ROBBLOG #629

I'm feeling a little less stressed this morning as you can see from the photo.

Up and at 'em at 703am.
That's right. There is a 7:03 in the morning just like at nighttime.
I mean who knew?

I have ironed.
I put more shirts and reading material (4 more books from the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency series) into Priscilla.
I shrink-wrapped my "Lion" fountain.
Then, I put a new "umbrella" top on the bird feeder in the north yard and filled the feeder to the brim. I was concerned about the bird food, since the "Mama Dove" is up in the nest again on the front verandah. If it's the same Dove, this would be family number three this summer!
Gawd, she and the Mister must love kids!!

So, my  Samsung says "1 Day until Departure".
Yikes!!
Tom and I signed papers in Duncan B.C. for this "new build" house way back in February and now the reality is sinking in. Although we don't take possession until the end of September, we start our trek westward now to avoid adverse weather (READ: SNOW) in the Rockies in September. It could happen.

Our early departure means we spend 6 weeks in a lovely RV Park called "Country Maples" just south of Chemainus off Trans Canada 1. Chemainus is about 20 minutes or so north of our new home in Duncan.

A Garden in Duncan BC

Now then, to brush aside the fears of 365 days of rain on the Island that you may harbour, I want to make it clear that it does not rain 365 days straight. In fact the Island is working on a record of more than 52 days without rain. There are no active wildfires on the island. Those are in the interior of the province. We will, however, have to be aware of their location as we travel from Calgary to Lake Louise, through four National Parks to Sicamous- just east of Kamloops. After our overnight in Sicamous we head straight down the Coquihalla Highway (TV's Highway Thru Hell) to Hope and then West to Tswwassen, picking up our van along the way in Delta from Hansen's Rail Yard.

Our Duncan (Cowichan Valley) weather is one with a mild, Mediterranean Climate with four varieties of palm trees, huge Yuccas, Monkey Trees, large Rhododenrons, Arbutus Trees and more. We will also be cutting our lawn year round.
We can walk, bicycle, hike (yuck!) and golf (yuck again!) year round.
We can watch the dolphins, sea lions, eagles and whales frolic in the Pacific. If we were surfers we could surf year-round at Tofino on the Island's west coast. We have a mountain that is visible from our front door- Mount Prevost, with Mount Sicker just a bit further north. Victoria is less than an hour away south and Nanaimo- home of the famous bars, is about a half hour to our north.

Me on the Island in February- yes February in Canada!

Check it our on a map or perform a simple google search. Duncan is www.duncan.ca
That will get your started.

Okay. Enough blogging. I have stuff to do. It seems like this packing thing is never-ending.
I can hardly wait to get on the road when all I have to do is look forward to the future with my loving Husband Tom and our kids- the mini-schnauzers Missy and Koko, as well as the Boys- our orange tabbies Dickens and Doyle.

Stay tuned.