Amelia comes to stay - March 22 - 26

Pretty quiet here at the lake with the weather changing to rain for the past 2 days. Hard to believe it's the end of March and we're still getting snow!

There were actually, at one point on Friday night, 2 inches of snow before it started to melt again.

Kristi, Jason, Amelia and Zeus arrived about 4:45 on Friday night as it snowed. Glad they got here before it really came down.  I of course, was up to my elbows cooking a big prime rib dinner with yorkies. lol  Amelia playing with the old toys I put out.

Took a bit in the rain/snow to unload all of the baby stuff, toys etc. Kristi's friend Theo didn't arrive until after 7pm from Victoria in the worst of the snow storm.  We all ate early on "Amelia Time" at 5:30. Dinner turned out great. Love using my big barbecue. We kept the food ready for Theo as well. I was too busy to even take pictures lol

Snack time before bed.

We shared a great evening before everyone went to bed at 9:30.

Saturday morning Kristi, Jason and Theo headed out for their combined 40th birthday celebrations about 9:30 after breakfast. Theo made scones .... yummm.  Kristi turned 40 last December, Jason turns 40 next month and Theo also turned 40 sometime last year. Jason booked us for this weekend a month ago. They were off for an overnight in Chemainus for dinner and the play. 

We really looked forward to look after Amelia and Zeus. What a great day playing and walking outside between rain storms. 

Jason brought her kitchen down for her to play with.

Still having fun with the old toys we have.

Amelia started to feel "tough", so we turned on her Trash Turck to calm her down before nap time. 

Amelia seemed to be feeling under the weather and was coughing quite a bit and her nose started running. Her cousin Stella and Auntie Kat were visiting from Squamish earlier this week. Stella was sick, so I'm guessing Amelia is next and 3 days from now, we'll probably have her cold after being coughed and sneezed on. 

She slept pretty good overnight, but of course every time she had a coughing fit, I woke up hearing her on the baby monitor every 30 minutes to an hour. Went downstairs at 9:30 and 1:30 am to cover her back up and make sure she didn't throw up in bed with her coughing. Nana's very tired. Thankfully she woke up happy although still coughing. Morning snuggles are the best!

Getting Amelia used to our boat so she is good to go this summer.

She now chatters a mile a minute and for the most part, we understand what she is saying. Huge difference from Christmas.

Trash Truck Time on the TV

Helping with the laundry.

Here is a picture Jason sent me of them at the theatre.

Kristi, Jason and Theo

Sunday morning the rain stopped and the sun came out. Absolutely gorgeous on the lake.

She sure likes her bike in our house with all the open floor space. Those old Christmas beads are one of her favourite things to play with. :)

So much fun. Kristi and Jason arrived at 10:30 to pick her up, loaded up the truck and hooked on the utility trailer and were gone in a flash by 10:45! They wanted to get Amelia home for her nap at 12:30, so she doesn't get cranky as the truck ride is only 50 minutes and she naps for 90 minutes.

A great visit. We went out for lunch at Jake's at the Lake and then collapsed for the rest of the day. 

Unpacking and enjoying being home. March 16 - 21

Home Sweet Home, of course it doesn't look like this yet until June lol

Since getting home we've been busy unpacking the motorhome, and changing our mailing address with all government agencies. You might wonder why, as we are not moving anywhere. I went in to the Post Office to check our mailbox, as the mail forwarding to Jason and Kristi came off a few days earlier. Imagine my surprise when my key wouldn't work, so I went in to inquire.

When I put in our temporary mail forwarding to Jason and Kristi last September, the post office clerk incorrectly filled out our information on her screen. The clerk entered we were moving and needed our mail forwarded for a year instead of only a temporary forwarding for 6 months. She charged me $100 plus dollars for this service! With this error in their system, they gave our post box to someone else, so we cannot get it back. So now the only recourse is to get a new post office box number and change all of our government information, vehicle insurance, drivers license, banking, township etc. You can imagine the pain this is.  Ray spent over three hours yesterday online and on the phone. Today we went into Duncan and did the insurance papers and driver's licenses. We still have a few more to do. The only thing the Post Office could do is give us 3 months of redirecting our mail to our new post office box for free! 

After all of this, we at least had a good day enjoying the sunshine and warm temps at 10C (50F) which was nice and warm compared to snow last week. Hot tub was filled just waiting to heat up. :)

I watch the water level on my phone lol

We spent the next few days sorting through things and hauling more stuff out of the motorhome. It's amazing how much stuff we've squirreled away for the winter in there lol

We managed to enjoy sitting outside with our fire Saturday afternoon in the sunshine. First fire since last spring I think. Sure was nice to be outside in the relatively warm sunshine.

