Living the Dream...: Sunday, July 12 to Monday July 20, 2020 (Peace Arch RV Park, Surrey, BC)

Sunday (July 12) started out cloudy but by late morning, the sun decided to come out. Steve washed the car while I did some housework inside. Our neighbour next door is away for about a month, so it's been awfully handy parking the car there...

Chris, Angela and Isaac arrived just before 4:00...of course, Chris had to take our new car out for a test drive, since he too has a Mazda 3...but 2 years older.

We're glad the weather co-operated so that we could sit outside. Isaac doesn't like to sit still long, keeping everyone on their toes! Before dinner, we went for a walk down to the playground...

Isaac had a great time!

Once back at our site, I got dinner going. I had made spaghetti sauce yesterday, so all I had to do was reheat it, cook the noodles, put the Caesar salad together and warm the garlic bread...easy peasy!

We ate out at the picnic table...thanks for bringing the wine, Chris and Angela!

Isaac loves his Grampa...

A rare moment when he actually sat with me (that didn't last long...almost immediately he wanted down and took the book over to Grampa LOL)...

Our neighbours, Roland and Carol walked by with Cody. Isaac had a little visit...but he wasn't too sure when Cody gave him a kiss on the nose!

It was about 8:30 when they headed off home....a great visit!

On Monday (July 13), after our usual start to the day and cleaning up all the dishes from last night, we headed out to explore a couple of parks that Steve had found on his on-line search.

The first one was Godwin Farm Biodiversity Preserve Park. Here is our tour of the park...

The Godwin Farm Biodiversity Preserve, or Godwin Park for short, is a Park that Mr. And Mrs. Godwin donated to the City of Surrey on May 27, 2017.

(Click photos to enlarge)

The Godwin family planted this orchard in 1969. Here we see three or four trees, and the sign that tells us info about the orchard.

Welcome to one of Godwin park's fields! It's a really nice place to look around if you have a chance to stop by. All around you will notice nature. All the giant trees wrapped together, convincing everyone that it looks like a single tree. The grass stands up tall and sharp. Most likely, you’ll be able to see the flowers surrounding the area. If you’re lucky, the sun will be shining and you can have a nice view and a nice walk around the field. We highly request that you to not step onto the field, as there are lots of wild creatures lurking through the grass around you, and this is their safe habitat.

This pond is an amazing habitat for fish, birds, and other small animals. You might be surprised to know that this pond was made by the Godwins when they used to own this property. They started construction on the pond in 1974 and ended in December 1975. Mr. Godwin also planted all the trees around the pond.

A nice place to sit overlooking the pond...

These trees were planted by Mr. Godwin himself to show as a sign of stewardship and care for this park which has been around for 45 years. Mr. Godwin was a cardiologist, but he had a hobby of planting trees. He ordered seeds at home and picked them up on vacation all over North America, and even got some from his patients.

That was a great little tour of the park...but not all that long and really didn't get the cardio up, so we decided to stop by another park we had passed on our way here...Surrey Lake Park.

From the main entrance the 2.1 kilometre loop trail follows the eastern shoreline of Surrey Lake - passing by a wetland pond - prior to entering a forested area of the park. Decorating the trail are many sightseeing benches with views of the lake and wetland.

Two excellent walks! It's so nice to check out new spots rather than just walk around the campground. While walking in these parks, it's hard to believe you are in the middle of a big city!

We were home just after noon...time for lunch and a few chores.

Tuesday (July 14) was a pretty uneventful day...but it was sunny and beautiful! I headed off for an appointment in Vancouver leaving Steve at home "to do his own thing". So nice to be able to do that now that we have a car!

Wednesday (July 15) was another beautiful day....maybe summer has finally arrived?! As usual, we started the day off being very lazy and then decided to get out and explore another local park. I discovered this one this time...Sunnyside Acres Urban Forest Park. Sunnyside Acres as one of the first designated urban forest parks in Canada, thanks to Surrey residents voting to protect it in 1988. A large network of trails, including several loop trails, is used by visitors and wildlife alike. Trails wind their way across boardwalks, past streams and through thick forest understory.

Using the AllTrails App on my phone, we decided to hike the Chickadee Loop, a 4.7 km/2.92 mile trail that starts as the Chickadee Interpretive Loop but instead of going back to the parking lot, it crosses the road (24th Avenue) and continues.

These trees are tall...

A large windfall...

