Living the Dream...: Wednesday, October 13 to Sunday, October 24, 2021 (Another Visit to Vancouver Island)

There was a big announcement last night...the US border is opening to non-essential travel "early November" YAY! Now we will wait anxiously to find out "the date".

We had the car all packed up and were on the road by 9:00 a.m. heading to the BC Ferries Tsawwassen Terminal. We are going over to Vancouver Island...Steve is going on a deer hunting trip with our son, Rob and Steve's good friend, Jim. Who would have thought he'd be able to go on this trip 2 years in a row?!

After a quick stop at Cabela's so Steve could pick up a deer tag for his hunting trip, we arrived at the ferry terminal at 9:30 to be told that there is a possible one sailing wait. With the ferry sailing every 2 hours, if we didn't make the 11:00 a.m. ferry, we would have to wait until the 1:00 p.m. sailing. So with fingers-crossed as they started boarding just before 11:00, we followed the long line of cars. We ended up being one of the last few vehicles to get onto the bottom deck (where oversized vehicles go)...Yay! We made it...whew!

It was an uneventful trip and we arrived at Rob and Angie's house just before 1:00 p.m. After unloading the car, we headed off to meet our good friends, Rob and Nancy for coffee. (Forgot to get a pic!) We had a great visit with them and were home just before 4:00 in time for a video call with Dave and Leslie...another great "visit".

Rob arrived home around 5:00, followed a little later by Angie and the boys. OMG...such a greeting we received from Conner and Bryce! It still warms my heart just thinking about them running in yelling "Grampa and Gramma!"

Thursday (Oct. 14) morning I headed off with a lengthy grocery list for the guy's upcoming trip. I was home around noon and then spent the afternoon in the kitchen cooking...lasagne and chili to get into the freezer so it would be frozen for the cooler by Saturday (Friday they decided to delay their hunting trip by one day since there was major rain in the forecast on Saturday).

While I was busy all day, Steve was busy preparing what he could for the trip. Not an awful lot he could do until he and Rob could work together...at least they now have Saturday to complete their pack up!

We were busy Friday (Oct. 15) doing a bunch of odds and ends...including a hair cut as well as a contact lens check for Steve. Seems they didn't think it was a good idea to order a 6 month supply of contact lenses without getting a check up! We also met Rob (Nancy was working, silly girl!) for coffee and another visit.

Since we were there to watch the boys, Rob and Angie had a date night, going out for dinner. We had a fun time with our grandsons and watched the end of a movie we had started last night.

Saturday (Oct. 16), I finished some last minute shopping for the guys. Steve and Rob packed up all they could for their week away.

Me with Rob and Conner...

Angie and I...

A picture from the other night...me and Bryce, with Steve and Rob in the background...

Bryce was super excited about carving his pumpkin tonight. Of course the first part is yucky, getting the innards cleaned out...

Dad helped with drawing the face on the pumpkin...

Then Bryce went to work...

Ta! Da! The finished Jack-O-Lantern...

Sunday (Oct. 17) morning we were all up early. Rob and Steve finished their final pack up and were off just before 6:30 a.m.

Angie, Conner, Bryce and I had a relaxing morning and then I decided to get out for a walk around the neighbourhood. The trees have gotten so big! This is a view across the Saanich Inlet...very small viewpoint now...

Beautiful fall colours...

Just before 1:00 we headed into Victoria to Galey Farms Corn Maze, Market and Railway...an annual fun event for the whole family!

Angie, Conner, me and Bryce waiting in line to board the train...

Some of the displays along the train ride...

This big guy used to be up island near Parksville but was in dis-repair and going to be trashed, so the owner of Galey Farms bought it and refurbished him. Now that's one big gnome!

Once the train ride was over, we walked through the little village set up...

Bryce hamming it up...

Body Part Drop Off...

We even went through the Haunted House twice!

Then we took a hay ride out to the Pumpkin Patch. After picking out their pumpkins, we head back...

What a great couple of hours! We also went through the corn maze...wasn't too hard to find our way out LOL!

By this time it was going on 4:00, so without having had much lunch, we decided to go for an early dinner at Original Joe's. A great way to end a wonderful afternoon!

Monday (Oct. 18) morning after seeing Angie and the boys off, I went into Sidney for a walk along the waterfront. It was such a calm beautiful morning!

Back home, I showered, packed and with the car loaded, I headed up island to Lake Cowichan for a couple of days with good friends, Deb and Ray. What a beautiful afternoon sitting out in their backyard with a campfire!

One of the delicious dinners Deb prepared on her Trager...smoked ribs, yum!

I spent a lovely couple of nights with them. Lots of good food...plenty of adult beverages...and just plain good old chatting and catching up! Lots of time in my favourite spot...under the gazebo on the deck with the heaters on...and a stunning view! Always a good time! Thanks for your wonderful hospitality Deb and Ray!

The rest of the week was relaxing...plenty of walks along the Sidney waterfront and enjoying evenings with Angie and the boys.

I managed to hook up with one co-worker from years gone by...unfortunately none of the other "work girls" were available. So good seeing and catching up with Gwen at the Brentwood Bay Resort Pub for lunch!

I also managed to get an appointment to see my Orthopedic Surgeon here in Victoria. If you recall after seeing him last month in Vancouver, he wanted to see me again in January or before we go south. Well, we recently learned that we will be able to go down, so I felt lucky to be able to get an appointment on short notice. Good news...he does not want to unnecessarily give my knee an injection and does not think that I will need one in the immediate future, so I should be good until we get back from Arizona at the end of March (fingers crossed).

We had a blustery day Saturday (Oct. 23)...but I really wanted to get out for a walk on the waterfront. It was definitely a windy day...another storm is brewing!

Steve and Rob arrived home around 1:30...to a couple of excited little boys! I think they missed their dad and grampa! They unloaded the cargo trailer and truck and after showering we enjoyed the afternoon finding out all about their hunting trip...no deer, though.

Late afternoon, Emery and Glenda arrived for dinner. Angie calls them her "island parents"...they are very good family friends!

Sitting down to a delicious dinner...Glenda, Bryce, Steve, Angie, me, Conner and Emery (thanks for the picture, Rob!)...

We had "Happy Birthdays" ice cream cake for dessert...to celebrate all the birthday gatherings missed over the pasts 18 months...

So great seeing them again!

Our original plan was to head back over to Surrey on Monday...that would allow Steve to spend Sunday with the boys. However knowing that a big wind storm was on it's way, Sunday (Oct. 24) morning we made a quick decision to catch the ferry back to the mainland today. Steve checked the weather forecast and Monday was to be worse than today. They were forecasting a historic bomb cyclone with a record breaking low pressure system ..so we got our butts in gear and packed our suitcases!

Without a ferry reservation, we knew we needed to be at the ferry terminal early, so it was just before 9:30 when we pulled up to the gate. Surprisingly there were very few vehicles so we should have no problem catching the 11:00 a.m. sailing...yay!

Although it was a little rocky at times it was another uneventful sailing. In preparation for stormy seas there were stacks of sick bags throughout the cafeteria. We were back home by 1:00 p.m.! Ahh....love visiting but always love getting home!

Cool trailer we saw on the highway on our way home...