Getting ready to go again.

After returning from Spain in April we spent the spring and summer in BC. We divided our time (as usual) between Fernie and Kaslo, except for a 10 day trip to Vancouver Island. The spring and early summer weather in BC was wet and cool. Toward the end of June the weather warmed to more normal temperatures... but only for a week or so. Then the hot weather arrived! Nearly all of July and August, the high temeratures exceeded 30 degrees, often above 35. This hot spell persisted into early September.

The wet spring weather kept the forest fire risk low but with the arrival of the hot weather it didn't take long for the forest to dry and fires to start. There was one large fire within a few kilometers of Kaslo but luckly it burned in a direction away from the village. Many days have been quite smokey and the air quality poor.

Our trip to Vancouver island was very nice. Several friends from Fernie had recently (with the last 6 year) moved to the island. Our trip was exploratory in nature. It had been over 20 years since we had visited the island. We were interested to see what was the alure. We spent a couple of days with friends in various parts of the island.Then 4 days in Victoria visiting Lindas brother and his partner.

The main lure to Vancouver Island is the weather. It has the mildest climate of any Canadian location. Cherry trees bloooming in February is not something you see anywhere else in Canada. It very seldom snows in winter and temperature close to freezing are uncommon. However, it does get its fair share of rain. Particularly in the northen part of the island. Our friends tell us that the rain is not a big problem. After all, you don't have to shovel it!

We are now ready to begin another trip. In two days we are heading for Portugal for 3 weeks before returing to Olvera, Spain until mid-November.

Stay tuned for the updates....

Bernie & Linda