FALL COLOUR IN DRIZZLE AND SUN

After all the rain of the last few days, seeing some better weather forecast for Sunday spurred us to get the ATVs out.  My brother Charlie, brother in law John R and I went up the Cameron River valley and after driving out to the end at Labour Day Lake, worked our way back checking out several side roads.  The rain hadn't given up yet out in the mountains so all the huckleberry and rhododendron bushes were well laden with water.   In this region, we have at least four different varieties of blueberry/huckleberry bushes.  I ended up with wet feet even though I had waterproof boots on, the water came in at the ankle and soaked down my socks.  As the day progressed, we did get snatches of sunshine and milder temperatures.
Last Tuesday we attended a neat concert at the Port Theatre in Nanaimo.  It was called the Louisiana Hayride and was based on the radio show of that name that ran from 1948 until 1961.  The cast put on a pretty amazing performance highlighting many of the popular singers of our youth.  The creator and one of the performers lived in Salmon Arm when we were there and we knew them casually.  Lori always was very kind in commenting on my photos on display at the local fall fair.
This is our last week at Charlie and Sheila's and it is shaping up to be a busy one.  The calendar is filling up.  The plan is to move down to Sidney to Richard and Robin's on Sunday as Aileen has another eye appointment on Monday.   If that goes okay, we hope to leave the island by October 4 and move up to Penticton for a few days before crossing the border and heading south.  Lots of ifs there this year!

The reds and purples are various huckleberry family members and the golds are white rhododendron, also known as mountain misery. 

The gold underneath is a False Hellebore

White Rhododendron

Lots of colour in the logging slash

Mostly Fireweed

Well drenched Fireweed flowers

The rain is bringing out the fungi

There were lots of these King Gentian flowers in the grass alongside the lake

Labour Day Lake where we walked down through the trees and chest high huckleberries to stand on the narrow beach and eat our lunch

Alaskan Blueberry

Oval-leaved Blueberry

This would be a cone harvester.  It is suspended by a helicopter then lowered over the top of a cedar tree.  When it is lifted up, the four sharp blades cut the outer part of the branches off which then fall into the containing ring.  When it is lowered to the ground, the tiny cones are picked off either by hand or using some type of rake.

Yellow Cedar cones, less than half an inch across

In the dark forest I used flash to illuminate the mushroom

The biggest waterfall we saw.  Yes, that's me in the picture and yes, I made it all the way there in nine seconds.  Pretty good since I was encumbered by rain gear and heavy clothes!

After attaining the height of land, we were able to see far to the west.  That tiny spot of water is the Alberni Inlet , a long narrow part of the Pacific Ocean that comes miles inland.  In 1964 a tidal wave from an earthquake in Alaska did considerable damage at the head of the inlet in Port Alberni.  

Up in the sub-alpine at just over 1300 meters (about 4300 feet) there was lots of colour and many of these tiny ponds

Dwarf Blueberry is all the shrubby ones on the flat.  They are the ones that held so much moisture that my socks soaked up. 

A pretty little glade

Fireweed about done

Rhododendron and Huckleberry

Hellebore also called Corn Lily

Another little waterfall beside the road

AND THE RAINS STAYED

Wet couple days ahead for us and today was rather wet too.  After driving over to Alberni to renew our ATV club membership, my brother in law, John R introduced me to a new area called Hole in the Wall.  I had been planning to get there for several years but just never made the time.  We walked down in the rain but our waterproof coats kept us dry.  We chatted with a couple from Tasmania who were enjoying their visit to Vancouver Island.
Aileen's left eye is still bothering quite a bit so when she mentioned it to Richard on the weekend, Robin had an appointment for her Monday so off to Victoria again.  The car is going to know the route really well pretty soon.  Next scheduled appointment is October 1 then shortly after we hope to depart the Island and move up to Penticton until time to cross the border and head south.  If another appointment is required, we'll drive down in the car back to Victoria and overnight in a motel.
John R and I took our side by sides out on Tuesday.  We put on just 19 kms and found 19 geocaches.  We had a fun day in some rare sunshine.  Last night we played cards with my sisters Susan and Janet and their husbands John.  Yes, there were three Johns at the table.  We played hand and foot canasta and the ladies beat the guys.

Last Sunday I took my Canon 6D for a walk in the rain down at Englishman River Falls Park.  It was quite wet and by the time I was done, so was my camera.  I guess it didn't like all the moisture as most of the camera features quit working.  Luckily, by the next day all was well again.

The main falls

Arbutus tree trunk in the rain

The rest of today's images were taken with my Canon SX60.  This was on our Tuesday ATV ride.  We're looking over Denman and Hornby Islands with Texada Island in the distance.  The furthest mountains in the background are mainland BC.

