April 3 to 9, 2025 ; Grand Forks, B.C. to Dugald, Manitoba

 Thursday ; Grand Forks, BC

Sunny, mild, 12° C. A day of rest after two days of driving.

At noon we went for a long walk around the residential neighbourhood behind our motel. At 1 PM we drove “downtown” to have lunch at The Borscht Bowl, a local restaurant renowned for their stupendous borscht and other Russian Doukhobor specialties. We have eaten here many times before, every time we have driven through Grand Forks.

As we parked near the restaurant before lunch Joanne noticed a health food store. We went in to look for violet leaf essential oil, a product used as a dog calming aromatherapy agent, but they did not have it. After lunch we went to Save-On-Foods to buy chocolate milk for Joanne, then Total Pet to look for a calming agent to help keep Apollo quiet when left alone in the car (or at home). We were assisted at Total Pet by a very knowledgeable young woman. In our experience, the staff at BC’s Total Pet stores (now owned by the PET VALU chain) are always well trained and knowledgeable. We also know, from personal experience, that is not that easy to achieve ! Kudos to Total Pet ! We bought a (very expensive) pheremone spray. Hope it works !

Last stop before returning to our motel was another trip to No Frills, across the highway from our motel, to buy a few more items for future meals on the road trip home. The rest of the day was busy, but at a relaxed pace, as I got caught up on laptop chores.

Friday ; Grand Forks to Cranbrook, BC

Sunny, +13° C.

We checked out of our Grand Forks motel at 10:40 AM and continued eastbound on Crowsnest Hwy. 3. We stopped at the Visitor Centre in Creston around 1:15 PM to eat lunch. We reached Cranbrook around 4:30 PM but did not check in to our motel until shortly after 6 PM.

Upon arrival in Cranbrook we went to Superstore’s Mobil Fuel Bar to refill the minivan with fuel. Then we found our way to Safeway to buy some salad mixes for tonight’s and tomorrow’s suppers. While searching for Safeway we passed a dog park, so after shopping at Safeway we went back to the dog park to give Apollo a chance to empty himself out and socialize with dogs and people. He’s more interested in people than dogs. We chatted for awhile with a couple a few years younger then us about retirement and RV travel.

Saturday ; Cranbrook, BC to Medicine Hat, Alberta

Sunny all day, +5° C in Cranbrook, +15° C in Medicine Hat.

We checked out of our motel in Cranbrook at 10:30 AM and went to the dog park to give Apollo fifteen minutes of emptying and socializing before we hit the road. We were out of Cranbrook at 11 AM, continuing east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3, reaching Medicine Hat at 5:30 PM.

We crossed through the Crowsnest Pass, from the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia into the prairie flatlands of Alberta. We stopped to eat lunch in the parking lot of Wal-Mart in Pincher Creek, Alberta. The wind there was blowing so strongly it was difficult to open the car doors. I was feeling ill and tired after lunch, so Joanne drove for an hour, from Pincher Creek to Lethbridge, to allow me to rest and snooze.

After checking into our motel I phoned Telus to resolve phone drama ... AGAIN ! Yesterday I had received a text message from Telus regarding a problem with the promotional bonus attached to the phone plan I changed to a month ago. The plan was an annual prepaid plan, but the promotional bonus “expired” after only a month. A technical problem / “glitch” at their end. I HATE dealing with cell phone drama ! ! ! But the agent I dealt with resolved the problem quickly and efficiently, including explaining it, and providing instructions on how to check whether or not their technical geeks have the problem permanently resolved a month from now, and how to address it if they don’t.

At 7:30 PM we drove to downtown Medicine Hat and bought take-out Korean food at J j Kitchen. MMMMM ... very good ! We watched Saturday Night Live from 9:30 PM to 11 PM, then went to bed early.

Sunday ; Medicine Hat, Alberta Sunny ... <blink blink> ... +19° C ! ! !

WOW ! WARM !

Joanne slept late this morning, then had a very lazy start to the day. Apollo and I, not so much. Around noon we all went out for a long walk around the residential neighbourhood behind our motel. It was nice to have a long walk in summer like weather. After our walk we drove to Superstore, refilled the minivan with fuel at their Mobil Fuel Bar ... <wow ... cheap fuel !> ... then went inside the store to buy something for tomorrow’s supper. On the way back to our motel we went to a Co-op Fuel Bar to get the car washed.

