BIRDS, FLOWERS AND MOVING

We’ve been very busy since I last posted.  Aileen had a couple more dental appointments.  We totally ran out of time to visit everyone we wanted to in Salmon Arm.  We had Richard and Georgia come visit us for five days.  Actually, they stayed at Bev and Kevin’s house but we spent the days together.  Richard and I took one day and we poked around some of the areas he remembered from his youth.  Another day we all went for a hike and picnic. 

I dug out my big Canon 100-400 lens and took it to the wharf the last day we were in Salmon Arm and tried some birds in flight photos.  My little Canon SX60 has tremendous reach but it is too slow to capture moving objects very well.  I just get frustrated.  With a full frame body and the 100-400 using high ISO and fast shutter speed, that works somewhat better but it is a brute to hold for a long period.

On Tuesday, April 30, we packed up and left Salmon Arm.  We drove to near Lytton and spent the night at Skihist Provincial Park and had a great time.  It was so peaceful, the flowers were nice and we enjoyed exploring some local trails.  The next day we drove to the coast and took a ferry to Vancouver Island.  For the next while we are parked at my brother Charlie’s (and Sheila’s) place in Errington.

I took my old laptop to the shop where I bought it and had them fix several items so now I have a spare in case anything else goes wrong.  Next, I will take Aileen’s laptop to them and see if they can speed it up and correct a few issues.

We are having record breaking temperatures the past few days.  It’s quite a change from being cold all the time up until a week ago!   The flowers here on the Island are blooming well in some areas and a couple days ago we went with my sister Sue and her husband to one of the prime areas called Harewood Plains near Nanaimo.

On a downside, the air conditioner quit working in the car yesterday.  After spending nearly $1,900 USD mid-March in Mesa, AZ, I am not happy.   Fortunately, Charlie lent us his car today to drive to Victoria for Aileen’s eye appointment.  She has another eye appointment next Friday as well.  Hopefully that will be the end of those for a while.

Here it is early May and already the forest companies are locking us ATV riders out of the logging roads that we like to explore.  Not sure what the future of ATVing is in this area.  We hope to find an area controlled by the Provincial government that will allow access.

Monday, the car has an appointment at the Honda dealer and then after that I need to get busy planning for our upcoming RV rally in June.  Who says retirement is boring?

Osprey

Osprey

Osprey mating ritual

Osprey talons

Osprey talking

Osprey cruising by

Ospreys mating

Osprey nagging

Final Osprey

At first glance does this look like a large animal's head?

It's actually a swallow peeking out of the next box along the Salmon Arm waterfront

Avalanche Lily Richard and I saw after some rain and hail

And another

Adams River with Avalanche Lilies

Adams River Gorge

Looking up inside a Chocolate Lily

Chocolate Lily

Swallows

Larkspur

THANK GOODNESS, MY COMPUTER IS WORKING AGAIN!

It is sure nice to have my computer back up and running.  With the damaged cord, it took me a week of fiddling to actually get it charged.  The new cord has fixed it.  I hadn’t been able to download my photos so I had quite a few to look at last night.

We went to Vancouver Island on Thursday driving the car.  We sat for three hours waiting for a ferry which made the long trip even longer.  We stayed with my sister Janet and husband John in Qualicum Beach. 

On Saturday, we attended the service for Bill who was Aileen’s cousin Gloria’s husband.   We first met Bill in about 1969 when Aileen discovered a cousin had moved to Port Hardy where we were living at the time.  Since we began our RV living lifestyle, we have parked many times at their place south of Campbell River and enjoyed many visits.  We got to know many of Bill’s friends in the area and it was nice to see so many of them at the service.

We came back to the motor home yesterday so Aileen had a day of rest before starting the next round of busy.   A couple more dental visits and Richard and Georgia are coming tomorrow for a few days too.  We are planning on taking the motor home over to the Island early next week and will probably be there for the summer.  Aileen has a follow up appointment to see the eye doctor regarding her cataract surgery last summer.  We have RV rallies in June and September and two weeks of house sitting for a cousin in June.  Not sure what the rest of the summer will yield.