I was surprised to spot this Turkey Vulture up on the hill

Very close to one of the geocaches we found were a number of pots of healthy pot 

In one area of recent logging there were a number of these very red Dogwoods

Hole in the Wall

Downstream a bit

Building inukshuks seems to be a favorite past time along the creek

If you look very carefully, you might spot John R among the inukshuks

Alder leaf on a maple leaf mostly under water

RALLY OVER, GEOCACHING AND THE RAINS CAME

Yes, the last rally of the year is done and gone.  We had a good time again.  No campfires this time because of the extreme fire conditions but lots of card games.  Aileen was food host this time and she, with her helpers, prepared a great totally gluten free supper one night.  There was lots of food left over so we used it as a basis for a potluck the next evening.  Rather than have most of us get together at a restaurant for supper where it is always way too noisy, we split off into smaller groups this time and that was very successful.  Our group of six went to Union Street Grill which has lots of great gluten free food and we had wonderful evening quietly getting to know each other better.  One morning we visited a distant relative that we met nine years ago at a family reunion.  Sharon and I share the same great grandfather.  Not sure how many times removed that would be!
From the rally we moved about 20 kms up to Miracle Beach Provincial Park to camp with Aileen's sister, Anne and her husband John.  John and I did quite a bit of geocaching, mostly walking trails.  Partway through the rally we had some light rain but our second day at the park, the skies really opened up.  We spent Sunday morning going to Costco and it was really raining when we went in and still when we came out.  We had a nice meal at the Union Street Grill then in the evening went with Anne and John for supper with their daughters and grandson at Boston Pizza in Coutenay.  Aileen had safe meals at both places so that was good.
We moved back to Errington on Wednesday as the car was going for service in Nanaimo on Thursday.   Someone from Nanaimo Honda emailed me wanting to know if they could buy our CRV as they had a buyer looking just that model.  I emailed back and said why would I do that since Honda no longer makes a vehicle that can be flat towed behind my motor home and I would then have to buy an inferior vehicle from one of his competitors!   No reply was forthcoming.
Aileen and I went to Nanaimo today looking for a light jacket for her.  We finally found one in Cabelas.  While wandering around, we happened to meet one of my cousins.  Debbie and her husband Dale live in Hudson's Hope in Northern BC.  I last saw her at her mother's funeral in 2017 and before that was many years ago.  Debbie is friends with some Kyllos up there who are nephews of our Kyllo friends in Salmon Arm.
We plan to stay here in Errington until later in the month when we'll move down to Richard and Robin's for a few days before leaving the Island to begin our journey south.  Aileen still has an eye appointment on October 1 to deal with.  She is still having a lot of difficulty with her left eye in particular.  We plan to get together with Cousin Bill for lunch in Campbell River and we intend to visit John and Alethea on Gabriola Island.  We hope to visit some of the local family while we're still here as well.

While at the rally, I led a small group on a walk around Paradise Meadows on Mt Washington

These ramps are for a handicap wheeled chair you can rent at the visitor's center

Some of the ski runs on Mt Washington in the background

Fireweed still blooming up in the alpine

One of our geocaching adventures took us past this old cement building that may have been a power house back in the day.  Lots of paint used lately.

Bigleaf Maple on a damp morning

Fall has begun

Fall is also the time for spiders webs on the fence beside where park the motor home

Love the patterns

Closer view of the spider next

RALLY TIME

We moved up to Cousin Bill’s on Thursday afternoon after Aileen and her friend Bev D went for haircuts in Qualicum and lunch in Parksville.

On Friday evening we noticed online there were a couple of large cruise ships working their way south so we went to the pier in Campbell River to wait for them.  It was pretty dark by the time they arrived so difficult for pictures.  It was nice sitting out there watching all the other boat traffic go by and watching all the people who came out for a stroll on the pier.  The ice cream stand was doing a good business.

Aileen wanted to go for a drive and do a bit of geocaching yesterday so we went up past Campbell River and drove up a logging road.  We found seven.   We had taken lunch fixings so found a nice quiet side road and sat in our chairs enjoying the peace and quiet of the forest.    Aileen put some ribs in the crockpot yesterday and had sweet potato salad and what our friends call funeral salad ready.  Bill and Tony came and enjoyed the feast with us last night.

I went to a car show in Campbell River this morning.  There were about 400 vehicles on display.  I saw my cousin Rob and his family then later chatted with Bill and Tony.  Bill was zipping along on his mobility scooter.  I was wishing I had the use of one by then as my knees were complaining after a couple hours shuffling along on the pavement.

After lunch I took my geocaching pack and drove up by the Storey Creek golf course.  I walked a trail that went all the way around the outside of the course in the trees putting on 7.11 kms and finding nineteen caches.  I wasn’t long home when it commenced to rain.  Didn’t rain too much but I would have been soaked if I was still walking.  The trail was made by mountain bikers and I’m very glad I decided to walk as it certainly wasn’t a trail I would be capable of riding.  It would have been a long way to push my old bike.

Tomorrow we move down to Seal Bay RV Park to participate in our RV club fall rally.  We will be there until Saturday morning then we will possibly move back here to Bill’s or maybe Miracle Beach Provincial Park for a few days.  Maybe we will know by Saturday morning.

We sat at the beach in Qualicum the other evening to watch the sunset

This paddle boarder gave me a subject to play with

The sun looked a little angry as it set

Setting sun and a piling

As it was getting dark at the pier

The ice cream stand at the pier just before closing time

Late evening fishermen

The Star Princess on its way to Vancouver from Alaska