Although we have been enjoying beautiful weather over the past week, the forecasters have predicted a warming trend starting this weekend and they were definitely right! Saturday (May 2) was absolutely beautiful with a high of 25C/77F and the next few days were pretty much the same. We actually had to put the A/C on!
Monday (May 4) afternoon, Steve and Earl took the boat out to Comox Lake to give it a run...it hasn't been in water since July, 2021! I'll pass this over to Steve now...
It was a beautiful day for a test run...
We both brought our drones...
A 1:32 minute drone video...
As we were finishing our flights the wind was picking up a bit. Back in the boat I had a little difficulty with being blown back towards shore while I fired up the motor and did a prop strike on something below. Now I had very little power...GEEZ! According to Earl's GPS we were only doing about 8kph/5mph now and had several kilometres to get back! Luckily we made it back safely and loaded up.
Tuesday (May 5) Steve took the boat motor into Parker Marine (Days later he learned that he had spun the hub in the propeller damaging the prop. Also the impeller was melted.) Even though the motor was pumping water fine all the way back. The motor is an older Johnson 9.9 HP 2 stroke and apparently 2 strokes are no longer made so it'll be about a week for the replacement parts.
The beautiful weather continued until Wednesday (May 6) when clouds rolled in. It was still fairly warm at 18C/64F but the the bright, sunny sky we had been enjoying was gone.
Thursday (May 7) afternoon we went to pick up our little trailer from storage and bring it back to the campground to de-winterize it and get ready for camping next week. Unfortunately, the hitch ended up being too low and Steve couldn't get the bolts out to raise it. So we ended up taking it home to WD-40 the bolts to loosen them. We'll pick the trailer up in the morning.
Friday (May 8) morning, with the hitch adjusted to the right height, we brought the trailer home. Here we are using the site across from us to flush the tanks. After that was done, Steve backed the trailer into our site in front of our fifth-wheel.
Saturday morning (May 9) we met Earl and Allison at the Early Bird Cafe for breakfast and planned our camping trip. After that, Steve got to work on washing the little trailer. I couldn't get inside to clean, so I went grocery shopping in prep for our camping trip Monday.
So Sunday (May 10) was spent getting ready to head out camping tomorrow. I cleaned inside and packed what I could. Steve packed the truck.
Monday morning (May 11) we were up extra early to get that coffee time in before we had to have breakfast, shower and finish packing the little trailer...we are meeting Earl at 9:00 at Kitty Coleman Provincial Park . Unlike most provincial parks, it is a Class 'C' provincial park, meaning it is run by a local community board. The beach is directly across from the sites and provides views of Powell River and the surrounding beaches across the water.
It is a first come, first serve campground and very popular...more so come summer...and rather than just driving in and picking an empty site, you have to book it at the gatehouse. I had called the operator last night to find out how busy it was and was told there were lots of open sites. During the busy time, you can come and book a site in person at 9:00 but not bring in your RV until after check-out time but since it wasn't busy, Gail said we could bring our RV's with us at 9:00.
So after an exhausting drive (all of about 16 minutes LOL), we met Earl and went for a walk to see what sites were available in the area we wanted. We decided on site 23 for us and 22 for Earl and Allison (she will be arriving a little later). We walked back to the gatehouse, paid for 3 nights ($20/night, no services) and got set up. Earl nosed in so that our doors faced each other. It was quite windy when we arrived with a chop on the water, but as the morning wore on it died down and the ocean was calm...
Tuesday (May 12) was another beautiful day, but with a little more cloud covering than yesterday. Steve and I went for a morning walk around the campground. There are a couple of short trails...
Wednesday (May 13) was a cooler day with a little on again off again rain...
After dinner, we all gathered back in our trailer for Rummikub again. This time Earl was the big winner, with Allison and Steve winning a game or two...me nada!
We have been watching for cruise ships on their way to Alaska to come by...and apparently there were 2 coming through this evening. So our games of Rummikub were interrupted as we went out to get pictures.
Steve's picture of the Holland America Zaandam going by...
Earl got this great shot of the cruise ship with the rainbow. We also noticed a couple of Humpback Whales way off in the distance. The night before we saw three Orcas (Killer Whales) but in both cases too far out for photos...
Another cruise ship going by early Thursday morning (May 14)...American Cruise Line Constellation...
It was pack-up day today. We weren't in any hurry but we still were all hitched up and pulling out by 9:30. We had considered staying until Friday but the forecast for tomorrow is rain and we really didn't want to have to pack up in the rain.
What a great spot to camp though...only 16 minutes away, so much marine life, cruise ships, and the RCAF aircraft from CFB Comox flying around for Steve's enjoyment...the Kingfisher, Cormorant and Aurora.
We were back at Puntledge RV Park shortly before 10:00 dumping tanks and emptying out the trailer...we got our steps in walking back and forth from the little trailer to the 5th wheel! With that done, we took the trailer back to storage.
The rest of the afternoon was spent putting everything away, showering and finally relaxing...packing and unpacking for our camping trip is exhausting, LOL!
Friday (May 15) was chore day...and, of course, a trip back to the little trailer to pick up a couple of things we left behind.
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