Two days before we got home, our neighbours took down a large tree between their house and ours. My plants will get a lot more sun, however it sure got rid of any privacy between us. We will have to get some kind of screening that allows light through. Ray wants to continue with the steam locomotive theme on the other side of our sundeck. The maple tree is still there, but the spruce tree infringing on their sundeck is gone. The maple will get it's leaves and be encouraged to grow into the open space.

Sunday, Ray put together Amelia's toddler bed so it's ready for her overnight here next weekend. She is growing up, so no more crib for her. She loves dinosaurs, so I found  dinosaur bedding for her and a rug to soften the floor if she falls out of bed which does happen occasionally.

Monday we headed out early to Nanaimo for our chance to finally spend time with the kids and Amelia. Amelia was sick with a bad cold and fever earlier last week. Then Kristi's girlfriend come for a 3 day visit planned months ago. So nice to finally get to see her in person. What a cutie, lots of hugs and she didn't play strange at all. She dragged us holding our hand all over their house showing us her new bed and toys etc. Melted our hearts.

She patted the couch and said "Nana sit" and then crawled up to cuddle with me.

Cuddles for Nana

Jason scheduled the concrete pour for the forms for their new sundeck today. Amelia enjoyed watching the pumper truck.

Kristi and Jason's yard is going to be completely redone. What a mess currently. Their yard is very unlevel with very little soil on top of the rock of Nanaimo. The landscaper will do specific levels for areas with gardens and play space. It should look fabulous once done, but this summer will be a right off to use it as the grass gets growing etc.

We took the kids out for dinner at the Driftwood Chinese Restaurant. They have a fabulous buffet and Amelia loves the food and watching their service robot.

She ate 2 platefuls plus desssert. :)

We headed home back to the lake from the restaurant. A lovely visit. The kids will be back to our house on Friday, leaving us with Amelia for Saturday overnight.

Tuesday our detailer came to detail the car, cleaning out all the desert sand inside etc. He also gave the MH a bath that from all the road dirt coming home in the rain. While Kevin did that, I spent half a day planning and reserving our week's road trip with the car in June to visit some friends in Quesnel.  Ray spent his time on our income tax, a necessary evil this time of year. The contract on Ray's phone is up thankfully, as he had a lot of trouble in the USA with it not connecting to different networks. He found it very frustrating. His new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra arrived, so he's also busy transferring stuff to his new phone. 

That's our first week at home .... not too exciting. As Ray isn't taking any fabulous pictures this week here is an older picture of our Cowichan River a few miles from us in the fall from a couple years ago.

Winter vacation over ... coming home to Lake Cowichan, March 13 - 15

Monday morning before leaving Fort Stevens, Ray went on the roof to clear off the cones and branches from yesterday's wind. He even found a branch an inch thick and 3 feet long. Yikes!

Jacks up and on the road by 9:15 am to Tacoma, where we would spend the night at Judy's and Milt's (Ray's sister) driveway. What a wet drive. Poured most of the way. 

New Young's Bay Bridge just going into Astoria. Yucky weather!

We decided to take Highway 30 from Astoria to the I-5. The first 10 miles were very slow and windy. I can only imagine it in the summer with all the traffic.

Lewis and Clark Bridge going into Longview, WA

Fortunately we were going north on the I-5. This traffic was backed up for 10 miles due to a tanker truck in the ditch upside down. Firetruck and police on scene and only letting 1 vehicle 5 seconds apart at a time in the outside lane to proceed slowly.

We arrived at about 12:27 pm .... 3 minutes before we estimated according to Judy!

Once we parked we had a quick yack with Judy while waiting for Milt to get home. One happy sister to see us after 3 years due to Covid.

Once Milt got home, we piled into his car and headed for the Fish Peddler on the waterfront. Great Halibut and Chips.

After lunch, back to their house with their beautiful view of Mount Olympus. The sunshine finally broke through.

Judy made a wonderful dinner of broccoli soup and salad after the big lunch we ate earlier. Delicious. Also a bread carmel pudding for dessert. Ray, my dessert guy, is very thankful. lol Apparently Milt is a dessert addict too, so is happy for us to attend. :)

After a wonderful evening, we headed to the coach at 9 pm and started the generator to get some heat on and charge the batteries for overnight. Tomorrow off to Port Angeles before getting on the ferry to Victoria on Wednesday morning. Looking forward to getting home.

