Slowly but surely, the scenery changed, everything looked desolate and dry, the air was full of dust, there was just nothing growing here.    I started reading the road signs and the billboards along the I 5,   “IS GROWING FOOD WASTING WATER???”

“STOP THE CONGRESS CREATED DUSTBOWL”
“NO WATER<NO JOBS”
“DAMS AND TRAINS ,WE NEED WATER STORAGE NOW!!!”
“FARMERS DO SOMETHING AMAZING;THEY USE WATER TO GROW FOOD!!”
So there you have it, its a very sad situation, all the land here looks dead, and there are thousands of acres here!        If you want to read more about this, go to     WWW.FAMILIESPROTECTINGTHEVALLEY.COM

This was a big eye opener for us, i had read about the drought here ,but seeing it with your own eyes in a different perspective, i found it very sad.   The coast on the contrary ,was having quite the time with flooding, immense rain fall caused the roads and hillsides to wash out, many roads were closed at the time we drove South.

Close to Bakersfield, we left the I 5,and drove onto route 58, the whole trip started to feel like some kind of race, we werent happy, towards Los Angeles, we climbed Mount Pinos,4144 feet high,in the San Emidgio Mountains, the Westy just kept right on going, no problem at all!!!     Such a tough car, we truly love travelling in her!  The goal was to be in El Centro in 5 days, where Roel and Ineke were waiting, and we made it!!!   So far we drove 2777 kms!!!!!!

We met up with Roel and Ineke in El Centro, on January 15.

This gorgeous tree ,with beautiful red berries was standing at a road side stop, i believe it to be a Deciduous Holly, but i am not sure…..

On January 11, we had the Westy ,”Curtsy Too”,fully packed for a drive to the South.  The plan was to meet up with family, close to the border of mexico.  We only bought some canned goods, as we needed to cross the border into the USA, once we did that, at the Peace Arch , we stopped at Safeway and bought veggies and fruit.    It rained most of the  time but we drove almost all day, stopping only for a walk,lunch, and our coffee in the morning.   We followed the I 5, but after a while ,that road becomes very tedious, big semis roaring by all the time, once in Oregon, we found some nice campsites, very well maintained and clean, showers are free, and excellent WIFI.          Within a couple of days, we had our routine going, we both slept in the bed below, i had bought an extra sleeping bag from LLBEAN, and we were very warm and cozy!!!      On day 4, while driving  up hill,4000 feet, i saw ,out of the corner of my eyes, the Westy’s roof, slowly but surely rising upwards!!!      I have never seen Bert pull over so fast, thank goodness we were in the right lane, the wind was blowing like crazy, big side gusts, so we were so lucky to grab the roof in time, for some reason, it had not clicked and locked into place!!!   needless to say, my left eye from then on, kept a watch to the back, but it never happened again!!!

We drove up to the Comox Valley for 3 days, we visited Bert’s daughter Petra and her family and had a beautiful Christmas dinner with them and Kevin’s family.
Their warmth and hospitality was wonderful for us, we relaxed and caught up on all the news.
Petra’s dog, Lincon, a very big German Shepherd, is basically just a pussycat, such a lovely dog, he is hurting right now, one of his leg has a problem, hopefully it will heal in the near future.
I write about him because i have a nice photo of him!!

A beautiful dinner, ready to be enjoyed.

Ready for all the guests.

Lincon

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!!

Its been cold!! I know, some of you, way up North there, laugh at this, but the humidity has been high and to me that makes it a lot colder then the cold up North or even in the Comox Valley where we just came back from, we even camped in the Westy!!!! Yes, at -8!!!
But it was dry, and we were toasty warm, with the foot warmer on ( i know, i am spoiled), and the little heater going.
We bought tow sleeping bags from LL BEAN, and they are wonderful!
But first i want to talk about the Winter Solstice, it fell this year on December 22, and this date is so important, even though winter starts, but, the days will start getting longer again, a few minutes at a time!!

So, i wrote a bit about it, here it is!

