Otter be happy....

 

To be living the retired life in Parksville, you bet!

A lot cooler at Sunray Beach in March, (albeit sunny) as opposed to the balmier 20 C we experienced today.

Yay, our newest addition to the family, door stopper guy!

Walking to these beaches close to our place has become an almost daily ritual.

Not a White Rock, but I'll take it!

Need to get out on the water soon.........

Tide's out at Rathtrevor........

....and so are we!

....always sunny in Parksville!......

...without.......

....a shadow of a doubt!

Mount Aerosmith Brewing Company is really close to Rathtrevor Beach......

....so when in Rome......

We had the best view from our truck as we hopped on the ferry.....

.....and headed back to the mainland.

...we had bought tickets to Les Miserables at the Queen Elizabeth theatre in Vancouver many months ago. Had a great night with Teala and her beau Aaron. 

Sunday morning we had a quick look at the cherry blossoms in Burnaby, grabbed the last few things from storage and headed back to the ferry at Horseshoe Bay........

......where we ran into Junior! He was also in the ferry line-up, but was heading to Gibsons, where he's working on t.v. series that is being filmed there.

.....back to retirement.

....the not so random, cuz I took this pic, cannot remember why or even what it is, mystery pic.

A short walk from our place to get a great view looking out from Doehle Ave. to the Strait of Georgia and all the surroundings.

...been to Coombs quite a few times now. It's eccentric, but the fruit and vegetable market is worth the 10 minute drive from our place.

...new posing territory!

.....too early in the season for the "Goats on the Roof." These two were chilling in the sun just behind the market. (As of the May long week-end, the goats are back on the roof, just sayin...)

....one more "tides out at Rathtrevor" pic....

One this day we found Beachcomber Regional Park in Nanoose Bay.

....and so had about 15 seals. It was an entertaining afternoon.

All that exploring left us quite thirsty, once again. The Rocking Horse Pub in Nanoose Bay had just what we needed, lol.

Ritsue made a new friend when we were at the French Creek Pub in French Creek, less than 5 minutes from our place.

Outside the pub was quite a gathering at French Creek. (Apparently for the Herring spawn)

My truck was at the Ford dealer for yet another recall notice. (3 alone since we've moved here.) It took 2 weeks for the parts to arrive, so I was given this rental Chevy Malibu to tool around in. (and it was okay, I must say.)

Another add to our favourites list. Bill G's Doughnuts in Coombs, well, wow! I recommend the 5 o'clock somewhere.

Ritsue was equally enjoying the Prairie Schooner.

Another day, another Legion break.......

Yup, a good start to the day, and retirement.........

....not the same old song......

 .....it was time. Time to pack up the owls. (yup, one for the deck, and one for Halloween) TBC.......

......beautiful Burnaby sky, but not for much longer........

.....and a beautiful night this was at Tugboat Annie's in Richmond.

.....and that was a good portion of fish and chips, I'll tell you what. (...and just perfect as we're not sure when we'll make it back there again.)

.... not sure what happened with this moon shot, but interesting enough.....

Will never forget all those morning views of Mt. Baker.

On this night, I hopped on the SkyTrain and headed downtown to meet up with fellow Teamster cast driving peep Jordan.

I had a couple of tickets to see the Canucks and Dallas Stars, good for me, lol.

Oh ya! One frosty cold one and a Stanley Steamer dog please!!

Dang, we had pretty good seats.....

Getting amped up, the good old hockey game! (kudos to the late great Stompin' Tom Conners)

Actually, the final score was 6-1. I surprisingly wasn't too upset. I was fascinated how one team (Dallas) could be on such a high while the other team were the complete opposite. Canucks finished the season in 32nd place, last in the N.H.L. They had 58 points, the next worst was Chicago Blackhawks with 72. (Ohhh, I can't let myself get me started!)

A lot of my Teamster peeps were working their last day on a show called Watson. Junior was working on it as well, so I drove down to say hi, and Eugene (I call him the most interesting Teamster in film, for so many reasons. He's the random trivia king.) took me into one of the cast trailer rooms and made me the most refreshing cappuccino. He really knows his coffee. Thanks Eugene!

This I will try to forget, a rare March 10th snowfall causing chaos in my neighborhood. (Actually all over the lower mainland.) We got through it.......

...but it stuck for awhile, yuk.

... okay, for the most part we were just acting. (poorly, lol) Feeling a little unsettled right now, definitely needed a shot, though.

Hey! Who ordered that moving van that showed up outside of our building?

Oh ya, it was us. Wow, after 3 months of planning it was finally moving day.

Where did everything go? This night was spent in a hotel in Burnaby.

The following day was spent getting a lot of stuff out of our rented storage unit, before it was time......

.....to head to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal to catch the 8:30 p.m. ferry to.........

.....our new home! There's the moving truck.....

....and there's the mess......

.....oh boy, I see some work ahead here.....

...cheers to our first night and our move to Parksville!

We were couchless, so the first couple of nights was lawn chairs, but all good. (At least the internet and cable were hooked up!)

Our first visitor.......

The neighbours have been very welcoming. One couple brought us these flowers, while another lady baked us some fresh muffins. Everyone is so friendly here.

....of course we had to check out the local Legion. (This is in Qualicum Beach, just up the road.)

....and the start of a new routine, keep track of garbage, compost, and recycling day! (lol, makes me smile that my pick-up truck does not fit in the garage. Well it does, but I have to fold the mirrors in and take the antennae off. It's probably staying outside, lol.) Definitely not a deal breaker.

I think the blog title was from an old Monkees song, "take the last train to Clarksville. I adjusted it a little to make it our own song, "take the last ferry to Parksville." It's a hit with us, for sure!