I went into the Co-op store, paid for a car wash, then drove around the corner of the store to the car wash entrance. AW, SHIT ! There was a line-up of eight cars in front of me. And no way to back out of the line. It took us an hour to get into the “one car at a time” automatic “touchless” car wash ... <fume> ! Oh, well ... at least the car is cleaned of winter road grime.

Before we went out to buy take out supper at a nearby Lebanese restaurant I did a dumbbell weights exercise session in the motel’s fitness room. When we were ready for supper we walked with Apollo to the restaurant where we ordered shawarma spiced diced lamb on a bed of seasoned fries. We took it back to our motel room and had it with bagged salad from a grocery store. It was very good !

Monday ; Medicine Hat, Alberta to Regina, Saskatchewan

Sunny, 20° C at 10:40 AM this morning when we left Medicine Hat, Alberta, 17° C when we stopped for lunch in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, 15° C this afternoon in Moose Jaw, and ... <sputter> ... +4° C an hour later when we arrived in Regina at 4:30 PM ! With wind blowing at 60 km./hr. BRRRRR !

When we crossed through the Crowsnest Pass from British Columbia’s Rocky Mountains into Alberta’s flatlands on Sunday we seemed to enter a slow moving warm front, moving west to east. Today we drove out of it near Moose Jaw and the temperature plummeted. We know this warm front is moving slowly from west to east because the temperature at home in Dugald, Manitoba is forecast to increase significantly on Thursday.

Today was summer from Medicine Hat, Alberta to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, then suddenly it was winter again !

Tuesday ; Regina, Saskaktchewan to Dugald, Manitoba

Sunny, +4° C in Regina, Saskatchewan when we left at 10:15 AM. Sunny, +5° C when we arrived at home in Dugald, Manitoba at 7:30 PM. WHEW ... Regina to Dugald is a bit too far to drive in one day for an old man like me.

When we checked out of our motel this morning we drove a very short distance to Superstore and refilled the minivan with fuel at their Mobil Fuel Bar, then reset our watches and the clocks in the car to Winnipeg / Central Daylight Time before continuing eastbound on Trans-Canada Highway 1.

We pulled into Moosomin, Saskatchewan to have lunch, but there seemed to be no suitable place there to eat lunch in the car ... and have access to restrooms. We stopped at the Co-op Food Store to use their restrooms then continued driving, stopping again a short distance later at the Saskatchewan / Manitoba border Visitor Info Centre. HMPH ! Still closed for the winter. Should have known / remembered. Why invest in the considerable infrastructure costs to build a Visitor Info Centre at the provincial border, then have it open / operational for only six months (or less ?) per year ? ! ? We ate lunch in the car, then continued on our way.

We stopped again at Superstore in Brandon to refill with fuel again, and buy a few grocery items for supper tonight and breakfast tomorrow morning. I was feeling pretty tired already, so Joanne drove from Brandon to Portage La Prairie to allow me to rest and snooze.

Apollo wasn’t aware we were home until he woke up in the Dugald Estates parkade, and even then he seemed a bit confused. Were we at home ? Or in the Victoria Public Library underground parkade again. HA HA HA ! You’re a very good traveller dog, Apollo, welcome home !

Good news ; Bell MTS had turned on our TV service, as pre-arranged last fall.

Bad news ; Bell MTS had NOT turned on our Internet service as pre-arranged last fall. <fume> Great ! More call centre drama tomorrow ! ! !

More bad news ; one of our bedroom windows is shattered ! HUH ?

Wednesday ; Dugald, Manitoba

Cloudy, windy, light rain, +4 C. BRRRRR ! Still winter here !

This morning I unloaded most of our winter stuff that was in the car ; suitcases, tote boxes, backpacks, etc. before Joanne took the car and headed to Southdale (Winnipeg). She picked up a blood test requisition from our doctor’s office, then went to a nearby lab to have blood drawn for testing, in advance of next week’s CT scan at Selkirk Hospital. After finishing at the lab she went to the nearby Co-op Food Store and did quite a bit of grocery shopping.

