Monday, January 1, 2024 to Sunday, January 14, 2024 (Puntledge RV Park, Courtenay, BC)

Again, another two weeks have flown by. It's been a couple of weeks of weather extremes...from cloudy, rainy days, to sunny, cooler days...ending in an Arctic Outflow Warning that gripped most of North America. Apparently some record lows were beaten...yes, very cold and unusual for the Island.

We started the new year off on Monday (Jan. 1), by taking a drive to Campbell River and Elk Falls. I had read that BC Hydro had opened up the dam, releasing a lot of water. They were issuing warnings to stick to the suspension bridge trail for viewing due to the water levels in the river.

The water was definitely raging causing a mist ...

Wow...view from the lower viewpoint.

Steve took some pictures from the suspension bridge...this is how it looked when we were there November 7th...

And today, fifteen times the normal flow was posted on a sign....

A 1:48 minute video Steve took...

The trip to Campbell River and hike to the suspension bridge was well worth it! It was getting close to noon by the time we got back to the car...so lunch out was in order. Today, we chose Moxie's for a change. Like our favourite, Riptide Pub, it is still on the waterfront, next door to the Riptide Pub.

Tuesday (Jan. 2) it rained all day...an inside day! But both Wednesday (Jan. 3) and Thursday (Jan. 4) we had mixed sun/cloud so managed to get out for our morning powerwalks. After our walks, the days were spent taking care of routine "stuff"...laundry, shopping, etc.

We had ordered a new boxed mattress on Wednesday and to our surprise, it was delivered Friday (Jan. 5). With the delivery time between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., we had to get our old mattress out. Steve and I managed, quite easily, to get it out of the bedroom and outside...where it was waiting when Earl arrived with his truck. Luckily, they managed to get it dropped off at the dump before the heavy rain started. Thanks again Earl for your help!

Fed-Ex delivered our new Douglas Mattress at 1:30 p.m., while I was away getting a pedicure. I was expecting Steve to be waiting for me to help him unpackage it but he managed to do it himself...drats! He took away all my fun...I wanted to see it "expand" once the plastic was taken off! Friends Dave and Leslie had theirs delivered last July while we were visiting them and they love it, so that really helped in our decision.

Saturday (Jan. 6) was cold and frosty...but sunny with lots of blue sky! For a change, we decided to go to a trail at Point Holmes along the waterfront near CFB Comox. It wasn't a long trail...just under 2km to the end and back but it was lovely on a cold, crisp morning.

After our walk, we explored a few roads in the area that lead towards the ocean...lots of waterfront homes...

A final drive to Goose Spit before heading home...the mountains are beautiful against the blue sky...

At 5:30, we met Earl and Allison for dinner at a new Chinese restaurant in town...the Driftwood Restaurant. We stuffed ourselves at the buffet and then we all came back to our place to play Rummikub. Allison was the big winner tonight...winning four games! Earl and Steve each won one and I was skunked!

Sunday (Jan. 7) was another cold frosty morning...gotta love the blue sky though! Steve and I walked around the campground and down to the river. I was able to track it on my FitBit...2.2 km.

We took care of a bunch of odds and ends and then decided to walk up to the Gladstone Brewery...rather handy having it 1 km/.6 miles away.  As we walked over the Puntledge River bridge, I looked down to see this guy looking back at me. He actually stayed looking at me for 20 seconds or so...Steve managed to get a couple of pictures before he disappeared...

This seagull photo bombed the first photo!

Cheers! They had live music and the place was packed!

Monday (Jan. 8) was an ugly day...dark, rainy and cold. The rain turned to big wet snowflakes later in the afternoon...

Any snow we had was pretty well gone by Tuesday (Jan. 9) morning. It was a much nicer day, as was Wednesday (Jan. 10). Still chilly mornings but it isn't stopping us from getting out for our morning walks. 

A "Pigeon" tree along the Courtenay Air Park Trail...

Lots of fresh snow on the mountains. Comox Glacier on the left and Mount Washington ski mountain on the right...

Comox Glacier...

Mount Washington, ski runs are on the opposite side of the mountain...

Thursday (Jan. 11) we had a cold start... -2C (28F)...we are heading into a deep freeze as an Arctic cold front is on it's way. Actually most of North America is being affected by this cold front. The forecast low for overnight is -11C (12F) but strong winds are also coming so "feels like" temperature is predicted to be -17 C (1.4F).

Some of the work crew came in today and had quite a campfire going! 😂

Friday (Jan. 12)...we survived the night! Our outside thermometer read -9C (16F)...I'm not sure what the "feels like" temp was but I believe it was around -15C (5F). We had the furnace running all night, as well as our 2 electric heaters...and they were on constantly. A while ago Earl had lent us a small baseboard heater wired for 120V that Steve placed next to the water lines in the basement. Steve was happy to see the temperature in the basement remained above freezing, barely at 0.6C (33F)...whew! 

Other than Steve going out to get a propane tank filled, it was definitely an inside day! Steve doesn't like to leave anything running in the trailer in this cold weather with nobody here, as a "just in case" so I stayed home. Oh, we did try a walk around the campground but it was bitterly cold with the wind...so it was a quick walk around one loop.

Saturday (Jan. 13) and another cold day...-9.9C/14F but it did go up to a balmy -3C (26.6F) briefly. The furnace and 2 electric heaters continue to run constantly. Needless to say, another inside day. 

Sunday (Jan. 14) we woke up to -8C (17.6F) but it was mainly sunny and the temperature made it up to .1C (32F) with the "feels like" at -3C (26.6). We went out for a walk around the campground and down to the river.

A little icy along the shore...

The river level is lower now so the ice is hanging in the bushes and above the water...

We even have dual ice sculptures. One where Steve has left the water drizzling so it doesn't freeze our water lines, and another coming out from the insulated hose connection area...to be investigated further after the big thaw! 😕 

It is gradually getting warmer this week, thank goodness. The low tonight is -4C (25F) but the high tomorrow is +1C (34F) and although there are still some freezing temperatures with possible snow in the forecast, by next Friday we should pretty well be back to normal...6C (43F) and rain...and more rain, and more rain...