Thursday, January 25 to Wednesday, February 7, 2024 (Puntledge RV Park, Courtenay, BC)

Yup...here we are again...another couple of weeks have passed. As usual, we get out for our daily powerwalks as much as we can and other than the usual routine, we haven't been doing all that much. 

We left our last update saying we were going down island to Rob and Angie's for Conner's birthday, Thursday (Jan. 25). So with our suitcases packed and in the car, we hit the road south taking the Old Island Highway that follows the more scenic ocean route. We stopped for lunch in Parksville and arrived at Steve's old office in Victoria, Pacific Controls, at about 2:30. In addition to catching up with his former colleagues, Cheryl and Marty, he wanted to pick up a new liquid filled pressure gauge to replace the defective one on our water pressure regulator.

We had pizza delivered for dinner...followed by a DQ ice cream cake...YUM! Happy 11th Birthday, Conner! It's amazing how quickly the last 11 years have gone by! 

Friday (Jan. 26) morning I had an eye appointment and afterwards, Steve and I went for a walk along the Sidney waterfront. We just chilled for the rest of the day back at Rob's.

We weren't sure whether we wanted to stay 2 or 3 nights but with a major rainstorm heading in, we decided to leave Saturday (Jan. 27). It was raining but the rain was supposed to get heavier over the next couple of days up in Courtenay. So after packing up the car, we said goodbye to Rob, Angie and the boys and headed off.

As we usually do, we had plans to meet our good friends Rob and Nancy for breakfast and then continue on up island. Unfortunately Nancy didn't make it...she received a last minute call that her mom had taken a fall. But we had a great visit with Rob...see you next time, Nancy!

We had a pretty rainy, socked-in drive for the first half of the drive but it cleared a bit and wasn't too bad...still raining though. Luckily, it stopped long enough when we got home to allow us to unload the car.

With all of the rain, and BC Hydro letting more water through the dam, we thought we'd go to Nymph Falls Sunday (Jan. 28) morning for a hike and to check out the falls.

Steve took a 56 second video...

This log wasn't there the last time we visited... 

The next few days we had rain, rain...and more rain. As you can see, we had a plugged culvert near the entrance to the park...

Thursday (Feb. 1) we met Don and Rhonda (my brother and sister-in-law) for lunch at the Blackfin Pub in Comox. We had a lovely window table and there was even some sunshine peaking through the clouds! Always great catching up with them!

The lovely sunshine we had didn't last though...we were back to rain by late afternoon/evening.

Friday (Feb. 2) was a nice day with sunshine...still some clouds around but mainly sunny. A nice change after all of the rain! After our morning powerwalk, the rest of the day was filled with errands.

Saturday (Feb. 3)...and even more sunshine and blue sky! These Great Blue Herons have been in this tree for the last few days along the Airpark path...

They always draw lots of birdwatchers with their huge camera lenses. 

That evening we met Earl and Allison for dinner at the Flying Canoe Pub to take advantage of their Saturday night dinner specials. Afterwards, they came back to our place and we played marbles (aka Aggravation). No pictures taken either at the pub or as we played! Sheesh!

Sunday (Feb. 4) was another sunny day but the breeze made it quite chilly on our morning walk. We ran a few errands and then went up to Gladstone Brewery at 3:30 to enjoy a couple of brews and listen to some local music.

My goodness, that sun is bright!

Monday (Feb. 5) morning we woke to freezing temperatures... -1C/30F. We waited until later in the morning to go out for our walk and found that, although the temperature was colder than yesterday, it didn't feel as bad because there was no wind.

A beautiful, sunny day...and a great day to go flying from the Airpark! Steve took this 49 sec video on our walk. It also includes Great Blue Herons in a nearby tree.

Steve spent the afternoon puttering around outside and organizing his shed while I did laundry.

Tuesday (Feb. 6) morning was even colder at -3C/27F when we got up...another cold, clear day, with no wind! A couple of pictures taken on our walk...a plane coming in for landing at the Airpark...

A short 4 sec video as the plane flies over us...

A gorgeous day...

Wednesday (Feb. 7) morning we were back to clouds. After picking up a parcel at Earl's, we walked the Millard Trail/Riverway which is basically at the other end of the path we usually walk. 

After lunch, we decided to get out for another walk...this time around the campground and down to the river. We usually just walk to the river viewing area where the 2 rivers converge, but decided to carry on west along the Tsolum River. With the recent heavy rains and snow melt the road and berm have washed out...

And there you have it...not very exciting since we are in our "transition year" and not travelling. Looking forward to that changing!

Oh, there is something we totally missed and have been meaning to mention...sometime ago we surpassed 1 Million Pageviews! Thanks for following along everyone!