Tuesday night it was a cold one. I should've hooked up our big buddy heater ... got up at 2  am and inside is only 47F Burrr. I started up the generator and ran the electric heaters and gas furnace for 15 minutes, then turned everything off. While waiting, I snuggled back in bed. lol I always worry if it gets too cold. Ray stiffens up and his back is toast the next day (Ray here thanks so much honey). Woke up at 5:30 and again it's 47F so I did the same thing and went back for another hours sleep. Fortunately in Judy's front yard we are right beside the main road which is noisy so no one hears us. lol

We noticed light on in the house, so we went in for coffee. Another great visit. By 9:30 we were on our way for the second to last  bit of our journey home, the Walmart in Port Angeles. Mostly sunny with some clouds, so it's a pretty good drive other than getting stopped for 15 minutes as they were cutting down trees on the 101 just after Port Townsend.

Going over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge

Hood Canal Floating Bridge

Snow up on those mountain tops.

Once we got to the Walmart, we unhooked the car and headed into town for lunch at a Sushi Place, delicious.

After lunch, we fueled up the car and then Ray took the MH a short way down the highway and fueled the coach. The last of the less expensive fuel until next year lol. All set up with the heater ready to go for tonight. Can't wait to get home tomorrow.

Up early at 5 am, anxious to get home. We left at 6:15 for the 10 minute drive to the ferry lineup. We were loaded on by 7:50. Uneventful journey, calm, flat waters and the sun's out. Bonus. Coming into Victoria.

The ferry crew made Ray back up inside the ferry to get off the boat. We were some of the last people to get off. Customs was no problem and we arrived home at 11:30 am. 

First up lunch at Jake's at the Lake and then the unpacking began!. So nice to be home.

Astoria and Fort Stevens SP, Oregon - March 11 & 12

Saturday morning we were ready to go at 8:10 am .... but only with less than an hours drive to Fort Stevens. We decided to drive into Nehalem and have breakfast at the Bunkhouse Restaurant. A great start for our day with fabulous food in this little "hole in the wall".  Here is an old coffee machine they have on display.

 

Of course we forgot to take a picture so here's one from Google. Fortunately no snow for us!

There's a nice fountain at the base of the sign.

Back to the coach and after hooking up the car, off we went to Fort Stevens. We arrived before 10:30 am and unhooked the car. I drove us to our site and someone's still in our spot so plan B ... We left the MH where it is and decided to go into Astoria to see all the things on Ray's list. lol 

We drove over Youngs River Bridge to downtown Astoria. What a beautiful old town. First up, the Astoria Column.

HISTORY OF THE COLUMN
A monument to the West

The Astoria Column, located atop Coxcomb Hill, is a monument to the natural riches of the Pacific Northwest and the people who settled there. Building and maintaining the Column has been an endeavor requiring the efforts and resources of many over the years. It stands today as one of the finest tributes in America to those who built the West.

What follows is the detail of Attilio Pusterla’s initial sketches for the Astoria Column. His chronological depictions begin from bottom to top — tracing the development to the region from its pristine beginnings to the arrival of the railroad in 1893.

Ray started up the 162 stairs to the observation deck but his knees said NO after a third of them. 

It cost $5 to park and all the money they collect is to help maintain the column and artwork.

To read what all these pictographs mean go to https://astoriacolumn.org/artwork/ for descriptions and sketches of the work.

So our pictures are from the parking lot. Still a fabulous view of Astoria and surroundings.

The Astoria–Megler Bridge is a steel cantilever through truss bridge in the northwest United States that spans the lower Columbia River, between Astoria, Oregon, and Point Ellice near Megler, Washington. Opened 56 years ago, in 1966, it is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. Wikipedia

We can hear sea lions barking like crazy.

Back in the car to the downtown historic district in Astoria. Next up on our Astoria Tour is the Flavel House Museum. Ray just took some pictures from outside.

As one of the best-preserved examples of Queen Anne architecture in the Northwest, the Flavel House survives today as a landmark of local and national significance. The house was built in 1884-85 for Captain George Flavel and his family. The Captain, who made his fortune from his occupation as a Columbia River bar pilot and through real estate investments, had the Flavel House built as his retirement home at the age of sixty-two. The Flavel House has been restored to accurately portray the Victorian period’s elegance and the history of the Flavel family.

The carriage house that is now the Visitor Centre.

A few more beauties in thi historic area.

Just around the corner is the Pigeon Steps. I found this explanation on a blog.

One term for this type of walkway is "pigeon steps." I found the phrase in Karen L. Leedom's book, Astoria: An Oregon History, but I found precious little about pigeon steps online - only enough to suspect that it means you have to take small steps like a pigeon. In fact, walking up this paved ramp is a bit tricky when it's wet because the grips are so close together that an adult has to take steps that are about 3/4 or less of a natural stride. I find it hard to get the right rhythm, but I do find these passages charming (and useful).

