#207 Jan to Mar 2019 A quiet time at home (mostly)

January began with a quick trip to Calgary. Danica’s Competitive Hip Hop Dance Team was invited to dance during the Mini Pop Kids concert. What a thrill to watch our granddaughter dance at the Jubilee Auditorium.

We also visited with Joey and his canine family.

February was a very wintery month everywhere. Ten inches of snow is not normal for our winters.

In March it was time to get away from home for a few days. We walked onto the Victoria  ferry  and our friends Marg and Paul picked us up at the other end.

At one point in the trip there were hundreds of gulls on the water. There must have been a school of fish for their dining pleasure.

A local artist has enhanced Esquimalt Slough with driftwood beach art. 

Canada Geese

Trumpeter Swan

A pileated woodpecker after an egg

Nesting bald eagle and eaglet

Oyster catcher

Cormorant

In Victoria the Royal BC Museum always has fascinating exhibits. Ice Ages affected British Columbia animals, plants and terrain.

Totem poles, a pit house model and carvings convey aboriginal life in British Columbia. This exhibit refreshed our memories of our 2018 trip from Prince George to Haida Gwaii (posts #181 to #188).

The Gorge Walkway provided hints of spring.

Mid March we changed our tow vehicle. There are a limited number of SUVs that are flat towable behind an RV. The 2014 Honda CRV works very well for us.

On a bright sunny day we took a day trip to enjoy the vehicle.

Sasquatch Inn is always popular for a drive/ride and great food.

The mountains and ice falls were spectacular.

The town of Hope is famous for chain saw carvings.

In our park daffodils and crocuses with bees signal spring.

#206 Sep to Dec 2018 Home Again

Mid September we returned to Peace Arch RV Park for the fall and winter. We traveled all summer and it was time to settle down for a while.

When we retired in December 2013 we expected that would be the end of our working careers. Little did we know how many opportunities would present themselves.

Ralph works for Vancouver Community College Heavy Duty Department filling in for vacations or special projects. This fall VCC did not need Ralph so he caught up with many RV projects which had been waiting all summer.

 When we are home I continue to work for Sovereign Leasing, sometimes for a few days, other times for a few weeks. 

Three days after we returned I started working 3 to 4 days a week until December. During that same time we dealt with major repairs to the RV. And then there was Christmas! All of that took a lot of my time and energy. 

I enjoy photographing our travels and then reviewing them for our blog. When I start a post I often edit 200 to 500 photos for each post. Then I create the story from the photos. Then both Ralph and I review and edit the story. Each post takes 8 to 10 hours of preparation.

After many weeks of busyness it took a long time for me to regain my focus on the posts.

In September we took a tour on a Vancouver trolley bus from the 1950s.

 Our friend Fred was one of the tour drivers. 

Rules of behavior were clearly posted.

I was born in Edmonton and remember riding the trolley buses downtown. They were just a part of life at that time and now those old buses are a trip down memory lane.

The advertising reveals a very different time in history

And fashion.

Drivers got a workout with manual steering.

The main tour driver demonstrated the fare box insert. It sorted the coins then buzzed, binged and bonged to identify the coins.

The trolley bus was a contrast to today’s buses that both Ralph and Fred have driven.

In October we went to Steveston for supper and the sunset.

On our way through Richmond we spotted a field teeming with snow geese. 

They flew in by the thousands. Awesome!

November was quiet with an opportunity to catch beautiful sunrises without getting up early.

December 20^th we experienced a violent winter storm which did a lot of damage around the Lower Mainland. It hit White Rock beach particularly hard.

 

Boats were flung about like toys and bashed the pier until it broke.

Boats were tossed onto the beach.

Christmas was low key as we spent time with family and friends. The RV Park decorations were fantastic as always.

A sparkling finale to 2018.