Thursday 29th July 2010….this and that!!!!

Had another busy day with Ramona and visiting and getting stuff ready for the weekend…..

At lunch time attended a lovely re-union…Eileen, who I saw last week in Williams Lake, flew down to Vancouver yesterday for a doctor’s appointment and she and her daughter Jan came over to the island for the day.

Jan                                Irene                            Eileen         

Irene and Eileen are sister’s in law and I am sure they will have lots to catch up on over lunch.  Great to see you all together!!!!

I then went over to my friend Karen’s condo for a visit and below are some photos of her condo, which is a beautiful 2 bedroom condo, immaculate condition located downtown Nanaimo, beautiful courtyard and it is for sale!!!!!!  Said I would put a plug in for her…

Well off to poker tonight and then to Duncan and early tomorrow morning we are off on our kayaking trip..will be home Sunday…wish you all a great holiday weekend..be safe and happy!!

Are intended destination!!!!!

Wednesday 28th July 2010…a busy day!!

Left Sara in Duncan this morning and drove to Port Alberni to see Barb and Paco and really happy to see that Barb is doing so well after her surgery..great to see you both!!

Then came back to Nanaimo and did a 1001 things and am now with my family on the Bank for the evening and night….tomorrow is another busy day I am having some trouble with Ramona and have her booked in for some tests.

Eileen and her daughter are coming over to the Island for the day so will get to visit with her and then I fully intend to win hundreds of dollars at poker tomorrow night.  After poker I go back to Duncan and then we leave on our epic kayak trip!!

This deer was in the back yard this evening…

There was a letter waiting here for me from the girls..a lovely drawing!!!

Thanks Paola and Daniela!!!!

Tuesday 27th July 2010….back on the Island

Just a quick post to tell everyone Sara and I are back on the Island after a wonderful and busy weekend with her Family.

Not sticking around for long though I come back to Nanaimo tomorrow for two days to see some friends and some errands to run and then Friday Sara and I are going kayaking for a couple of nights. 

We are both experienced kayakers and Sara has done many over night trips but this will be my first over nighter!!!  So stay tuned to see if I survive!!!!

Thanks to Robin in SMA I received these photos of the girls today!!!

Daniela

Paola

You girls are as lovely as ever and we miss you!!!!

Monday 26th July 2010..Shannon Falls!!!

Another early morning start as the family were going to Squamish for golf and Sara and I were going hiking.

The weather was again wonderful and after fighting Vancouver’s traffic we arrived at the rather posh Furry Creek Golf Club.

We watched the team drive away

  Jacki is wearing her new T shirt from Yesterday…

Sara and I the went here..

Shannon Falls is composed of a series of cliffs, rising 335 meters above Highways 99, making it the third highest falls in the province, ranking behind 481 metre Della Falls in Strathcona Provincial Park on Vancouver Island and 396 metre Hunlen Falls in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park near Bella Coola.
The tumbling waters of Shannon Falls originate from Mount Habrich and Mount Sky Pilot.

The falls were quite spectacular..

We found the trail and also this sign!!!!!

The hike was steep and tough but enjoyable!!!

We found a great spot to have our lunch!!!!

Even a place to cool our feet!!!

WARNING!!!!!!

THE FOLLOWING PHOTO CONTAINS PARTIAL NUDITY!!!!

This shot was taken at the base of the falls on the return trip!!

It was a lovely afternoon then we all met up again to come home via IHOP for supper and now Warren, Linda and Jacki are getting ready to go to the airport and their return flight home!!

Sara and I shall be home in Duncan tomorrow evening!!!

Sunday 25th July 2010….The Grouse Grind!!!

So back to yesterday when I picked Sara up at the ferry terminal and we came over to Deb and Rick’s house and the big family re-union.

So this is Sara’s twin Warren, with his wife Linda and daughter Jacki.

This one above is with sister Deb and Rick and daughter Heather.

Deb and Rick put on a wonderful BBQ meal and the stories started coming out…

It was a great evening and everyone had a good time but it was early to bed for everyone as we had a big day planned for Sunday!!

So here we are Sunday morning and it is a spectacular hot and sunny morning and the plan is to hike up the Grouse Grind I have heard of this but never done it.

This is taken from their website!!!

If it's action you want, there are non-stop year-round adventures to keep your heart racing. The most famous is the Grouse Grind, a seasonal (yes, we take the winter off) gruelling, near vertical run-a foot slog for some-2.9k hike up the mountain, gaining 2800 feet in elevation. Little wonder it's known as the "Mother Nature's Stairmaster."

So here are the hearty and fearless hikers!!!

Sara volunteered to be the “Bag Lady”, she took the gondola up the mountain whilst the rest of us began the 950 metre elevation hike up.

I was quite amazed to see so many people on the trail…. all ages and sizes and all mostly puffing quite hard.

It was a steep stepped trail up

Here is Jacki showing the way!!

Me having a rest

Not a very encouraging sign!!!

It was about 100 minutes later when we reached the summit and we were all happy we had completed the climb at least those of us that could speak were!!!!

Sara had been at the summit and she took all these photos, the views were quite awesome.

There were many attractions at the summit and we saw these monsters at the Bear Habitat.

We then watched a very talented lumberjack show

Another animal roaming the path at the summit….

It was time to fight the crowds for the gondola down the mountain…

We got back to the house around 3pm and it was a great adventure!!!!

Some of the family went to see Lion King and Sara and I stayed home and I rested!!!!

Another great day and it has been really wonderful for me to meet more of Sara’s family!!!