Week 2 of Quarantine

Thursday, March 19th SPRING ARRIVES 8:50 PM TONIGHT

With the weather this past week it really has felt spring-like other that the mornings are really cool. Today the fog did not burn off the lake until 9:30 am. Looks like another spectacular day. Another day same old same old. Ray did manage to install our new metal art piece on our gazebo though. Looks spectacular. Later in the afternoon another campfire. We are so fortunate to be able to get outside and "blow the cobwebs" out.

Friday I spent the morning power washing the hot tub cover and then filled the hot tub so we can use it tomorrow. Another gorgeous day.

Saturday another foggy start by 9:30 it had all but dissipated. 4 more days and then I can do my own shopping. :) Had our first dip in the hot tub after six months. Felt wonderful.

Another day talking, enjoying the sunshine with neighbours on their docks and us on ours ... across many feet of driveways with raised voices, but all in all connected. Our new reality even when we are off quarantine in 4 days.

Sunday, cloudy and windy. No more sitting outside. Ray spent the morning in his shop starting on one of his projects ... I had a hot tub and then began doing an inventory of the deep freeze to see what I need to get once we are off quarantine in 3 days. I did do an online order with Superstore and Walmart for pickup and will get the rest at our little grocery store here.

I spent the morning making bread and hamburger buns.

Nice buns dear!

The predicted rain started around 7 pm and continued all night.

Monday morning it was a little drizzly first thing and then stopped. It will be an inside day I think. We do have the option of sitting under the infrared heaters on the sundeck though for some fresh air this afternoon.

Ended up staying inside most of the day. Ray spent some time in his workshop building my planter boxes. More news regarding this virus. OMG it is scary. Kristi has told us to definitely stay home even when we are off quarantine ... we are not to do our own shopping. Vancouver Island does not have many ICU beds anyways and fewer ventilators than anywhere else in the province. Her advice is if we get Covid 19 and get really sick needing a ventilator we will die. The ventilators they have, will go to younger people .. 30's and 40's  first. I will try and order groceries online and if I cannot, then we will have to get Jason to deliver and ask help from Kristi's friend here in the community for the foreseeable future. Could be several months. We hate asking people for help but it is necessary.

Getting spaces for online shopping is difficult, hopefully given more time the stores will get it together so this process is more smooth. Trying to get a "spot" with Save-on-Foods in Duncan not possible. Fortunately I have pick up arranged for later this week with Superstore and Walmart.

Tuesday, another drizzly morning. Hopefully this weather will help with the physical distancing required for everyone. Spent the day puttering in the kitchen, while I heard Ray using his saw downstairs. My new attachment for the pressure washer arrived so I guess I will be firing that up later this week on the driveway. My new phone also arrived today so that will keep me occupied transferring data etc and get it up and running. lol

Wednesday the sun actually came out. Last day of quarantine ... don't see much changing in our lives though. Ray managed to take a rainbow picture yesterday. We spent a couple of hours sitting in the sunshine in the backyard before the clouds came in again. Robyn Belyea, a friend of Kristi's brought some groceries for us today from Thrifty's ... fresh fish.  Tomorrow I will go into Duncan and pick up our online Walmart order at 8am and then to the vet's to pick up Freya's meds. They are also dropping the bag for me outside their door as I have already paid for it.

Thursday, March 26th OUT OF OUR 14 DAY QUARANTINE! Although nothing much will change in our lifestyle. lol

I was up and out the door by 7:15am to Walmart for my order. Worked pretty slick. You call when you arrive and the guy rolls out the cart with your stuff and loaded into the back of the car that we had put a tarp down to not contaminate the car. I did get about 3/4 of my order so not too bad. What I didn't get I was able to add to the Superstore order I'm picking up on Saturday afternoon. It is hard to get time slots for shopping. I have already booked another Walmart one for 10 days from now and booked a spot with Save-on-foods. The kid that loaded my groceries said they are only taking 30 orders a week for pickup ... that is not very many considering the population.

Once home it was time to "glove up" and put all the groceries on the sanitized kitchen island and proceed with disinfecting everything. Giving the veggies a dip in soap with a little bleach water and rinsing. What a lot of work but so worth it to not get sick.