According to Karen's book, when the streets were made of wood, narrow slats were placed across to keep the walker from slipping, and when they were paved, the slats were reproduced in cement. Possibly the grips were nailed the width of a plank apart so it was easier for the workmen to space them and nail them down. Another term for the steps was "clickety clacks."

Surrounded by a boxwood hedge. The pictures do not show how steep it really is.

Everything Ray has on his list are all close by. 

The Garden of Surging Waves is a city park designed to honor and celebrate the Chinese heritage of Astoria and the Lower Columbia River Basin. 

I stayed in the car while Ray went and took a few pictures. There's also a food truck court across the street. There seem to be a lot of these set up in Oregon. 

Time for lunch. We decided upon the Astoria Brewing Company.  The parking Gods were with us, a spot opened up right in front of the restaurant on the pier. Perfect, so we can walk the pier after lunch. Parking is very tight in this historic district. We had a little bit of a wait but it's worth it. Ray got his Halibut and Chips for a reasonable price. :) and the in house Rootbeer. I of course ordered a lovely beer. This is one of the first micro-breweries around starting in 1997.

They are still following Covid Protocol with lots of spacing between groups of people. I wondered earlier if it's really needed anymore, but have since found out 3 people I know of now have Covid. Fingers crossed we don't get it again.

We saw a Columbia River Pilot shoot off to meet a ship going up the Columbia to Portland. Pretty cool. There are lots of sea lions playing about in the water outside the Brewery. 

One of 8 I saw swimming by.

Once finished "fueling up", it's time for a walk on the Astoria Riverwalk. A short walk down the boardwalk, there is a hotel on the pier called the Bowline Hotel at $204 per night.  Underneath are lots, and lots of sealions making a huge racket. Not a quiet place at all.

This is one small viewing area. The rest of them you couldn't see but could sure hear. I bet there was over 100 of them under the pier. They have 2 x 12 planks set up everywhere for them to rest on.

Something smells fishy down there! lol

You can see the Astoria Column from the pier.

The Buoy Beer Company is where we originally were going to eat, but it's totally closed and it wasn't until we walked past it we realized why. Half it's roof was blown off in the January storms.

Lots of damage to the old piers.

Ray continued his walk down the pier and I climbed the viewing platform. Didn't stay very long as this person is having a nap.

Ray took this picture of the side of an old building. He loved the textures of the old brick and plaster.

After a bit of a walk on the Astoria Riverwalk we jumped back into the car and headed towards the Astoria Bridge for some more pictures.

Time to head back to the MH and get setup in our site, H9. Unfortunately the sites here are heavily treed so no Satellite TV. Cell coverage is also poor, but after setting up our booster we're able to access the internet, although slow. Was a little worried about this root Ray needed to back over and center the coach so we could deploy the jacks but he had no problem.

Campsite H-9

Once we were all set up  I looked at the weather report again for tomorrow. Originally it's supposed to be not too bad in the morning. but now it will shower all day. With this knowledge, Ray took off in the car again to get a few more pictures in around Fort Stevens while the sun was still out. I started our laundry as this is the last chance to get a bunch of it done before getting home so I don't have so much at the other end.

Coffenbury Lake

Peter Iredale was a four-masted steel barque sailing vessel that ran ashore October 25, 1906, on the Oregon coast en route to the Columbia River. She was abandoned on Clatsop Spit near Fort Stevens in Warrenton about four miles south of the Columbia River channel. Wikipedia

Ray found the spit really interesting as the sand here is black in colour instead of the light tan colour on the rest of the Oregon Coast we've seen.

You can drive this Oregon beach.

Next he drove to the Battery Russell:

Battery Russell (1904-1944) - Battery Russell was built at Fort Stevens between Mar 1903 and Aug 1904 and was transferred for service 12 Aug 1904 at a cost of $125,000. Battery Russell was named for Bvt. Major General David A. Russell who was killed in action 19 Sep 1864 at Opequan, Virginia, during the U.S. Civil War (earlier in his career he served as commander of Fort Yamhill). Deactivated 29 Dec 1944 upon completion of Battery 245.

Ray couldn't go down to the South Jetty as it's all closed for repairs to the viewing platform and with all the heavy equipment moving around, people were not welcome in the area. This picture from google.

We were so lucky with the day being mostly sunny for picture taking. A few black clouds came by, but the rain held off and the sun came out again.

Sunday morning, Ray's back is pretty sore from all the walking yesterday. Just as well the rain started at 8 am, so we are not tempted to go out anywhere. A stay at home day and I will finish the laundry. Tomorrow Tacoma and a visit with Ray's sister Judy.