I phoned Bell MTS to resolve the “no internet” drama. As expected, the biggest problem was the ineptitude of the call centre, as well as the source of the problem being another simple error / omission of ineptitude by a tech support geek. When the billing department sent a “restore after seasonal disconnect” order to the technical support (geek) department for our TV and internet service, some inept geek read the order incompletely, restored our TV service, and did not notice that the order also included “restore internet service”. And while I was on hold for nineteen minutes waiting for the first call centre agent to “investigate”, I was abruptly disconnected ... <fume> ... and had to start the entire process over again, including another lengthy wait for “the next available agent” !

I spent much of the day on “return home” chores. In the evening, over dinner, we watched Survivor and Amazing Race.

We’re glad to be home in our very comfortable suite, with our own comfortable mattress and pillows, etc.

And we found out from our next door neighbour that about half a dozen or so suites in our building had windows spontaneously shatter on the coldest night of the winter, including one in her suite.

DSK

March 27 to April 2, 2025 ; Cobble Hill, Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island to Grand Forks, British Columbia

 Thursday ; Overcast, +11° C in Cobble Hill, +14° C in Duncan.

Today was Apollo’s regularly scheduled “grooming day”. Before lunch we trimmed his nails (using my Dremel style grinding tool), plucked and cleaned his ears, and trimmed some hair. He is desperately in need of a full haircut, but it is still going to be winter as we drive across Alberta and Saskatchewan, and for probably a few more weeks in Manitoba after we’re home, so ... we are leaving his hair long (and tangled/matted) for now. Gee, Apollo ... maybe use some conditioner ? HA HA HA !

Immediately after lunch we headed to Duncan for what we hope was our final grocery shopping trip, and to give Apollo a bath at Bosley’s. But before Duncan, we stopped at the local dog park to allow Apollo to empty himself out. Once in Duncan Joanne and I shopped together at Wal-Mart, then while she went to Dollarama I went to Bosley’s to buy some probiotic treats for Apollo and get started on his bath. I struggled briefly with bathing him alone before Joanne showed up. And ... HA HA HA ... this Bosley’s store not only provided a variety of shampoos for use at their dog wash station, but ... <insert drum roll here> ... conditioners ! HA HA HA ... thanks, but ... it didn’t help one tiny bit. His hair was a tangled mess before the bath and even worse after. HA HA HA !

Before leaving Duncan we stopped at Salty’s Fish & Chips to buy two large fillets of battered, deep fried, fresh halibut to have later for tonight’s dinner, with plans for Joanne to make cole slaw and fries to go along with the fish. This was our third purchase of restaurant prepared halibut fillets this winter season, and Salty’s today was by far the best ! We do not buy halibut anywhere other than on British Columbia’s coast, due to exorbitant prices and questionable freshness elsewhere. Well ... even here the prices are exorbitant ! BUT ... <smacking lips> ... oh, so good !

Joanne prepared dinner, I lit a fire in the fireplace, and while eating and afterwards we watched yesterday’s episode of Survivor and enjoyed the fire.

Friday ; Overcast, intermittent very light rain, +9° C.

Today we began preparing for departure on Tuesday. Joanne did some housecleaning. We gave Apollo a bit of a hair trim, concentrating on trimming his face and head enough that his eyes are visible, and cutting mats off his hips. We moved a few items that we are unlikely to need over the next few days back to the car. I cleaned ashes out of the fireplace.

And in more important news ... it seems as if our new Prime Minister’s first phone call with the American President went fairly well ... n’est-ce pas ? ! ! !

Saturday ; Cloudy, occasional very light rain, +9° C.

Late this morning we loaded up our sizeable collection of recyclables and took them to the local recycling depot. From there we headed into Duncan to pay a last visit to the Saturday morning Duncan Farmers Market. Apollo was ecstatic about visiting the farmers market again. <shrug> I wonder why he finds it to be so stimulating a place ? Lots of interesting people, lots of interesting dogs, lots of interesting scents, I guess.

We bought some Saskatoon berry cinnamon buns and some Saskatoon berry jam to take home to Manitoba. We had been planning to also buy more frozen beef pho soup, but the pho soup place was not at the market today.

We spent the afternoon preparing for our early Tuesday departure, packing and loading stuff into the car.

Sunday ; Cobble Hill to Victoria and return

Mix of sun and clouds, +9° C in Cobble Hill, +16° C in Victoria <sigh> 20 / 20 hindsight !