Downside, my kitchen towel is noticing I put some bleach in the water and is turning orange in a few places. lol

That was the end of week two of quarantine, now for months of self-isolation.

Home Sweet Home and Self Quarantine Week 1

Home Sweet Home!

Well ... this coronavirus has really taken a toll on everyone and everything. We were not told at the border to self-quarantine but the news came out later in the afternoon that we are required by our Provincial Government to Self-Quarantine for 14 days after getting back from the USA. This means no going into public places, like grocery stores, haircuts, pedicures, doctor and vet appointments .... all things that I would normally do after getting home from being away 6 months.! Ray is even cancelling his implant surgery with his dentist, scheduled on Tuesday. (Before we found out that all dental offices are closed for regular patients, only emergencies.)
So, Ray and I are complying. I am sure our little grocery store in town will help us out with delivering groceries. I will phone, get them to shop my items, give them my credit card number and they can call me when the order is ready and we can drive the 2km to the store and have them hand it off to us outside. Hopefully this whole thing calms down in the next few weeks but I have my doubts. The worst thing for us is that Kristi and Jason cannot come to visit.

Our grocery store did take my order and delivered it to my door. Thanks a bunch, especially as we had no fresh produce with us coming across the border.

Friday it was quite cold and tried to snow on and off all morning. Most of day was emptying the motorhome, washing everything and putting it away for the foreseeable future. Still have lots to do but now I have 13 more days to do it. lol

Saturday the sun came out and now it is -3C with a very chilly wind. The sun looks nice though, just don't want to be outside to enjoy it. More unpacking.

Sunday -4C feels like -7C upon waking. Brrrrr. Good part is no wind and more sun. Today should actually get up to 6C so quite a bit warmer. Forecast is for warmer temps in the next few days. We spent the afternoon having a campfire in our "outside wood stove" enjoying the sunshine and lake views. Temps actually came up to 8C.

The picture below shows how high our dock rose up in February with the high water. Almost to the top of this piling. Fortunately we put in two extra pilings that are much taller to keep our dock in place.

This guys covered porch at the entrance to his gangway has come off it's supports. The gangway is the only thing keeping it "up"! These people go away for the winter too so probably don't even know that this has happened.

Our view for our campfire this afternoon.

That first piling close to the gangway shows where the dock normally sits on the piling.

Monday another -4C morning but this should be the last one as the temps are warming up considerably this week. Maybe this was the last gasp of winter and now we will get into spring. After morning chores we took a drive around the community as it was a beautiful sunny day and we needed to get out for a bit. Once back home it was another campfire day enjoying our lake view.

According to the news this week is the longest stretch of dry, sunny weather since last October ... we will take it. lol

Tuesday, Happy St. Patrick's Day. Not so happy for bar and restaurant owners as all of the pubs and restaurants have been shut down in Vancouver for the day ... no parties allowed with the coronavirus.

A cloudy start to the day. We spent the day puttering around, taking Freya for some walks and sitting outside on our sundeck with our infrared heaters on. Ray called Irly Bird Lumber to see if he could get some cedar lumber delivered for a planter project. It turned out our Major, Rod Peters, is the owner of this store and when Ray was telling him that we couldn't get any beer from the liquor store as they have nothing set up re delivery etc., he offered to have the beer picked up and delivered with the lumber and then we paid him via credit card over the phone. Within about 4 hours we had beer and lumber. Love this town. Sat outside on our deck with our infrared heaters on, enjoying a couple of hours before it was time to come in.

Wednesday, another beautiful sunny day. Ray and I carried all his lumber to the back yard under the deck to dry out. After puttering about the house in the morning we sat down on the dock in the warm sunshine and tried a little fishing. I did see about an 8" come check out the lure and then swim away so the fish are there, we just need to find the right lure that they want to eat.

Time to sit and just relax.

It got even warmer out and Ray started working on keeping his tan. lol

Doesn't the belly suck in any further Ray?

