First Day of School

There were a few first days of school this year. Kerry went back two weeks before the typical first day as she is a Vice Principal and has to do that now. Lots to plan for this year. There was then the first day of school for teachers which was your usual day after labour day. Carter went in two days later on the Thursday and Friday for an hour and Callie went for an hour on the Friday. The first full day of school was finally on the following Monday the 14th. This was when Callie finally allowed me to take pictures for first day of school.

Everything was so messed up we couldn't even do our traditional breakfast at Ricky's. My work and the kids first days didn't align so we ended up going on the Saturday morning. Covid at Ricky's was neat as well. We ended up with a seat in the back and were the only ones there. Carter's first day of school was at a partially new school. They finally finished adding four new classrooms to the front of the school. They managed to blend the old with the new quite nicely though the front of the school doesn't really feel like a school front as the office is halfway down the right side. Nice to get rid of the portables. 

 

Harrison Hot Springs

Covid continues. In August we took a trip to Harrison Hot Springs. Our plan was to hike around Hick's lake. In hindsight we there could have been some excitement as soon as we got there. When we arrived there were some Canada geese by the lake and Callie decided it was a good idea to take Oliver to see them. The geese were kind enough to simply stay out of his way. I'm not really sure what would have happened if the geese had decided to attack Callie. We may have had a goose or two to take home as I think Oliver would have come out on top.

The hike itself was pretty easy though it did take us a while to get to the trailhead. We knew to walk through a campground to get to it but when all we found was a forrest road we were a bit confused. Turns out about half of the hike was just an old forestry road. Carter does not like these kinds of hikes so he was less than engaged in the first half of the hike. Eventually though it did turn to roots and rocks so he was happy by the end of the hike. One day it would be great to go on a hike where everyone is happy the whole way. The camp sites we saw were very nice with private beach access. Nice place to camp.

After the hike we stopped in Harrison for lunch. Covid protocols existed but were somewhat lax. Most restaurants did have outdoor seating only but there weren't many people wearing masks. BC has done okay during Covid but I feel a big part of it is luck. I had Fish and Chips and the family had burgers and chicken fingers at another stop. We also stopped for ice cream before heading home. We did drive past a few houses to see what recreational property would look like in Harrison. It seems we've been priced out of such luxuries. Most places are either way to expensive or really not worth it due to location, condition etc. Will have to keep looking. 

Summer Trip to Prince George

We took our annual summer trip to Prince George this past weekend. The weather was nice so of course we spent most of the weekend at West Lake where my family has had property since the area was first settled. Things had gotten a little overgrown in recent years but recently my brother has been spending more time out there and has done a good job of up keep. We worked on continuing to support the shore with some wire cages backfilled with rocks. He's moved the fire place farther up from the beach which is good because it doesn't get washed away each year. It also helps that he's cut back much of the brush so it's safe to have a fire there.

My job was to take the canoe around the corner from our beach to grab some larger rocks out of the lake. There is an area where rocks wash out of the bank that is slowly eroding and tumble into the water. I figure they aren't really supporting anything anymore and they are in the lake so they are fair game. We needed to find as many large flat rocks as possible. I laid a piece of plywood down in the canoe before loading up 6-8 rocks which probably way close to 200 pounds. I did at least a half dozen trips and got enough rocks for the next cage and some nice ones for pathways. I did a bit of digging for the cage but left the rest for my brother as I ran out of time to help more.

This was our first trip back since were here last summer to celebrate the life of my Grandmother. We had made a small garden and spread some of her ashes here. All of the major plants had come back as the weather has been quite rainy this year. Hopefully my mom and brother are able to keep the plants going. It can be difficult as they aren't there every weekend. I also noticed that the bench GG had received from a picnic at the local mill was in need of repair. Several years ago I had replaced the legs and used the original seat slats but now those seat slats are reaching end of life. I will try to repair it next summer.

One of the other highlights of our trip was my nephew Lucas. He's almost two and although he doesn't say much, his facial expressions are all that's needed to get his point across. He spent quite a bit of time just wandering around my brother's back yard and you knew when he wasn't happy about something. He gets a bit frown on his face, puts his arms in front of him and gives you quite the look. He is not a fan of the word no.

We also got to see several of the family pets. Bailey is my brother Eric's dog and she is initially quite skittish but quickly warms up to you once she realizes you are allowed to be there. Our dog is not always friendly with animals that are bigger than him but we managed to acclimate them to each other without any blood being spilled. We also saw Shadow the dog and Yoda the cat. Domestic animals weren't the only animals we saw. Carter counted a bear, a loon, an eagle, a king fisher, a fox, a chipmunk and several others while we were there. We can sometimes go up and not see any of those so it was definitely a wild animal filled weekend.

On the Saturday my brother booked us a tee time at Pine Valley. As he was driving by he noticed they had a sign for foot golf. We had never played and weren't sure what we could expect. After a bit of a wait we were given the go ahead and discovered Pine Valley had added large 2 foot diameter holes with their own flags to their course. The par was slightly higher then normal golf and you went in-between regular golfers. I was doing well until I injured a quad, though I still ended up with a 5 under and second place behind a 6 under. It was nice that you got to kick the foot ball into a hole versus just trying to hit the pin or something similar. I would recommend you try it at least once. We were only up for 3 days but we packed it full of fun and continue to look forward to it each year.

