Now that spring has arrived, we are resuming our travels, so it is time to update the blog.
After getting set-up when we arrived at Westbay RV Park in Victoria for the winter, we met a number of other full-timers, so shared tips about the various challenges we encounter that are particular to the RV lifestyle. Their friendship made the winter pass pleasantly.
The weather over the winter was quite good. In general, the low temperatures were a bit above the average lows for the season, and the highs were a bit lower. Since our main concern over the winter was keeping the trailer warm, that worked out quite well. We only had a couple of days in one stretch when it got down around -5 C with a bit of snow. Occasionally, the low would be one or two below, but usually it was around, or just above zero. Once in a while we would get winds with strong gusts, that were annoying, but they rarely lasted more than a few hours.
We had a lot of good weather, which allowed us to spend a lot of time walking around Victoria and area, using a book we bought about walks in the area. There is a large variety of walking areas, along the shore in the city, in parks on the many small, and a few not so small, hills in town, and around the various lakes in the areas around the city.
We saw a variety of animals in the parks and lagoons, including a bald eagle on a rock in the harbor, a peacock in Beacon Hill Park, a seal at Fishermans Wharf, and swans in the Esquimalt Lagoon Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
We found out that there is a Niagara Falls in Goldstream Park, which, while not as wide as its namesake, is a bit higher.
John had planned on joining a curling league, and possibly a rubber bridge group, but decided that it would be better to just take advantage of the many walking opportunities.
We also went swimming 2 days a week at the local swimming pool.
Of course there were those days when it was cool and damp, those were the days we spent lolly-gagging around in the trailer watching TV, playing PC games or WII and reading.
In November as an anniversary gift to ourselves we went to Just for Laughs Comedy Tour.
In mid-December, Brian and Kris, friends from Calgary, joined us for a few meals. They had sold their condo in Calgary, and were renting in Comox while they house-hunted in that area.
Karen and Dominique joined us for Christmas, arriving Dec 24th and flying out Dec 28th. Joan actually roasted a turkey in the little RV oven. She learned how to bake cookies and all sorts of treats in the electric frying pan, waffle iron and other electric appliances. We also had a couple of our neighbours over for Christmas dinner.
While Karen and Dominique were here, we went to Fort Rodd National Historic Site, and Fisgaard Lighthouse.
We did golf once, in January, and, no, we did not need coloured golf balls.
February was vacation time, so we went up to Courtenay to visit our friends Kris and Brian. They had just purchased a house and took possession the day after we arrived. They had quite a few renovations planned, so John and Brian did some stripping out old walls in the basement. That was really John's only work for the winter, except for repairing a leak in the roof over the shower, and washing the trailer. On our way up to Courtenay, we stopped in Cedar to visit Bill and Penny, friends whom we met last summer in the campground in Ottawa, and enjoyed the muffins and coffee they had ready for us.
In early March, we attended a Susan Jacks concert with the proceeds going to the kidney foundation. We really enjoyed the show. Considering she had a kidney transplant 2 years ago, she is in great shape.
Toward the end of March, Ann, John's sister, and her husband, Daniel, arrived in Victoria. We spent a couple of days with them, taking them to some of the places we found interesting.
The last week of March, started getting ready to travel again. We had moved the couch from the side of the trailer to the back window, and had to move it back, so we could close the sliders. We disassembled the set of stairs that Janet had made for us, and packed them in the trailer storage space.
On April 1st, we went through the routine of closing up the trailer and hooking it up for the first time since October. Everything went smoothly, as we departed Victoria and headed back to the mainland to Peace Arch RV Park in Surrey, our first step on our way back to Calgary for appointments in late April.
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