September 28, 2009

Monday 28~~~~ The alarm went off way too early (4:00 AM) for what Kent felt like getting up this morning. I packed him a big breakfast, lunch, and dinner to eat on the road and on the ferry ride. I packed Kent several big sandwiches, chips, pudding, celery with peanut butter, carrots, grapes, and trail mix. He drove 100 miles to the ferry at Nanaimo (2 hour ferry ride) to cross over to Tsawwassen on the mainland, where he drove another 60 miles to Bellingham where he met Dee Dee. After they hitched the boat to her SUV, they did a test run with her driving around the block to get the feel of the boat behind her. When she got to her next appointment she found herself in a back up situation. After she did it she called Kent and said she backed up like a pro. After leaving Dee Dee he went back across the border to the ferry for the long ride home. Pepsi and I slept in after we got Kent on the road, it was a cloudy, dark day and we had until 7:30 PM or later until Kent was to arrive home. I went for a LONG walk, cleaned house and did the laundry that Kent usually does. I played some of the music that our friends from Canada gave us and wrote in my books. It was quite a long day for us waiting for Kent to get home, Pepsi would go to the door and yowl every time he heard a truck in the camp ground. He really missed Kent and so did I. I posted a few more pictures of where Kent and I fished so much, it really was beautiful there.

September 27, 2009

Sunday 27~~~~We went fishing again today, as it is our last day to use the boat, as Kent is taking it back to the "good ole USA" Monday morning. He is meeting his daughter Dee Dee in Bellingham, Washington, she will pull the boat to their place in Ridgefield, Washington, which we will pick it up when we get home. I really take my hat off to her for pulling the boat to her appointments in Bellingham and parking it and then driving through all the Seattle traffic with it to get home. Thank you again Dee Dee!!! We decided to go bottom fishing today and try to catch some more ling cod that we like so much. Kent caught a couple of fish we couldn't identify, so we released them. Then I caught a coho salmon, not real big, but legal to keep. Then I got a lot of action on my pole, and look at what I caught! (picture) We wound up catching 5 Green lings and one Salmon and released several more before we called it a day. After Sharon caught the 3 fish on the same hook up Kent told her not to start talking about using 3 hooks because its illegal in Canada. That was the only hookup he had in his tackle box, the ones he uses in Oregon. I doubt if we will ever come back here to fish when we have such good fishing in Oregon right in front of our beach house. We really enjoyed the beauty of Canada and it was a learning experience for both of us. About 5 years ago Campbell River was the fishing capital of the world, now it is very poor fishing due to the years of over fishing and unexplained fish returns.

September 26, 2009

Saturday 26~~~~~We don't have many days left here in Canada, so we went sight seeing in the truck down highway 4 to the town of Coombs. It is about 50 miles South of Campbell River. It is a real neat little town where the roof tops of the stores are sod with grass growing. There are goats and a goat house on top of one of the stores and the goats are quite an attraction for all of us tourists as they wander around and eat up there. They were out when we got there, but Kent wanted to do our shopping and then take pictures. Guess what??? The goats got tired and went in their house, so no pictures of those darn goats. From here we went to church and stopped and bought a pizza to go on our way home. The drive was beautiful and the weather was nice and warm. The fall colors are changing on the trees and soon we will be headed home, I think it doesn't get any better than Oregon and I will be glad to be back in the USA!!!!!

September 25, 2009

Friday 25~~~~~ Fishing again at Brown Bay with no luck. We got home rather late and I think we were glad Kent had no fish to clean. LOL There was a tug boat moving a large pile of logs through the Discovery Passage, it was quite interesting to watch him maneuver the logs around the bend in the swift water. They cable the logs together to make a raft to keep the logs together. They sure are long, big logs most of them were old growth. The tug boat Captain was fishing off the end of his tug as he went down stream. I wonder if he caught any fish????

September 23, 2009

Wednesday 23~~~~~ We went fishing again at Brown bay yesterday, so today we are sightseeing in the boat, going to all the islands, the weather is pretty nice. We went to Stuart island and all around Quadra Island plus too many islands to mention. We planned on having lunch at Big Bay on Stuart Island, but when we pulled into the dock there, a very interesting, nice, young man came down and talked to us. He said that most of the deli's at the island had closed already for the winter. A float plane delivering the mail to the island landed while we were there and we took a picture. The home of the family who owns the "Peterbuilt" trucking company. They own a very large piece of land there because a company was going to buy the Big Bay Lodge to build some condos. He wanted the island to remain quieter with less people so he bought the Lodge. A lot of celebrities own lovely homes here because of the beauty and the complete privacy with no roads on the island. He said Michelle Phiffer built a lovely home on the island but he didn't know if she was there at the time or not. We stopped at Herio Bay on Quadra Island and tied up in their marina and we went up to the Pub and had a lovely lunch and a couple of beers. I had the best chantrel mushroom soup ever, Kent had a sloppy Joe, fries and a salad. From here it was getting time to head back home, so that was the end of a lovely day island hopping.

