"It hardly ever snows on the Island"

"It hardly ever snows on the Island"; "If and when we do get snow, it's usually just a dusting; and gone the next day"; "The winters are generally really mild here; and very little snow". These are just some of the things that we've been told by the many locals that we've met. Well, we did "get just a dusting" on Friday; and with the rain that shortly followed, most of the snow was gone quickly.

However, we woke up on Sunday morning; and were quite surprised to see more than 9 inches of freshly fallen snow! And with the freezing cold temps that we are also experiencing, my guess is that this snow will take more than a few hours to melt! In fact, I'm pretty sure that it will still be here for another day or two. So much for local weather forecasting!

We are also having problems with our water freezing. We bought some insulation for the water hose; but it still froze at the connection leading into the rig. We managed to get everything thawed out with the help of a blow dryer and pan of hot water - not together, so no worries! lol We then wrapped the connection. Seems to have worked until last night; when the temps were down to -7 brrrrrr! So Mike spent part of today thawing out the hose again; and trying to come up with something better. Might end up turning off the water every night; and just use our fresh water tank for overnight usage instead.

We are nice and toasty warm inside though. We have 2 space heaters and when it gets really cold; the furnace comes on. Also been doing lots of baking and cooking and having the oven on seems to really help.

Molly's been having a great time romping in the snow. We weren't sure how she would react to it; as it's been a couple of years; but she's loving it! Buries her nose right it and surfaces looking like a snowman.

Take a look at our pictures.

Fall in Nanaimo

We met a couple from our home town of St. Thomas, Ontario, back in mid September. Bob and Alvisia are also full timers and have spent their fall out on the island. They are also card players, and we have gotten together quite a few times to play cards. Mostly euchre, but we've also taught them Pepper, which is a variation of euchre.

We also shared a thanksgiving day turkey with them; and took a drive over to Coombs. We went there specifically to go to "Goat on Roof" market. It's a tour attraction, with lots of gift shops offering a wide variety of goods. There's also a indoor market with a cafe and lots of fruits, vegetables and cheeses etc to choose from. There were no sign of the goats though, but the roofs are all grass. Pretty neat.

We've had a pretty nice fall so far. The day time temps hover around 9 and we've only been down to freezing once during the night. We've also had a break with the rain. Mostly seems to rain over night; and during the day it's been quite nice.

We spend our days, going for walks; puttering around the rig doing odd jobs; shopping; playing poker on-line; and sometimes just a whole lot of nothing. Suits us just fine.

And just as I'm getting ready to post this blog; it started to snow. So, went out and took some pictures. It looks really pretty, but I'm hoping that it doesn't last too long.

Take a look at some of our pictures of our rig and campsite