One more time.......?

My little shout-out to Coasters Coffee in New Westminster, good capuccinno, with an artistic froth.

 

On the road for the annual trip to Summerland, well, don't let the Coquihalla Highway being closed and a big truck accident west of Princeton on the only highway open stop you. (But alas, it sure did.) 

We use to be back there at the end of the line.....

......yikes, added almost an extra couple of hours to the trip.

The, made it to Princeton, we've got a week-end to get to, mandatory selfie, pic.

This is the 2025 version of sis and Ritsue hanging out at the chicken coop pic. (5th or 6th annual?)

Well, well, well, this is a first. (In this vehicle.)  Unk and I headed out on a about Summerland road trip.

Sitting above Summerland, there it is, Unk's 1959 Chevrolet Apache, what a beaut!

This is the first time we have met their new Bichon, Cherrie. (Of course, she naturally went to Ritsue the Dog Whisperer.)

The next day we went to the family grave in Penticton. Finally, a new marker for sister Gail.

Unk and Ritsue are probably the two biggest posers I know, lol. He had the sign, she had the beer!

The new, mandatory, park my retirement ride at the boat launch in Summerland on Okanagan Lake, pic.

We had a great Airbnb a block from Okanagan Lake in Trout Creek, was nice walking for sure.

Tried to get a moon in the day pic, still not a bad view.

Dusk, looking north from Powell Beach.

A new annual event? Ritsue got the green light to trim Unk's hair. Was pretty entertaining for Sis and I.

Well, the picture doesn't tell the whole story. This egg from their chickens was easily twice the size of a normal egg. Unfortunately on the way to the refrigerator........(but I saw it!!) 

An afternoon thirst quencher at the Summerland Cider Company. Nice of the kids to show up! (Private joke, har-har.)

On our way out of town we went to Summerland Sweets for some more of their amazing pancake syrups and an amazing ice cream cone. Well, our timing was bang on, the Summerland steam train just happened to pay us a visit.

Steam train selfie!

Man, that's some good timing right there, driver.

This has not been altered, lol. Unk and sis gave us a dozen eggs from their chickens, look at the variety!

On the road again, again

The, to the untrained eye, the Cincinnati Reds hat is very, very close to my beloved Hiroshima Carp hat, pic. (Which came first, the chicken or the egg?)

 

You know what they say, "it's not the size of your Gobo root."

Ritsue made Gobo tots! They were very tasty, with an earthy taste and crunchy texture, yum.

Bye-bye to the mainland..........

......junior and I were on a mission.....

....no, not to find every cool pub and brewery on the island, although I do recommend the Waverley Hotel bar in Cumberland. 'Twas back on Vancouver Island scoping out potential retirement destinations again.

He takes his flights very seriously!

Well, If I used any excuse to have a beer, it would be due to these spicy, curly, did I say spicy?, fries.

Home base was in Campbell River. The next day was supposed to be scoping out houses, but we couldn't help ourselves and ended up going for a stroll just north at Ripple Rock.

Ya, and yuk, be careful where you step, they were everywhere.

We were trying to make it to the look-out at Seymour Narrows, but alas, we were out of time and had to turn back here, wherever here was.

That's a big Doug Fir right there, I'll tell you what.

Well, I must say, again, driving on the Island highway is like a professional driver's dream. How about that, no traffic looking ahead north.........

......and looking back, nothing as well. La, la, la, la, la..........

We had a quick peek at Brown's Bay Resort. Could be a future week-end escape destination.

Hey, that looks like Unk's handiwork.

All that searching and exploring makes one thirsty. The Riptide Marina Pub was a great place to eat, drink, and watch the Oilers' game.

After, we took a stroll around the marina.

What a pleasant evening with pleasant surroundings.

Our Airbnb home away from home for 2 nights, pretty nice.

Well the 2 days fly by and all of a sudden it was time to head out to the ferry. (Not before we grabbed a coffee for the road at the Royston Roasting Co and Coffee House in Royston. (Now that's an area I could live in, quiet and close to the water.)

Had our own window seat from the pick-up for the trip, nice.

.......back to the Mainland. Next?

Take it Easy.......

Walking about the neighbourhood, Scooter here has the right idea, takin' it easy.

 

Ya, like spending a Friday afternoon at a Vancouver Canadians baseball game.

She's always in the right place at the right time, lol. This time some hang time with Bob Brown Bear and Wasabi.

.....and as always, it seems, Wasabi won the mascot race, but Soy Sauce was right there as well, photo finish!

All and all, a great afternoon.

There she is again, this time at the finish line of the BMO Vancouver marathon. We decided to volunteer at the last minute, and were quite surprised they put us in a very strategic position......

.......no, not at the finish line. Somewhere way more important. We, and 6 others, were entrusted with pedestrian traffic control at the corners of Bute St. and West Pender St., the finish straight away. Ritsue was in charge of the holding coral in the middle of Pender. We had to steer the runners to the north side or the south side, and then let the people and their pets cross.

.....and there were a lot of runners! (over 25,000) Our 5 hour shift went by very quickly. 

It was a lot of fun cheering all the participants on and mingling with the crowd.

Omg! Pat picked me out of the crowd. I haven't seen this guy in years. He was actually working for the marathon, which I have also done in the past. We became good friends when we worked on the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay and the 2012 25th anniversary Rick Hansen relay.

The last challenge was to navigate through this crowd to get to the sky-train.

.....the days after that, just taking it easy, walking, exploring......

Sidebar, you know you're getting old when you have to screenshot the floss container then zoom in so you can read what's on it, pic.

Tried Sushi On on Edmonds for the first time. Tasted like it looks! We'll be back!

Taking it easy watching the Stanley Cup play-offs, look at that fan donning the Stanley Cup colors!

The, hey there's some beautiful blossoms, I'll (and many others) take a pic, then realized they look better to the naked eye, pic.

This is where taking it easy come to an end, lol. My handyman hat doesn't fit very well, sigh.