June 16th 2016
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| Our house from the Cherry tree, picture by Lisa Wallenda! |
I got up this morning thinking it was bright and early to find Stu sitting out on the front deck reading the newspaper and listening to his iPod. I thought I was doing well because it was 9 o'clock but Stu had been up since 6:15. That's largely because his family who live in Ontario are evidently not familiar with the concept of time zones. So the first call from Ontario came in at 6:15. Give Stu credit he went to bed at 1:30 and he got up and answered his phone. I made a pot of coffee and we continued on with our binge-watching of Bosch.
Our plan was to be on the 12:50 ferry from Horseshoe Bay. At 10:00 I started to rally the troops the lovely Lisa went off to pack, Stu was already packed as was I. We had lots of time. At 11:45 I found the lovely Lisa up our cherry tree picking cherries for our trip.
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| Cherries |
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| More Cherries |
At 12:05 I started making lunch because we had already missed the 12:50 ferry. I made chicken salad sandwiches from the chicken I baked last night. We enjoyed our lunch and decided we would leave early to get on the 3:00 ferry at Horseshoe Bay. We watched episode 10 of Bosch. That was the first season final episode. We were out the door at 1:30 for the 45 minute drive to the ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay. We were in the catbird seat. The lovely Lisa said put the terminal into the GPS so I put it in my phone and it told me that the 3:00 was full and the next one was at 5:45. I was on the B C Ferry sight so I checked the Tsawwassen to Duke point and the 3:15 was only 70% full. We took the highway to Boundry Road down to Marine Way to the Knight St bridge followed the ferry signs then jumped the huge line for the Massey tunnel by using the HOV lane.
After the tunnel it was clear sailing all the way to the terminal at 2:55. Lisa Andretti had done it again!
"You may or may not get on the 3:15" the unsmiling face said to the lovely Lisa as he sent us down row 27 to await our fate. I took the Ratdogs over to the dog area to let them tinkle. Just as the announcement came to return to your vehicles, Elvis decided to drop a McNugget for me to pick up. I was back to the car in plenty of time. The line started moving, first the 2 lines to our right then our line. As we approached the traffic guy he stepped forward and pointed with one hand as he held up the other hand in the international sign for stop at the car right behind us.
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| Just made it! |
We were on! Woo Hoo! That was close! They ended up adding 4 more cars to our deck and we were off! We were right out on the back deck sitting in the sun and the car would be too hot for the Ratdogs. I stayed with the Ratdogs while Stu and the lovely Lisa went to get coffee for us all.
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| Stu and the paper |
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| We made it!!! Yay!! |
Stu returned with newspaper in hand while the lovely Lisa brought me a cup of Jo. Half way to Duke Point the lovely Lisa and I went upstairs to see if I could poach some wifi. It turns out that the ship we were on is the only one in the fleet that doesn't have wifi! They did have a Galaga game, the lovely Lisa's favourite video game.
We went up to the outside deck staring at the beautiful blue skies we were leaving behind
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| Beautiful blue skies behind us. |
and looking ahead at the ominous clouds we were going towards.
We were on the Inland Island Highway straight off the ferry at Duke Point. It takes you around Nanaimo and puts you out just south of Nanoose Bay. We stopped at the PetroCan there, bought coffee's and let the dogs do their thing.
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| PetroCan rest stop |
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| Elvis and Nutmeg stretching their legs. |
15 minutes later we were back on the Highway and the GPS said we would be there by 7:20. So far we had been making great time and the weather was co- operating. There were some dark looking clouds around but so far we had stayed dry The Ratdogs were riding in luxury and loving it!
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| And where is the Grey Poupon |
. We had the sunroof open and the radio up loud when the first wave of rain hit. For the next 100 k it came in waves.
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| Wipers on stun! |
Some places were bone dry and other places were soaking wet. Nothing for Lisa Andretti. She set the cruise control for 130 k and pointed Otto straight north.
We pulled into Campbell River just as Meaghan and Daryl were starting their game of Kickball.
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| Meaghan |
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| Daryl |
They play on the field right behind Stu and Karens house .They have a Kickball league here. The team they play on is called ``The bases aren`t loaded but we are`` Try putting that on a T shirt! I hung out on the bench with the players watching the game and taking pictures of Abigail the newest Murray.
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| Abigail and her Mom Allie |
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| The Beautiful and nearly brand new Abigail |
Meaghan`s 2 daughters wanted me to take them back to the house so they could see Grandma Karen and use the bathroom.
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| This is Caydance |
The game ended just as we got back to Stu`s. I was hungry and Meaghan had left some spagetti for us. I saw Stu and the lovely Lisa noshing down so I put a little bit of noodle on my plate and a couple of ladles of meat sauce shook some Parmesan on top and put a mouthful of cold spagetti in my mouth. I`ve had better! I`m not sure if it was hunger or embarassment that got me to finish my plate of cold spagetti....but I did.
Daryl. Meaghan and the kids hung out for a while but it`s a school night. When they were gone Stu brought out the pictures he had brought back from his Mom`s. About 8 big picture albums. Lots of pictures of Mary of course her kids and her grandkids. Albums going back to the early 80`s. Vacations in Florida and Calfornia. We all look so young. Bittersweet memories knowing there won`t be anymore memories made with Mother Mary.
Around 11:00 everyone went to bed and I sat here writing about the days events. Thinking about the amazing people in my life. About how resilient they have been over the last few years.
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| Caydance, Abby and Grandpa Stu |
They have been a second family to me for more than 35 years. I love them all!
That`s all I`ve got
Till next time
Peace out Yàll
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