A trip of all trips

I am not sure how many years it has been since i went on a trip with my parents and my brother but I could probably say it has been a good 38 years ! This past week found me jetting down to the coast again to my brother's and then driving up the Fraser Valley to pick up my parents so we could could head onto Vancouver Island early Friday morning . The storm of the century didn't happen - thankfully - and we had a smooth ferry sailing across Georgia Bay . As I haven't been on the Island for 26 yrs years it was amazing to see all the growth in population there and yet there seemed to be a lot of open , unused land . The natural beauty is something to see and I love the oceanside communities . As we went from Nanaimo to Comox we took the scenic route through all the small towns of Fanny Bay , Oyster Bay , Qualicum Beach and a cute little town with a great ocean side cafe called Bowser ! Was fun to get out an smell the sea air and to stretch every hour or so . As Dad had hip surgery in January it was very necessary to do that .... and besides the fact 4 adults in a mini van need to get out !!! LOL ! We headed into Comox and found that my Uncle's was right on the main drag and easy to find which was a bonus ... not that you could actually get lost there I don't think !
My parents stayed with my Uncle ( Mom's brother ) while my brother & I stayed up the street in a motel . That gave us a breather from the family and a chance to explore the town .

These photos are of the ocean and if you look hard enough you can see where my #4 granddaughter lives ...so near and yet so far ........ the temptation to hope the ferry and go there was a great pull but I just didn't have the time to go on a wild goose chase . I love the ocean and it is so peaceful to walk along it even though the wind was cold and blowing ! We had an awesome visit for 2 days with my Uncle and I even got to see my cousin ( another Uncle's daughter ) whom I haven't seen in over 30 yrs ! It was a great trip to the Island but Sunday found us heading back to the mainland where my sister and her husband came to collect my parents from my brother's .


This is heading south down the Island highway into Nanaimo on Sunday morning ...in a rainstorm !






I spent another 2 days with my brother and got to see a good friend that recently moved within a few blocks from my brother . Unfortunately she had to work the 2 days I was there so we only had a short visit but a good one ......

Well I am now home and trying to catch up on things around here .... I feel like I have lost a week somewhere and we are heading into Friday again ! Sheesh !!! This has to be a sign of getting older ! LOL !

On another note , BIL is back in the hospital after a series of seisures . The specailists think it is from the combination of radiation and chemotheraphy he has had this year but they are running further tests to see if they can find the cause . I am sure he and his wife are just wishing they would get some GOOD news for a change ! I know we are rooting for some too !

" Nothing is worth more then this day . Make the best of it . "

And life goes on .....

Early morning fog on Lac la Hache , BC
Our little maple tree is growing !










The motorhome is winterized and put away for the winter so it must mean we are done camping after 45 days of actually getting out and using it ! The men folk are talking about their Fall hunt up North and rehashing last years ........

It is already past our Thanksgiving and that is so hard to believe ! What ever happened to September ? It came and went so fast ! The colors of our trees this year were beautiful but so sad to see everything turn so fast . The cool weather also hit fast and furious but AFTER DH & I managed a week of holidays . We just camped within 3 hrs of home and managed to stay in 4 different places and 4 different lakes . The one photo of the fog coming off the lake is at Lac la Hache , BC ..... I think this was a definate start to the fall !
Our little grandkid maple tree ( the 2 middle grandgirls gave it to us out of their yard ) has grown a lot this summer and sprouted a few more branches and leaves . It managed to survive the summer and the pups . lets hope it survives another winter as I love the tree and hope it grows quickly so it will shade our deck .... if we ever see a hot summer again that is !
Our fall has been very busy as DH has been away on 2 business trips and our week's holiday . I leave again next week for a trip with my brother and parents to Vancouver Island to see my Mother's last surviving brother and whom I was named after . His wife of 40 yrs passed away in September after years of fighting brain cancer ...she was 80 and survived for over 25 yrs after her first tumor ! Amazing !!! DH's brother is still fighting and has been getting some very good news from his specialists so lets hope after such bad news at the beginning of the year that he can beat the cancer completely ! Miracles do happen ! Dh seems to be feeling a lot better too which is wonderful ... makes the stress of the past few months a bit of a blurr !
It is nice that some of the stress has left and that I had a lot of time to myself so I could get the creative juices flowing and play with my " toys " ! I did manage a couple layouts and a few cards even though my rotator cuff has been giving me major problems for the past 6 weeks . Physio has helped but I wish it would just go away as I hate beeing in pain as much as the next person ! But like most injuries , it takes time to heal ....... I did receive some very nice stamps in the mail today as I was one of the 1001 people to be drawn for a promo set of " family " stamps from Inque Boutique :-) I can hardly wait to play with them !

Happy Fall everybody , get out and enjoy the crisp air and the beautiful colors as winter isn't to far off !

" Autumn is a second Spring when every leaf is a flower " ~ Albert Camus ~