A lovely 2.5 km drive west of the Nanaimo Airport
The main office, laundry and meeting room. Pool and hot tub to the right
After we got set up we went over to Holly and Bob's for a visit. After a beverage and a great visit we sat down to a delicious meal of Mexican lasagna and a salad. As the meal had too much cheese Holly was so considerate to make Dave his own meal of BBQ pork chop and a potato. Both meals were fantastic and we all appreciated Dave not getting too much lactose!! We headed home for an early night as we had been up late the night before.
Friday we got up and did a nice walk around the area and then got back to do some chores. As much as I enjoyed Uncle Bill's and the chickens we had some work to do to get the smell of them out of the rig. After we headed to Bob and Holly's for a quick visit. Bob was out getting a haircut so Holly started by showing us some of her latest genealogy research. She has an amazing amount of information compiled for all branches of both her and Bob's families. Unfortunately the Roche clan is the toughest to find out about but she has still unearthed quite a bit of history. We had invited them to our place for supper so we all ended up at our place for the evening.
Dave, Bob (with BOTH his drinks!) and Holly
Holly always smiling :)
We had such a great visit. Dave and I are truly enjoying being able to spend such good, quality time with people we care so much about.
Saturday we met up with Bob to do a walk on the Haslam Trail to the Haslam Creek Suspension Bridge on the Trans Canada Trail.
So many trails, so little time...lol
Bob and Dave trying to keep up with Margaret
The suspension bridge is only about 100 feet across but fairly high up
The "Creek" is almost looking like a river with all the run-off
Margaret does not like bridges and refuses to cross if she can see down. Dad to the rescue.
We went back to the trailer for a quick lunch before meeting up with Bob and Holly again to go to their granddaughter, Taylor's, soccer game.
Unfortunately the weather took a nasty turn and we were too cold to stay until the end of the game. To warm up we took a trip over to Walker Saw Shop which was started by Holly and Bob many years ago and is now owned by their son John and his wife Deb. Bob at 80, is still sought out and highly respected as a chainsaw expert and offers his expertise to many logger sport competitors. Holly also judges logger sports. Many people say that their saw has been "Walkerized" meaning max performance- ized ? This is where the magic happens.
Love the giant carving out front
Lots of inventory and a huge repair and service area in back
John, Holly and her granddaughter Cheyenne
More inventory.
I'm not sure whether Dave was drooling more over the new stuff or about the repair area full of tools etc. He was like a kid in a candy shop! Thankfully we had no room to transport anything so we got away cheap. From here Dave and I headed over to my cousin Susan's place in Nanaimo for dinner. I was very happily surprised to walk in and find my cousin Derek there. I thought Uncle Bill had said he was away fishing so I thought we had missed him. We had an amazing meal, a few drinks and a very nice visit. Derek invited us to his place for lunch tomorrow. Yay!
Sunday morning arrived cool and cloudy. We drove about 30 minutes to Lantzville for a visit and lunch at Derek's. We pulled in at exactly the same time as Susan and Dave. After we all said hello in the kitchen...
Derek, Dave, Sue, my Dave
...we took a tour of the acreage. Derek's son grows and sells organic produce for a living. He also bakes the most amazing breads and croissants. So delicious.
Susan giving Dave some fresh sorrel to try
Derek showing us his newest greenhouse under construction
Derek is much like his Dad, Uncle Bill...right down to the chickens
Many varieties of lettuce, spinach, chard etc plus all the covered, heated starter beds for the next batch in a smaller greenhouse.
After the garden tour we went in and enjoyed a delicious feed of curried prawns on brown rice. Derek also sliced up a loaf of freshly baked caraway bread. Heavenly! Thanks for the invite Derek! After some conversation we said our final good-byes, as we are leaving the island tomorrow. It was so great to spend time with you all. Special thanks to Susan who put on many miles, cooked up a storm and went out of her way to keep my Dave on his toes, as she never missed an opportunity to tease him.
We headed back to do a bit of organizing in the trailer for a couple hours and then met up with Holly and Bob to go out for dinner at the Chakalaka Bar and Grill just south of Cassidy.
Holly, Dave and Bob ready to chow down!
The restaurant was really nice and the service was great. I had the prime rib, Dave had the Halibut and both were very good. As it was our last night we all decided to have a dessert. All of them were delicious. We exchanged lots of hugs in the parking lot before heading back to the rig. We really loved our time with you both, as we always do. Cheers until next time :)
Tomorrow we board the ferry back to the mainland, heading home a little early for some stuff that needs our personal touch.
Sounds like you had a great visit with your family. Safe travels home.
ReplyDeleteIt was really nice to be able to stay in each place for a few days instead of a few hours like we used to. Had a nice trip home, big weather change but spring is here.
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