A Great, Great, Long......Fun Weekend - The Overview

On board a BC Ferries ship to Victoria, Vancouver Island.

Although the weather forecast called for showers all of the four days we would be motorcycling on Vancouver Island, we opted to take our chances. Thursday past was our first of four days away.  We avoided the showers and stayed dry.

It's always a treat to ply the waters of Georgia Straight and Active Pass on the way to Victoria.

In Sidney, BC, shortly after we disembarked from the BC Ferries ship @ Shwatrz Bay.

We stopped into the town of Sidney and called the daughter of one of Jeanette's cousins.  Darcey lives and operates a business in the area.  One phone call connected us and we agreed to meet a few minutes down the road.

Lovely sign at the entrance to Sidney.

Jeanette captured this photo of Darcey with her four legged pal. 

She owns a company called CommuniCanine.  CommuniCanine Home Page

Although ours was a brief visit, it is always fun to catch up with her and to get a drift of her busy life.  She's always on the go. 

 The Undersea Gardens in Victoria Harbour with the famous Empress Hotel in the BG.

We pressed on to the city of Victoria where we checked in to the Inn and once the motorcycle was parked and locked, the suitcase safely stored in the room, we headed for a long walk though downtown and along the inner harbour.

Although not in the forecast, the sun did shine.

Jeanette and I have visited this city on many occasions and I often spent time in Victoria on business.  To now have the time to just meander around - without having to punch a clock - was a nice change.  We took our time, browsed in several stores, stopped for coffee and generally took in the sights and sounds of the downtown core.

We took this photo of the Provincial Parliament Buildings on our return walk from dinner at the famed Sticky Wicket Pub and Restaurant.

Prior to leaving our home for the Island, we had been in touch with Paulette and Rick of
Rick & Paulette's RV Travels  to let them know of our travel plans and to ask about possibly getting together for coffee or lunch.  We agreed to meet at their home on Friday last.  It was nice to meet again - this time on their home turf in the Cobble Hill area - following our last get together at their RV site at the Sands RV and Golf Resort in Desert Hot Springs, CA., last February.

We knew that Rick and Paulette heard us arrive in their driveway when the mutzos were let out the door and greeted us with barks, jumping and general doggy excitement.  (More about our visit in the next blog)

Rick and Paulette's fiver in the driveway....readying for their departure back to Desert Hot Springs, this late October, 2011.

From Rick and Paulette's home, it was a brief 30 minute ride up the Island Highway (Trans Canada #1 Highway) to Ladysmith and an overnight visit with Gwen and Steve, life long friends from our former city of White Rock, BC.  Gwen and Steve retired to the island four years ago and we make a yearly pilgrimage to check up on them and to check out the new creations in their home and garden.

L-R    Gwen, Steve and Jeanette

It was nice to catch up on our collective news and enjoy the wonderful ocean view from the dining and living room of their home.  Following a nice dinner, we sat and chatted till Steve and I called it a night and we left Jeanette and Gwen to burn the midnight oil with banter and laughter.  No wonder Jeanette slept in the morning after!!!

In their living room....with a great ocean view!

Following a late breakfast, we prepared for the next leg of our island journey northward.  We had also planned to meet and overnight with another of our RV friends who travel in a lovely Travel Supreme, Class 'A' and who call Lanzville, BC, (just north of the city of Nanaimo) their brick and sticks home. 

Hector is shadowed by his other best friend, Chico - a wonderful Portuguese Water Dog. 

It's true!  Wherever Hector goes, Chico is his shadow.  This dog will not leave his master's side.  He has a wonderful disposition.

Most dog owners we know share the same stories about their dogs forever shadowing them wherever they go.  That must be why they are known as 'man's best friend.'

Jeanette and Diane are looking closely at the wine bottle tuxedo that Diane's mom sewed some years back.  Kind of cute looking, and what a nice touch to covering a Naked Grape bottle of wine.

