This blog update covers five days but is going to be full of pictures! So, just a warning, LOL!
Thursday (May 16) was a blustery day with some sun, some clouds and some rain...in other words a real mixed bag. For our walk this morning, we decided to hike Nymph Falls. They have opened the dam and were testing the warning siren so it was a very noisy hike. I took a short 15 second video just to show you what our whole hike was like...
It finally ended just as we were approaching the car as we finished our hike.
Friday (May 17) we spent the morning getting ready for Rob, Conner and Bryce. They are coming up today to go to the Comox Airshow Saturday. So we set up our 'spare bedroom' in the box of Buster andI zipped out to pick up a couple of things needed for dinner tonight.
They arrived early afternoon and after big hugs, we helped them unload his pickup...including the boy's bikes which they immediately took off on, riding around the campground.
Just after 3:00 we all walked up to the Gladstone Brewery for a couple of brews...for us, juice/pop for the boys. Dogs are allowed here too. We were anxious to show Rob our favourite watering hole, LOL!
We had a great time...and since Rob brews his own beer, he got into quite a conversation with the bartender who also home brews and uses the same Brewzilla Rob has . We determined his beer is as good as Gladstone's...maybe even better!
Saturday (May 18) and the big day that Conner had been waiting for...The Comox Airshow! It's a special celebration as it's the100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The website and all ads on the radio were promoting "take the bus"...it is free from 2 locations, basically park and ride. Sounded like a good idea, so we loaded the lawn chairs and backpacks into the back of Rob's truck and we headed off to North Island College, the bus stop closest to us. Well, we finally found a parking spot and walked to the bus stop...and OMG, the line waiting for the bus was incredible, maybe 250 plus! The bus is to run every 15 minutes, but with the number of people in line, I estimated it would likely take a couple of hours by the time we got to the venue. As we saw one bus arrive and board people with chairs, backpacks, strollers, etc...the line moved very little but was getting longer and longer behind us! To top it off, the bus they were using was one of the smaller ones!
So we decided to leave, drive back to the trailer, and Steve, Conner and I would take the car instead. Conner is really the one that wanted to go...Rob and Bryce were not that interested, so decided they would drive to the Courtenay waterfront and watch from there (what they could see).
Other than a bit of a traffic back-up on one road, it was smooth sailing and we arrived at the parking area and joined the thousands of others at the airbase to enjoy the show.
Since this airshow is really Steve's "thing", I will pass this over to him now....
RCAF Airliner...
CH-149 Cormorant Helicopter - 442 Search and Rescue Squadron
CC-295 Kingfisher - Search and Rescue
CP-140 Aurora - Long Range Patrol and Surveillance (Sub Hunter)
CH-146 Griffon Helicopter
CC-177 Globemaster
US Coast Guard Sikorsky HH-60 Jayhawk Helicopter
Conner at the de Havilland Vampire Jet
Conner in front of the Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone - Multi-role Shipborne Operations
CT-156 Harvard II Trainer
US Navy P-8A Poseidon...I think....
?
de Havilland Dash-8
Torpedo's...
Sonar Buoys...
Explosive Ordinance Disposal...
Mack Army Truck..
There's cutaways on each weapon so you can see all the components...
Conner checking one out...
A 5:20 Airshow video...
CP-140 Aurora - Patrol and Surveillance (Sub Hunter drops sonar buoys and torpedoes)
Stars of the show. The RCAF Snowbird Aerobatic Team Canadair CT-114 Tutor Jets are based in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan and consist of 9 jets that date back to the 1960's...
CF-18 Fighter with it's special RCAF 100th Anniversary paint job...
Water vapour streaming off as he goes into a steep vertical climb...
Tail hook and gear down
Underside gear still down...
The Snowbird Team...
CC-130H Hercules Tanker and the CF -18 Hornet...
See ya bye!
Hercules landing...
He taxied and stopped in front of us...
They made some of the spectators move so they could tow the Hercules to a static display area. The wing went right over us...
A crew member unwinds the fuel line while others lift and pull...
The CF-18 Hornet met up with the USAF KC-135 Stratotanker...
CF-18 Hornet done for the day...
CH-149 Cormorant lowering a search and rescue crew member...
Hercules and a Twin Otter about to drop Skydivers...
14 chutes...
Hercules with his ramp door open...
Lights and sirens...
While waiting for the Snowbirds the rain began...again!
The co*ckpits must be wet by now! Photo op...pilots in red and ground crew in blue...
Pilot on board...
They were 20 minutes late taking off. It's a 9 jet team however one jet did a shutdown with a mechanical issue and one of the pilots had injured his wrist riding his bicycle and hadn't been flying during the spring training, so it was a 7 jet team today which was disappointing...
A game of chicken!
We only saw half the Snowbirds show as the skies opened up again. It seemed most spectators had had enough so it was a mad dash to the parking area.
So as Dianne had mentioned earlier trying to get here was a gong show. Once we got here we found there were lots of delays between flight demonstrations, no sound system to announce what was going on, other than the VIP section which most of us spectators couldn't hear. When we left and got back to the car we managed to move about 20 feet then sat there for a good half hour with no movement in sight. Eventually I noticed to my left there were vehicles peeling off across the field so I pulled out and did the same. We moved ever so slowly but at least we were moving. What should have taken us 30 minutes to get home took us 1 1/2 hours...fun times! It was all worth it though for Conner's first military air show.
Bryce doing Snapchat funny faces of everyone on his phone...
Sunday (May 19), we all had a relaxing start to the day...including a big breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast. The boys got in their last bike ride around the campground before Rob packed them back into the truck...along with the rest of their gear.
After big hugs, we said goodbye and they headed off at 12:30. Such a nice time and good visit with them! Steve and I dismantled the airbed, etc and put everything away.
Monday (May 20) we woke to clear blue sky...why couldn't we have had this weather yesterday?! Well, I guess we had better enjoy it today because it looks like we are headed into a cooling trend for the next week.
We got out for our walk along the Riverway/Airpark and once back home, I left Steve there to edit pictures while I went out to pick up a few things. After that, it was laundry and blog updating!
Tomorrow we are heading over to the mainland and Whistler for 4 nights for our 42nd anniversary, followed by a visit with Chris, Angela and Isaac next weekend in Coquitlam before taking the ferry back to the island.
