June 2012 - MackTush Campsite

 

June 1st

 Well, today is very busy, the day before we move our stuff into storage.  Last night I took a load by myself in the truck with bins of clothes etc. down to Macktush.(2 hour drive)  Got there at 8pm and spend the next hour unloading!  Finally relaxed in front of the fire and eating take out chicken and it started to rain.  Oh well, at least it did not rain while I was moving stuff.  I stayed overnight, up at 6:15 am and back on the road at 7am to Nanaimo. (2 hour drive)  Then I packed another load into the truck and we drove to Errington, 45 minute drive, to his brothers and dropped of all the shed stuff.  After a few more stops, we're finally back at home at the somewhat empty house for 3pm to finally sit down.  I sat in my lazyboy, drank a beer while Ray napped to rest as he is still recovering from his "rotorooting surgery" last week!  Tonight will be spent doing the last of the laundry and last of the kitchen dishes.  We start the big move at 8:30 am tomorrow.  My last day of work is next Wednesday where I can say "I'm retired!".  Probably will not blog until after that.

Jim and Sandie (2012-06-01 17:38:17)

Retired is one of the best words in the English (or any) language. All your hard work will be so worth it when you can just relax - next week.

 

June 10th

 We moved out of the house on Saturday June 2^nd and into our summer home at Macktush Creek Campground into the fifth.   As of June 6^th, we received the money for the house and it's also my last day of work!  I am officially retired.  Tomorrow (Monday) will be wonderful as I don't need to go to work.  Now if I can only get the dog on the same page!  Up at 5am every morning so far!

After constructing shelters, tarps etc.  It finally feels like home.  We have an open concept design.... a kitchen overlooking the living room which overlooks the ocean.  We have a formal dining room (the bug tent) and guest bedroom (tent with a raised air bed).  Pretty good eh!  Ray is to try and take some video that we can add to this post.

The weather hasn't been great yet, but we are staying warm and dry.  Baked cookies for Ray today, the first time in probably 5 years.  Well off to take another walk and then campfire.

Retired!!!!!!!

June 20th

 

The weather has been fairly lousy so we decided to go to Vancouver for Father's Day and see my Dad, stay at our son Garrett and his wife Sandra's place, and take Ray's mother out for lunch for her birthday on the Monday.  Sure showed us that we still hate the busyness of large cities!  Back to Nanaimo on Tuesday morning for Ray's appointment with the pain clinic in Nanaimo.  We are staying at a motel for two nights as my office is having a retirement dinner for me on Wednesday night.... cannot believe it!  Anyways we will be back at our summer home on Thursday afternoon after doing a shopping trip to the grocery store.

Jim and Sandie (2012-06-20 16:38:11)

It always feels so good to be back home again. And I know how you feel about large cities. Really don't like them.

 

2012-06-28 13:01

 

It is hard to believe that another week has gone by.  We spent two very busy days in Nanaimo after coming back from Vancouver and got back to the campsite for around 3pm last Thursday.  Ray spent the weekend getting the boat ready so that we could start putting down the prawn traps and crab trap.  Everything seems to be working fine and on Monday we had our first feed of prawns for this year! 

 

Ray headed to Nanaimo on Tuesday for his appointment at the Nanaimo Hospital Pain Clinic so it was up to him to do all the “town shopping” and he did not get back to the campsite until 5:30 pm after leaving camp at 8 am.  It was a great opportunity to clean the trailer top to bottom as no one was around to bother with my generator.

 

Monday night we befriended the people at the campsite across from us.  They were from the base at Comox and were from Search and Rescue.  They are parachutists. The four guys with one with his two sons were here for a week to practice GPS and fish.  They had an exercise Tuesday afternoon with the helicopter on the back logging roads.  I got a few pictures of the chopper as it flew right over my campsite a hundred feet or so above.

 

Wednesday morning we took Steph and his 2 boys out to show them how to fish sockeye.  We lost 5 but got 4 in the boat.  Were they every happy and excited.  (Everyone else in the canal caught nothing as the gillnetters and seiners just finished the day before.)  Next we took them to pull the prawn traps and crab trap.  We got 68 prawns and gave them too them.  They were so thankful.  They promise every time they fly over us with the big chopper or the search and rescue plane (The buffalo) they will radio us .... pretty cool. 

 

I got creative for dinner as Ray brought back fresh pork back ribs.  I smoked them in the Bradley smoker for 2 hours and then slow cooked them on the Bbq. (With my special rubs and sauces.)  They were awesome. 

 

Today, Thursday, we had several people over to watch the Euro Cup Soccer semi-final as we have a TV set up in the bug tent.  Everyone is warm and out of the rain.  Sunday is the final so hopefully it will not be raining as more people are expected to come and watch and the 10 x 10 tent is only so big!