Hector and Diane prepared a wonderful salmon and Atlantic cod Bar-B-Q

Following a restful night in the urban country setting of Diane and Hector's Lantzville home, a wonderful late morning breakfast, and more chat about their lives and ours, we prepared to saddle up and head for the mid-island ferry @ Duke Pointe for the two hour ferry ride back to the mainland.  (More about our visit in the next blog)

On the ferries ship for our return voyage.

Making sure the captain has this ship under control.

So, this is just a brief overview of our wonderful weekend; visiting relatives, RV friends, long time neighbours, and other RV friends. The weekend was a "10" on our travel scale.  We enjoyed being tourists, enjoyed great company while sharing wonderful food offerings by our hosts and, most importantly, we enjoyed listening to everyones' travel objectives.  It's a gift to be able to share our travel plans with a promise to meet again on the road during our snowbirding adventures.

The 'After Eight' super yacht entering Victoria's harbour.

Our next blog will offer greater detail and more photos of our visits with Rick & Paulette's RV Travels ,  Gwen and Steve's Mediterranean cruise in the coming weeks, and Hector and Diane's plans for the winter.

Thanks for dropping by.

In Bill Cosby's Words!

Disclaimer:
A departure from the norm today.  I felt this message would appeal to this blog audience.  Although I cannot confirm for certain that he wrote this, it is well said...so I am throwing it out there.  


Bill Cosby Biography - Biography.com

  

Bill Cosby "I'm 74 and Tired"

I'm 74. Except for brief period in the 50's when I was doing my National Service, I've worked hard since I was 17. Except for some some serious health challenges, I put in 50-hour weeks, and didn't call in sick in nearly 40 years. I made a reasonable salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, it looks as though retirement was a bad idea, and I'm tired. Very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honour"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to.

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries use our oil money to fund mosques and mandrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in Australia, New Zealand, UK, America and Canada, while no one from these countries are allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia or any other Arab country to teach love and tolerance..

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses or stick a needle in their arm while they tried to fight it off?

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of all parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

I'm really tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

I'm also tired and fed up with seeing young men and women in their teens and early 20's bedeck them selves in tattoos and face studs, thereby making themselves un-employable and claiming money from the Government.

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 74. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter and her children. Thank God I'm on the way out and not on the way in.

Change of Weather...and hot weather musings.

Ruskin Picnic Area - North of Mission, BC

With the cloud cover I witnessed this morning - and the drop in temperatures - the weather girl is predicting a cooling off period in the coming days.  This past Sunday was a scorcher and that led us to the Ruskin Picnic Area. We rode off from home near 11:00 am.

A really nice family area.

This amazing dog was swimming against the current. When it needed a break, it would swim to shore, look at its owner, jump back into the current and continue swimming.  I bet it slept really well once back home.  It kept me occupied for quite a long time. 

It is such a great area.  Swimmers with tubes, and other floating devices, can opt for the fast current and others - like this couple above - can choose the natural swimming channel.

Just above this swimming area is the Ruskin Dam.  It provides electricity for over 70,000 homes in the area.

The area is a real gem.  To spend a hot day here is a real treat. The area provides for all types of activities, including fishing.

I spoke with some of the fisher folks and was told they do catch fish here.

Tubers on the faster current.

The Ruskin Dam

Jeanette is taking in the action

I watched as this fella found all kinds of things in the water.

The fella above waded all over this area in search of something.  He found fishing lures, fishing lines, jewelery and other stuff I could not identify from the distance away.  He kept cool and busy.  I sensed that he knew these waters well.

This woman kept a close eye on her grandchildren.

If the waters were cool (or even cold) the participants didn't seem to complain.

Very fast current in this zone.

So, that was our Sunday.  We may well have taken in the last very hot day of the 2011 summer here on the Pacific Coast.  With the weather returning to seasonal norms, there will be plenty of nice days to get out in nature but it's doubtful we will once again find the recent high heat.

Hope your weather is equally nice wherever you live.

Thanks for dropping by.

Show -n-Shine....and more!