WINTER SOLSTICE, WINTER SUN.
Cold air!!! ice on the docks overnight,that wonderful,crisp feeling in the air.
The Bay is frozen overnight, there is so much fresh water runoff running into the Bay,from the intense rain before….
The gulls cannot figure it out yet,they try to land,start sliding, then end up falling through the thin ice,those webbed feet are bright red, and must be so cold.
Early in the morning, the suns rays slowly move up the hillside of the Malahat,there is snow at the top!!
Once the sun hits the boat,the temperature goes up quickly,my pansies are braving this cold, but are blooming continually.
Before daylight, the boat hardly moves in the ice that surrounds it, i can hear it cracking and breaking apart, it will be melted by noon.

Cold, early morning, the sun moving up the hillside.

Ice is slowly melting away from the boat.

ice in the Bay.

AND SO, AFTER THIS LOVELY CONCERT, WE WANT TO WISH ALL OF OUR FAMILY, ALL OUR FRIENDS, BOATING FRIENDS, FRIENDS FAR AWAY, A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS, WITH PEACE AND LOVE SURROUNDING YOU, WE WISH YOU ALL JOY AND GOOD HEALTH FOR THE NEW YEAR, MAY YOU FIND LOVE SURROUNDING YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES, BERT AND MEJAN

The days will now slowly grow longer, we have celebrated Winter Solstice, but its hard to believe when i look out there every morning, how dark it is and how it just rains and rains and rains…..
The water in the bay here is very high at high tide, the large culverts are sounding like forest streams at spring melt, when it gets cold enough, the top fresh water layer freezes over, and Curtsy crunches softly in the ice as she moves.
We have had storm after storm here, a friend told me there were eight of them, i believe it, we watch the weather on Passageweather.com, and there is a lot of purple out there , meaning winds well over 50 knots.
The forecast tells me that we might have a sunny day on Christmas day, at least no rain….

I love this time of year, the hustle and bustle of folks out there, lots of families visiting,folks dressed up in their best, Sidney is so busy with traffic, hard to find a spot to park, we tend to walk everywhere, greeting friends and going for some nice hot drinks at the Pier, the decorations are beautiful there, and the atmosphere warm.

We drove to the Comox valley last weekend, December 12th, to watch the concert of our grandkids at the church, the forecast warned of a big storm, we had watched the barometer plummet down to 970, and indeed, the driving was just wild, we use the old island highway then, because of the hydro planing on the new road.
But, it was so worth it to have gone, the children were awesome, and i took lots of photos plus some videos.
We drove back early, took our time and took a drive through Ladysmith ,the town which is famous for its Christmas lights.

This year we are staying home on Curtsy, relaxing and spending time with friends, on Christmas day we are joining our friends Vaughan and Rita for dinner , together with another couple, Vaughan and Rita stay in a hotel suite downtown Victoria, and they are having the dinner catered in.

On January 2nd we head to the Comox Valley to spend time with two of our daughters and their family.

View from the ferry, Curtsy at the main dock.

The weather at Comox, Cape Lazo

Wonderful Christmas concert,2015

I told you about this feisty bird, who basically rules the dock here now, jaytoo did come over yesterday, but there was no sign of Gribley, Jaytoo came on the boat, and took the cheese right from my hand, i looked right into his eyes and noticed that he has red around them which i believe is a sign that a gull is getting on so to speak, he has great respect for Gribley , seems to know that he cannot win that fight.
But, their memory is just so amazing, he knew me, knew the porthole,where the galley is ,and food, and had just been waiting and waiting for the other bird to leave. ‘
Here is a video , which shows what Gribley does to get my attention!!!

But ,the weather here is different in Brentwood bay, even with the odd bit of cold, the odd bit of ice,it is a lot milder then Sidney ,i leave here without a coat to go to Sidney and then wish i had my down jacket when i get there!!! Things keep on blooming here, there are still flowers out there, hummingbirds still buzz by my head, it is worth it to be in this special little spot.
We have good friends here and right across the road is a charming little Chinese restaurant, on the other side of the ferry dock is the restaurant called “the mermaids”, and then there is the Lodge, we can use the hot tub, and the exercise room ,and the food is splendid in the pub. So for now we are here, who knows what the future might bring…..

Brave little roses!!

No idea what this little bush is called but isn’t it lovely??

winter Cyclamen

Very brave little periwinkle