A log about those Silly Folks and their Escapades

Well the Blog Title just about sums it up as far as our Web Blog.

We can’t believe it’s been this long since we last posted and so much has been happening. Perhaps that’s why we haven’t done an update or a post………. or at least that’s our story and we are sticking with it.

So rather than bore you all with what we have done, where we have been and how we have been spending our days, attached are few photos and you can figure out what we have been up to.

On our way home from the reunion we stopped in McMillan Provincial Park which is located about 12km outside Port Alberni on the way towards Parksville.

Inside the park is the Cathedral Grove Forest. Here are some of the oldest and largest trees in the forests of Vancouver Island. One Douglas Fir is over 9 meters in circumference and some of the trees are up to 800 years old.

There is a short walking trail, a few plaques explaining the history of the area and we have attached a few of our photos.

Friday morning after a great breakfast we headed into Tofino for some grocery shopping. After that it was back to the cabin to prepare for an afternoon picnic at Chesterman Beach. The weather and the scenery was amazing .

On Saturday we had the usual large breakfast and gorged ourselves. It wouldn’t be reunion weekend without over eating.

After breakfast we headed in to Tofino to take in the Saturday Market and walk around town to many of the shops. In the afternoon a few went for a walk and others caught up on their sleep with an afternoon nap. The day was beautiful, the sun was shining, it was a warm day and we have really been lucky with the weather…. a great way to spend the afternoon.

Later that evening we had a delicious meal prepared by Rick & Gayle  and then a campfire complete with Rick entertaining us on his guitar.

It was a great weekend, however on a sad note; this was the first reunion since our good friend Ed House passed away late last year.

We miss him dearly!

On Thursday after a morning coffee we drove over to take a walk on the Black Beach section of the “Wild Pacific Trail”. This beach walk was all along a very rugged coastline and through a heavily forested area. The sun was shining and it was spectacular.

After checking out we headed to Tofino where we were meeting with our Reunion group friends. On the way we stopped in at Chesterman Beach which is just outside Tofino. Once again another gorgeous beach on the west coast.

We finally met up with Dean and Judy in downtown Tofino and wandered around a bit before heading to the Condo/Cabin our reunion group has rented for the next 4 days. There is a main cabin and then a guest suite off to one side which is perfect for our group.

So let the partying and the weekend begin.

Today was a very busy and exciting day. After a morning walk and coffee we headed off towards Long Beach.

Along the way we discovered Combers Beach which is all part of the area known as Long Beach. The walk down to the beach is really unique. A lot of it is a constructed beach walkway and as you get closer to the beach the trees and vegetation gets extremely dense; to the point you could not walk through it if you had to. So, there are warnings as you get to the beach to be aware of tides as you could get trapped on the beach in high tide and storm conditions.

Once at the beach to scenery and the landscape is absolutely amazing. Long Beach gets the attention because of the surfing and waves, but this beach is spectacular. Its long and wide and hard to describe in words or in pictures, but take a look.

After a morning at the beach and a long walk we headed back to go out with Canadian Pacific Princess Resorts for an afternoon of bottom fishing. Early in the week it didn’t look like were going to get out fishing as they require a minimum number of fishers on each boat. However, the weather was fantastic and enough guests showed up to go out.

The weather was very good and it was nice and sunny, however the winds picked up and it made for difficult fishing as the boat drifted at about 1 1/2 knots which is very fast for bottom fishing.

In the end we caught three bottom fish which consisted of 2 sea bass and 1 china rock cod.

What a day…………….  it doesn’t get much better than this.

Monday morning we got up early and headed off to Vancouver Island with our final destination being Ucluelet.

We arrived at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal right after the 10:50 a.m. ferry had just departed and so even though the line up was stopped outside the waiting area we were pretty sure we were going to catch the 12:50 p.m. ferry. Sure enough we did and the trip over was amazing, the sun was shining, there was a light breeze and the scenery was outstanding.

Once on the other side after the traffic thinned out we made great time getting over to the highway that leads to Ucluelt and Tofino. In fact with the weather so fantastic we took a detour and headed to Long Beach for a sneak peek prior to sunset…….. WOW!

First thing Tuesday morning we went for walk, had a coffee and picked up some sandwiches for a picnic lunch.  After that we drove to take a hike around the Lighthouse Loop of the Wild Pacific Trail that is located at the end of the Ucluelet peninsula.