After an early lunch we departed Xanadu Estate at 1 PM heading for Victoria, and a Victoria Symphony Orchestra concert at 2:30 PM. We were in the Victoria Public Library’s underground parkade at 2 PM and returned there at 5 PM. Poor Apollo spent three hours alone in the car waiting for us. AND ... <sputter> ... he was barking when we left the car, and still barking when we returned three hours later. His abandonment anxiety / lack of willingness to relax when left alone in the car (or our hotel suite while we were in Victoria) has increased over the winter. We don’t know if it is due to aging, or simply due to him becoming more and more “spoiled”, in that we leave him alone so infrequently. Good dog, Apollo ... <whispering> ... sort of !

Today’s concert was a symphony orchestra live performance of a film’s musical soundtrack, while the movie played on a giant screen above the orchestra. We enjoy these symphony orchestra live accompaniment to film soundtrack performances immensely. Today’s film was Princess Bride. It was stupendous ! The orchestra’s performance and ... the film itself, which neither Joanne nor I had seen before. As the conductor was introducing today’s performance, he asked the audience, by show of hands, who had seen the movie when it was originally released in 1987, who had seen it multiple times since then, etc. When he asked who in the audience had never seen it before ... HA HA HA HA HA ... I was the only raised hand in the entire Victoria Royal Theatre. HMPH ! Maybe I should start calling my little wifey Judas ? ! ? HA HA HA !

The audience seemed to be primarily comprised of middle aged women, in groups. I can only surmise these were groups of women who have been friends since their teen years, and all saw the movie together when they were teenagers. HA HA HA ... you go, girls !

On the drive back to Cobble Hill we stopped in Langford to refill the minivan with fuel at Superstore’s Mobil Fuel Bar. Next fuel stop should likely be Hope, B.C.

Joanne made pizza for supper. I lit our last fire in the fireplace, and we watched last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live.

Monday ; Mostly sunny, +8° C.

Today was dedicated to packing and loading in preparation for departure tomorrow morning. Apollo is excited, he recognizes that “something is happening”.

Tuesday ; Cobble Hill to Hope

Sunny on Vancouver Island, cloudy on the mainland, +13° C.

We were up at 7 AM with plans to check out of Xanadu Estate at 10 AM and make it to the Victoria ferry terminal in time to catch the noon ferry to Vancouver. Thanks to Joanne’s excellent organization and efforts of yesterday we were ready to leave Xanadu Estate a half hour earlier than planned, at 9:30 AM, which gave us a possibility of making it to the Victoria ferry terminal in time to catch the 11 AM ferry. IF ... <whispering> ... I ignored speed limits south on the Malahat Highway to Victoria, through Victoria, then north to the tip of the Saanich Peninsula, where the airport and ferry terminal are both located. We made it !

We noticed on previous ferry crossings that many people ignore the regulations to NOT remain in their vehicles during the crossing, but leave the lower car decks and go upstairs to the passenger decks, for safety reasons apparently. Today we decided to do the same, to give Apollo a break from the anxiety producing ordeal of spending another two hours alone in the car. He’s endured a lot of alone time in the car this past winter.

On the ferry crossing from Vancouver to Victoria last December 1, when we returned to our car a few minutes before arrival at the Victoria ferry terminal, the woman in the car behind us bitched at us about Apollo barking for the entire two hours he was alone in the car. Well ... sweetheart ... since you remained in your vehicle in violation of safety regulations, I don’t really give a tiny rat’s ass about your complaint. Have a nice day !

The ferry departed on time at 11 AM and arrived at Tsawassen (Vancouver) on time a few minutes before 1 PM. If we had been on the noon ferry as initially planned, we were going to eat lunch during the ferry crossing. But since we were an hour earlier than planned, we decided to defer lunch for about an hour, until reaching Abbotsford where we knew there was a very nice highway rest area.

NOT ! ! ! <sputter > The rest area was now ... <blink blink> ... a huge homeless encampment, filled with extremely decrepit RV’s, jammed in “shoulder to shoulder”, surrounded by junk and garbage. And large, ugly dogs ! Some of the decrepit RV’s were obviously abandoned, windows broken out, doors ripped off, interiors trashed. There was no room for vehicles coming in off the highway to park to use the restrooms. We squeezed into half a handicapped parking spot beside a decrepit trailer filling 1½ of the rest area’s two handicapped parking spots. We used the restrooms quickly, then got the hell out of there and ate our lunch as we continued driving east on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 towards Hope.

