Vesuvius, Crofton cabs and buses

Woke up almost every hour and at 530 I gave up and got up. I was outside on the road waiting for the taxi at 630. it said would be there at 630. It wasn’t.I do keep my watch a little fast so that I am not late for things so I did not worry. Much. He came in about 5 minutes and we chatted as we went to Vesuvius. Nice fellow, didn’t catch his name,lives in the Spanish arches house and is from Quebec.We made it to the ferry with lots of time and as it was my first time walking onto a ferry I was anticipating great things.

Took a few photos of the lovely little hamlet of Vesuvius. The morning was perfect, clear calm and quiet, not cold or rainy as predicted by the weather forecast that I had seen before I came. Thank you, thank you Mother Nature.

The ferry was already there (it may have spent the night there I do not know) and so I went and stood at the appointed place and waited. The young fellow in charge told me that you do not have to pay in no time they let me on and i proceeded u

to the lounge to do the passage. It is so cute. The Queen, very effectively, reigns over the recycling bins and there are at least two doors to enter and exit from onto the platform to continue up to the deck which I proceeded to do. The sunrise was splendid. the passage was without incident and I went to the front of the little ferry to wait my departure.

Got to talking to the crew and asked them what would happen if I did not get off and just rode the ferry back. they laughed and said that sometimes older couples will do just that, go for a ride for something to do.

cab in the other parking lot.

chemainus

subway

wandered

highway at wrong bus stop

courtneynanaimo

Bob

barb

bug

flowers

pruning

dinner

deer

cat

camera

games till midnight

breakfast

frank

coffee

bob

bus

nanaimo

chemainus

crofton

snack

ferry

maureen

Monday 14th March - Going home

Woke up at 6 this morning.

Decided to get caught up on this blog and face book so did that with a my Red Rose cup of tea . ( I bring down my own as they do not sell it down here).

I am watching a rabbit in the courtyard right now at 830.

It is about the size of your fist with ears. Very cute.

Uncle Ron just came in and is going to make us a tasty breakfast of oatmeal.

Another lovely day in paradise.

Todays project is to get all things collected, gathered in and packed up, as Jim is coming to get us at 4 to take us to the airport.

Sunday 13th Mar. - The coffee shop opens at 630 on Sundays

Woke up at 5.

Left the house by 530 and went down to the shop by way of the golf course path as far as the club house this morning. I will not do that again. I thought that maybe it would be faster than the road but it was very dark and my little light on the bike was not enough to light up the little path far enough in advance to get any good speed . Also there are lots of turns, sharp turns on the path that I has not noticed when I was walking it. I did get onto the road again safely and made it down to the coffee shop by 6.am.

The only problem with that is that the coffee shop doesn't open till 630 on a Sunday. It was very nice outside so I set up at one of the tables outside and read my book. Charlie came out and advised me that they did not open till 630, "I know that now" I told him as I pointed at the hours posted on the door.

It was not long before I was joined by Dwight and Annie. Dwight was looking for his paper too that had not been delivered yet and Annie was not staying long as she was going to go for a walk with her daughter but needed her morning coffee to take along. we chatted about the fair and how next year Annie will get me some tickets to go, I was not aware that one needed tickets to go so am quite thrilled. Turns out Dwight knows Uncle Ron and my cousin Dave. small world.

the shop opened and we all got our drink of choice. they left and I stayed to see who would turn up. talked to Charlie about his career. Larry came in and went out. I had met him the first morning I think as I was early that morning too. I chatted with him for a bit about cameras again. He is going on a hike this morning which sounds like fun.

then off to the cafe for a bit of breakfast where I was informed by Joel the cook that his alarm set itself to daylight savings time and his alarm woke him up at 230 am, an hour early this morning. That sucks. i was joined by Jim from milwaukee. We had almost the same breakfast. Two eggs with potatoes. his were sunny with hash browns, mine were basted with country potatoes. Anyway, he is feeling a little stiff in the joints this morning and still not happy about his washer and dryer situation. We exchanged emails so that we could stay in touch and we headed off in different directions.