Salt Spring Island - Day 3 - We made it! (Barely)

We had no more real destinations for our last day but we also didn't have to catch our ferry until 3:30 so we started to drive north so we could say we checked out the entire island. We went to 'Southy Point' which seems poorly named since it's on the North end of the island and then went to Beddies Beach. We should have gone there on the first day since it was a great beach to just hang out at. We finished off the day with a final wander around Ganges. Salt Spring during Covid means it's mostly closed on the weekends so this was our first opportunity to check out some of the stores downtown.

We then headed to the ferry which should have been the end of our adventure however Callie decided she had to go to the bathroom 30 minutes before the ferry was scheduled to leave. I wasn't initially worried since that seemed like plenty of time but about 1 minute after she left the car they gave us the warning that it was time to go back to your car. Instead of heeding this warning, Callie still went to the bathroom. Kerry came back from a short hike nearby to find no Callie and our row moving. She was not impressed.

Our panicked decision involved me getting out to try to find her while Kerry slowly drove to the dock. She was forced to get on and I was left with Callie on the dock with no wallet and no cell phone. BC Ferries staff were excellent and gave us temporary boarding passes to walk on. The adventure continued when Kerry went up stairs and forgot she was waiting for Carter who had left to go find a vending machine. We also had to nurse Oliver the whole time who did not like being on a ferry and was too warm in the car. We finished things up by draining our battery trying to keep him cool. BC Ferries to the rescue again with their portable battery for a boost. A fun weekend adventure.

Salt Spring Island - Day 2 - Lavender, Goats and Beer

We started day two at Ruckle Provincial Park. It was on the South East side of the island and promised some good hikes along the water. When we got there and were in the woods a bit it seemed cold but once we got into the sun, despite the wind it was a great day for a hike. We walked along the ocean for a bit before heading inland. The park includes a working farm and with Oliver with us we were limited on where we could go. I think I would like to go back at some point without a dog.

We didn't do a lot of research on where to go on Salt Spring other than looking up "Top 10 things to do on Salt Spring". On this list included a local goat cheese farm. There were chickens in the yard and lots of options for goat cheese. I stayed in the car so I still haven't had a chance to taste any of it yet but Kerry and the kids insist it is excellent. The social distancing at the goat farm was well done and Kerry was surprised at how knowledgable the teenaged staff was.

I think the highlight for me was the lavender farm. It wasn't very big but they had quite a few products and the owners were happy to share their trade. I bought a lavender plant as well as an Immortal plant to try in my garden. They gave me some tips on where to plant, how to water and most importantly how to trim it back each year. Lavender grows from the top of the last years growth so you want to cut it back as far as you can without going past the current year. It means it gets a bit bigger each year but I can then use cuttings to get new plants.

After one more farm that makes beer we headed back to the cabin to wander around and think about plans for dinner. Our cabin is just up from a small lake that included a dock and some water sport equipment. The lake looked swimmable though we didn't find the time to try it out ourselves. Carter and I also discovered that our Cabin has the potential for another full floor on it. For some reason it's just set up as a crawl space but you could definitely put a room down there. Maybe a good investment opportunity. We went back to Ganges for dinner for calamari and pizza on the boardwalk.

Salt Spring Island - Day 1 - The Dog Table

I've finally made it to Salt Spring Island. It's the largest of the Gulf Islands and to be honest the only other island I've been to is Bowen. Salt Spring has appealed to me because there is apparently quite the artists community and I was hoping to see some interesting makers. We took a direct ferry there and as we were docking we could see the tiny dock which was somewhat disconcerting for Kerry. It didn't really look like there was even room for cars to drive off.

Our first stop after we got off was Salt Spring Wild Cider and it was pretty much what I was expecting for the entire island. A quaint tasting building with some food options and quite a few people coming and going. I was glad to see it was outdoors but I will admit there were a few too many people without masks for my liking. We found this the entire weekend. I think Salt Spring is waiting for their first case before they get really strict.

We then headed to our 'Cabin' which was available after 3:00p. It was a full sized house and had been recently renovated. We were only staying two days so we found the nicest place that could take dogs. After checking in we went to downtown Ganges to find dinner. Carter has been missing a sit down dinner so we did find some place where we could order and stay. They happened to have a nice out door table for people with dogs at the Burger Shack. Carter and I both had the Fish n Chips which was quite delicious.

Attending a Conference in Oliver

Two weeks ago Kerry and the kids went up to Oliver to help take care of Kerry's Dad who had just had hip surgery. They had to shorten their visit due to commitments related to Callie's dance before and after the weekend so they wanted to go back the following weekend. I looked after Oliver the first weekend and stayed in Surrey but was able to go up the second weekend. With the new 'Work From Home' model I now have the option of shifting what 'Home' is and didn't technically have to take any time off. We drove up on Saturday and I attended a conference from the basement during the week before coming home on Tuesday.

It was nice being able to work during the day and then head over to the lake or the park with Carter in the evening . I also got put to work helping solve some dog digging issues in the backyard. We went to buy rocks in the morning and I spent my lunch time placing the rocks. It was a quick 4 day trip but I could get used to working in Oliver instead of Surrey. I fully expect that there will be additional people who will try to find ways of working far from their previous home base.