Cock Ring-necked Pheasant Salmon Arm waterfront

Ring-billed Gull Salmon Arm wharf

Catkins on the waterfront trail Salmon Arm

Beaver along the waterfront trail Salmon Arm

Green-winged Teal Salmon Arm wharf

Marmot along the tracks beside the waterfront trail Salmon Arm

He got comfortable with me watching and decided to soak up the last rays of the evening

Red-winged Blackbird Salmon Arm McGuire Lake

Pigeon under the wharf Salmon Arm

Osprey at Salmon Arm wharf

Yellow-rumped Warblers Salmon Arm waterfront

Great Blue Heron and snack Salmon Arm boat launch

Swallow at Salmon Arm waterfront

Skunk Cabbage near Qualicum Beach

Red-breasted Sapsucker Qualicum Beach

Western Grebe Salmon Arm wharf

Great Blue Herons

Ring-necked Pheasant cock on the tracks at Salmon Arm

Aren't I a pretty boy

BEEN MISSING

Hi, it has been nearly three weeks since I made a post.  Once again I have some computer issues.  I damaged the laptop cord during the winter and it has been finicky to charge the computer ever since.  The cord has to be turned just right in order for the power to go through.  I just got it charged for the first time in well over a week of trying.  I have a new cord waiting for me in Nanaimo.  I will pick it up this coming Friday.
We are taking the car and going to Vancouver Island this Thursday in order to attend a funeral on Saturday.  Our good friend Bill, husband of Aileen's cousin, whose driveway we have parked in many times over the past ten years passed recently so we want to go and say goodbye.
The weather hasn't been too conducive to photography lately so I haven't done much and what I have done hasn't been edited because of my computer issues.  I have spent quite a bit of time indoors reading.  We are working our way through our yearly appointments in Salmon Arm and won't be finished for another week and a half.
Richard and Georgia are coming up next week to spend a few days with us then after that we will be taking the motor home over to the Island for the rest of the summer.  At least that is the current plan.

Taken at the Salmon Arm waterfront.  We think it is  Northern Goshawk

Hand held super closeup.  With me weaving and the image stabilizer jerking around, I almost missed the head.  I thought what I got was kind of neat though!  No adjustments made, right out of the camera.

NORTH OF THE BORDER

We crossed the border Friday at Oroville, WA just south of Osoyoos, BC.  It was a smooth crossing with the only questions pertaining to guns and alcohol and the value of goods we were bringing across.  We have been enjoying visiting with our friends Karen and Bev.  It's handy that they live only a couple blocks apart.  Aileen's cousin Bev came for a visit yesterday.
I went geocaching on Saturday which is where today's photos came from.  I found the day a little over strenuous as it was mostly up and down and lots of steep.  I gained about 1250 vertical feet and of course dropped that amount.  After just over 9 kms of that, I was pooped.
We went to the Cellar Friday night with Bev and Karen and have had a couple of shared meals since.  The days have been sunny so far with frosty mornings so it has been pretty cool in the motor home every morning.  The forecast says we are in for several rainy days starting tomorrow.  Planning for more of that, I installed new wiper blades on the motor home.
We are moving up to Salmon Arm on Sunday where we will probably spend the rest of April.  Yearly doctor visit, dentist,  income tax and visiting friends are all on the list.

Looking across Skaha Lake from Eastside Rd, that's a skiff of ice in the distance

Looking north up Skaha Lake toward Penticton, BC

Looking south down Skaha Lake toward Okanagan Falls, BC and yes, that is the same tree.

Chipmunk

View north up Skaha Lake

One of many little ponds I wandered by

Still  a bit of ice

Dead Ponderosa Pine

Looking north up Skaha Lake

From the summit looking down on Okanagan Falls.  If you look closely on the ridge right side halfway up, there are four bighorn sheep.

From the summit looking up to Penticton

Looking across to Kalenden

Zooming in on Penticton, Skaha Lake this side and Okanagan Lake on the far side

Zoomed tighter on Penticton

Ducks on a frozen pond below the summit