Good Bye Vancouver, Hello Vancouver Island

Day 11
Kilometers Traveled; 150

Today, Ken and I woke up to what is now becoming our pack up routine. We take turns running after the boys, packing, organizing and checking the computer to make sure our next hosts or visits know that we are coming. Today was a packed day of sight seeing, visiting and traveling.

What I haven’t mentioned in this blog so far is that in Vancouver we were originally going to be staying with my Aunt Wendy and Uncle John. Only, about a week after I began making plans with my Aunt, I got a very shocking email on my way to work the Monday morning after Father’s Day. That email came from my Aunt telling all of us that at 51 years of age, my Uncle had suffered a massive heart attack while out on a run and he had passed away. I remember reading that email about 6 times to figure out who she was talking about because I couldn’t believe that it was Uncle John. He was a runner, an athlete, someone who always took great care of himself, how could this be? Over our days in Vancouver with my Aunt, we spent quite a bit of time talking about the people in our lives we have lost, John, my Mom, my Grandfathers (both Bishop and Galbraith as she had had a relationship with both of them). Wendy is one of the most courageous people I know. She is facing this loss with incredible dignity and grace. What struck me the most is the strength of the relationship between Wendy and John. She said that one of the things making this process more bearable is that she has no regrets. She loved every second of her life with John and she never took him for granted. Thos conversations made me even more grateful for this trip that we are on. The time that we are spending together, and the memories that we are forming as a family matter. The people on our lives that we love the most matter more than anything. What I have learned from Wendy is to love every second I have with Ken and my boys, to make the most of every day we have together because we truly never know, in an instant, out whole lives can change.

So, after a quick breakfast and lots of packing chaos, we said good bye to Wendy and headed to Robson square, hoping to find some remnants of Olympic glory. Finally, we saw something recognizable. The skating rink we had seen over and over again on the CTV coverage was still there! On the pillars surrounding the skating oval were massive pictures of various Olympic sports. We finally felt like we got to experience a taste of Vancouver 2010! We then headed off for a great lunch with our friends Ken and Kate who now live in Vancouver. We had a great time digging up potatoes from Kate’s garden and BBQing in the back yard. Our nest stop was the Ferry terminal, Will could barely hang on through our lunch visit. He was so excited to see the Ferry that he couldn’t stop calculating in his mind what time we had to leave to make sure that we would catch the Ferry on time. We quickly left Ken and Kate’s to make sure that we would catch the 3:00pm Ferry. Ken’s expert driving and a little singing by Will and I, which convinced all the red lights to turn green, and we made it to the Ferry terminal with five minutes to spare. We parked on board and headed up to the deck to watch the departure. After a few minutes of watching the land fade into the distance Will announced, “Let’s go explore the ship!” We sure did, I don’t think there’s a square centimeter of that ship that we didn’t see. Up stairs, down stairs, kids play land and the gift shop, we did it all. Will and Nate both loved the gift shop as we allowed them to each buy a model of the Ferry with working lights and a real horn sound. We have regretted that decision since, as the sound track of our trip is now the sound of a Ferrys’ horn! An hour and a half later we arrived in Sidney to visit our friends Robin, Liz and Briar. We had a fantastic dinner on the beach together and at 6:15, Nate decided that it was time for bed. By about 7:15 Will, Nate and Briar were fast asleep. For the first time in many days we were able to have an adult evening. It was great to visit with Robin and Liz, who we don’t get to see very often, without constant interruption from two boisterous boys! After a very busy day it was time for bed. More adventure on the Island and another Ferry await us tomorrow!