Countdown to Maui
After spending several days visiting and evaluating towns, we decided to spend a few days on Vancouver Island before hitting the big city. We arrived at Horseshoe Bay at 3PM and had to sit through two ferries before finally getting on the 7PM ferry to Nanaimo. Word to the wise, don’t attempt a ferry crossing at Horseshoe Bay on a Monday in an RV without a reservation. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
We headed for Tofino and stopped along the way to visit another ancient forest at Cathedral Grove. When we made it to Tofino, we headed straight for the beach to watch the surfers and just soak up the atmosphere of the place. The kids were fascinated by all the little shelters that people had built out of driftwood and Claude decided to construct his own. Soon we were all busy hauling wood to help build the biggest, tallest, most impressive driftwood chalet on the beach (would you expect anything less of Claude?). It was all we could do to drag the kids away in time to find a campsite for the night (they were determined we were moving in to our new home on the beach). That night, we cooked a salmon we had bought from a local fisherman on the BBQ. While it was cooking, I started some rice on the stove in the RV. The next thing I knew, Claude was dragging me off to watch the sunset with the kids. I protested about the rice and the fact that an unattended salmon on a BBQ was just asking for bear trouble, but he just turned the rice down to low and hustled me off to the beach. Well, it took a little longer than 15 minutes for the sun to set and as we rushed back to the campsite, we could smell smoke 50 feet away. No bears had come to dine with us, but that was probably due to the clouds of blue smoke that were emanating from the RV. I used every trick in the book to get the smell of smoke out of that damn RV, but I think it will smell of burnt rice until the day it goes to that big junkyard in the sky.
Now it was finally time to head for Vancouver to visit my baby brother, Nathan, and finish our final preparations for our trip. The kids were thrilled to spend four days at Uncle Nate’s, who, since he’s ten years younger than me, is like a big kid himself. He took them to the aquarium and for rides in his Jeep and basically encouraged them to have fun and misbehave. Since I left home when Nathan was only 7 years old, it’s been hard for me to imagine him as a mature 26 year old. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he has matured into a responsible, although fun-loving, adult with tidy studio apartment, a Masters degree, a healthy lifestyle and goals!
I was also able to reconnect to an old friend of mine, Don, whom I’ve known for exactly half my life. He was my first boss in the military when I was an 18 year old pharmacy student at the Base Hospital at CFB Halifax. That summer, Don threw a “Half in Half” party to celebrate his 36th birthday and spending half his life in the military. At the time we joked that I was also exactly half his age. Over the next two summers, he taught me a lot about leadership and friendship and how to live life with a sense of mischief. One “Bosses Night” at the Petty Officer’s mess, we teamed up to play pool and won so many games in a row that we had to start giving beer away. That was when I discovered that my skill at billiards increased with alcohol intake. Over the years, we maintained our friendship and he became friends with my mother, as well. They even exchanged homes once when he took his girlfriend to Grand Cayman and Mom came to Halifax to visit me. Unfortunately, once we both left the military, I moved to Ontario and Don to BC and we drifted out of touch. It was so nice to be able to see Don again after so many years and realize that he hasn’t changed a bit (except that he’s no longer twice my age). It was also nice to meet his new wife (of ten years), show off my own family and swap stories. I can only hope that I’m as happy as Don 18 years from now.
While staying a t Nate’s, we also got to meet Nate’s lovely landylady, Sylvia (he lives above her garage). She generously offered to let us stay in the main house and even had us over for dinner. She and her boyfriend own a beautiful estate in Maui which is only five minutes from where we’ll be staying and she was able to give us lots of tips on Maui. This only added to our excitement about finally getting on with our trip. Over the last few days, we finalized our preparations and packed our backpacks one last time. We ended up sending an entire tote full of clothes back to Belleville and our packs were still bulging at the seams. In the end, though we managed to fit everyone’s clothes and gear into two large backpacks and the two small kids’ packs. I was pretty impressed.
On the morning of the 16th, Claude’s sister Patricia, her three kids and her inlaws arrived to drive our RV back to Quebec. They’re brave people, but if anyone can do it, they can. Hopefully, everyone will still be speaking to each other by the time they make it home. We had a few tearful moments when Alexa had to bid farewell to their bunny and blankie and Simon his doggy, but they were brave and Patricia promised to take good care of them. Then it was time for hugs all around and we were off to airport. We couldn’t wait!
Tags: Maui, Travel, Vancouver
tambour
Hi guys – We have just printed off your next bundle of entries so we can read, at our leisure, your wonderful entires. We are so enjoying your news and details! Glad to hear all is well and you are appreciating this time together…life is great here – thought Kennedy had broken an arm at Beavers by falling in the river, however, after a splint and 3 days later he was back to his old self! I am enjoying my new position yet very busy…Kiera has thoroughly found her niche at Destinations…Kate is “parlering” more and still enjoys school. Hockey has begun – first game 5-1 and not for Kennedy’s team! He doesn’t care, however. Busy at church with a new choir group- guitars etc. – low key and fun – a real difference – you would love it Tamara! Your house is now yellow with warm brown shutters – looks so different but really nice! Is this how I email you? and get messages to you or is there an address I need to know ? Let me know – hugs all around – got your large bucket and mail from the kids – keep us posted! Love ya! Karen and gang XXOO PS Our tree that we hang the hammock on got struck by lightening last week – split in half – Kevin is cutting it up ‘avec’ chainsaw with a friend, who has a wood stove, as we speak! We miss you tons – cheers!
Hello to all! This is my first viewing of the Blog and I must say, Tamara you are thorough. Every page I read I get closer and closer to turing to my wife and saying…”that’s it…we’re outa here!”. Emily is growing up fast…walking and talking and doing everying kids are supposed to do. Her Nanny, Gail, is great and is making our lives so much easier and enriching Emily’s. On the pharmacy front, Bill 102 is now in effect making our lives a little more difficult (as though we needed it) and the CYP process is fully underway with SDM. Another high-profile Associate, Barry Kaworsky from Pickering Town Centre, was walked out last month. Perhaps I should update my resume?
Hope you trip continues to be as exciting as it sounds and I will try to keep up on the blog. Douglas.