After being away for two and a half weeks, it is really nice to be home...but it won't be for long as we will be heading down island (again!) in another week. In the meantime, we quickly got back into our normal routine.
Thursday morning (Oct. 30) was a foggy, cloudy day. We were a little late getting out for our morning walk along the riverfront...letting it warm up and the fog to dissipate.
A Great Blue Heron perched on a tree along the Airpark pathway...
Another Great Blue Heron...
Happy Halloween!
Rain was the order of the day on Halloween Friday (Oct. 31)...making it pretty much an inside day. I had to go to the hospital for an ultrasound of my thyroid. It was just a routine follow-up that I've been having to monitor a lesion that was discovered about 6 years or so ago. Good news...it hasn't changed and has actually shrunk a tiny bit over the last 5 years so no more monitoring is required.
It didn't look like Halloween night was going to be very pleasant for all the kids but luckily, by 5:00 the rain had pretty well let up. Just after 4:00 we walked up to the office to attend the Halloween get together they were hosting.
It was just a small gathering held on their porch...Tim, the manager had made chili and was grilling hot dogs...there were also some sweet treats.
Although hard to tell, if you look carefully through the window, you'll see Tim's cat keeping an eye on the goings-on outside...
Saturday (Nov.1) evening Earl and Allison came over for dinner...
Sunday (Nov. 2) we switched back to standard time from daylight savings time...ugh! We actually managed to sleep into 6:00...which would have been 7:00 on the old time. So, the first day was okay but the following mornings were difficult!
A lovely double rainbow this morning after all the rain...it ended up fairly sunny today which was a nice change.
Below the bridge...
The next few days were pretty routine...morning walks, shopping, laundry and other chores, we also checked on our little trailer.
The Puntledge River is raging...
We stayed for about an hour and then continued on...our next stop was in Qualicum Beach at our favourite oceanside restaurant...Shady Rest Pub and Restaurant. We have been lucky each time we visit managing to get a oceanside window. Steve had the Oceanwise Seafood Burger and I had the Prawn Cobb Salad...delicious!! We also got a brief view of a couple of California Sea Lions passing by...
With the thick clouds and rain, somewhere a peek of sun came through producing this beautiful rainbow...
You may recognize Barb and Dan...they were at Steve's 70th birthday party. Dan hamming it up with his daughters, Lauren and Julia...they're trying to replicate Dan's "look" back in the day...
Birthday cake time...
Tuesday morning (Nov. 4) we went to Nymph Falls Nature Park for a hike...always love it here...
Thursday morning (Nov. 6) we had the car packed and were off just before 10:00. We are, once again, going down to Rob's. One of Steve's school buddies is turning 70 and his family is hosting a birthday party...we can't miss that!
On our way, we stopped at Don and Rhonda's (my brother and SIL) for a quick visit and to drop off some groceries I had picked up for Rhonda. She fell and broke her arm badly a few days ago...thankfully it wasn't her dominant arm/hand but it's still very inconvenient for her.
Steve was absolutely exhausted by the time we got to Rob's...driving in a major wind and rain storm with lots of pooling water had not been fun! A tree had come down on powerlines on the street just down from Rob's, taking out the power to many homes in the area. Ours went out for about 5 minutes and came back on...it flickered a few more times but that was it...we were lucky.
Rob, Angie and Bryce had been watching Conner's basketball team play in a tournament...unfortunately, they were not so lucky. The power went out at the school shutting down the game...Conner's team was winning! I'm not sure if they were deemed to have won or if there will be a rematch. So they all arrived home earlier than expected.
Friday morning (Nov. 7) Steve and I went on our favourite walk along the Sidney waterfront and then went shopping. Steve wanted a new shirt so we went to Mark's where he managed to get 2 shirts for him and I also started my Christmas shopping for the boys.
After dinner, Angie headed out to an 80's party with some friends...here she is all decked out in her 80's gear!
A few minutes after she left, Steve and I headed off into Sidney and the 'Army, Navy and Airforce Veterans' (basically a Legion) to attend Dan's 70th birthday party. It was great connecting with old friends that we don't see often. Left to right around the table...Nan (Jim's wife), Joel (Dan's brother), Jim, Al, me and Gaynor (Joel's wife)...
Dan's party was in a room off the main area which was packed...well, they had a great band playing and they invited the birthday boy and guests to come in...
After a great evening, it was time to go home. Steve took this picture outside the legion....
Saturday morning (Nov. 8) we packed up and headed home. This was just a quick 2 night visit...besides we had just spent a lot of time with the kids just over a week ago.
It was a much nicer drive home than it had been on our way down. We stopped for lunch again at the Shady Rest, arriving home by mid afternoon.
Sunday morning (Nov. 9) we were back into our routine again...our morning walk was along the riverfront. After that, I went out to pick up a few groceries while Steve raked leaves.
Rain started in the afternoon so we drove up to the Gladstone Brewery for our usual weekly beer...
Monday morning (Nov. 10) we went to Don and Rhonda's to stay with my brother while Rhonda went to the hospital for an orthopedic consult for her arm. She will have to have x-rays weekly to monitor it...hopefully the bone doesn't shift, otherwise she may require surgery.
Tuesday morning (Nov. 11) was quite a lovely day for our walk up to the cenotaph to partake in the Remembrance Day Ceremony.
They had a huge turnout...
After the service, we...along with many of the folks...went to the Gladstone Brewery for lunch (it's right across the street from the cenotaph). Afterwards, with the crowds gone we stopped back at the cenotaph to take pictures before heading home...
Beautiful mural on the side of the Legion building...
This interesting Australian OKA vehicle arrived across from us the other day. Steve met the owner Ben the other day while raking leaves. According to border services this is the only OKA vehicle in North America. Ben left Australia 2 1/2 years ago and has traveled throughout South America, Mexico, and the US. He was headed for Alaska but only made it as far as the Yukon as it started getting too cold, so he headed south again. He's waiting to have the clutch arm on his truck replaced before continuing on. Next year he's shipping his RV to Norway...
The final couple of days in our week were fairly uneventful. Another hike at Nymph Falls...
Yes definitely lots of rain! Thankfully no rain on Remembrance Day for everyone.
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