Hard to believe that another week has gone by!  Not sure about the rest of you but I am finding the days roll by more quickly and they are getting shorter too.

Yesterday morning started early. I had planned to ride to a friend's home to assist with changing out a light fixture and, along with another friend who joined us, throw around some ideas on how he could suite his basement now that his daughter has moved to Kelowna, BC, to attend university.

A compressed photo of an very early morning scene - with a bit of marine cloud in the air.

This  balloonists was out at the crack of dawn.

I gathered a few tools to throw into the motorcycle saddlebags.  After changing out the fixture, and following some discussion on the potential 'suiting' of his basement, I was ready to head back home. I recalled that the city of Langley was hosting a west coast style Show and Shine - one of the biggest I have ever witnessed - and, according to a local expert (a security guy I spoke with), one of the largest crowds this event has ever seen.

This was the third best looking truck, in my view.

Prepare yourselves for a lot of photos.......!  I could not help myself.  I absolutely love cars and trucks from yesteryear but, for this blog, I am focusing only on trucks and RV's.

Old classic style.  My second favourite.

These are my favourite Chevy's.  As a kid, my father's company had a few of these.  Whenever I see one, it brings back great memories of my childhood.

Our company had one of these too.

This rare Studerbaker has nice lines too.  Too bad the company faltered those many years back.

I noticed that when I was preparing to take a photo people would move back and away from the vehicles.  How nice that was!  Although I didn't bother taking shots of the crowds, trust me when I say there were thousands upon thousands of people here on the streets.

Awesome restoration.

One of earliest models I could find.

A work in progress.

According to the newspaper article there were to be over one thousand vehicles and motorcycles on display.  I do not doubt those numbers.  I would guess that at least 10 to 12 square blocks of Langley's downtown core were blocked off.  It was a sea of people and vehicles....and the smell?????, well, I am sure the food retailers made a killing. And good on them too.

My personal favourite - a 1 Ton Chevy...capable of towing any trailer or 5th wheel.

It's a beauty.

That bright and shiny candy apple red paint job was stunning.

Bolt a 5th wheel hitch pin receiver in this box and imagine the looks you would get pulling that fiver, eh!

The temperature hovered between 25 and 30 degrees.

I spent a bit of time near this '64 Chevy.  For several years, I too had one like this.  It was the very same colour too.  This one was in far better shape than mine....but it sure felt good to reminisce about the drives taken when I was a younger lad.

OK, this is the last of the many photos I could have dropped into this blog...but I'll end it here.

Earlier I mentioned that I chose to focus only on trucks and RV's.  It was a tough choice to limit the number of photos I would drop into this blog.  For the staunch RV'ers out there, here are the few RV's I managed to find during my walkabout.

I could not locate a make for this silver Class A.

We likely all know someone who owned one of these - at one time or other.

This is a converted transit bus.

This Class 'A' has seen a lot of miles and it is still in pretty good shape.

It too looks like a converted former transit bus.

That's it folks!  Oh but could I have loaded this blog up with photos of trucks?  You bet!

I dropped in on a couple of friends who had entered their dolled up Harley Davidson motorcycles in their respective categories...and I'm sure one or all three of them won or placed. OK, enough about the show-n-shine!

Old Fairhaven district in South Bellingham, WA.

Shortly after I returned home, Jeanette was up to taking a ride to find a place for some dinner.  We were in no frame of mind to make dinner so we headed south of the 49th parallel. It took mere minutes to cross into the USA from our home - only 8 KM away.

30 minutes later we were here. 

This was taken from our restaurant seats on the 2nd floor balcony.

Although we have often visited - and eaten in several Fairhaven restaurants - this was our first time in the Jalapeno Mexican Restaurant.  It did not disappoint.

The setting sun - scene taken on the street in Fairhaven, as we prepared to depart.

Well, that was our Saturday.  We trust you enjoyed the Show-n-Shine photos....and your Saturday too.

Thanks for dropping by.

Preparing to ride off into the sunset.