Yesterday, I re-traced my steps and returned to Calgary after spending the week in Victoria. The return trip was much less eventful. An alarm at 4:45 woke both Stephanie and I and she saw me off at 5:00. Made it to the ferry terminal in plenty of time. The morning was lovely and still, and the sunrise was beautiful coming over Mt. Baker.
There were a few drops of rain in the Fraser Valley, but not enough to even turn the wipers on. The rest of the day was dry and sunny. I made excellent time, stopping for lunch in Kamloops. The highways were pretty deserted for the most part. With the roads clear and the sun out, the scenery was brilliant.
I made it back home about quarter past eight, twelve hours after the ferry set sail from Swartz Bay. It’s nice to be home, after two weeks away.
The visit in Victoria went as well as could be hoped for. With Mom’s health as poor as it is, I wanted to have some time to visit with her, but she’s not up to me visiting with her for long periods. So the solution was to come to Victoria for the week, and work and visit when Mom was capable. I set up at the desk in their “office room”.
I had a minimum of meetings which I participated in on the phone. Most of the week was creating a proposed design for E-Comm 911, and it allowed me to take breaks and visit in the mornings or any time when she was up and energetic. Overall, it meant lots of short visits over five days.
I stayed with Stephanie, who was off for the week. The she had the kids, off on Spring Break. So I also got a chance to see Zach and Bri. They were having fun making meltie (Perler) bead art. They made these ones for me.
There were lots of nice moments. Chinese food on Monday night, going to see Zootopia with Stephanie and the kids on Tuesday night. It all cumulated on Friday night, when I treated them with White Spot takeout. They won’t be happy about it, but I managed to get a really nice picture using a portion… no ALL of my cunning.
Updated April 30, 2017
I have been thinking about this trip in the time since, and I am surprised that I didn’t put a particular anecdote in it. One day, when I was working in the office which is next to the bedroom where Mom spent almost all of her time, the home care nurse came by to check up on her. She saw me in the office and I said hello, but didn’t introduce myself. I overheard the nurse asking Mom who the man in the next room was.
“He’s my son Simon from Calgary. He’s here visiting for a week. He didn’t think I’d live until the summer when he usually visits.”
It was gallows humour to be sure, and I think it shocked the nurse, but it was typical of how Mom dealt with this. Of course, she was prescient and she did not survive until our visit in August.
We enjoyed your visit, especially Mom. Sneaky photo take of our luxury dinning room. I told Mom that on Saturday morning I half expected you to come through the door again. Much love from us both.PS two of the large Easter eggs are for you and Tammy….
We got into a decent working schedule there, didn’t we? 😄 Yes, the bag of Easter candy for the kids made it to Calgary in one piece. I enjoyed the fruit that you sent along: it was all gone by about Revelstoke.
Forgot to mention that Mom and I enjoyed following your travels here and home again.
That whole “share your location” is really neat, isn’t it? Our family has that turned on all the time. It certainly makes coordinating things easier, when you can see where other people are and where they are heading to. Saves on the “I am leaving the store now” style texts or calls.