be a good destination...it's 14 kms/9 miles.

So that pretty well sums up the past 2 weeks...a lot of the usual stuff, plus video chats with family. At this point, we can't see much changing... so our next couple of weeks will likely be more of the same, same.

COVID-19 update:

Canada cases 59,357    Deaths 3,675
BC cases         2,171     Deaths 114
US cases   1,149,197    Deaths 67,200

As an interesting comparison, Canada's population is 37.59 million similar to California's population of 37,253,956 which have 53,953 cases and 2,192 deaths.

Stay safe and healthy everyone!