After this hike we headed off to the Pacific Rim visitor center to pick a National Park Pass so we could stop at the various locations inside the park. OF course the main attraction are the beaches and especially Long Beach. This is where we had lunch, went for a long walk and watched the surfers. More adventures tomorrow!

On Tuesday August 14th we traded in our 1998 Honda Accord EX-V6 and bought a 2012 Toyota Prius.

The 1998 Accord has been very reliable and a great car since we bought it. We have had very few maintenance or operational issues; however it was getting to be 14 – 15 years old and it was time to trade it in and get a new vehicle.

As Brenda said “it was a very Bitter Sweet feeling” as the car was so reliable in getting her back and forth to work with no troubles for all those years…. summer or winter.

After a bunch of internet and hands-on research we decided on the Toyota Prius Hybrid. In the end it has everything and probably more than we need. There a few models of this years Prius and we chose the standard model with a couple minor upgrades.

Attached are a couple pictures taken right after we got it home and we’re sure there will be more to come.

One of the side benefits of attending Ryan and Jen’s wedding in Kelowna and visiting with the Smith Family was the chance to see Zachary, Oliver, Jeff and Lindsay.

The one fun project we did get done during our visit was to make stepping stones for the garden with imprints of Zachary and Oliver’s feet. Zach was really helpful in decorating the stepping stones with glass beads.

We also managed to fit in a picnic dinner in the park, lots of play time outside, a few naps and some snoozes………. it doesn’t get any better than this.

On the August long weekend we headed to Kelowna to attend the wedding of Ryan Smith and Jen Williamson.

Ryan is the oldest son of our good friends Fred & Barb Smith from North Vancouver.

Ryan and Jen’s wedding was at the Cove Lakeside Resort on Okanagan Lake. The setting was beautiful, the bride was beautiful, the groom was handsome…….. and it was +40 C; so to say the least it was toasty warm.

The following pictures are of Fred and Barb, their oldest Son Ryan and his new wife Jen and their youngest son Marshall and his wife Tara. What a great looking family.

Last Friday we met Tamara, Sage and Conrad in Merritt for lunch and then the grand-kids headed back to Kamloops with us for their annual “Summer Vacation at Namma and Pops. Kevin was working so he was unable to make the trip to Merritt.

Once we got back to Kamloops we immediately got the kids into their swimsuits and it was off to Prince Charles Park to cool off and enjoy the summer weather. Prince Charles Park has the only wading pool in Kamloops. All the other kid friendly parks have water spray parks. It seems that most cities are installing these as they are most likely easier to maintain. Guess what we forgot to take the camera out and take some pictures….. Oh Well!

Right after breakfast on Saturday morning we worked on a stepping stone project which involves them putting their foot into a pie plate filled with mortar and then they get to decorate around the foot impression. Each year the kids have visited they have made a garden stepping stone, it’s great to see the changes in their feet sizes each year.

After that we got ready and headed off to the Kamloops Wildlife Park. This is always a fun adventure and one of the kids favorite things to do when they visit Kamloops.

No visit is to the Wildlife Park is complete with out a ride on the park train, some climbing inside the demonstration tree and of course an ice cream or a slushee.

After a little bit of quiet time at home we headed down to Riverside Park for a late afternoon swim.

Sunday morning started with silly face pictures and lots of laughing.

Then we headed over to MacDonald Park for some playground time and a few more pictures.

Of course no group photo shot is complete without at least one “Silly Family” photo.

Later in the afternoon we made a picnic dinner which we took down to Riverside Park. This gave Sage and Conrad lots of time to play at the beach and in the water spray park.

This is the best picture we could get of Conrad he was just too busy building sand castles and playing in the water to have his picture taken.

Here is a classic picture of our little water grand-daughter under the spray stream.

Monday morning we headed back over to MacDonald Park to meet GGPa and GGMa for  picnic lunch and a visit. Unfortunately Conrad was tired of Grampa Paparazzi and was not that happy to have his picture taken.

In the afternoon it was back to Riverside park for a quick swim, a play in the water park and a snack. .

Then we got everyone packed up and drove back to Merritt to meet Kevin and Tamara for dinner, before everyone headed home. It was a busy and exciting few days.