Thursday, June 2 to Saturday, June 25, 2022 (Peace Arch RV Park, Surrey, BC)

Wow, the three weeks since we got home from Hawaii have flown by! We have been busy with appointments, shopping, getting out for daily walks, cleaning and organizing the trailer and miscellaneous "stuff"...oh, and not to forget reliving our 2 weeks on the Big Island by writing and updating our blog! Steve even managed to get the truck and trailer washed! The weather has been terrible...and when it was have decent, there was so much pollen in the air it wasn't worth washing anything...huge clouds of pollen!

Sunday (June 5) morning we woke up to rain...it had rained a lot through the night and continued to rain on and off all day.

We were looking forward to seeing our grandson, Isaac, today...so just after 2:00 we headed to Chris and Angela's. And wow! what a greeting we got from Isaac! So heartwarming! He also really liked the "tracing" book we brought him. 

What a great afternoon and evening we had catching up with them...including a delicious feast of Chinese food for dinner. Thanks guys!

Tuesday (June 7) and Wednesday (June 8) were fairly nice days so we got out for a walk at Crescent Beach...

And Blackie's Spit...

Good thing we got out for walks the last couple of days because on Thursday (June 9) we had rain, rain, and more rain! An "atmospheric river" came through...every time we hear that term we cringe after the flooding we experienced during last November's atmospheric rains!

Angela's birthday was Friday (June 10), so Saturday (June 11) they had a family birthday dinner at their place. We arrived at their place at 3:00 and shortly afterwards Angela's parents (Luigi and Lucy) arrived. Nonna (Lucy) bought Isaac a water gun...here he is spraying himself in the face, too funny!

Refreshing!

Nonno (Luigi) and Isaac...

We had a delicious dinner! Steve, Chris, Isaac, Luigi and Lucy...

Happy Birthday Angela!

Monday (June 13) morning we headed into Vancouver...we both had an appointment with our doctor (in person, rather than video, for a change!). Afterwards we stopped at a nearby White Spot Restaurant for lunch and then, since it was such a lovely day, we went right to Crescent Beach for our favourite walk.

We came across a film crew shooting on the beach. After watching for a bit, I asked what the movie was and found out it was a TV series called Cruel Summer. Hmmm...we'd never heard of it so I "googled" it...

Cruel Summer is an American teen drama thriller anthology series created by Bert V. Royal. The first season follows two teenage girls in the 1990s and the repercussions on everyone's lives after one disappears and the other seemingly takes her place.

And...Action!

Cut...that's a rap!

The tide is really out...never seen it this low before. We later heard that it was caused by a wobble in the moon's orbit.

By the time we walked to the end of the beach and back, they had finished filming and were loading up their gear...

Our walk on Thursday (June 16) morning was at Serpentine Nature Trail. Although it is not far away, we have not been on this walk for a long time. It's a very pretty area but quite noisy at either end with traffic as it is bordered by a couple of major highways.

There are a couple of bird viewing towers...

Panoramic view looking back from where we came from...

The view ahead...

We turned around at the second tower...

Didn't see much in the way of waterfowl, mostly just crows...

The path heading back...

Saturday (June 18) Chris, Angela and Isaac arrived just after 12:30. Angela and I are going to a Baby Shower for Steve's cousin, Cheryl's daughter, Nicole. They don't live far from here so "the guys" are spending the afternoon together and then we'll have dinner here .

Just some of the platters of food provided at the Shower...

Mom-to-be opening gifts...mom, Cheryl helping and family watching on...

Meanwhile, Chris, Isaac and Steve went out for lunch at Big Ridge Brewing Co. Three generations on an early Father's Day outing. Thanks for lunch Chris! (Dad:))

And then went to the Historic Stewart Farm and adjoining Elgin Heritage Park. To view our 2017 tour of this historic farm click here...

Checking out the garden Scare Crow...

Low tide at Ward's Marina...

Back at our place, they went to the playground...

They were all sitting outside when Angela and I got home, shortly after 4:00. We had a nice visit celebrating an early Father's Day, and then Steve grilled burgers for dinner. 

When it was time for them to go home, I got the biggest hug from Isaac....💓

Thursday (June 23) we took Buster to Kal Tire in Langley for new front tires. Steve had found lots of cracking on the front driver-side tire and a little starting on the passenger side too. In 2016 we paid $682 per tire plus mounting, balancing, environmental fees, and taxes. (Steve here) When I called for pricing I just about 💩 my pants...$1,003 each plus all the extras!!! We have some mountain driving coming up and I didn't want to chance a tire failure on a steer tire. Especially in a cab over as we will always be the first ones to the accident. 😕

So we wondered how much this big boy would cost!!

We also had them rotate the rear wheels...

It's been a very expensive month for Buster...Steve also took him into Bernhausen Diesel last week for a service and new heavy duty turbo hoses and clamps. (Steve here) I asked them to look for a soot trail which would indicate the most likely cause of our squealing issue. They found a small soot trail at the exhaust manifold gasket. Not a safety issue and nothing $1700 wouldn't fix so that's for a later date.😡

It was just before 12:30 by the time they were finished, so Steve suggested we go to Fort Langley and The Fort Pub for lunch...always full of good ideas!

Funny, because we sat at the exact same table we were at last time we were here...sometime last fall...

The Fraser River (along with many other rivers in BC) is very high right now with the late snow melt and warming temperatures.

That's Brae Island on the right where we used to stay at Fort Camping.

Environment Canada has issued a heat warning for the next few days...nothing like the heat dome we had this time last year but it will be the first hot stretch of weather we've had. So after a cool, wet spring, summer is arriving with a bang!

We basically spent Friday and Saturday getting the rig ready to leave on Sunday. Our one of two excursions this summer is a week up to Logan Lake for the ATV/BC Poker Ride. It's been cancelled the last couple of years due to COVID, last years heat dome and wildfires.

Steve spent Friday crossing off a myriad of things off his "to-do list" while I went grocery shopping and then did laundry. We both had a very busy day!

Saturday (June 25) was another busy...and hot day!  Steve basically got everything ready to leave in the morning. I prepared the inside the best I could and helped Steve when he needed help...but otherwise I worked on getting this blog done!

Today, we also celebrate 12 years of retirement...yup, it has been 12 years since our last day of work! We both remember that day well! We have seen so much and met so many wonderful people over the years! Our decision to retire when we did and embark on a new lifestyle was likely one of the best decisions we have ever made.  It has been a blast! If we had waited until we were 65 instead of 55 we would have been stuck going nowhere because of COVID. June 26th we became Gypsies on the road. 😎😎

We're looking forward to the week in Logan Lake getting reacquainted with friends and making new ones! Stay tuned to find out how our week went!