Holidays in Victoria and Trip to TX and AL

We really enjoyed our time in Victoria, BC over the holiday season.

Butchart Gardens' Holiday Lights.

B and Louise at Butchart Gardens.

My mom, Louise, came to visit for Christmas and we kept her busy.  We went out to Butchart Gardens to see their holiday light display. We toured the Royal BC Museum - Mammoths was their main exhibit; they have a very good First Nations exhibit and were highlighting First Nations languages.  We did some shopping, went to the gym, went to the casino, played cards and dined out on the town. Mom and I went and toured Craigdarroch Castle.  The castle was originally the home of coal baron Robert Dunsmuir and his family.  Through the years it has served as a military hospital, a music conservatory and as Victoria College.  At one point in its history, the castle was a prize in a local lottery.   As always, we did a few boat projects and mom "volunteered" to help with some of those.

Louise chipping glue off a cabinet door in order to re-install the center panel.

 The time went by quickly and before we knew it, Mom headed home.

Louise going through security at Victoria Airport (YYJ).

We enjoyed the New Year's Eve celebration in the Victoria Inner Harbor.  Canada is celebrating its 150 year anniversary in 2017 and timed the New Year's Eve fireworks to go off at the same time all across the country.

Victoria Harbor ferries practicing their "ballet" moves.

New Year's Eve, Victoria Harbor Ferry Ballet.

New Year's Eve fireworks over the harbor (we watched from Monkey Island).

Early January we winterized the boat and headed south to visit family and friends.  Our first stop was Austin, TX to visit with the kids and the grandkids.  We helped with house projects, enjoyed playing with the grandkids and had a nice family dinner.

Maggie's turn at Pie Face.

Splat!  Maggie gets hit.

Splat!  Benjamin's turn.

 

We stopped in Houston to take care of our annual physicals, stopped at the casinos in Louisiana and Mississippi and finally arrived at Sweet Pea Farm in Alabama.

Driving into Sweet Pea Farm.

The weather when we arrived at the farm was warm and sunny, a nice change from the wintery weather in BC.  We had lots of friends and family visit us this year.  Pete and Cathy came down from New Hampshire.  Dave and Pete spent most of their time working on the tractor electrical system.  Cathy and I did chores around the cabin and barn and walked everyday.

Dave and Pete working on the tractor.

Cathy enjoying the warm weather on the porch swing.

Ben and his friends, Rocky and Graham, came over from Austin.  They spent their days in the woods tracking and hunting deer and also did projects around the farm.

Rocky, Ben and Graham.

Jennie stopped by to stay for a couple of weeks.  She is moving across the country from Washington, DC to Spokane, WA, travelling in her 5th wheel trailer with her two cats.  She worked at her paid job during the week; we walked in the afternoons and did projects on the weekends.

Jennie lining up her rig to back under the barn.

 

Success!  Jennie and Dave do a high five.

It was a tight squeeze but Jennie fit her rig in between our 5th wheel and
 the flat bed with enough room to open the slides on both trailers.

My mom flew in to visit for a week before continuing on to Florida to visit my Uncle Max and Aunt Darlene.  Of course, we had projects for her to do.  We sorted through boxes and took stuff to Goodwill and installed cabinet hardware in the kitchen and bathrooms.  Ben and his friends installed a brick walkway at the bottom of the back porch stairs, so we framed that and added sand.  We burned our scrap wood and worked on some plumbing repairs.  Dave tried to do some bush-hogging but didn't have much luck.  First the PTO (power take-off) shaft broke, then, after he got that repaired, the castle nut that holds the blade in place came off.

The tractor and bush hog loaded onto the flat bed.

Sunrise at Sweet Pea Farm.

My Uncle Max, his friend Bud and my cousin Morgan all came in to do some deer hunting.  They went out in the mornings and afternoons and we played cards when they weren't in the woods.

Louise, Morgan, Bud, Jennie, Max and Dave having lunch at a local cafe.

We left the farm on February 11th and started our journey back to the boat.  We stopped in Mississippi, Louisiana and Austin, then flew back to Victoria on Valentine's Day.  We de-winterized the boat and set off on our first cruise of 2017, from Victoria, BC to Friday Harbor, WA.

View of Friday Harbor.  A Washington State Ferry is leaving.
Seabiscuit is at the dock in the center of the photo.

Today, we started work at the boatyard in Sidney, BC. Our main project is to install a diesel-fired hydronic heating system so that we can extend our cruising season.  Until next time...