Thanks to friends and acquaintances for offering to run errands for us. Today we found out that our little Country Grocer store has half their staff off sick now, so no more deliveries. Fortunately I have enough stuff for one more week. I also signed up for grocery pickup at Superstore and Walmart in case of .... for next week. My plan is to shop here as much as I can and if I cannot get what I need here in Lake Cowichan then I will order online for grocery pickup in Duncan and just drive to the store and have them bring the groceries out to me in the parking lot.

We are so fortunate that we live here on the lake and can get outside even quarantined. I really feel for those people who are still stuck on that cruise ship in Europe. Some of the people are stuck in their inside cabins, no windows etc for 24 hours a day. They had over 700 cases but the numbers are now reducing with 3/4 of them recovered. What a horrible place to be.

And so ends Week 1 of our 14 day quarantine. So far no symptoms of Covid 19. Yeah.

On the road to Lake Cowichan

Thursday, March 5th

We left early at 8:30 am and headed to our destination Kit Fox RV Park in Patterson, CA. An uneventful drive with one stop to take Freya out and for Ray and I to stretch. The traffic on the I-5 was great and most of the road from Bakersfield to Patterson was in relatively good shape. We had a ton of bees hit the windshield though with the blossoms on the fruit trees, the farmers have bee boxes everywhere.

We ended up with a "primo" site on the end. Otherwise the sites are very tight ... we can reach out Rays window where he sits and knock on the other MH's bedroom. lol This place has great wifi and the convenience right off I-5 but otherwise is very pricey at $50 with Good Sam with what you get.  We found out after the park takes Passport America, but don't advertise it.  You have to ask for it. Other than a restroom and laundry that's it! The upside is there are several fast food restaurants within walking distance and fuel stations.

We could not check in until 1pm so left the coach and Freya after her walk, and went to the KFC which is walking distance, had lunch and brought some home for dinner. Ray did not eat much but he did eat and it stayed down. lol

Ray cleaning all the squashed bees off the front window.

A quiet afternoon, looking forward to getting home.

Friday, March 6th

Woke up early, Ray's feeling great so we decided to push through the mountain passes and get to Canyonville and Seven Feathers Casino for the night. The forecast was for 24 hours of snow in the mountain passes the next day and we did not want to get stuck behind a winter storm. A long drive but traffic was good and 2/3 of the drive was sitting back with the cruise control on. The last third was up and down but with Ray's superb driving and our coaches great exhaust brake, it seemed in no time at all we were through. 

Lake Shasta

Mount Shasta with the ominous clouds.

We set up in the free camping area in the casino lot and went outside to play with Freya who was so done with travelling. lol

I noticed that tonight at the casino is Seafood Buffet night. So at 4pm, when it opened, off we went. What a great spread. Tons of dungeness crab, steamed clams, mussels, oysters etc., as well as fried versions of the above. They had a carving station with Prime Rib as well.

After an hour of stuffing ourselves it was back to the coach to relax for the night. Freya was none to impressed again with staying inside. We were both tired so were in bed by 8pm for the night. Unfortunately I woke up at 11:18 pm precisely with "Montezuma's Revenge"!!!! Kristi, our daughter, says buffets are "cesspools" of bacteria. Never happened to me before but OMG. I did notice that a couple bites of my crab tasted "fishy" so spit it out. Other than that I had mussels which Ray did not so ???? Anyways the next 30 hours were not fun.

Saturday, March 7th

Woke up with very little sleep at 8am. Ray went to the casino for breakfast, that was not very good ... Decision time. I told Ray that I would make myself "a nest" in the bed and spend the next leg of our journey there as it was close to the bathroom. There was not point staying in the casino parking lot, certainly did not want to eat there again.

So for the next 4 hours I stayed in bed and fortunately only had to get up when Ray stopped for fuel and a couple of rest stops to stretch. It really was no different in the "bounce" than sitting in my chair as the bed is right over the back tires. The traffic was pretty good and only a 10 minute delay going through Portland. Destination today was the Mt. Saint Helens KOA in Washington. Ray was hopeful for some pictures. 

