West Coast Road Trip

I had a meeting in Lake Cowichan last week and decided to continue on to work using the logging roads through Port Renfrew to Sooke. It is officially called the "Circle Route"...or the "lose all your fillings", there had to have been thousands of potholes on the dirt road portion.

The industrial traffic was very surprised to see me, I stopped the truck and trailer pictured below for not having any insurance. Even though it is a logging road it is open to the public and therefore everything on it must have insurance. The first thing the driver said "what are you doing way out here?". I live for the shock factor...




















When I arrived in Port Renfrew the sun was going down and the surf was up. The effect of our recent storm was evident with all the logs and debris on the beach. Apparently Port Renfrew is poised to be developed soon. That's really too bad, I just hope it can be done in a way that respects its natural beauty...

Fighting The Weather

Last month I decided it was time to get those perimeter drains finished. Now that I have the "green light" for my transfer to the Vancouver area I have to get the house finished. I started digging with the intention to finish the next day but overnight the snow fell with a vengeance...

You can see I unearthed the old perimeter drain...kudos to whoever put that dysfunctional system in. The black pipe is my unearthed water-line which is wrapped in heater wire and pipe insulation to keep from freezing. You only let that happen once!

West Coast Destruction

Well, Josh wanted to see some pics of the famous "Storm of '06" so here you have it...greater Victoria wasn't too bad but heading west to Sooke and Port Renfrew was a real eye-opener. I just can't believe nobody was killed or injured during this storm, absolutely unbelievable.

The first two pictures are of a house in Sooke, the family had fled to the basement before the trees came crashing down. The third pic was of the neighbour who just received a "scraping". There were too many damaged houses to count. The rest are of my trip to Port Renfrew today where I was accosted by the locals and media (didn't make the news...dang, I was on my game too!).

The End Is In Sight

Connor and Kevin really ramped it up this week, finishing drywall and putting a window in the bathroom. Then they sanded and painted the downstairs. We played with the colours a bit and I think with the trim installed it will come out OK...












A rusty red feature wall...




Connor applying some beige for the rest of the wall...




Kevin applying brown to the rec room...




Finished with the paint...next it is flooring and trim!

Winterscape

Today we got the full brunt of the arctic outflow. Luckily I was off work and able to get out and enjoy Victoria under a blanket of white. Unfortunately the awning on the deck did not enjoy the snow quite as much...

The highway picture reminds me of Ft. St. John...I guess I saved some money by having the Peace experience right here at home! Still miss those quirky Peace River people...

Basement Progress

Time to hit the basement hard...gotta get this house done. Thankfully Connor and Kevin had some time to spare and drywall got installed in the rec room and laundry room...just the downstairs bathroom left and it is time to paint!

You will notice the rec room was also plumbed in the event the basement was made into a suite...the rec room would become the kitchen.

Rec room:














Laundry Room: