Wednesday, January 20 to Tuesday, February 2, 2021 (Oceanside RV Resort, Saanichton, BC)

Here we are again...another 2 weeks have slipped by. Considering our quiet (and somewhat boring) life we are living through this pandemic, time certainly hasn't slowed down! As usual, our days are filled with the usual chores of day to day living, walks, reading, knitting...and a lot of TV watching!

Speaking of a lot of TV watching, we spent most of Wednesday (Jan. 20) watching the new President and Vice President be sworn in. Congratulations to President Biden and Vice President Harris...the inauguration went smoothly with security extremely high after the insurrection of January 6. I, personally, thought Lady Gaga's rendition of the US National Anthem was fabulous and the young poet was amazing!

We did manage to tear ourselves away from the TV around 2:00 to drive into Sidney for a walk on the waterfront...but once back, the TV was back on! The Celebrating America show hosted by Tom Hanks was also very well done.

Thursday (Jan. 21) was a pretty quiet day...we got out for a couple of laps around the RV park (one in the morning and one in the afternoon). Steve worked on his winter blog recap project and I did some baking and knitting.

Friday (Jan. 22) morning it was cold and clear with a cold front coming in. A snowfall warning has been issued for this weekend, but it will likely just hit the higher elevations here with the majority of it up-island.

I was up and out shortly after 7:30 for an early shop at Costco and Walmart...I was back home just after 10:00. Worked out well because I wanted to be home in time to watch BC's Vaccination Plan that was being aired on TV at 10:30.  There are 4 phases to the plan with the high-risk population being done in Phase 1 and 2...with the general population in Phase 3 and 4. Eligibility is based on age, so Steve and I fit into Phase 3 and if all goes to plan, we will get our first dose May/June with the second June/July. There have been some delays in the delivery of both vaccines, however, they seem confident that with the increase in vaccines coming in March that they will be able to stay on schedule. I guess only time will tell.

We had a batch of wine to pick up at Wine Kitz at 3:30, so we thought we'd get a walk in along the Sidney waterfront beforehand...will be our last chance for a couple of days.

Saturday (Jan. 23) morning started out sunny but by late morning, clouds had rolled in. Steve put on his boots and went for a walk to check out the beach trail...our only access to the beach. 

Over to Steve now....

In previous stays here we've found the beach trail to be boggy during wet weather so many here would step over the RV Park fence and walk down this short road on the Reserve that ends at the Waste Water Treatment Plant behind those trees. There's also a couple of small parking lots allowing access to the beach and spit. The houses start to the left out of frame about 75 yards away. Since COVID-19 the First Nations have posted a sign closing this access and the park has advised that the beach trail only should be used. 

I expected the trail to be boggy and wet but not a swamp!

So I climbed the rocky hill next to the campground to see if there was any other way to get to the beach. The flooded trail is on the left...

I was hoping to make my way thru the trees to the beach but could see that the swamp continued...

The hill had basically become an island except for the trail back to the campground. So as long as you have hip waiters you have access to the beach! 

After his little adventure, he settled in to work on his winter project while I continued to knit. I got out for a walk in the afternoon, doing 3 laps around the RV park.

Sunday (Jan. 24) with the snowfall warning that had been issued, we only ended up with rain and wind. Seems areas up island (north of Victoria) got the brunt of the snow. But it was still a very chilly day here! We tried to get out for a walk but the wind was cutting, so we did our loop and that was it...the rest of the day was an inside day!

Monday (Jan. 25) morning I decided to do laundry...well, it was busy, so note to self...if doing laundry on a Monday, wait until later in the day! After that was done, I made a quick trip into Walmart to pick up some knitting needles that I needed for my project...of course, there were also a few other things to pick up too. Mind you, I was back home in just over an hour...record time!

Today is our grandson's birthday...Conner is 8 years old already! We still remember that day like it was yesterday...the birth of our first grandchild! We were boondocking in an area just outside of Borrego Springs, CA. I remember waiting and waiting that morning, not wanting to have showers in case we missed Rob's text. After about 2 hours of waiting (and worrying that something had gone terribly wrong), I finally texted him to find out how things were going...his response was "I sent you a picture an hour ago, didn't you get it?" Too funny! BTW...he re-sent the picture LOL

Rob stopped by on his way home from work to pick up our birthday present for Conner...we had a short, physically distanced chat with him before he had to get going...to pick up an ice cream cake from DQ and get home. After dinner we joined in on the birthday celebration...virtually. Rob took these pictures (thanks!). Conner and Bryce, with Angie and her mom (Linda) and dad (Brian) who are living with them for the winter (they, like us, usually go south for the winter...but since that wasn't happening, decided that Victoria's weather is much better than Winnipeg, Manitoba's)...and there we are too!