There were two police vehicles parked outside the rest area, with emergency rooftop lights flashing. The police officers were in the rest area, providing “security” to the three truckloads of BC Ministry Of Highways electricians who were working on repairing / restoring the huge lamp posts which had been “opened” at the bottom by “removing” access hatches, with a variety of “Mexican electrician” wires spliced in to power some of the decrepit trailers. SHEESH !

We had begun using this lovely rest area the first year it had been developed, somewhere between ten and fifteen years ago, sometimes when we were travelling in the fall from our summer home in the BC Okanagan area to our winter home in Yuma, Arizona, or returning in the spring, and sometimes when we were delivering trailers (our summer side hustle) to or from the Vancouver area or Vancouver Island. When the rest area was first developed it had the very unique feature of having a few RV electrical hookups for the convenience of RV’s boondocking overnight, which we did quite a few times there in the first couple of years. After a couple of years, the RV electrical hookups were removed, because they were already becoming monopolized by the homeless / near homeless.

What we saw there today was absolutely appalling !

We reached Hope around 4 PM. The first thing I did in town was go to Kal Tire to adjust the air pressure in the tire that has been losing air extremely slowly all winter long. It needs an adjustment about once a month. Then I refilled the minivan with fuel at a Chevron fuel station, one of the stations in town that had lowered its fuel prices today ... as all stations should have done ... due to the elimination of both federal and provincial fuel taxes effective today. Finally, we found our motel, but before checking in we went across the street to the lovely, large municipal park, and took Apollo for a long, leisurely walk.

At the Chevron fuel station, as I was pumping fuel, a dishevelled, scrawny, scruffy young woman (homeless ?) approached me and asked if we would give her a ride back to Manitoba. UHHH ... no !

On the wall behind the front desk of the motel was a huge blow up of a picture taken of Sylvester Stallone in a fight scene in front of the motel, from the 1982 filming in Hope, BC of “Rambo : First Blood”.

Wednesday ; Hope to Grand Forks

Sun, clouds, rain, snow blizzard, a little bit of everything, 6° C in Hope, 1° C through Manning Provincial Park, with snow blizzard conditions, 13° C in Keremeos, where we lived for about 14 years, 16° C in Osoyoos, sunny but I was too tired to notice temperature when we arrived in Grand Forks at 5:30 PM.

We checked out of our motel and left Hope at 10:45 AM, continuing east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3. The Hope to Princeton segment of Crowsnest Hwy. 3 is one of the most dangerous and difficult to drive sections of highway in all of Canada, in my opinion. Especially when towing huge fifth wheel trailers behind a one ton diesel dually truck, which I did too many times to count back in my trailer towing side hustle days.

Not surprisingly the weather was bad through Manning Provincial Park and the rest of the way to Princeton. Princeton to Grand Forks was sunny, except ... when we were eating our lunch at the municipal park in Keremeos we watched a small, but vicious rain squall pass over K Mountain behind the village.

Just before reaching Keremeos we drove slowly through Riverside RV Park Resort, our home from 2007 to 2021. A lot of properties are for sale in the community, and ... prices have plummeted since we sold and left four years ago. Our previous home is for sale again, for at least the second time since we sold it. In the village of Keremeos we stopped to buy some fruit (and pakoras and samosas for lunch) at what used to be our favourite produce stand, Sanderson Farms.

The area where we used to live always had been and still is still a beautiful place !

DSK

March 20 to 26, 2025 ; Cobble Hill, B.C.

 Thursday ; Sunny in the morning, cloudy in the afternoon, raining in the evening, +6° C.

I’m feeling a bit bored here at Xanadu Estate in Cobble Hill. The weather, ever since our arrival on January 31, has been less than ideal and not very conducive to getting out and exploring. There was more to do, the weather was warmer, and we were more active while in Victoria in December and January. I guess I’m feeling just about ready for our return back home to Dugald Estates in a couple of weeks. Oh, well ... lesson learned for next year !

I thought our plan for today was to go to Salt Spring Island for a day trip of exploring. Joanne thought our plan was to go on Saturday. HMPH ! Apparently I was mistaken !

This afternoon Joanne went by herself to replenish produce at Old Farm Market while Apollo and I napped.

