Oh What a Beautiful Morning

We made it safe and sound after a 1 1/2 delay getting off the ground in Vancouver. The snow was one thing, but the real issue was that as soon as the aircraft backed away from the ramp, its #2 engine wouldn't start! That was really reassuring, but they finally got it going. It meant our wait between planes in LA wasn't so long and after quick lunch we boarded the United Airlines flight and it pretty much left on time. There weren't many on this flight which meant we each had 3 seats to stretch out on and we each had a couple of good naps. We made a quick stop for some breakfast stuff at a grocery store and then found our "home" for the next month. And, here we are enjoying our first breakfast on the lanai. The temps are much like home we understand; hovering in the mid-eighties F!

High Tide

Last Friday morning the 10:30 High Tide was just a bit less than 17 feet. There had been a strong wind overnight so I went down to the Harbour to check Ken & Pat's boat to make sure it was still tied to the wharf! It was! That was a very good thing! You can see the water level is almost across the road of the boat ramp.

Lang Creek Salmon

Last Wednesday morning, November 8th, we went to the Lang Creek Salmon enhancement facility to see the volunteers at work. First of all, the creek was full of salmon in the spawning process. Pretty well all species could be seen in the creek, some of which had already spawned and died. Because the creek level had been so low up until about a week ago the fish were making a major run for it now that the rain had increased the creek level. Some of the fish are diverted into tanks inside the building where they're sorted/separated by species and male/female. While we were there, the female Coho were being taken from one of the tanks and the Roe (eggs) was taken from them after they were killed. Fisheries and Oceans Canada dictate the number of fish the Salmon Society is allowed to kill for this purpose. Once the quota for females is reached, males are "milked" of their sperm. The Roe is transported to the Paper Mill, where the hatchery is located, and fertilized with the sperm. In the spring the Fry (baby fish) will be returned to Lang Creek where the cycle will begin again.
Through this process the fish population is slowly, but surely, being increased!

Laughing Oyster Dinner

We chose Wednesday, October 25th to go for dinner to celebrate Helen's BIG birthday with Marv, Kathy, Ken & Pat. The waitress took the picture of us at the table, but didn't get us all-in. Unfortunately, Kathy was left out. We all had a great dinner and a great time. The next day, Helen & I went to Vancouver where she had a meeting all day Saturday at the Canadian Cancer Society office. We spent the rest of the weekend with Kevin, Shannon, Justin and Jared. We had another birthday dinner with them on Saturday and returned home on Monday. Now that we're both 65, we don't have to pay the Passenger Fare on the ferry if we travel Monday to Thursday! Just another of those "senior perks" for us perky seniors!