Unfortunately, being there virtually, we missed out on a slice of this...although Bryce tried to give us a taste LOL...

Tuesday (Jan. 26) morning we woke up to a very windy day. With the wind coming from the east, a walk along the Sidney waterfront would not at all be pleasant, so after lunch, we decided to go for a drive and check out the other side of the peninsula. With the wind coming from the east, it should be fairly sheltered for a walk there.

We parked at Patricia Bay Park...a waterfront park, with open views of Patricia Bay and the Saanich Inlet, located on the west side of the Saanich Peninsula in the District of North Saanich. The park, which is at the south end of the Scoter Trail, contains an information kiosk, picnic tables and washrooms with wheelchair accessible paved trails that lead to a gently sloped beach.

And walked Scoter Trail that...stretches along the Patricia Bay shoreline, from Patricia Bay Park in the south to the Tseycum First Nation lands in the north.

We enjoyed a 2.4 km (1.5 mile) walk along the waterfront there....beautiful, and well sheltered from the wind!

I had given Steve a bad time about only wanting to go out for coffee when we are with others...he never takes just me out! So low and behold, he surprised me by stopping at our favourite coffee spot in Saanichton, Fresh Cup Roastery. This is their outdoor shelter with a heater...

Not much to report on over the next 4 days...

Wednesday (Jan. 27) I worked on a project that I had been putting off...re-writing our Wills. Our last ones were done over 15 years ago...there wasn't much different other than our boys are adults now. So I re-typed them working off the old ones. Pretty straight forward...we just need to finalize them now. We got out for a very cold walk around the RV park...and Steve went for a haircut.

Thursday (Jan. 28) and another cold day! A few chores and another cold walk around here.

Friday (Jan. 29) we bundled up for a walk along the Sidney waterfront. We came across a couple of eagles just chilling on some pilings...

We also ran into Angie's parents, Brian and Linda, as they were starting their walk. We donned face masks and they joined us for a walk and visit.

Saturday (Jan.30) in the wee hours (around 4am), the wind woke us...and kept us awake. It was extremely windy that had the trailer rocking and the MaxAir vent cover above the bed rattling! 

Speaking of wind, we've had a driving wind and rain from the southeast again and Steve's last repair for water leaks seems to have worked! 

It was basically a cloudy day but for a change, it was fairly mild. I decided to get out for my walk around here this morning before my shower...leaving Steve to finish watching one of his programs on TV.  I did 3 laps and when I came back in, Steve had resumed work on his blog recap project.

After lunch, I joined Steve for another walk around the RV park and then we watched a movie.

Sunday (Jan. 31) we woke to rain and it continued to rain all day. We had a video call from Conner, who wanted to show us the robotic spider he had made from the kit we gave him for his birthday. We ended up also chatting to Rob, Angie...with a quick hello from Bryce. Not as nice as seeing them in person, but the next best thing!

By early afternoon, we were really feeling the cabin fever, so we decided to take a drive into Victoria and go all along the waterfront.

Steve took the coastal route into Victoria. We got a little lost and ended up at Telegraph Cove, a place we've never been to before...

Next stop was Cattle Point, part of Uplands Park which consists of 76 acres...

From 1860-1910 cattle were pushed overboard here from paddle steamers to swim ashore...

We continued on to Willows Beach in Oak Bay, a municipality of Victoria...

This sandy beach is extremely busy in the summer...

As we drove by the Victoria Golf Club we spotted lots of deer. Steve here: As a hunter I can tell you there are more deer in Victoria than there are in the wilderness...LOL!

Our last stop was at the King George Terrace Lookout...

Too bad it was so grey, cold and wet out but was still an awesome little outing and a great tour of areas that we hadn't seen in years.

We finished the afternoon off with our weekly video call with Chris, Angela and Isaac. Apparently Isaac is "talking up a storm" but got shy with us...don't think he likes the cell phone in his face unless he's watching videos!

Monday (Feb. 1) and Tuesday (Feb. 2)....and more rain both days! We managed to get out for more walks between breaks in the rain though!  Not much happened...regular daily chores, more TV, movies, knitting and reading.

After Steve edited pictures Tuesday morning, I got started on this blog update. As I sat at the dining table on the laptop, the rain was just pounding on the roof! It did let up for a bit...but who knows for how long. Looks like  we have some sunshine in the forecast for tomorrow...fingers crossed!