My ride home was not too eventful I did see an Audobon's warbler but only got a bad shot of it, a flicker, a hummingbird and the obligatory quail.

Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron had a nice breakfast of oatmeal but with no bananas today as we are leaving tomorrow so don't want to by any more food.

Off to church where we dropped off the newspaper to recycle and then the priest told a couple of great stories about Adam and eve and the garden of Eden. Did you know that they were vegans or was it fruitarians? That wasn't part of the story he told I just picked up on that.

After church we went to the gold canyon golf course to sit on the patio for a lunch el fresco. I was real glad for the shade coverings but I had to move my chair a couple of times to avoid sitting in the sun. nice lunch.

On the way home we noticed that there was on open house up the street so we went to see. I love that house. Long but very nice with a great view. of course they were asking a lot for it. Architect was Jeff Burgess.

Home again to sit and drink water. lots of water. it is about 85 F here. a light supper of left overs and then a little I love Lucy.

I actually enjoy driving the Flex

Saturday 12 Mar - A climbing milkweed and 8 golf balls

Slept in till 7 because I woke up at 230? do not know why. Probably coyotes or an owl outside the window. My window was open so I closed it but didn't fall back to sleep till around 5.

The day was lovely.

Did not go down to the shop, just for a little walk over to the wall behind the social club.

I did see a new thing .

A Climbing Milkweed which has very pretty flowers.

I looked it up when I got back. It seems to be considered a weed as it is poisonous to livestock.

Lots of old things too.

An Aberts Towhee,

that darn flicker,

lots of cactus wrens

and the mocking bird.

Rabbits and quail are a given on any hike or walk.

Every once in a while there are odd things to see too.

Just appearing out there as if dropped from the sky.

Had a nice breakfast of oatmeal with dates.

We went for a leisurely walk around the circle.

Back home to a crossword and some lunch of vegetarian sheppards pie.

(not bad but needed some spices I thought).

finished the crossword Aunt Mary and I listened to music and sang along with the old time songs.

she knows almost all the words to songs and poetry too.

She can recite all kinds of poems by heart.

That is what comes of being from an era wigh no TV and only radio and books to entertain. What a great memory. Uncle Ron kept us posted on the nuclear meltdown in Japan while also keeping a close eye on the golf channel. He is a very busy man.

I went for a walk before supper today on the hill across the was to the east.

Looking for snakes but I didn't see even one.

I did find 8 golf balls.

Every time I go for a walk along the sides of the golf course I pickup abandoned and lost golf balls .

I am collecting them into a basket to leave on the table for Dave and Colleen , like a bouquet to welcome them back.

there are now 32 golf balls.

All in all a pretty exciting day don't you think

Friday Morning - Tsunami - 11 mar

Woke up at 5 and realized that I had fallen asleep with the window open.

The temperature was perfect, I wasn't even cold.

Turned on the weather channel to see how hot it was going to get today and discovered there had been a terrible earthquake in Japan.

that caused a tsunami which after wreaking havoc and destruction in Japan was heading across the ocean to the pacific coast of North America.

Headed for the cafe at around 540.

The sky was lightening and it was a nice ride.

Jim (from Milwaukee) and Harold were there, but no Annie.

I bought a souvenir visor and a tea and joined the table.

Power stations, solar power, the friends of superstition and appliances were the topics of conversations.

When Jim and Howard left, I went for breaky at the gold canyon cafe.

Laurie is I believe the only waitress, on the early shift anyway, as she is the only one that I have seen there.

Had nice ride home with a few shots gotten and a few shots missed.

I saw the flickers again but missed the clear shots. I have figured out that they are Gilded Flickers. the underside of their wing is a very pretty golden colour.

I saw a great golden digger wasp but was riding my bike so missed the shot.

I did see a new bird and have to figure out what it is. Very pretty song. it seemed to know quite a few songs actually.

I looked it up and it is a Northern mocking bird so it knowing lots of songs makes sense.

The temperature was already getting warm so headed back to the house by 830.

