Finding Spring!

Spring is in the Air!

And it is only an hour and a half away - (not including driving time from home to the airport!) So close - and yet so far.




But find spring we did - albeit a cloudy and showery one - but that is what spring is all about according to the old adage -


April Showers bring May Flowers


(although in Victoria - that might mean

February Showers bring March Flowers)




The temperature is a balmy 12 degrees. Those of us not yet aclimated to the warmer temperatures keep overdressing - not quite believing that 12 degrees means you do not need the three layers of warmth that spring time on the prairies dictates.

Yesterday - the weather forecast was for Heavy Rain but we were determined that a little rain was not going to deter us from walking about. Umbrella's in hand we set out. We never opened those umbrellas - there was no rain and the sun even poked out off and on all day. We spend a very enjoyable morning at the Provincial Museum - a place full of history of both our ancestors and of our world.




We ventured out by car to explore the south-west side of the island with a trip along the very windy (that's curvey not the breeze - crazy english language!!) road up to Port Renfrew. With the Kilometer signs showing 80 km it should have taken about an hour. We did not anticipate the often 40 km speed limits on the twists and turns nor the one lane bridges that made you pause to peer through the fog and around the next bend for headlights that signalled that someone had to wait. We prairie folk - used to 80 km meaning just over 45 minutes of driving along straight roads - quickly find out that in BC, 80 km means 2 hours of twists and turns and ups and downs and when the moist pacific air settles a foggy mist over the road any thoughts of speed are thrown out the window.

Along the way we stopped at Sooke to buy some sandwiches at the bakery and then again at River Jordan where the vastness of the Pacific Ocean gives one pause. We stepped out of the car and listened to the waves crashing on the rocky beach and breathed in the moist, spring air.


Once we reached Port Renfrew, we stopped for only about 15 minutes concerned about the fog we had encountered getting thicker as the day wore on.

Somehow though, the trip down did not seem so long, nor so twisty although my stomach told me otherwise.

All in all - so far - we have definitely found Spring and what a welcome it is. We know what we have to look forward to once we are home.

Today will be more exploring - although we have learned our lesson about dressing for Spring weather and we have learned not to believe the weatherman - although those umbrellas may still be carried along - just in case.