Well, another week has gone by & here we are enjoying the warm BC weather.

I have added pictures to several of the last inserts/posts.

Thurs. Feb 8 - Walked up to Kim's office to see the digs, as it is only 6 blocks or so from Ruth's condo. Back to the nearby mall to see if there are bargains that can't be missed & of course there are! Ruth's daughter Bonnie, Andy & Nathan & son Murray, Sean & Julia come for a dinner of lemon pepper halibut that G picked up at Granville Market. Ruth baked squash with homemade cranberry sauce inside & a greek salad, all was delicious, as usual! Everyone is doing great with lots of news.

Fri. Feb 9 - packed up & Ruth drove G over to Tanya's to get the RV, load up for the drive to North Vancouver to niece Monique, Doug, Danielle & Michaela's. Easy drive in mid-day thru Surrey, Coquitlam, Burnaby on the Trans-Canada. Monique took us on a drive around their area & to Deep Cove, beautiful views, multi-million dollar houses on the water, lots of big trees, rocks, mountainsides. We even saw the street named for the family - Gallant Ave.! I walked to school with Monique to pick up the girls, back to their condo to enjoy an evening of relaxing, visiting & eating Doug's famous Asiago Chicken, gotta get that recipe when he finds it (it was lost & winged!). A band was struck up in the evening with G & Monique on piano, Danielle on Ukelele & Michaela on the recorder!

Sat. Feb 10 - Monique got us up & going early (9:30!) for a hike to Quarry Rock overlooking the Deep Cove area - part of the Baden Powell Trail. Lots of up & down, rocky, tree roots kind of trail, the kind that technical adventure mountain bikers like (Monique bikes or jogs some of this trail). Great for us for a hike, I would not want to be biking it tho, yikes! Awesome view at the end, see pic above, where we tried to make Gerry look tall. We have the most amazing day, sunny & warm with light jackets, no wind. G & I needed lunch & a rest after this, while Monique & Doug each went to coach one of the girls' soccer games. I walked thru another trail to watch & photograph Danielle's game & then back with home with them. Everybody cleaned up & we walked in the dark with a flashlight, thru the woods, down the road & up a hill to Northlands Golf Course to their restaurant for dinner. Calamari was shared & some pasta, salads & fish was enjoyed by all. A walk thru different dark woods to get home, we certainly had our exercise & fresh air this day, so all slept well.

Sun. Feb 11 - after a leisurely breakfast & coffee we drove north to Horseshoe Bay to catch the ferry over to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. A 90 minute trip, had lunch & watched the small islands & pods of dolphins pass by on a smooth crossing. Light rain, but days have all been around 10 degrees, very comfortable. We drive south on the TransCanada thru the Malahat (mountain range), roads are excellent, wide with shoulders, easy compared to the mountain passes in northern California. We arrive in Victoria at friends' Danny & Joanne's (Chantel's Godparents) just in time for happy hour, for a great evening of reminiscing, visiting, & eating serving after serving of appetizers, shrimp, chicken, rice, etc., etc., then chocolate cake, burp again! Other friends, Marie & George are also there visiting from Yellowknife, she has lots of info/pictures/maps of the now YK, many changes...