Friday, July 1, 2011

Going to Victoria

The trip:
Monday night I drove to Red Deer to spend the night with Elaine.
Tuesday, I went to Olds for a fast visit with my Auntie Bea, the sweetest little lady in the world. She had a doctor's appointment so our visit was condensed. Then I drove to Calgary to have a short visit with my sister, Anne, at her work. The sun was shining and we had a good little chat in the shade of a tree. The receptionist knew immediately that I was Anne's sister - "do you ever look alike?" We've heard that before and it's always cute.
After leaving Calgary, I drove to Golden and stayed the night at Mary's Motel. It could definitely use new furniture, but it was clean and not terribly expensive. I found a Chinese food restaurant, family run, and enjoyed chow mein and egg foo yong. I didn't think anyone served chow mein any more. A travelling salesman was sitting at the table behind me and we began our conversation commenting on week old Calgary Sun papers that we were each reading. We had a good conversation. Being grandparents is a leveler for conversations. I had a reasonably good sleep at Mary's and was awake early.
Wednesday, I drove to Kamloops to spend the night with my dear friend, Dorothy. We met when she was 14 and I was 13 in Red Deer, Alberta. We talked and talked. I had a very good sleep at Dorothy's and was undecided about whether to spend another night because there had been a slide on Highway 1 between Hope and Chilliwack. However, the road was open according to the news and I decided to carry on.
Thursday was a big day. I had made a ferry reservation for 6 pm because I didn't know how long it would take me to go from Kamloops to Tsawwassen. I was there at noon and got on the 2 pm ferry. It was great. Getting to the ferry feels very confusing although I just followed the signs and got there. It seems to me "they" could make it more direct.

Moving in

It's July 1, 2011. Happy Canada Day. I'm celebrating by waking up on Day 1 of residency in Victoria, BC. Wow!
Getting here has been an adventure.
The movers arrived at 5:30 on Monday and finished loading at 8:30 pm. It was a long day. I woke up at 3:30 and couldn't go back to sleep... the hamster on the wheel was exercising in my brain. So I got started!
Turns out I had 6000 pounds instead of 4000 pounds of stuff to be moved. Way too much. I will be culling again once it arrives in Victoria, which according to Mike, the mover, should be on Monday, July 4.