In the evening I made another fire in the fireplace and we watched last night’s episode of Survivor

Friday ; Raining all day, +5° C.

We are all feeling SOOOOO bored, and suffering from “cabin fever”. We overestimated what / how much there was to see and do out here in our “mansion in the woods” suite, and were ignorant about how different the weather was here than in Victoria. In desperation I suggested, around 5 PM, that we go to the dog park for awhile just to “get out of the house”.

Well ... we did. But ... it was raining heavily, it was cold, and like all the rest of the dogs in the dog park, Apollo got quite muddy. Oh, well, at least we got out for awhile. It is now a little after 7 PM, Joanne has begun to prepare supper, I’m here typing on the laptop, and Apollo ... well, he’s still a bit wet and muddy, looking a bit miserable, lying on the couch, wrapped in a blankie.

Saturday ; Cobble Hill to Salt Spring Island & return

Sunny and 7° C in the morning in Cobble Hill, cloudy and 10° C in the afternoon on Salt Spring Island, raining when we got back onto Vancouver Island at 6 PM, and rain for the rest of the day.

Well ... better late than never ... we finally got to Salt Spring Island for a day of exploring. We left Xanadu Estate at 10:30 AM and drove north through Duncan to the little village of Crofton to catch the ferry to Salt Spring Island at 11:30 AM. The ferry arrived at Vesuvius Bay on the west coast of Salt Spring Island at noon. We drove to the centre of the island, to Ganges, the main town on the island.

It was a lot more “spring time” on Salt Spring Island than at Xanadu Estate / Cobble Hill. Daffodils were blooming, cherry trees were in blossom, etc.

We spent about half the afternoon exploring in and around Ganges, and about half the afternoon exploring south and north on the island. Most of our exploring in and around Ganges was on foot. We visited a glass foundry art gallery first, then a multitude of specialty food shops. We had lunch at Buzzy’s ... “A Montreal Jewish deli from an island with more bears than Jews” ... HA HA HA ! Exquisite Montreal smoked meat sandwiches and concoctions. I had a “Bare Naked Lady”, a smoked meat platter with everything except bread. But including a latke. Joanne had smoked meat chili. It was great ! I’d like to try making that at home. Lunch was so good ... how good was it, Dan ? ... I bought a half pound of Montreal style smoked meat to take home for lunch sandwiches. Before leaving Ganges we bought three loaves of bread and some pastries at a bakery.

From Ganges we drove south to Salt Spring Island Cheese, a cheese making goat farm. I had bought one of their cheeses while we were in Victoria in December. Very good ! Very expensive. Slightly cheaper at the farm gate / cheese making factory. In December I had placed then cancelled an order for one of their “Christmas baskets” as a gift for Joanne when she ... <ahem> ... “reminded” me that she doesn’t like goat cheese. But today at their cheese shop all their products were available for sampling. We tried some, she liked some ! (and I disliked some !) We bought three types of their goat cheeses today. They will be a great pairing with the sourdough and light rye sourdough bread boules we bought at Embe Bakery in Ganges.

We drove back to and through Ganges then to the north end of Salt Spring Island, to visit a sheep farm. We were unable to shop in their wool products shop because we arrived a few minutes after their 4 PM closing, but we did walk around outside and visit with Teddy Bear the sheep, Lexi the billy goat, and Nigel the tom turkey, a few of the friendlier animals around their farm. Nigel seems to be responsible for “protecting” a small flock of hen turkeys, and he was not shy about gobbling loudly and fan spreading his tail feathers to show how large and threatening he could be. He had a loud argument with Joanne. HA HA HA ... she started it ! Who knew that my 71 year old little wifey could imitate a turkey gobble so well ? HA HA HA <snort> HA HA !

While at the north end of the island we also visited a couple of farm stands before heading back south to the ferry terminal at Vesuvius Bay to catch the 5:30 PM ferry back to Crofton on Vancouver Island. We could see the very heavy rain on Vancouver Island as we crossed on the ferry. Sure enough, as we arrived back at Crofton, it was raining, and remained raining quite heavily for the rest of the evening.

On the way home to Xanadu Estate we stopped in Duncan to refill with fuel at Superstore’s Mobil Fuel Bar. We arrived back home around 7 PM just as it got dark. Hey, Apollo, how did you like your first ever visit to Salt Spring Island ? Poor Apollo, he was exhausted from having a big day of exploring.