September 19 through 20, 2009

Saturday 19~~~~ We drove to Comox today stopping at a country fair on the way. They had a bunch of vendors in tents selling the usual beaded jewelry, paintings and crafts. We were hoping to find some garden produce and some of the good Mennonite homemade bread. There was no baked products or produce so we looked the booths all over and went on our way. Sunday 20~~~~We learned by putting our boat in at Campbell River's boat ramp and going upriver to Brown Bay which is 20 minutes away. Its a lot faster and we don't have to drive that 5 miles down that miserable rough road to the boat ramp. The trip from Campbell River to Brown Bay has some tricky water. The tide water goes through Seymour Narrows which is a narrow passage that the water runs about 5 knots. With the speed of the water running through the narrow passage it has a number of large whirlpools in which you have to navigate. The weather was chilly out on the water, so I dressed for the cold. I wore my thermal long johns and top, blue jeans, a shirt, vest, rain pants and jacket, stocking hat, scarf and Kent's rain jacket. What a sight I was, but I didn't freeze fishing today (picture) The fishing isn't very good, we sure have spent a lot of hours on the water fishing and most of the people who are out here aren't catching anything either. I think we must be crazy to work so hard at it, they call it sport fishing?????? LOL Kent caught a Ling cod today and I think that was about it.

September 17, 2009

Thursday 17~~~~~~ Kent went Island touring today by himself. The weather was unpredictable, so I stayed home. I am sure glad I did as he had to come back early and the water was rough and the tide was making real big tide swirls in the water, they scare me, as they look like they can swallow the boat. Kent took some pictures of them. I stayed home and wrote in my books. He was pretty cold when he got home, I know I would have froze to death if I had gone. Kent never gets cold and if he wore a coat and was still cold, it must have been really cold.

September 14, 2009

Monday 14~~~~We stayed home today, no fishing. Our friends Warren and Lorraine stopped to say goodbye on their way out of the campground. I baked a pan of brownies to send with them and a package of salmon, Warren had a tape he made for me. We enjoyed them and we hope to see each other again sometime if they ever come to the USA. Kent washed the boat and I gave myself a haircut and wrote in my books. About 3:30 we loaded our bikes in the truck and we drove to the outskirts of town where we parked the truck and rode our bikes 4 miles into town. There is the nicest bike-walking path (two lanes) and it wasn't as busy as usual because it was getting cool and by the time we finished, it was misting. The 4 miles back to the truck was against the wind and a little more enduring, but it didn't take very long at all and I was shocked we rode that far so fast. We are going to to it again soon. I still have several pounds to remove before the holidays!!! I am posting a picture of Pepsi, as so many of you know what a crazy cat we have. He has turned into such a loving cat and he sits on my lap when ever I sit in my chair. He loves his boxes and sacks to sleep in, so here is the latest.

September 13, 2009

Sunday 13~~~~ The sun is shining so bright, so Kent decided today would be a good day to wash the boat. My hair has grown so long, so I gave myself another haircut and wrote in my books some more. I had several prints made up of some pictures I want to put in all 5 books. The books are really coming along good and I am enjoying writing them so much and it sure is a trip down memory lane to go back to my childhood and my children's. Our friends are leaving in the morning, so we decided to go to a real good fish house here for dinner together. They serve the fish in large paper cones and the cones fit into a hole in the table in front of each seat. No dishes at all at that place!!!! Not even trays, as they serve you with a board that has holes in also and they move them to your hole. If you order one piece, you get two and if your order 2 you get 3, so that is a nice surprise the first time you go there. After dinner Kent took our friends to "Starbucks" to try one of his Frappacino's he loves so much. They are tea drinkers only, they have never went to a Starbucks before, they did like the drink though and said they will definitely go back again for one or maybe the tea I showed them on the menu. We came back to our place and had a cup of tea and visited some more and then we called it good night!

September 12, 2009

Saturday 12~~~~~We went fishing again today here at our campground. It was cool out on the water but we are determined fisherman and we gave it our best fishing. The fish scanner was full of fish all over, under and around us, but they weren't hungry for our bait. We caught several of those darn dog-fish, but no salmon. None of the boats around us caught any either. We came in about 3 and we went to Mass and hurried home to go to our neighbors place for dinner. They said if we caught any salmon, they would cook it for our dinner. We took over half of one of the salmons we caught yesterday and a bowl of my famous coleslaw for dinner. Lorraine made a delicious dish of rice with wild rice and Warren cooked the salmon on the grill using his secret recipe for a basting sauce. The meal was wonderful and we had a great evening visiting with our new friends. They live in Victoria, BC and they will be leaving to go home on Monday. We sure have enjoyed them.