Uncle Ron and Aunt Mary came out all dressed and raring to go at around 930.

After breakfast we watched the news about the Tsunami.

We went for walk and I saw a strange looking bird on the roof of the house across the street. my method is to take a picture, take a few steps closer get another shot , take a few steps closer.

well, finally realized that it was a roadrunner with a lizard in his mouth and it was a big lizard.

who says all the dinosaurs are dead, roadrunners are like velociraptors.

I also got a nice photo of a cactus wren and his nest

a starling with its iridescent feathers.

Had a quiet afternoon.

Played a bit of civilization.

Later Aunt mary and I listened to poetry and music while Uncle Ron went to the golf course and hit a few balls.

a late supper and then a wander on the golf course path.

found 4 golf balls,

a coyote

and watched a terrific sunset.

I will hit the sack early tonight as waking up early takes its toll.

Thursday 10th Mar - 87 degrees and red lobster.

Woke at 5 and slow-poked my way to the gecko arriving at 630.

Annie was there with her daughter Bethany.

Harold was talking to the go

lf guy and Bob was busy with his study.

Annies daughter Bethany is an artist, a carver of bone .

She makes beautiful jewelry, knife handles, actually, she can make anything out of bone, tusk or wood. very beautiful.

we chatted for a bit about cottages, outhouses, Ereaders and proffessions. then I met Annies puppy, Jyoti. very cute.

they went to walk the dogs. Annie has two and Bethany has 1.

I went for a nice breaky while reading my Ebook

Rode on the path home hoping to get a photo of something new.

I did get the house finches.

I did find a lemon tree.

I did see some kildeer.

I did see some flickers but missed the shots.

I also so a slug leaving a nice heart shaped slime trail and ;figured that if it didn't get out of the sun pretty quick it would be cooked.

got back to the house around 9 and after breakfast we went for a quick walk.

We drove to the Red Lobster in Mesa and met Wayne and Marleen for lunch. I showed them my favorite photos and showed Wayne how to edit his photos.

A bicycle adventure in the desert - Wednesday 9 mar.

Up at 5

Brought my computer with my today to share my best photos with everyone.

Arrived at the guard house by 530 in time for shift change

They said I should get a photo of the young bunnies tha live under a bush there, but it was so dark I could not focus on them and the photo turned out like the bunnies from hell.

Showed them my 55 top pictures which they were quite appreciative of.

I rode down the paved sidewalk most of the way down to the mall. A little tricky in a few places. Tight turns.

Got to the gecko by 6.

Who was there:

Annie on her computer

I showed her my photos and we chatted about being vegetarian, she was for 25 years, about work and computers, and facebook

Jim reading his paper and eating his muffin. did not want to see the photos but that was OK as I figure he has already seen all of those animals and things that I take pictures of anyway.

Stan who wanted to see the photos but kept leaving to talk to other folks as he saw them come in or walk by.

Eventually I showed him my 55 top pictures

Became facebook friends with Annie

Met Bob who is making a study of the way the young ladies make the coffee at the shop. ( in other words he is studying the young ladies)

Had breakfast at the cafe at 700 eggs and country potatoes

Decided to take photos on the way home while riding my bike.

(But I did it safely).

I took an exploratory drive up a side road and noticed ,when coming back to the main road, that I was right in line with Silly mountain and the huff and puff path that I had taken up to the first top.

It was getting warm by the time I got home at 830.

There was a roadrunner on the patio so grabbed a shot of him.

What would I do without my camera?

After breakfast we went for a walk around the circle.

I took some photos of flowers, no surprise there eh?

I also got a nice shot of a hummingbird

Uncle Ron had Rotary so Aunt Mary and I fended for ourselves the afternoon.

The time went pretty quickly really.

A lovely lunch of artichoke and potatoe stuffing, broccolli, salad and for Mary some pork roast.

A crossword puzzle.

Some old time ling along music on the north patio

Then Uncle Ron was home again with exciting news about the talk they had at Rotary, writing your Will in Arizona.