Sunday ; Raining all day ... forecast to rain all next week ... 9° C.

Mostly because of yesterday’s adventure, we slept very late this morning. Mostly because of today’s weather, we had a fairly lazy day.

Joanne did some laundry. I wrote yesterday’s journal entry, did yesterday’s credit card accounting, downloaded yesterday’s photos from the i-Phone to the laptop and processed them, paid some bills online, finally received and downloaded the late T3’s, etc.

In the evening we relaxed in front of a fire in the fireplace.

Monday ; Cloudy, intermittent light rain, +9° C.

Today was another lazy day of computer work, and watching news, mostly because of the poor weather. Credit card bill payments and statement reconciliations, income tax preparation work ... got the T3’s entered ...

Tuesday ; Sunny, +12° C. Nice spring day ! Finally !

We went to Country Grocer just before lunch to pick up a few grocery items. I spent the afternoon finishing our income tax returns. WOO-HOO ... DONE !

Wednesday ; Mostly sunny and ... <blink blink> ... warm ! +15° C. Thunderstorms late in the evening.

I wasn’t feeling well today so this afternoon I stayed home with Apollo while Joanne went to Duncan to replenish groceries ... probably for the last time ... at Superstore. I did some work on income tax planning for this year / next year. I did some work on next winter’s accommodations planning.

Lately we have been spending a lot of our time chatting about politics and current events, both in Canada and ... to the south !

ELBOWS UP, CANADA !

<muttering> Asshole !

DSK

March 13 to 19, 2025 ; Cobble Hill, B.C.

 Thursday ; Mostly sunny, windy, a very chilly +3° C.

I spent much of today getting “caught up” after yesterday’s day trip to Vancouver ; credit card accounting, writing yesterday’s journal / blog entry, downloading and processing photos and videos from the i-Phone to the laptop, posting my weekly journal to my blog.

While Joanne prepared supper I made an excellent fire in our fireplace, and it burned bright and warm for the rest of the evening. We had supper while enjoying the fire and watching last night’s episode of Survivor.

Friday ; Sunny, +7° C.

This afternoon we went to Country Grocer in Cobble Hill, then Superstore in Duncan to replenish groceries. On the way back home we went to the Cobble Hill dog park. We were there between 5 PM and 6 PM so there were a lot more dogs there than usual. Apollo is not all that interested in socializing with other dogs, but he certainly enjoys meeting people.

Saturday ; Raining, +3° C.

Today was a long, difficult day of nothing but bickering, ending with a lot of anger and hurt. HMPH ! Haven’t done that in quite awhile !

Sunday ; Mostly sunny, still not all that warm at +6° C.

We will be certain not to repeat this year’s mistake of spending only half the winter in Victoria, where it was and continues to consistently be 5° warmer than here in Cobble Hill. <shrug> HMPH ... learning curve !

Tonight it was my turn to make supper. I made another Udon noodle stir fry creation.

Monday ; Mix of sun and clouds, intermittent rain ... and a short bout of hail (!), +4° C.

We had planned to make another visit to a local beach area today, but the weather was not co-operative. It seems as if we are going to have chilly, wet weather for most of the upcoming week. <sigh>

This afternoon I worked again on preparing our income tax returns. BORING !

And this evening I made another lovely fire in the fireplace, and we watched multiple episodes of The Dog House, a British show chronicling the workings of a dog rescue shelter.

Tuesday ; Mostly sunny, +7° C. Seemed a lot colder than that at the beach !

Mid-afternoon we headed to nearby Cherry Point Nature Park (beach). BRRRRR ! Windy ! We had not expected that, as there was no wind at home / Xanadu Estate. We didn’t stay at the beach long.

Back at home I continued the boring work on our income tax returns. I’m slightly stymied by a couple of late T3’s that I have not yet received.

Wednesday ; Mix of sun and clouds, +7° C.

This afternoon Joanne went grocery shopping by herself ; Country Grocer in Cobble Hill, Dollar Tree and Superstore in Duncan. I stayed home and napped with Apollo, then paid bills, reconciled February bank statements, and continued working on preparation of our income tax returns. Almost finished, just awaiting that last set of late T3’s.

DSK