September 11, 2009

Thursday 11~~~~~Today we took the boat and we went to Brown's Bay which is about 25 miles north of our campground. We have fished there before and we like it there except for the terrible five mile bumpy road into the place. The weather was so nice and warm with no wind, I packed a picnic lunch and lots of snacks that we needed because we fished for about 6 hours. We caught two nice salmon (coho) that we kept and we caught 3 more we had to release as they were hatchery fish that weren't clipped and a few that got away. Kent also caught a rock cod we kept to add to the 4 we have froze so now we have enough for a cod fish dinner for the two of us. I fry the fish and I make fried potatoes and onions that I sprinkle seasoned flour all over while they are wet from washing them off, (it makes them real crispy) and my usual coleslaw we both love. We cleaned the fish at the fish cleaning table and there were 3 seals in the water waiting for the fish heads to be thrown at them. I took a picture of them, all I could get was there heads. One of the pictures is the seagulls and the seals rolling trying to get the bait. We were tired when we got done tonight, tired but happy for the fish we caught. We both had one on at the same time and that was interesting with the down riggers to get pulled up and not tangle our lines together. We managed and kept both fish.

September 10, 2009

Thursday 10~~~~ The ocean is real flat this morning, I packed us a nice picnic lunch and we headed across the water for the town of "Lund" BC. This is where Highway 101 from Tijuana, Mexico through the United States to Canada ends, it is the end of no where, no roads go anywhere from here. It is a little hole in the wall fishing port with out much there except a great bakery we bought bread at and a few stores and a lovely old Inn. Population about 70 Kent thought, there is a water taxi that brings people from the islands around there to Lund. It is a beautiful place to live, as there are so many islands in the distance, you see them in 3D without the goofy glasses. I would be totally lost if I had to find our way back to the campground because of all the islands we go by and around. It is a beautiful place and I can see why Kent has been here 3 times now. There are so many beautiful homes on all these islands, some summer homes for people who live in Victoria and Vancouver and some full time people. They Island hop in their boats and go into towns like Campbell River and others to shop and visit.We met a couple who live full time on their boat there and she had picked a 3 gal. bucket full of black berries that she is making into jam on their large boat. I have never seen so many black berry bushes in my life and so many large berries on them. I am freezing some to bring home to make jam.

September 6 & 7, 2009

Sunday 6~~~~ It really poured rain last night and the sky is really gray today, we are going to try our luck fishing again near our campground. We can see the boat ramp from our big window, Kent keeps an eye out for the boats that come and go and some of them are headed out, so we are going out. The scanner had fish on it, but they sure aren't biting, everyone asks if you have any and they say they don't have any either, it sure is no fun when the fish don't cooperate with us. I layered my clothes, so I peel them off one at a time as the day gets warmer. I don't know how Kent stands it with just a short sleeved shirt on and no hat. Once in awhile he will start out with a light jacket, he is truly a sea dog. No fish today!!!!! Monday 7~~~~ Kent is eager to go out fishing again today, I am staying home, so he is going out alone. He says he has fished alone at the beach for years and will be fine. If it were warmer, I would go, but just the ride out to the spot where we fish is so far away. It is cold and very bumpy and can be very uncomfortable. I told Kent I felt like a canary on top of a high flag pole in an 80 mile per hour wind riding in the boat out there. He went to see some Islands he was interested in seeing again that he enjoyed from trips here before and he caught 2 small bottom fish. I went over to visit some friends here in our park that have been here a couple of times and I wrote on my books for a couple of hours. I was happy when Kent's boat came in, as I did worry about him out there alone. I stood on the shore and took this picture of Kent heading out to sea, I was feeling guilty for not going with him. I need a camera with a better zoom lens!!!!

September 5, 2009

Saturday 5~~~~~ It was a nice sunny day today, so we went to the Artisan Fair out in the country some where not too far from our place. We have seen their signs along every road we have traveled for the last few weeks so we thought we should check it out. It wasn't as exciting as we expected, but they did have a lot of paintings, beaded jewelry and the usual art things people make. You parked in an open field and the fair was in the trees with paths leading to the different areas of art. They had three different styles of music played by local musicians in different areas of the park. They had some food booths and a couple of neat water works in a pond along the walking path. There was some beautiful furniture made out of driftwood that was very comfortable to sit on believe it or not, they said it took quite a longtime to find the perfect piece to make the shapes of the chairs and love seats. (THE PICTURE OF THE WOODEN BENCH IS NOT ONE OF THE PIECES OF FURNITURE) The furniture is beautifully finished and very wedll built and sells for $400 to $9oo a piece. There was also a masseuse giving massages which I took advantage of, as I have had a headache for days. We went to Mass at a different church tonight which we really liked. We bought a pizza on the way home and enjoyed it with a good movie. What a busy day again.