Spring in Comox Valley

Arrived in the Comox Valley March 30 at Seal Bay RV Park.  

One of the first things in order was to take the doggies to some water feature - this being Dove Creek and the Fairgrounds with the gorgeous forested trails down to the water.

The winter here has apparently been a very wet, rainy one but for us, things have dried up amazingly fast and the RV Park was totally dry.    Usually, we are settling in among puddles and experiencing downpours when we come back.   

Photo courtesy of CBC news

Unfortunately, the Peace River area (Northern British Columbia) has unseasonably high temperatures, low snowfall through the winter, mild temperatures since December and recent winds reaching up to 90 km/h, (55 mph) resulting in 37 wildfires starting on one day in the Prince George area.

Back to the Dove Creek area;   spring brings color and life to the forest floor.

Fawn Lily

The Trilliums are a favored food of white-tailed deer.   The deer will consume the taller plants, leaving shorter ones behind.   This information is used to assess deer density and effects of understory growth.     Picking parts off of a trillium plant can kill it even if the rhizome is left undisturbed.      The vast majority of plants and rhizomes in commerce are collected in the wild.   With heavy cultivation and loss of habitat, some species are listed as threatened or endangered.

One loves to swim - the other prefers the shower.

Orb Weaver - a common spider

SEAL BAY RV PARK

This RV Park backs onto Seal Bay Nature Park - a park consisting of 714 hectares (1764 acres) of forested land.   Also, the trails and park continue across Waveband Road down to the ocean.

With the construction of the new hospital in Comox and growth of high density living in the Valley, the RV Park was full through the winter with workers staying full time in their RVs.        The owners continue to upgrade and expand in this gorgeous, serene setting only fifteen minutes from town.

The clubhouse is now completely enclosed and various wood carvings are placed throughout the park.

The clubhouse is a fabulous place for groups with round cedar tables, a through and through fireplace, bathrooms, kitchen area and some amazing woodwork.

A cougar carving above.

Outdoor carvings

Now to a real life bird, 

The Pileated Woodpecker is a striking forest bird and frequents this area.  They will excavate their large nests in the cavities of dead trees.   Interestingly, once the brood is raised, the woodpeckers abandon the hole and will not use it the next year.

Their favorite food is carpenter ants.   A house I rented on Vancouver Island had rough cedar wood siding and one spring we had an infestation of carpenter ants.   These woodpeckers would arrive every morning and rattle the house.  

These are a favorite 'watch' for Tazz ---- 

it took her a few years to figure out these creatures go "up!"

Brown amanita mascara

Some call this mushroom deadly poisonous, most say it is toxic and hallucinatory..    In The The shroom has been a symbol of yuletide happiness in Central Europe, Russia and Scandinavia for centuries.  (I'm sure Marc experienced yuletide happiness at some point in his youth).

Historically, Siberians boiled the mushroom and drank the pot liquor to get roaring drunk and ate the mushrooms later.   The Siberians' livestock also loves this shroom.   Not cattle, but reindeer.   No wonder the image of the jolly, drunk, fat, bearded due dressed up in a red suit and white trim is noted to traveling with flying reindeer.





Along the Marsh Trail in Seal Bay park are two resident beavers.   First time in several years I have seen them and it took about an hour of sitting to get a couple photos.

Life wouldn't be complete without a trek to the ocean.    

AIRFORCE BEACH

Happiness is having the beach to yourself.

Goose Spit

Photo courtesy of TripAdvisor

The spit is a short distance from downtown Comox and is a unique landform of approximately two kilometers long, that partially encloses Comox Bay. 

At the end above the high water mark is property belonging to the Department of National Defense and the K'omoks Band reserve where signs are posted for No Trespassing.




This is a very popular park for most of the year for dog walkers, walkers, birdwatchers and families enjoying fires in the fire pits from May to September.


Comox Valley REAL ESTATE

In this past three weeks we have had dental, doctor, financial advisor appointments but in between all that we started looking at how the market is for condos, townhouses, patio homes - some type of strata so we can lock the doors and not have to be concerned with anything when down south.

The market is so ridiculously hot right now.   Some developments we visited were incomplete but completely sold.    

We were looking at rentals which would be in the range of $1500 / month and up but nothing available for us (mostly because of the dogs).    We ended up purchasing!    

58 units in the Lancaster Way Development and three sold within the weekend we were looking.   30 units sold within a month.

We are in a 1708 SqFt, with a small private, fenced back yard that backs onto a previous patio home development so no traffic noise.     We are minutes from Quality Foods in Comox and an adjacent park.





3 bedrooms upstairs, 2 1/2 baths and a four foot crawl space, one car garage.

We upgraded to gas barbecue and stove, currently working on appliance upgrades.

Just barely had time to choose a color for downstairs and another for upstairs (instead of the standard off white).

View from dining area to living room.

View looking into what will be the den with french doors off living room, stairs to crawl space and kitchen, dining area.

Crawlspace - four foot with forced air gas heating.









That's all for now - waiting on appliances, finalization of the building expected to be end of June.

First part of May we head up north to Cache Creek, drop off the trailer and drive to Burns Lake to visit Bev's mom.

After that, our trek for five months begins - heading across Canada.   No plans but no longer homeless.