Mystery Trip...

Hullo stuffie pals. I need your help! I heard Mama and her partner whispering together and I think there is a trip in the future!! Now... question... should I stow away or not? Last time, Mama went to -40C in Winterpeg and I wisely decided not to tag along. Brr... But this time, I only have a few clues... cause no one is telling me what's up!

I found this stash of bank notes on Mama's desk... let's look through them...

Hmmm.. .quite an assortment.

A $2 American bill... oooh... if I tag along, maybe I'll get to visit some of my U.S. pals!

Mexican pesos... I doubt that's on the horizon... given the December trip had to get cancelled. Althouughhh... hmmm... maybe it's been rebooked... possible.

And then there's some UK and Euro money... hmmm...

Beary intriguing...

The last one? Oh, the last one is Canadian Tire money... yep... that seems like a decoy to me.

So... what do you think... should I tag along as a stowaway or bide my time and wait for a better trip (maybe)...

Monsoons & Flooding

Hullo... I took matters into my own paws today and dragged my human out for a walk. It's been bucketing rain today... what... you can't see me?

Oh... there we go! Yes... I need all my rain gear today... although, it does seem to have stopped raining momentarily.

Let's head out and see what we can find...

Right... I wonder if this counts as an extreme weather event?

 So far the trail is all good...

 There's just a little trickle in the ditch...

 I shoulda brought my boat... the SS Rubbermaid!

Hmmm... the ditch is getting fuller!

Oh yeah... here we go!!

Oooohhh... it's beary full... overflowing its banks actually!

I think I'll skip the SS Rubbermaid... I'd end up down in the ocean pretty quick!

Yep... here we go... trail flooded. Ah well... there's another way around this spot.

Let's go!

Hmm... this side trail is flooded....

As is this one!

Wow... this is what it looks like now...

And this is what it looks like in August...

Sandy Bear signing off from the flooded river (yep, they call this a river...).

Decisions Decisions...

Oh hullo... I'm having a bit of giggle right now... You see, last week, Mama asked me if I wanted to come with her to Winterpeg...

Trip!!! Oooohhh... that's always fun!!! But... It is January... and it is Winterpeg... Let me just check...

So I went online and checked the weather forecast... hmmm... uh-huh... woooooowwwwwww....

I told Mama that, um, no... I think I'm still a bit, er, tuckered out from the Beach vacation. You know. Tuckered... Yeah... that's me... Au-revoir!!! Have fun!!!

She sent me some photos of her trip... That's one of our BC Ferries...

Look how nice and green all the fields are here!

No wonder though... Look at our temperatures (in Celsius!)

And then... then there is Winterpeg... Yep, that was the forecast... But the reality was much worse...

When Mama arrived... it was -23C with -37C windchill!!!

Luckily she brought her toasty-warm winter mitt-gloves (well-patched by Gramma).

But it got worse... one evening it was -30something and the windchill was -40something.

There were ice castles and stuff but... after just a couple of photos (and taking fingers out of mitt-gloves)... Mama called it quits on photography!

I think I made the right decision!

Beach Vacation - Day 6

Sigh... we have to say goodbye to the beach today. We had such a great holiday here...

Maybe we can come back some time.

On our way home, we stopped at Sproat Lake... it is a neat place!

The lake is huge and was very smooth with great reflections.

Wait... what is that? Do you see it in the distance?

I think it's the Mars Water Bomber!!!

Yes, it is!!! The US built them for the Navy to use as transport seaplanes. After the war, four of them were converted into water bombers for fighting forest fires. Today, this one is the last one still in service. Sproat Lake is its home. It can scoop up 30 tons of water in 22 seconds! Although... it isn't used as much for fighting forest fires anymore because it needs big lakes to scoop water from... so smaller planes are more effective. This is the Hawaii Mars. The Philippine Mars was sold and repainted in US Navy colours and was destined for a museum in Florida but its transfer was put on hold due to the 2016 Presidential Elections (no idea why...).

That is so cool...

Uh-oh... there go the reflections!

We made a quick stop at Cathedral Grove as well... it is so much nicer in the winter when everything is lush and moist.

And the creek actually has water in it too! Salmon? No salmon? Sigh...

It's also nicer in the winter cause...

It's not overrun by hordes of tourists!!

Maybe one day I'll run a stuffie tour out to the West Coast?