Once we crossed 24th Street, the trail was much narrower and we found out that it also houses the South Surrey Bike Park...The South Surrey Bike Park is hugely diverse with trails, dirt jumps, obstacles and training areas for all skill levels. The bike park is part of the vast Sunnyside Acres Urban Forest Park with serene trails through unique forests, inhabited by diverse animal and plant life.

Although construction blocked part of the trail, we eventually found our way back to the trail on the AllTrails App. I think we added more kilometres to our hike with all of the wrong turns though! An hour and a half later...and just shy of 6 kms/3.7 miles...we were back at our car. A great hike!

We headed home for lunch and some relaxation and then I was off to my haircut appointment...finally! I hadn't had it cut since early February in Parker, AZ. I did a little shopping afterwards and was home just before 4:00...in time for our bike ride around the campground.

Thursday (July 16) was a cloudy start...we even had a little rain as we headed out to Abbotsford at 7:30. We had an appointment to take the car back to Honda Way (where we purchased it) to have the Navigation Info-tainment System looked at. Most times but not always when you slow below 5 km/h or come to a stop it beeps continually. It didn't do this when we test drove it. We've noticed that the settings menus will sometimes flash back and forth rapidly while beeping so think this is whats happening when the navigation map screen is on. Luckily we have a 3000 km/ 3 month warranty:)

They were good enough to give us a courtesy car...a Honda Civic...while they worked on our car. The Civic was our second choice in a used car but never got the opportunity to test drive one. Even though this was 5 years newer than our Mazda 3, we like our car better.

Back home, we did the dishes...we were up and out so early that they got left...and then we relaxed for awhile waiting for the sun to come out.

By early afternoon, the clouds had parted and there was some blue sky so we decided to go to Blackie Spit for a walk. We started to walk Crescent Beach but decided to turn around and walk Blackie Spit because of the wind. It is much more sheltered there. We noticed that there were many youth groups out now...paddle boarding, and sail boat lessons as well as teen running groups.

A family of ducks...looks like the kids have grown up!

And a murder of crows...there were many more out of frame...

Late afternoon, we got a call from Honda Way. They had sent the car to the Mazda Dealer next door to them and apparently they updated the system, however the Navigation-infotainment screen has to be ordered in. They said it was still ghosting...their term for the beeping and system menus flashing back and forth. It was going to be a few days so we made the trip back out to Abbotsford to pick up our car.

Friday (July 17) morning Chris, Angela and Isaac arrived at about 11:00. Chris took the day off (and of course Angela, a teacher, is off for the summer) so they came out to spend the day with us and check out the Blackie Spit/Crescent Beach area...Chris had never been there.

We started with a walk around Blackie Spit. A BNSF train went by across the bay...Isaac was very impressed!

A little cloudy but there was still lots of sun...a beautiful day, all in all!

After Blackie Spit, we continued to Crescent Beach...sail boats on the sand bar...

Isaac got out of his buggy for a bit...walking with Grampa...

The park wasn't too terribly busy being Friday, so we managed to get a picnic table where we sat and ate our packed lunch.

Back home, we relaxed outside and then Steve grilled burgers for dinner.

Isaac likes books...especially the book of National Geographic Birds we have...

It was about 8:30 when they headed off. Another awesome day! It's wonderful seeing so much of Chris, Angela and Isaac!

Saturday (July 18) was another beautiful day. We got our walk around the campground and then we both got to work. We have chores to take care of!

I defrosted and cleaned the refrigerator while Steve cleaned the barbecue. That took us both the rest of the morning, so by early afternoon we were sitting out in the shade relaxing. After a bit I decided to put a load of laundry on...just bedding and towels, to at least get them out of the way.

We had just returned from our bike ride around the campground when our neighbour, Roland arrived with his 1974 Corvette...Steve was happy when Roly offered to take him for a spin in it!

Sunday (July 19)...and yet another gorgeous day! After our usual start, Steve got out to wash the car again before the sun came around and it would no longer be in the shade.

For a change, I went for a morning walk by myself. By the time I got back, Steve was pretty well done (he wishes it took that long to wash the truck!). We had a great video call with Rob...Angie and the boys are visiting family up island in Tofino.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing in the shade...I did some knitting and Steve read.

We found yet another park to explore Monday (July 20)...Campbell Valley Regional Park...The Campbell Valley Regional Park in Langley is a large park located amongst farm land and with a sprawling network of trails for walking, horseback riding, and exploring. The park is also home to the Campbell Valley Downs Equestrian Centre and the historic Langley Speedway. Birdwatching, picnicking, and dog walking are also popular in the park as the easy terrain is perfect for families.