Wednesday, August 7 to Thursday, August 15, 2024 (Puntledge RV Park, Courtenay, BC)

Our first few days back from our camping trip were spent taking care of chores around here...grocery shopping, laundry, etc and of course, Steve was kept busy editing pictures so we could get caught up on our blog. It continues to be quite hot...a lot more clouds but still very warm. We still managed to get out for our morning walks.

Saturday (Aug. 10) morning we met Earl and Allison for breakfast at the Early Bird Cafe. Afterwards, Steve wanted to see the Hot August Nights Classic Car Show. I had no interest so I dropped him off at The Park at Crown Isle Resort and Golf Community.  

Steve here:

The show features over 500 American muscle cars, hot rods and customs. I took lots of photos but because not everyone is a gear head I've only posted a few. 

Below is a 66 Acadian Canso...

My brother Dave now owns my old 67 Acadian Canso and had it fully restored in 2020. The car was totally disassembled and rebuilt with many modifications...and does it's rumble ever sound cool! When I purchased this car it was blue like the one above but I had the interior and car redone in black. Looks awesome but I would never own a black vehicle again!

If you wish to see all my photos click here.

Sunday (Aug. 11) morning started off cloudy and cooler...which was much welcomed, especially for our walk along the waterfront at the Airpark and Courtenay Riverway.

Earl and Allison had invited us over for dinner and to watch the historic final flight of the Martin Mars water bomber flyover. 

Steve here:

We all hopped into our car and headed to the Royston waterfront on Marine Drive and waited for it's arrival. Luckily the clouds had cleared and we had blue sky! We were told that we could track it on flightradar24 but never did pick it up. Somebody spotted it way off in the distance near Powell River on the mainland. Once I spotted it I noticed another aircraft tailing it which turned out to be a Grumman Goose and it was on flightradar24 so that's how we tracked the Mars. 

Here's what a Grumman Goose looks like...

The flight route was to go from the Coulson Flying Tankers Base on Sproat Lake near Port Alberni, up to Campbell River, across the straits to Powell River, again crossing the straits to Comox, Nanaimo, Ladysmith, then picking up a nine jet escort at Crofton with the RCAF Snowbirds aerobatic team and onto Victoria. Then onto it's final landing at the Pat Bay Coast Guard Base where it will sit until it can be transported to it's final destination at the British Columbia Aviation Museum at the Victoria International Airport. The Hawaii Mars doesn't have landing gear so it will be transported by Nickle Bros., a house moving company.

Finally...here it comes over the Comox Valley Marina!

So cool..see ya at the BC Aviation Museum this fall! Official tours start Sept. 28th.

Here's a great 5:08 video of the Hawaii Mars final landing with the Snowbirds aerobatic team click here.

For information on the Mars history click here.

Here's a short 3:39 video of a takeoff and water drop click here

Coulson Aviation has one Martin Mars left, the Philippine Mars, which will eventually find it's final home at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, AZ click here. I've been there and it's a great museum.

After watching the Martin Mars fly over, we returned to Earl and Allison's place and enjoyed a beverage in the shade on their front deck....and then a delicious rib dinner...thanks so much! Unfortunately no pictures were taken there...we're slipping! Sheesh!

Monday (Aug. 12) was cloudy and a little cooler. We're making a trip up to Mt. Washington so it's unfortunate that it's not sunny for Steve to zipline...and me, as I wait for him. We got up to the mountain early for his 1:30 booking, so walked around a bit and had lunch at the Eagle View Bistro.

Steve here: I've always wanted to try Ziplining but always found them in our travels too expensive for such short rides. This one is Vancouver Island's longest combined zipline tour at 2.3 km/1.4 miles long, 84 meters/275 feet above the ground, 132 metre/433 feet vertical drop, with speeds up to 100 kph/62 mph, although the record I was told was 113 kph/76 mph!

First we had to watch a safety video then put on our gear...

I'm pumped...lets do this!

We've had nothing but hot sunny weather lately so looking at the forecast I booked today which was supposed to be sunny with cloudy periods. It was dark and gloomy! Before going up the mountain they had us practice hooking up, letting go, slowing down, and braking before dismounting on a very short zipline. That's me on the left... 

Me and my partner...

Hooking up...

I felt like I was holding on for dear life and it wasn't too comfortable on my lower back. The others felt the same way...yikes...what have I got myself into! 😟

Training complete!

Dianne fumbled with her phone accidentally turning the camera off but managed a blurry photo of her finger as we passed by...😂

3:12 Video of our chairlift ride to the top of Mount Washington. Sorry about some of the video, the harness attachment gets in the way of my chest mount. Apparently others mount their GoPro’s on their legs.

9:27 Video doing 4 combined Ziplines...

While Steve was gone I just wandered around, took a few pictures, and sat...and repeated. It was about 2:20 when they headed up on the chairlift, and they wouldn't be down until around 4:30...so I had a couple of hours to kill.

Mountain biking, ziplining and hiking are the big attractions on the mountain during the summer...

The Eagle View Bistro with a huge outdoor patio. A section of the bistro is inside the building and open year round...of course, the outdoor patio isn't open in the winter...

The Eagle View Bistro...

Bride and Groom heading up the mountain...

The Tube Park looks a little different than it did last March when we were up here tubing with Rob, Angie and the boys...

I can hear them coming...

Here comes Steve!

Steve's waiting behind the blue umbrella until all of his group is down, then they have to return all their gear...

Back to Steve: That was a blast! It takes 3 hours from start to finish. Once back down we sat down and had a beer, that's when I noticed my lower back was a little sore. However I don't recall any pain while I was screaming down the mountain! 😀 It only lasted for a few hours so it's all good. I'll have to return on a nicer day for some better pics/video. 

What a week I've had...a car show, historic final flight, and ziplining! 

Tuesday (Aug. 13) was cloudy but quite warm and muggy. I did some chores around the trailer and then left Steve to edit pictures and videos while I walked into town to check out some stores. Having already walked this morning, it might not have been a great idea...by the time I got home, I was sore and tired.

Wednesday (Aug. 14) was another cloudy but warm day. We met my brother and sister-in-law, Don and Rhonda for lunch at Atlas Cafe in downtown Courtenay. It was wonderful catching up with them...it has been too long! Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures...again! Yup, definitely slipping!

Thursday (Aug. 15) morning we woke to clear blue sky...nice! After our morning walk, I did laundry while Steve worked on this blog.

And that ends a very fast week!