We ended up with one of their "Premier Sites" for the same price as a regular one as this is off-season. After minimal set up I was back in bed for the rest of the day, feeling quite a bit better and tolerating liquids. Tomorrow I should be good to go. lol

Sunday, March 8th Daylight Savings Time

Still feeling a bit weak, I opted to stay at the coach and finish tidying up, dishes etc. while Ray took off to Mt St Helens.

Forest Discovery Centre

Forest Discovery Centre

Hoffstadt Creek Bridge

 Mount St. Helens

 Mount St. Helens

 Mount St. Helens

Toutle River and the debris field

Silver Lake with Mt St Helens in background

Silver Lake

Freya found some friends while he was gone. lol They played with her every day while we were here.

Monday, March 9th

What a glorious morning. Pretty cold though at 28F. Woke up feeling like myself again, yeah.

After a slow start to the morning it's off for a drive to a park in Longview, a short distance away. The Lake Sacajawea Park also sports a Japanese Garden. A beautiful walk in the sunshine. Ray took so many great pictures, it was hard to decide which ones. lol

Nice to see spring has come with the blossoms.

 Beautiful older houses surround the lake.

The church in the distance played wonderful music every 1/2 hour. 

We also walked through their Japanese Garden.

After walking for an hour it was time for lunch. My first big meal since the crab. lol

This place had the appropriate name. lol

They had a great selection of beer on tap from local breweries.

Back home by 1:30 pm. It was such a nice, sunny afternoon, we sat outside until 5 pm just enjoying the day. 

Tuesday, March 10

Here is the picture of the Wormy Moon this morning, such names they come up with. lol

Another cold morning. Today we are going into Tacoma and staying overnight at Ray's sister Judy's for the night. As it is only 1 1/2 hours away from us we will leave later this morning to miss all of the rush hour traffic. 

Made it to Judy's just before noon. We just parked the coach, walked Freya and then headed out for lunch on the waterfront fairly close to their house. Lunch was really tasty. 

After lunch we walked around the plaza and stopped for homemade ice cream for dessert. Yumm This whole area used to be an industrial site which has been cleaned up and all the soil remediated and replaced. Now it's quite a busy place with all of the new building going on. Lots of condos, a hotel and many eating and drinking establishments.

Back at Judy's we set up the coach for the night. Being that it was cloudy we just ran a cord and plugged the fridge in to their house so we did not have to run the generator. Out came the big buddy heater and we were good for the night with freezing temps overnight.

Milt and Judy 

Called it a night at 8pm. We retired for some TV in the coach. A lovely day.

Wednesday, March 11th

One more sleep and we will be home. Yeah. A ferry cool morning at 36F. We are having a leisurely start to our morning as we only have a short drive to Port Angeles today to take the ferry tomorrow. Another cloudy morning with possible flurries.

Lunch was at the Downrigger Restaurant, right beside the ferry dock. It was sunny by lunch time but a very cold wind was blowing. We saw the Coho docking. We will be on it tomorrow. I had Seafood Chowder in a bread bowl and Ray had grilled salmon teriyaki style.Both meals were delicious. Ray had enough of his left over for dinner.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. Freya stayed outside in the sun on her mat while Ray and I stayed inside.

Thursday, March 12th

A very cold night. I was up at 3:40 am turning on the furnace. Coach at 50F. Excited about getting home so didn't manage to fall asleep. At 5 am I got up, started the generator and cranked up the heat. By 5:30 it was warmer and Ray got up. An early breakfast for us and Freya we were in the ferry lineup by 6:45 am. More than ready to go home.

Ferry loaded us on time and by 9:55 am we had arrived in downtown Victoria. We did not tow the car onto the ferry as it is less expensive and easier for Ray to maneuver inside the ship. Customs was easy with only a few usual question asked except with the Coronavirus pandemic, questions were asked if we had been in Iran or Italy recently and did we feel sick. It did not take long and we were on our way. I drove separately to Duncan and met up with Ray for lunch at the White Spot. He carried on home and I did a major shop at Superstore.

All tucked back in the house by 3:30 pm, both of us exhausted but oh so nice to be home.Freya is ecstatic to be home.

A great Winter but looking forward to Spring.