And We Are Home!

I woke up this morning in Vancouver and my coffee and muffin waiting for me.  Ron, the early riser, had already been up and going.  A travelling day is always full of hurry up and wait.  We did feel like we were taking a more of a relaxed approach to the day.  Our shuttle to the airport wasn’t until 8:30.  Our flight was at 11:30 so we had lots of time to check our luggage and get through security.  We walked from one end of the airport to the other and picked up a sandwich for the plane.

I got a message from June, a friend from Swift Current.  She said that she had been following our Bella Coola adventures through the blog but wanted to hear about our Tamworth life too. So, if you have been following along and would like to know when I do the next post, let me know so I can send you the link or you can be like June and follow the blog.

We boarded the plane and were a little excited that there was a no show in our row.  We had a little more room.  

The flight went by quickly.  

Meanwhile back in Bella Coola, Stephen had an extremely successful fishing day.  

He also had a bit of excitement when a whale surfaced about 8 feet from the boat.  He was able to get a video of it and it was pretty amazing.  

When we landed in Toronto, our luggage did too.  That is always a bonus!  

We have AirTags in our luggage to see where they are.  I’m always happen when the tags show up at the same location.

The shuttle to the truck was right outside the door waiting.  The highway was busy but no traffic jams.  Things went pretty smooth for us.

We arrived home around 11:30…tomorrow will be a laundry and grass cutting day.  We may have time later to slip over to the Black Cat.

….and I was able to add some salmon to our freezer!

I Hate Goodbyes!

The day arrived that I always dread.  I dislike saying goodbye.  We enjoyed being with Stephen and Kylie so much. We started the day off with going for breakfast at the Cafe Bella.

 I ordered the Eggs Benedict with salmon.  Everything about the meal was done right.  The hash browns were a little different and very tasty.  The hollandaise sauce had a bit of a tangy flavour and I was glad that I had the full order.  My red rose tea complimented my meal perfectly.  

The views all around made the breakfast special and being there with Stephen and Kylie made it a perfect morning.

You might think that the house would be quieter because we were flying today but that was not the case at all.  They had been asked to dog sit two dogs for the next three weeks.

Stephen also received an email from relocation and things are being put into play for their next move.  It was fun to be there for that and remember the feeling of the process.  They will have a phone meeting on Monday morning to discuss the next steps.  We are so happy that we got to visit Bella Coola twice.  Next year, we will be headed to Haida Gwaii.

Kylie said goodbye to us at the house because she had to take a work call.  Stephen drove us to the airport.  We said our goodbyes through tears.  As Stephen drove away, my heart hurt.  After we checked our luggage we went for a walk through the woods.  The trees are so huge.

We found our way to the end of the little runway and watched the plane arrive.

We boarded the tiny plane and found our way to our seats.  

We flew up over the mountains.  It is so beautiful.  Ron spotted a fire on the ground as we got close to Anaheim Lake.  

Stephen is on standby to go to the fires once he is done with his holidays.  Thankfully, we didn’t have the smoke in the valley and hopefully rain will soon give those fighting the fires some relief.  We landed at the little airport at Anaheim Lake.  We had a short stay and then boarded again, headed to Vancouver.  

There was a little bit of entertainment on the plane.  A couple of kids were acting out quite a bit.  A fellow passenger came up behind Ron when we were walking on the tarmac.  He told Ron that he must be a saint to have sat ahead of one of the kids.  Apparently, she was kicking his seat for a lot of the trip.  

We caught the bus back to the main terminal.  We had a coffee while we waited for the hotel shuttle.  We went for walk after we checked into the hotel.  We ordered pizza for supper and had a restful evening.

Thank you Stephen and Kylie for a wonderful vacation.  It was exactly what we needed!

 Love you both!!

It was a Whale of a Day

We were told by one of the Elders “that the early bird gets the worm” and so we were up and going at 6:00 a.m.  It was a beautiful morning.  The ocean was calm.

There are lots of obstacles in the ocean with tides changing and run offs.  Today there was a whole tree in the ocean!  

Seagulls sometimes try to mark the logs by making them their landing point.

