Will I see you in September.........

Well I did see this in September, ahhh, one of my favourite beach access points......

 

The sun rising on Doehle Ave, beauty start to the day!

Try to get down to these beaches at least once a day.....

......always something different......

Recently had a chance to see the Oceanside Generals hockey team. The are a junior A team in Parksville that play in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. It was a pretty fast game, was impressed. (..and they beat Kerry Park 4-3 in OT, nice!)

Went to the game with this fellow on the left. Greg and I have been friends since we were 14. We met while we were both washing dishes at the same restaurant in Penticton. (That was more than a couple of years ago, wow.)

Him and his wife Gaye came all the way from Innisfail, Alberta just to see us! (Okay, that's a fib, his sister lives close by in Qualicum Beach, so he got to kill two birds with one stone.....)

Well, well. I came home from the hockey game and found all this on the dining room table, could it be?........

....and there they are! (Yes, we saw them in September.) Ritsue's family came from Japan for a visit. Let the games begin!

Took Ritsue's mom and sister for a walk in the hood, which includes the 104 step Doehle Beach Access grind!

Of course happy hour at the Bayside Resort was a Parksville must. Great deals and what a view of the Georgia Strait!

Ha, don't know why I'm trying to hide.......

The, every time they are or will be in town, this Bayside Resort photo op, pic.

Oh my, this is going to be good! Ritsue and fam picked up fresh salmon fillets at the French Creek Seafood market. Thanks to Ritsue, our kitchen is quickly becoming the best restaurant in Parksville!

One guess where we went exploring the following day. It was a beary nice start to our visit.

The second time here for Ritsue and I and it did not disappoint.

It all happened so fast but they got a quick glimpse of an Orca, yay! (Ha, it was gone by the time I went back to the truck to get binoculars.)

Does not look like it, but Alberni inlet feeds out into the Pacific, how beautiful!

Stopped at Cathedral Grove on the way back. So majestic!

.....and there's a majestic family right there!!

......leaves one a thinking, at least it does for me. Next up.................tbc.

The calm before the.........

What a peaceful morning at one of my favourite beach access spots close to my home. (So close to Parksville, but yet so far....)

 

.....flashback, a couple of pics I did not include in the last blog of our visit with the sisters in Victoria.

Well, this wasn't the angle, but all and all a nice visit to the Penny Farthing Pub in Oak Bay.

Well, not sure about my "Scherzer" look. (He was awesome yesterday, just sayin...) Actually, we were quite enjoying a pint at the Lantzville Legion on this day.

 

Try to get out biking at least once a week. My favourite stop is this beach access close to Qualicum.

Never the same view.........

....my new buddy, "Poser". (Certainly has more patience than I do, lol.)

The random, walking in the neighbourhood, not sure what is on this rock, doesn't matter, I'm lichen it, pic.

Caught a glimpse on this day at French Creek......

Just a nice sunrise pic at my go to beach access close to home.

We are certainly having trouble getting adjusted to having marble counter tops. We are officially down to our last wine glass.....

All depends if the tide is in or out.

On this day, I made my way down to the harbour in Nanaimo.......

...there it is, the sailboat with the green sail.

Where I got to hang with my my two school buddies, Mike and Andy, and Andy's brother Tom. Haven't seen Mike in 10 plus years, and Andy and Tom, well it's been 40 years at least.

Mike is my oldest (time frame, not age, lol) friend. We grew up in Penticton and lived 4 houses apart. I have known him since Grade 4.

There he goes back to Andy's sailboat. They were on a 2 week cruise around the islands off of Vancouver Island. (Can you believe Mike and I both fit in that dinghy?)

In advance of Ritsue's family visiting us from Japan, we scouted around the area. We went to Port Alberni on this day. I was quite surprised at the size of the pulp mill there.

We spent the afternoon at the Alberni Harbour Quay....

All that scouting made us thirsty, so a visit to the Dog Mountain Brewery was in order.

.... and it was definitely worth taking some home with us. We'll be back!

Ritsue is making friends with the neighbour cat???

....and making friends at the Nanoose Bay Family Day.

...I turn my back for a minute......

...I do admit Ritsue looks pretty good behind the wheel of that classic!

.... one more sunrise shot, but heck, it's a different day......

......a final, loving Port Alberni, we'll be back, the calm before the......tbc, pic.

Oceanside.........

I try to go for a walk everyday, and this part of my incentive.

 

.... always subtle and sometime not so subtle differences to observe......

.....more fun searching for those whales when the tide is out......

The bay in Parksville is always changing as well....

.......refreshment time, back to the Shady Rest pub at Qualicum beach. This time we met up with Ritsue's....

...landlords that she stayed with when she was going to school for English in Toronto. Karri and Grant don't you know.

Wow! On this Friday night we enjoyed the perogies that were the offering (nominal fair price) from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Parksville. What a treat!

Starting to find my way around on the bike. Just scoot across this bridge in French Creek, and voila.......

....you're at the water close to Qualicum Beach!

.....been back there a few times.

.... on this night, a visitor to our home. A lacewing? (don't know my bugs...)

Invasive blackberry bushes all around the neighbourhood. May as well take advantage and put them to good use.

My "in my world" famous blackberry pancakes, yum!!

....followed by our dinner, the "in her world", oden!

It was one of the hotter days and I came across this crab that got caught when the tide went out.

On my way back in I saw Mr. Resourceful had figured out a way to keep cool.

Spent one night in Victoria. We caught up with the Sistas and had a wonderful dinner hosted by Jude and Les.

Another comfortable stay at the Abbeymoore Manor in the Rockland neighbourhood of Victoria.

In the morning we had the gardens at Government House all to ourselves.

Abbeymoore manor includes the most scrumptious breakfast, including this starter fruit bowl!

On the way home we stopped at the CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum. (.tbc..)

....another beautiful day at my favourite beach access.

Here we go! It was finally time for Ritsue to get the hang of my truck, and driving in Canada.

A fun night at Parksville Community Park on this night.

Us, and about 5,000 others were out to see one of my favourite iconic Canadian bands.......

....Blue Rodeo! What a great night!

On this day we decided to go to Springford Farm in Nanoose Bay to get eggs. The cashier told us we could get a tour of the barns, so we said, "heck, why not?" Turns out Ritsue is the first person to place a pin on Japan on the where I'm from map.

Definitely more than I expected, this is only one barn!

....outside, they were hanging out and a lot of dust bathing going on.

... and this barn is where they lay the eggs, and also roost for the evening. Very interesting. (Apparently there are approximately 15,000 hens around the farms, wow!

Still waiting for the whales, but this pic of a heron will suffice on this day.

......the hummingbirds are just part of our every day now that we are on Island time in our Oceanside home. (communities in and around and including Parksville, Qualicum, and Nanoose Bay.)