As we crossed the water, Ron noticed a mist rising and then there was another.  Finally the tail of a whale was spotted.  Our day was already a success story.  You will have to take our word for it because I didn’t get a picture.

Kylie was the first to land something.  A Starfish was interesting to look at but was not on our lists of things to bring home.  

Next, she pulled out two rockfish..both a little too small to keep. At 10:43, Kylie got a big salmon.  What is all this talk about the early bird…it is almost noon!  

Fifteen minutes later, Stephen pulled in an even bigger coho salmon.  

At 11:13, Ron reeled another one in.

Not quite a half hour later, another salmon found its way into the cooler.

Shortly after, they switched to bottom fishing and a rockfish was caught; and at the same time Kylie saw a bear on shore.  

Copper Rockfish

Our fishing adventure was checking off so many boxes.

At 12:48, Kylie brought another rockfish into the boat.  

Quillback Rockfish

Two more were caught and the fishing day was coming to an end.  At one point Kylie handed me her fishing Rod but thankfully nothing was biting at that time.  I did net a couple though!

We saw some eagles around and managed to get a picture of one.

We made our way back across the channel and towards the dock.  The wind had picked up a bit but it was still a beautiful day.  Stephen and Kylie loaded the boat and we stopped for specialty drinks on the way home.  Kylie says that good fishing is rewarded with frappes! 

Once home, the work began.  Cleaning, deboning and all that fun stuff.  Of course, I couldn’t help because I was documenting the fish stories.

What a whale of a day…a sighting of a whale, a bear and eagles and lots of catches and bringing home 4 salmon and 4 rockfish and of course, the frappes!

And if you haven’t guessed it… we had fish and chips for supper!

Meanwhile back in Ontario…my dad turned 90!  I’m sure he would have loved to be fishing today but he got to hear the stories and will enjoy watching the videos and seeing the pictures.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Camping or Maybe Not

This morning Ron biked to the pool and went for a swim.  Kylie had a virtual meeting for work.  Stephen and I dropped the boat off to be looked at and picked up some groceries.  

We then all worked to pack for a few days of camping.  We had two trucks loaded.

Stephen drove the truck with the camper.  Kylie and the dogs rode with him.  Ron and I followed with the other truck with paddle boards, an inflatable kayak and sails and wings.

If you have followed my blog before, you will remember that to leave Bella Coola there are three ways…fly, ferry or “the hill.”

“   The actual hill drops 4,020 feet in 19.4 km, on grades of up to 15% according to the information sign at the truckers' brake check area at the top of the hill, but driving both uphill and downhill, there are sections of descent and ascent respectively. There are some short one-lane sections, and there are many pull-offs. There are some huge unprotected drops off the side of the roads (that is, there are no guardrails).”  From: ExploreNorth

As we headed up the hill, we remembered how beautiful it was. I tried not to think what would happen if that tire got too close to the side of the road.  

As the elevation increased, there was a big puff of dark smoke from the truck that Stephen was driving.  He radioed to us and said “I think that might be the end of our camping trip.”  He drove slowly to the next pullout.  

We were thankful for phones that connect to the satellite.  A tow truck was called.  Next problem…they will only take the truck and not the camper.  Ron and I loaded the working truck with as much as we could and drove slowly down the hill and back to the house.  After we unloaded everything, Ron went back up the hill.  By this time the tow truck was there and another guy with a truck.  

Kylie had sent a message to some of her friend’s about the camper and one of the husbands accepted the challenge.  That was incredibly nice of him.

Four hours from the black puff of smoke, we were all home, enjoying leftovers. The Sjoelen board came out for our evening entertainment.  Stephen won.  

The camping trip was not to be but we did sit out in the backyard to watch the night skies.

Perseids peak this week

The peak is predicted** for 14:53 UTC on August 13, 2026. So the mornings of August 12 and 13 are probably your best bets. But August 11 and August 14 might be good as well. From earthsky

We saw a few shooting stars and lots of satellites.  We may try it again tonight if the sky is clear and we can stay up that late.  We have a guy turning 63 today!

Happy birthday Ron!  Your watch thinks you are still in your 40’s so keep fooling it!